The Grateful Dead
Live At Askey’s Pig Farm – Lycett, Madeley, Stoke on Trent 1970
Double Vinyl LP on 180gsm Heavy Vinyl
Dandelion/Ozit Morpheus
Just when you thought there was nothing left to release, along comes a live recording that’s been locked up for 56 years! The Dead live in the UK in May 1970, on a pig farm! Sounds unlikely, but that’s what we have here, and it’s not a bad recording either.
Formed in 1965 in Palo Alto California as country/rock crossover band, throughout their career, they experimented with elements of bluegrass, jazz blues and often strayed into long extended psychedelic freakouts.
This live album captures the band live at their first ever UK performance. The Hollywood Music festival was held in Leycett in the grounds of Ted Askey’s pig farm near Stoke. An unlikely place for a music festival, but this was the era of the first Glastonbury – festivals on open farmland were a thing, with no 20ft fences and a hippy spirit. The two-day festival, which attracted around 45,000 people, featured a sprawling line-up of hot UK and international talent. Mungo Jerry, Black Sabbath, Ginger Baker’s Airforce, Free, Colosseum, Family and Traffic, played alongside The Flaming Groovies, The Grateful Dead and Jose Feliciano. in 1995 When John Peel was asked if he could think of one festival which defined music festivals in his head forever, he mentioned DJ’ing at Askeys pig farm and compering The Grateful Dead!
The Dead performed a full electric set on a tiny stage for over three hours to the delight of the travellers who made it to the festival and adventurous locals.
Featuring 16 tracks over 4 sides, the album, which is pressed on heavy-weight vinyl opens with Casey Jones from the then upcoming Workingmen’s Dead album. There are many standout tracks lifted from their previous albums interspersed with live favourites, including China Cat Sunflower, which segues into I know You Rider, St Stephen from Aoxomoxoa, a powerful version of The Other One, Cryptic Envelopment from Anthem of The Sun and Attics of My Life from American Beaty. I Know Your Name gets an outing two years before the definitive version was released on Europe ’72, Hard to Handle, the Otis Redding song, featuring Pigpen on vocals, a ramshackle Not Fade Away and an epic Turn on Your Lovelight which takes up the whole of side four.
The British press was unanimous in their praise for the band, with Mac Garry in Zigzag saying they were ‘totally magnificent – the solid red Gibson looked so flimsy in (Gerry) Garcia’s hands that it looked like it would break like balsa if he squeezed it, but it seemed like every time he touched it, beautiful, clear ringing notes poured out’.
Dick Lawson in Friends described it as ‘The most ecstatic exploratory music ever witnessed in England’. To understand why Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Damned, Graham Parker and others worshipped The Dead, take a little trip down memory lane. Allah be praised indeed!
Buy an exclusive indie red vinyl from Truck Music
Buy black vinyl and other albums from dandelion/Ozit Morpheus email hawkethos@gmail.com
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Words by Nigel Carr – More writing by Nigel on Louder Than War can be found in his Author’s archive.You can find Nigel onTwitterandFacebookNigel is the Executive Producer ofNew Dawn Fades – A Play About Joy Division and Manchesterwhich is touring this Autumn from 1 September.
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