"Ruby's Groovy Journey: Cannabis, Music, and the Deadhead Show"
Larry Mishkin shares his excitement about the birth of his granddaughter, Ruby. He discusses how the song "Ruby Waves" by the band Phish may have inspired her name and how the family is already introducing her to great music. Larry also dives into Grateful Dead, sharing details about a 1979 concert from the Spectrum in Philadelphia and highlighting the song "Jack Straw."
Larry then talks about recent Grateful Dead releases and encourages listeners to consider subscribing to annual releases for access to exclusive content. He provides insights into the song "Jack Straw," its lyrics, and the band's performance of it throughout the years. The episode also features the Jerry Garcia Band's song "Rubin and Cherise" and its connection to the love story of Ruby.
.Produced by PodConx
Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-show
Larry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin
Rob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt
Jay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesberg
Sound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/
Recorded on Squadcast
INTRO: Ruby Waves
Phish
July 14, 2019
Alpine Valley, East Troy, WI
Phish - 7/14/2019 - Ruby Waves - YouTube
0:09 – 1:35
Part of today’s show is in honor of my first grandchild, Ruby, born late last month in Georgia. My son Matt is a huge Phish fan and his wife Elena enjoys them too if not quite to the same degree. But they both love this song which may or may not have been the inspiration for their daughter’s name. Regardless, Ruby is wonderful and her father is already playing this clip by her bassinet – she lays there and smiles!
Phish first played the song on June 18, 2019 at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto. Of the 164 Phish shows since that debut, the band has only performed it a total of 27 times (less than 2% of the Phish shows played since its debut), most recently October 11, 2023 at the Erwin Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University in Dayton, OH. So not only was seeing this song a rarity, but this version is particularly well known as it is from a legendary show at Alpine Valley a few years ago. This particular version of Ruby Waves runs an incredible 38 minutes and was only one of the many highlights from that show (which featured a huge Olivia’s Pool breakout among other big moments). Check out the clip, check out the show, and when you hear Ruby Waves think of little Ruby making her appearance into the world.
Dead
Also featuring the Dead from The Spectrum in Philly 44 years ago today. A year of big transition, Jim Marty’s first Dead show, and some almost under the radar amazing shows, including this one. An eleven song first set followed up by a four song second set (plus drums and space; who do these guys think they are, Phish?) and strong encore. Here is how it all started
SHOW #1: Alabama Getaway
Track No. 1
0:10 – 1:35
This is only the second time the Dead played this song in concert, the first being two nights earlier on Nov. 4th at the Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island. Song would first be released six months later (4.28.1980) on Dead’s album, Go To Heaven. Ultimately played by the Dead 143 times, with an almost five year gap from 1990 – 1994, Jerry brought it back to the stage for a handful of performances in 1995, including the last one on June 2, 1995 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.
Great cultural references to Alabama’s complicated legacy, Bill Bojangles, the Twenty Third Psalm from the Bible and more. Great up-tempo tune usually played as a show opener, although it was known to move around from time to time.
Extended this clip to catch the Brent breakout during the jam. Still new to the group Brent was not shy and made his presence known with authority even in the first year.
SHOW #2: Jack Straw
Track No. 10
3:16 – 4:47
One of the highlights of this show, fantastic version of this crowd pleaser and great jamming tune. Brent again jumping into the mix with his backing vocals and his strong keyboard work filling in the gaps.
Written by Bobby and Robert Hunter, was never released on a studio album but was released on Europe ’72 album.
Originally, Bobby sang all the vocals, but at a show in Paris on May 3, 1972, Bobby and Jerry began trading off vocals on different verses and it stayed that way until the end.
The song appeared in both the first and second sets until the band's short hiatus in 1974-1975. After re-forming, the song almost exclusively appeared in the first set. After Brent Mydland joined the band in 1979, the song almost exclusively opened the band's first set. The band also often extended the jam after the second verse after Mydland's joining, often extending the song to over six minutes. Dead and Company have also further extended the song, often adding an abstract opening jam prior to the song's first verse.
Bob Weir stated in a 2004 interview that the song's lyrics were partly based on John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men.[2] The song's themes include riding the rails, the Great Depression, and hobo (homeless) camps of the era. Jack Straw is also—perhaps coincidentally—the name of the original plantation owner, who lived controversially with his gay lover, Peter Ochello, in Tennessee Williams's play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Long a staple of live Dead shows, the song was first heard live on October 19, 1971 at Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis (another legendary show due to it being Keith Godchaux’s first show with the band AND the large number of breakout tunes including Tennessee Jed, Mexicali Blues, Comes A Time, One More Saturday Night, and Ramble On Rose – continuation and new wrinkles to their Americana style that began a year earlier with the releases of American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead and now reflected Keith’s newly introduced input from the grand piano).
Ultimately played by the Dead a total of 476 times putting it very high up on the list of most played Dead tunes.
Last played on July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Time for more Ruby
SHOW #3: Ruben and Cerise
Grateful Dead
March 17, 1991
Cap Center, Landover, MD
Grateful Dead Live at Capitol Centre on 1991-03-17 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive
2:05 – 2:29
Sweet Ruby dressed in Red is one of the main characters in this Garcia/Hunter song that was first released in April as the opening tune on the JBG’s only studio album, Cats Under The Stars (Run For The Roses is considered a “studio album”).
Although played with some frequency by the Jerry Garcia Band (76 times), the Grateful Dead only played it four times in concert, this clip being their breakout. Last played on June 19, 1991 at Buckeye Lake Music Theater in Thornville, OH. A classic tale of love found and lost set in the Carnival season in New Orleans. Beautiful lyrics for a sad and cautionary tale. Sorry to say I never saw it live by the Dead or JGB. I have seen it since by Phil, JRAD and others. Nice but not close to the same.
Back to the Dead
SHOW #4: Terrapin Station
Track No. 12
8:00 – 9:31
Beautiful Hunter/Garcia epic mulit-part suite with Hunter composing the lyrics during a single sitting one night during a rare Bay Area lightning storm.
On the same day, driving across the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge, lead guitarist Jerry Garcia was struck by the idea for a singular melodic line. He turned his car around and hurried home to set it down in notation before it escaped him. Hunter said "When we met the next day, I showed him the words and he said, 'I've got the music.' They dovetailed perfectly and Terrapin edged into this dimension."[10]
Hunter based the lyrics for the "Lady with a Fan" section on a traditional English folk song known variously as "The Lady of Carlisle", "The Bold Lieutenant" and "The Lion's Den". The ballad is No. 396 on the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also O 25 on the Laws list, which synopsizes "The lady decides to choose between two brothers who love her by determining which is braver. She tosses her fan into a lion's den and asks them to retrieve it."[11] Hunter, who was also influenced by Sir Walter Scott, had composed "Terrapin Station" in two parts, the second never recorded or performed by the Grateful Dead.
Drummer Bill Kreutzmann ironed out the arrangement, explaining "We sat down and mapped it out. I said, 'This is how the song goes.' I showed [Mickey] all the parts that I felt worked really well, he added a couple, and that's what the song is today. We went back into the studio the next night and got it right. With the drum parts worked out, everything else snapped together like puzzle pieces.
As the opener of a four song second set, this is a strong version, jammed out, but not too much is a show highlight. Barely two years old (Terrapin Station album released on July 27, 1977, first performed a few months earlier on Feb. 26, 1977 at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, CA) at this point, you can still hear Garcia playing around with the timing of the lyrics. Ultimately played in concert by the Dead 303 times with the last rendition on July 8, 1995 in Chicago.
An song for fans of fun tales of all ages, I suspect young Ruby will become quite familiar with this tune over time!
OUTRO: Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Rolling Stones
Live – 1991
The Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday (Live) - Official 1991 - YouTube
1:52 – 3:12
