Dark Star (song) - History

History

"Dark Star" was initially released as a two-minute single in 1968, backed with "Born Cross-Eyed", a track written by rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. The single, to quote Phil Lesh, "sank like a stone."

Due to the relentless touring of the Grateful Dead, and the fact that fans were allowed to tape the band's shows, many live versions of "Dark Star" exist. The studio recording of "Dark Star" lasted only 2:40, yet the song was known for its lengthy live performances, many of which clocked in at 20–30 minutes. Running over 23 minutes (13 minutes of it consisting of Jerry Garcia's guitar solo), the popular rendition as found on the Live/Dead live album was a blend of psychedelia, jazz, and jam elements. "Dark Star" defines the Dead's early improvisational music.

There is spirited debate over which performance of "Dark Star" ran the longest. The December 6, 1973 rendition is sometimes credited as being the longest uninterrupted performance of the song lasting 43:27. The “Dark Star” from August 28, 1969 has been cited as lasting 63:51, although this includes a 9:49 jam on the theme of another song of the band called "The Eleven." Some purists point out that this performance was not by the Grateful Dead, but by “Mickey and the Hartbeats,” the name adopted for shows that band members played in 1968 and 1969 without Weir or McKernan. A version of "Dark Star" performed May 11, 1972 at Civic Hall in Rotterdam, Netherlands, lasts 48:10, and is considered by many fans of the band to be the longest free-standing version of the song. It has been officially released by the band as part of a series of CD sets documenting their entire 1972 European tour.

After 1973, for several years, "Dark Star" fell out of the normal rotation at Dead shows, and after 1974 became quite rare. Being present for a "Dark Star" performance became a "Holy Grail" for Deadheads. The song became so legendary that it was often referred to as "IT" by dedicated Heads. Knowing this, the Dead would sometimes tease the song's introduction before switching into another song, finally bringing it back in the end of the seventies with New Years 1978, the closing of Winterland. (Semi-regular guest pianist Bruce Hornsby would later incorporate such teases into his own concerts, knowing a good number of Deadheads might be in attendance.)

After the New Years 1981 show "Dark Star" would only appear once more in the first half of the eighties (at the Hearst Greek Theatre in July 1984) and would lay dormant until revived at the legendary "Formerly The Warlocks" Hampton Coliseum two-day run on October 9, 1989. After its 1989 revival, this song would become a dreadnought, performed frequently through 1990, and occasionally through the rest of the band's career. A memorable post-revival Dark Star is from The Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, March 29, 1990 - with jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis sitting in with the band. One of these performances was featured in the syndicated The Grateful Dead Hour radio program, extending the song's legend somewhat outside the inner circle of Deadheads.

In 1993, Phil Lesh approached music collage artist John Oswald to do a project with "Dark Star." He was given over a hundred different performances of the song from between 1968 and 1993. Oswald then built, layered, and "folded" these many performances to produce one large, recomposed version, just sixteen minutes short of two hours in length. The project is called Grayfolded. This is the only recording known to include performances by every member of the group, from inception in 1965 through 1995.