Description:
New Riders of the Purple Sage: Live at Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio 1971 (Official Bootleg)
Review:
"Music is a universal language insofar as you don’t need to know anything else about a musician that you are playing with other than that they can play music. It doesn’t matter what their music is, you can find something that you can play together, with what their culture is. The dialect part of it comes into play, but nothing like the differentiation that language sets up, for example." Jerry Garcia.
New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred to as the New Riders or as NRPS. The New Riders of the Purple Sage have been a band for over two decades, having seen a number of changes in personnel during this time. John "Marmaduke" Dawson is a founding member and wrote much of the material that is still performed in their live repertoire. Their earliest performances were as the opening act for the Grateful Dead, with Jerry Garcia on pedal steel, Phil Lesh on bass, and Mickey Hart on drums. This Official Bootleg is the opening act for the Grateful Dead by NRPS in Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio 1971 concert. The complete four hour WEBN broadcast featuring the Dead as well as Jerry sitting in on The New Riders opening set. A highlight recording of the Fall '71 tour. An epic evening. The crowd dressed in their pre-Halloween finery. Tight , short and focussed jams. Jerry's vocals at their most confident and emotive.
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Press reactions: Rob Cook, from the Cincinnati Enquirer, 31 October 1971
Somehow a concert by the Grateful Dead can end up being gloomy. Not even helium-filled balloons with "The Grateful Dead" printed on them could cut through the feeling of depression at Saturday night's concert at Taft Auditorium. Perhaps it was the drugs. I had the feeling even the drinking fountain was laced. Or maybe it was people's clothes. Both performers and audience could have been dressed in khakis and looked just as cheerful. But most of all I think it was the steady, pounding beat of The Grateful Dead. Their performance was sturdy, and well executed, but the music tended to lumber and bear down on the listener. The rock group is made up of five men playing three electric guitars, piano and drums. But instead of using the tone colors of the individual instruments, they stick to one basic sound that has neither very much color or originality. I wish the whole concert could have been performed by the warm-up group. I have never heard better country music. The New Riders of the Purple Sage use three electric guitars, a slide guitar and drums - very close to the Grateful Dead instrumentation. But whereas the Dead were dreary, the New Riders were rhythmically sophisticated, glorious in their mellowness, and thoughtful to the point of having good counterpoint. From the tearful "The Last Lonely Eagle" to the rocking "Louisiana Lady" they were original and constantly engaging. The orchestra pit was full of people bouncing up and down in time to their music. The concert was an instant sell-out, largely, I guess, due to the Dead's reputation.
Track List:
01. Working Man Blues (Merle Haggard) (live)
02. Superman (live)
03. Down in the Boondocks (Billy Joe Royal) (live)
04. Cecilia (Simon & Garfunkel) (live)
05. Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud Loud Music (live)
06. Dirty Business (live)
07. Truck Drivin' Man (Terry Fell) (live)
08. Lochinvar (live)
09. Hello, Mary Lou (Ricky Nelson) (live)
10. The Weight (The Band) (live)
11. Glendale Train (live)
12. Lodi (Creedence Clearwater Revival) (live)
13. Last Lonely Eagle (live)
14. Louisiana Lady (live)
15. Willie and the Hand Jive (Johnny Otis) (live)
Media Report:
Genre: country rock
Origin: San Francisco, California, USA 
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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