04.12.06
The Best Jams Of All Time
I decided this morning to post what I consider to be the greatest jams of all time. Jams are great because you don’t know when it’s going to happen or when it’s going to blow you away. I’ve had the honor and privilege of being witness to two of these three jams and I must say, they were unforgettable experiences.
- 6.12.2004, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN
The Dead, Dark Star>Shine On You Crazy Diamond>Dark Star>Drums/Space>Morning Dew
This could be one of my favorite jams to listen to on a regular basis, though it is considerably more mellow than some other greats. It certainly helps that Shine On is my favorite Pink Floyd song ever and I couldn’t have been more surprised and star-struck when suddenly, in the dark of night in an open field, soaking wet in Tennessee, The Dead very subtly, very stealthily slipped into one of the greatest songs ever written. If you love jams, one of the things you wait for in a concert is to hear what covers will be played. Sometimes the cover leaves a little to be desired (Somewhere Over The Rainbow? C’mon, guys). In this case, it left nothing to be desired. I was a little hesitant to include Drums/Space and Morning Dew as part of the jam because it slows down a lot but Morning Dew does get you back into it and really completes the ensemble if you’re looking at it from an objective point of view.
- 8.3.2003, IT Music Festival, Limeston, ME
Phish, 46 Days
The greatest one-song jam ever. Phish is often times known to roll on with their songs until God-knows-when (oh, Big Cypress) but when they are done, they usually just move on into something else or even stop playing the song altogether before starting back up again (they do take breaks…sometimes). But on this beautiful summer day in the Northern-most part of Maine, Phish did something unique even for them: They played 46 Days and started jamming around 3 minutes into the song. Some 35 minutes later, they started playing 46 Days. Again. I’ll admit it: I was pretty stoned and by the time 46 Days came on again, I was confused. I was beyond confused. And it was awesome.
- 5.7.1994, The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
Phish, Loving Cup>Sparkle>Tweezer>Sparks>Makisupa Policeman>Tweezer>Walk Away>Tweezer>Cannonball>Purple Rain>Dallas Jam>Tweezer Reprise
Though both of the above jams used to be available on various online archives, I don’t know if you can hear Bonnaroo 04 or IT without coming over and listening to my iPod. However, The Bomb Factory recording is readily available on CD at most any places CD’s are sold (save the Trying-Not-To-Be-Trendy Trendy stores in Manhattan). It is Live Phish 18 and is oozes the spirit of jam. The first set is awfully upbeat, there’s no question. But there is not much in the way of jamming during that first hour. The second hour, however (Disc 2) is the exact opposite. They start strong with Loving Cup, another favorite cover of mine that they do, but then they continue to jam straight on into each tune until the very end. During one of the Tweezer stints they even attempt to slip into Sweet Emotion though unsuccessfully (I think Trey was in his own world at that time). By the time Cannonball hit you knew they were just having fun and when they followed it with Purple Rain and a Resident Jam well you just plain forget what’s going on (if you could even follow to that point). All-in-all, this is one of the greatest jams not just because it’s an hour long and includes a number of cover tunes you don’t expect to hear, but also because it’s actually available for the whole of the general public without having to geekily search through internet databases (which I do regularly).
And there you have it. There are many awesome jams out there, I’ve never heard a lot of them. But these three have something extra special and I suggest you check them all out.