The Grateful Dead Performs ‘Cumberland Blues’ At Alpine Valley In 1989: Pro-Shot Video
By Nate Todd May 28, 2020 • 11:10 am PDT
The Grateful Dead shared pro-shot video of “Cumberland Blues” as this week’s installment in their All The Years Live videos series. The footage comes from GD’s July 17, 1989 concert at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin.
The video includes the tail end of “Me And My Uncle” and the band then gets into the opening strains of “Cumberland Blues” pretty quick. Dead archivist David Lemieux highlighted “Cumberland’s” get-up-and-go in his notes accompanying the video.
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“From one of the Grateful Dead’s first home videos, Downhill From Here, this is the Dead at a later-era peak,” Lemieux wrote. “‘Cumberland Blues’ was a song that always seemed to be played well, and when they nailed it perfectly, as they do here, it’s a six-man unit running at breakneck speed, acting as one unified force.”
The performance also sees an “all smiles” moment between Jerry Garcia and keyboardist Brent Mydland. Watch “Cumberland Blues” from Alpine Valley in ‘89 below:
