Grateful Dead Play ‘Mind Left Body’ Jam On This Date At The Spectrum In ‘72 & ‘73

Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and drummer Mickey Hart were among the many Bay Area musicians who contributed to the album Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun, released in 1973 by Jefferson Airplane members Grace Slick, Paul Kantner and David Freiberg. One of the songs on the album was “Your Mind Has Left Your Body” featuring Garcia’s pedal steel guitar on the track’s underlying theme. Garcia would later emulate that lick utilizing a slide while performing with the Dead, soon developing into what became labeled “Mind Left Body” jams.

As documented by the Grateful Dead Guide, during a performance of “Good Lovin’” at the Winterland on March 5, 1972 Garcia employed the familiar riff for the first time while Ron “Pigpen” McKernan led the group through the often played cover. Later that year and 48 years ago today, the Dead incorporated a “Mind Left Body” jam while performing a 37-minute “Dark Star” in the second set of a show at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The “MLB” theme comes toward the end of the extended improvisation, listen at ~34:00 from Dick’s Picks Vol. 36 below:

Exactly one year later the Grateful Dead were back in Philly to hold a show at The Spectrum. Once again a big jam in the second set featured Garcia employing the familiar “Mind Left Body” theme, this time during a fiery “The Other One.” The night in Philadelphia also saw Martin Fierro and Joe Ellis on horns for the start of the second set including “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away,” “Weather Report Suite” and “Let It Grow” and also for the set closing “Casey Jones.” Listen for the “MLB” jam at ~10:30 into “The Other One” as well as the rest of the show from 47 years ago today here:

[Originally Published: September 21, 2016]