Stormy Mondays | Big RatDog Jams From The Past

Last time we looked back at the jazz roots of Bob Weir & RatDog, specifically many members’ relationships with Charlie Hunter in the early and mid-1990’s, and since the reconstituted band kicked off its tour over the weekend with a pair of shows in Philly, this week we’re turning our ears to RatDog itself. In particular, a pair of big jams from 1997, soon after Dave Ellis and Jeff Chimenti joined the band.

The first is a great “Easy to Slip” > “Supplication” Jam > “Easy to Slip” that stretches almost twenty minutes and features some turn on a dime shifts, the sort of thing that became a hallmark of the band, as well as a long, soaring climax. The second is a big chunk of one of RatDog’s best gigs, the Palace in Albany on Halloween: “Eternity” > “Other One” > “Spanish Jam” > “Other One” > “Bass” > “Drums” > “Jam”. The sequence has some amazing deconstruction of “Other One” and some flat out psychedelic madness. The opening tune also has some excellent harp from Matt Kelly, who played guitar and harmonica in the band at the time, as well as provided some vocal duties. As always, enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS WEEK’S MIX

Listen to a pair of soundboard tracks from this weekend’s “Return Of RatDog”:

[Two Djinn]

[Corrina]

Written By: Dan Alford