• https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-cant-come-down
    Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Can't Come Down"

    By David Dodd

    Here’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)

    "Can't Come Down"

    “Can’t Come Down” appears as the first song in The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. It is entirely possible, given the track record of the readers of this blog, though, that I am about to learn of several earlier originals in the Warlocks repertoire. Any of the four original songs from the November 3, 1965 session for Autumn Records at Golden Gate Recorders in San Francisco—“Mindbender,” “The Only Time is Now,” Caution,” or “Can’t Come Down” would qualify, possibly, for the distinction. But assuming it is the first original song recorded by the band, let’s see where this post goes. And, at the time the demo was recorded, the band had just abandoned the Warlocks moniker for the interim Emergency Crew, before emerging later that same month as The Grateful Dead.

    Words by Garcia. Music by the band. Strongly reminiscent of Dylan in some ways, with maybe a Stones-ish feel underneath it all. I’m not sure I would even necessarily know that it was a Dead song if I heard it on the radio. I listened to three different version sof the same recording, and each one had a slightly different mix, emphasizing the treble range (sounded like an AM radio mix...), or featuring more reverb, but all the same recording.

    Bob Weir described the origin of the song: "Well, we wrote all the music and Jerry wrote the lyrics. Jerry excused himself for a moment and went off. He came back with a couple of verses and we put together a chorus."

    I like that: “excused himself for a moment.”

    And I like these lyrics! I always enjoy the kind of verbal riffing you wind up with when you decide that all the lines within a given verse will rhyme, and then make up phrases to fit that bill. At, that, cat, bat, flat, fat, hat. Grip, slip, trip, ship, sip, flip, nip. Seas, trees, sees, me’s, freeze, ease, pleas. David Gans notes in the deadsongs conference on the WELL, that he always thought of “Can’t Come Down” as Garcia’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” (A subsequent comment notes that Garcia was no Dylan, and expresses thanks that Hunter came along.)

    The song didn’t stay in the repertoire for long—it was played in 1965-1966, then dropped from the repertoire. The Deadlists project shows no known live performances on tapes, while DeadBase X lists a show on January 7, 1966, at the Matrix in San Francisco that included the song.

    I was at the opening run of shows in March 2012 at Terrapin Crossroads, when Phil & Friends brought the song back. Very fun! Does anyone happen to know if that was the first breakout of the song since 1966, or had some other post-Dead incarnation performed it?

    Even though it’s not a Hunter lyric, the song successfully debuts several recurrent motifs in the band’s llyrics, including the Cheshire Cat, mirrors, a sinking ship, and a general reckless disregard for propriety. “Who you are and what you do don’t make no difference to me.” (That line could also be read as one of general acceptance into the community, regardless of your background or occupation. Two sides of the same coin.)

    Eerily, the lyric does, in some ways, presage Garcia’s battles with his own demons, and even captures the swirl of disapproval around him during some of his darker days: “They say I’ve begun to lose my grip, My hold on reality is starting to slip, They tell me to get off this trip, They say it’s like a sinking ship....” But he can’t come down.

    All of the early songs showed a common denominator: ambition. The band was taking the best of the music they loved, and making it into something of their own. They performed lots of Stones covers as a bar band, so this song has some of that flavor. Garcia had just gotten into Dylan in a big way, so the lyrics and the delivery owe something to Dylan. But they explore a little bit of new territory with each attempt, and then, within a couple of months, they get to a place from which they reallycan’t come down: as house band for the Acid Tests.

    You know it’s gonna get stranger, so let’s get on with the show....

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  • stoltzfus
    9 years 10 months ago
    move to Washington state, jbxpro.
    no need to hide, or answer cryptical(envelopment)ly. whoever it is, love the hair/hat
  • jbxpro
    9 years 11 months ago
    Not Me!
    My attorney has advised me not to answer that question. I will note that I don't look like this now (and may have never looked like this). BTW, I had a paisley shirt (loved that shirt) and striped bell-bottoms in the 60's ... no funny hats though.
  • stoltzfus
    9 years 11 months ago
    jbxpro: is that you in your avatar?
    or is that dude just really enjoying that joint?
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14 years 11 months

By David Dodd

Here’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)

"Can't Come Down"

“Can’t Come Down” appears as the first song in The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. It is entirely possible, given the track record of the readers of this blog, though, that I am about to learn of several earlier originals in the Warlocks repertoire. Any of the four original songs from the November 3, 1965 session for Autumn Records at Golden Gate Recorders in San Francisco—“Mindbender,” “The Only Time is Now,” Caution,” or “Can’t Come Down” would qualify, possibly, for the distinction. But assuming it is the first original song recorded by the band, let’s see where this post goes. And, at the time the demo was recorded, the band had just abandoned the Warlocks moniker for the interim Emergency Crew, before emerging later that same month as The Grateful Dead.

Words by Garcia. Music by the band. Strongly reminiscent of Dylan in some ways, with maybe a Stones-ish feel underneath it all. I’m not sure I would even necessarily know that it was a Dead song if I heard it on the radio. I listened to three different version sof the same recording, and each one had a slightly different mix, emphasizing the treble range (sounded like an AM radio mix...), or featuring more reverb, but all the same recording.

Bob Weir described the origin of the song: "Well, we wrote all the music and Jerry wrote the lyrics. Jerry excused himself for a moment and went off. He came back with a couple of verses and we put together a chorus."

I like that: “excused himself for a moment.”

And I like these lyrics! I always enjoy the kind of verbal riffing you wind up with when you decide that all the lines within a given verse will rhyme, and then make up phrases to fit that bill. At, that, cat, bat, flat, fat, hat. Grip, slip, trip, ship, sip, flip, nip. Seas, trees, sees, me’s, freeze, ease, pleas. David Gans notes in the deadsongs conference on the WELL, that he always thought of “Can’t Come Down” as Garcia’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” (A subsequent comment notes that Garcia was no Dylan, and expresses thanks that Hunter came along.)

The song didn’t stay in the repertoire for long—it was played in 1965-1966, then dropped from the repertoire. The Deadlists project shows no known live performances on tapes, while DeadBase X lists a show on January 7, 1966, at the Matrix in San Francisco that included the song.

I was at the opening run of shows in March 2012 at Terrapin Crossroads, when Phil & Friends brought the song back. Very fun! Does anyone happen to know if that was the first breakout of the song since 1966, or had some other post-Dead incarnation performed it?

Even though it’s not a Hunter lyric, the song successfully debuts several recurrent motifs in the band’s llyrics, including the Cheshire Cat, mirrors, a sinking ship, and a general reckless disregard for propriety. “Who you are and what you do don’t make no difference to me.” (That line could also be read as one of general acceptance into the community, regardless of your background or occupation. Two sides of the same coin.)

Eerily, the lyric does, in some ways, presage Garcia’s battles with his own demons, and even captures the swirl of disapproval around him during some of his darker days: “They say I’ve begun to lose my grip, My hold on reality is starting to slip, They tell me to get off this trip, They say it’s like a sinking ship....” But he can’t come down.

All of the early songs showed a common denominator: ambition. The band was taking the best of the music they loved, and making it into something of their own. They performed lots of Stones covers as a bar band, so this song has some of that flavor. Garcia had just gotten into Dylan in a big way, so the lyrics and the delivery owe something to Dylan. But they explore a little bit of new territory with each attempt, and then, within a couple of months, they get to a place from which they reallycan’t come down: as house band for the Acid Tests.

You know it’s gonna get stranger, so let’s get on with the show....

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“Can’t Come Down” appears as the first song in The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. It is entirely possible, given the track record of the readers of this blog, though, that I am about to learn of several earlier originals in the Warlocks repertoire.
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Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Can't Come Down"
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“Can’t Come Down” appears as the first song in The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. It is entirely possible, given the track record of the readers of this blog, though, that I am about to learn of several earlier originals in the Warlocks repertoire.
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“Can’t Come Down” appears as the first song in The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. It is entirely possible, given the track record of the readers of this blog, though, that I am about to learn of several earlier originals in the Warlocks repertoire.

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Oh man, thanks for covering this one. Somehow, I got my hands on a Warlocks tape very early in my exposure to the Dead, and it completely changed my perspective on them. That dated sound evolved SO quickly into the band we came to know and love. In 3 or 4 years, they were tripping very hard on the long, interstitial jams. But when Can't Come Down was recorded, they were like babies. It IS Garcia's Subterranean Homesick Blues, too. Granted, he's no Dylan, but that is a swell early effort. I have never tired of hearing those quaint early recordings, and since you brought it up, I will delve in once again.
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the story of the Watts district house where Owsley had his German tabbing machine up in the attic and every time it filled a capsule with pure powdered acid it gave out a little "poof" of acid dust and the dust filtered down into the house and coated everything resulting in everybody tripping constantly and the only thing to eat was a big slab of bloody meat in the fridge is one of the all-time greatest stories of the band. Absolutely hilarious when you try to picture that whole scenario in that neighborhood! Crazy f*@#ers! "the acid tests were the prototype for the whole thing" - Jerry Garcia As fitting of a song and song title for the times if there ever was one.
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I love their early songs. I wish they had played them a bit longer. I guess they decided they were going to head in a different direction and ditched the original stuff, but I find those songs catchy!
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No wonder they stopped playing this song , it's a total ripoff of Dylan. I can't imagine the dead "copying" a song and feeling good about it. Doing a cover is a compliment, stealing a song is not what the dead was about.
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I can't help but wonder what a 60's hippie would consider a "funny hat." Probably the kind of hat that when you see it the only thing you can say is, "I can't come down..." By the way, Dylan himself never ripped anything off of course :) the truth is it took him a while to find his song-writing legs. Hey, maybe he was the man in the funny hat!
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My attorney has advised me not to answer that question. I will note that I don't look like this now (and may have never looked like this). BTW, I had a paisley shirt (loved that shirt) and striped bell-bottoms in the 60's ... no funny hats though.
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I lost my 25cent hillbilly hat on the north slope of Stoner Mountain. Yes true, no bull. The next day I lose my Official Grateful Dead ski cap bushwhacking on Noonday Peak. Well since I'm lookin like some Montana Mountain Man, bald with braids I get out my Keith Richards stylie head scarf and continue on. But as far as wild hippy hats it could be Barney's green leather robin hood cap with copper studs, or maybe Pigpens corduroy cowboy hat, but Wavy Gravys Tom Mix Stetson ( given to him by Tom Mix himself) over his Yarmulke may win the prize. "Howdy Goyim". Oh yeah the song, What can I say, I love primal Grateful Dead. Cheshire Cat, China Cat, Crazy Cat, Katmandu, Courageous Cat, Cat a tonic, Wild Cat, Bobcat, Cat scan, Catamount, Cat Woman (60s Batman TV), Cats out of the bag.....
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Birth of the Dead (Rhino R2 74391) track annotations: Autumn Records sessions (Disc one, tracks 1 to 6) Recorded on November 3, 1965 at Golden Gate Recorders, San Francisco, CA Scorpio Records sessions (tracks 7 to 16); Recorded during June, 1966 at Buena Vista Studio, San Francisco, CA Fire In The City Recorded during March, 1967 at Columbus Recorders, San Francisco, CA Live performances Recorded during July 1966 As far as I know the only earlier commercial release is "Mother McCree's." David Lemieux, are you listening??
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This is the perfect first song for the greatest band that ever was. One of my favorites from the earliest years. Summing up the moment perfectly and foreshadowing the movement yet to come. Garcia was already a prophet growing into his shoes.
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Have You Read"Garcia: A Signpost To New Space" by Charles Reich, Jann Wenner, and Jerry Garcia? Jerry Explains to a Harvard Law Professor what it means to Get High while Mountain Girl feeds them Grilled Cheese and Tea. It is so Delightful to get a feel for Hanging with Garcia and Mountain Girl on a Carefree Day. This Song has that Same Delight. Garcia steps away for a moment and Composes his Description of Getting High I love learning the background of the conceptions of these songs I love Thank You David Drop Out-Tune In-Turn On and Get Free of Whatever tries to bring You Down " Be a Little More Jerry-Like"