Blues For Allah 50: Sage and Spirit supplementary notes
by Jesse Jarnow
Though it was only performed in full once, Bobby Weir’s guitar étude “Sage and Spirit” stayed in his personal rotation for decades after its 1975 recording, a piece of music he often used to warm up for a live performance, as he can be seen doing during the soundcheck sequence in the Grateful Dead Movie.
This Deadcast takes an extended visit to the band’s performance at the Great American Music Hall in August 1975, where the band performed the entirety of Blues For Allah, in the almost exact sequence of the album. It was very likely the first and last time band played every song from their newest record during a single show, at least since ye olde Anthem of the Sun days, and the occasion was Billboard’s annual Radio Programming Forum, held at the nearby Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Billboard naturally featured detailed coverage of the conference, though barely mentioned the Dead.
United Records printed special invitations to the event.
Comment
Sage & Spirit
Deadcast claims the only live performance of Sage & Spirit was during One from the Vault on 8/13/75 at the Great American Music Hall. However, I am pretty certain it was played at Radio City during the acoustic portion of the Halloween performance. I was at that one… (At the end of the S&S Deadcast, Lemieux mentions the Halloween performance. Guess I need to listen all the way through before commenting…)