I thought it was only fitting, following Townsman Geo‘s posting of the Mother of All Jams, The Grateful Dead‘s Live/Dead version of “Dark Star,” that we also run Henry Kaiser‘s loving cover of this classic jam. This one’s from his Those Who Know History Are Doomed to Repeat It album, courtesy of Geo. I remember this release causing quite a fuss when it came out. It seemed to be part of the avant-punk scene’s acknowledgment of the Dead’s forgotten cred. I didn’t get it then, but hearing it after all these years, compared with the extremely subtle, shall we say, classic Dead version, this even longer jam grabs a hold of my attention more readily. What do you think?
A funny coincidence: I was watching Werner Herzog‘s documentary about the South Pole tonight, and who should appear in it but Henry Kaiser! He’s seen jamming, man, on the roof of a trailer. Turns out he even produced the movie and did the soundtrack with David Lindley. What’s the deal with Henry Kaiser, anyhow?
Richard Thompson provided the soundtrack music to Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man film of a few years ago. Thompson and Kaiser had a short-lived “super” group 20 years ago with John French and Fred Frith. French, Frith, Kaiser, and Thompson had two albums and a handful of concerts. Some very interesting stuff. Not that much jamming as I recall.
Yes, that supergroup and this recording of “Dark Star” is how I first heard of Kaiser. I already knew French, Frith, and Thompson well, but Kaiser new to me. I’ve yet to catch up with his solo works. All those David Lindley collaborations and Hawaiian guitar albums scared me, but now that I was recently so depressed that Ry Cooder sounded richer than I’d ever heard him, maybe I should check out a Henry Kaiser album. Anywhere to start after this one with “Dark Star?”
The first French, Frith, Kaiser & Thompson album is one of my all-time faves. The second one is still quite good, but somehow lacks the charm and punch of the first.
I can’t say that I’ve really followed Kaiser’s career that much. He’s on those two Crazy Backwards Alphabet albums with John French, and I see both of them are available on emusic. He’s also part of Yo Miles, a band that plays Miles Davis’ music of the 70s. They have officially released albums, but there’s also live recordings available at http://www.archive.org.
I didn’t like the Norway albums he made with David Lindley at all, but the Madagascar ones are superb.
It seemed to be part of the avant-punk scene’s acknowledgment of the Dead’s forgotten cred.
By my ears, Television did their best over a decade before Kaiser’s album, but maybe it’s just a minor trope that stabilizes artists who would otherwise be unlistenable.
When Mr. Mod requested this version, I asked if he was sure he wanted to put it up since I didn’t think it was essential. It seems to lack the interplay of the Dead version, which begins again and again with a Garcia variation on the basic melody and then builds into collective improvisations where the rest of the band leaves escapes the two chord vamp that is the basic meat of the song and falls into alternate ensemble sections that probably developed as guideposts over time. The Kaiser version basically has the guitar lead over the two chord vamp, the vocal head, a free time feed back section, a slow build of another Dead groove called “That’s It For the Other One”, another free feedback section, another long solo, by the other guitarist over the Dark Star groove, (I think the second solo is actually Kaiser), the second vocal section and a closing hint of another section from “That’s It…” It’s got some nice moments, but overall, it’s more one dimensional than the original. It is interesting, however, to hear these guys mining and revisiting some of those riffs in a way that I suspect makes Mr. Mod clear on what constitutes the “song”, Dark Star.
Geo wrote:
Exactly!