KC CASEY

October 28, 1977
Soldier's And Sailors Memorial Hall,
Kansas City, KS

Casey Jones was introduced in June of '69 at the Fillmore East and quickly became one the band's most famous songs. Before Touch of Grey came along it was either Truckin' or Casey Jones that introduced most people to the Grateful Dead.It stayed in heavy rotation until the band's hiatus in '74. The song was brought back on Fall tour in '77 but was only played a few times each year after that. It wasn't performed at all in '83 and only twice in '84 at which point it was retired for 8 years.It returned in '92 but appeared only four more times - the final performance being 3-27-93 at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, NY. According to Deadbase it was played 311 times in all - nearly as often as Bertha.The song was part of the band's early Seventies transition away from experimental, acid soaked, psychedelic rock. The songwriting team of Hunter and Garcia was experiencing a massive burst of creativity and heading towards a more laid back country style. Casey Jones lyrics reflect this return to the roots of traditional Americana - the type of music that Jerry had been into for most of his life before the Grateful Dead were formed.Early versions of Casey Jones are very different than what we're used to, they lead in with a long instrumental jam and are very slow and mellow. There's no build up to the crescendo at the end and they sound nothing like the powerhouse that it would soon become in live performance. It would be about 6 months before the song evolved into the form we're all familiar with from Workingman's Dead. From Live Grateful Dead Music .com

Set 1:
d1t01 - The Promised Land
d1t02 - They Love Each Other
d1t03 - Cassidy
d1t04 - Tennessee Jed
d1t05 - Mexicali Blues ->
d1t06 - Big River
d1t07 - Brown Eyed Women
d1t08 - Lazy Lightnin' ->
d1t09 - Supplication
d1t10 - Deal

Set 2:
d2t01 - Samson And Delilah
d2t02 - Candyman
d2t03 - Sunrise
d2t04 - Passenger
d3t01 - He's Gone ->
d3t02 - Drums ->
d3t03 - Not Fade Away ->
d3t04 - Stella Blue ->
d3t05 - Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad ->
d3t06 - Around And Around

Encore:
d3t07 - Casey Jones