(Review from allmusic)

Another previously uncirculated gig from the Grateful Dead’s tape vault, from January 17, 1970 at Springer’s Inn in Portland.

The third show in a quick jaunt to the Pacific Northwest, including a gig two nights earlier at the same Portland bar, the Dead were in the process of introducing what would define the two albums they recorded later that year, Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty.

The Dead are clearly comfy on the (presumably) tiny bar stage. Indeed, six of the nine tunes the band perform are covers. Only one tune from either of the band’s soon-to-be-recorded classics gets played here, the stunning, month-old “Black Peter” (more bar-bandy and less dirge-like than usual).

They also charge through a six-minute take of the new (and rare) “Mason’s Children”. The short-lived garage psych number was written (along with Workingman’s “New Speedway Boogie”) as a response to the Altamont festival still only a month in the past, “Mason’s” would be abandoned by February’s end, but here manages to touch on a short psychedelic solo from Garcia.

Though the set has no real centerpiece, the highlight is unquestionably a 13-plus minute version of Martha & the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street”. Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh’s harmonies are big and enthused, the San Francisco ballroom scene encapsulated in one vocal arrangement. The jam makes its way into deeply spaced jazz, Garcia especially wearing his John Coltrane love on his sleeve.

A cover of the Young Rascals’ “Good Lovin’” gets into similarly breathless Garcia territory, though the band doesn’t push it as far. In general, the jams stay compact, including a run through the standard pairing of “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” (only four months old at that point) and a set-closing “Turn on Your Lovelight”. The Bobby “Blue” Bland rave-up had been the band’s set-closer for several years, often verging on the 40-minute mark, and here doesn’t even break the 20-minute barrier. Positively minimal!

Line-up:
- Jerry Garcia / lead guitar, vocals
- Ron “Pigpen” McKernan / vocals, percussion
- Tom Constanten / keyboards
- Mickey Hart / drums
- Bill Kreutzmann / drums
- Phil Lesh / electric bass
- Bob Weir / rhythm guitar, vocals

Track List:
01. Cold Rain & Snow – 6:10
02. Big Boss Man – 4:48
03. Mason’s Children – 5:53
04. Black Peter – 10:44
05. Dancin’ in the Streets – 14:04
06. Good Lovin’ – 10:17
07. China Cat Sunflower – 4:36
08. I Know You Rider – 5:08
09. Turn On Your Lovelight – 18:07

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