Grateful Dead Live at KPIX-TV Studios on 1967-04-08 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Wildflowers – Please Come Home (3:41), announcer’s intro (0:23), Ralph Gleason interviews Jerry Garcia (4:30), Grateful Dead – Cream Puff War (3:52), QMS – Pride Of Man (3:57), QMS & Dead composite – Walkin’ Blues (2:24), announcer’s outro (0:23), total time 19:12

Dave Sorotchy:
(Walkin’ Blues) starts out with QMS playing the song,
at 27 seconds it switches to the Dead playing it,
at 50 seconds it switches to QMS,
at 1 minute and 27 seconds it switches to the Dead,
at 1 minute and 59 seconds it switches QMS,
who finish it out to a total time of 2 minutes and 14 seconds.

Bart Wise: The cuts are carefully done, and this might be how KPIX-TV broadcast the piece. The sound quality is similar to the version of Cream Puff War. I couldn’t find the other version of Grateful Dead doing “Walkin’ Blues” (from 1966) to compare with this one, if I even have it. Finally, if it helps with dating the tape, the Quicksilver web site lists October 1967 as the month Jim Murray left the band.

David Sorochty: Yeah – I know what you’re thinking. There are some stories about them going on the Maze show and lip synching a song. I’ve even seen a picture from that TV appearance where Phil I believe, was holding a broom instead of his bass to mock out the whole lip synch thing. So I thought that even though this didn’t sound like the version on the 1st album at all, it would be worth a check since if it is kind of grungy, and as it turns out this is a much longer version than the one on the LP and they *definitely* are not the same. So – if this was from that TV show, maybe they recorded the audio there for the TV show and they just lip synched it later? Is it possible that this is from another TV appearance where they didn’t lip synch or maybe from a radio program? Who knows? I guess I always just presumed that when they lip synched on the Maze show it was to a song off the 1st LP.

Jim Powell: Somewhere I’ve seen or heard Ralph Gleason quoted during this period remarking that even when San Francisco bands perform the same song, they play it differently; he gives as his example the Dead’s and Quicksilver’s different handling of Robert Johnson’s Walkin’ Blues. During his concluding remarks the announcer seems to refer to this comment. Perhaps it appeared in a passage of the show cut between Cream Puff and Pride Of Man, or between Pride and Walkin’ Blues. It seems less likely that the show also included a performance of the tune by the Dead.

Reviewer:
vinylrealist
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Reviewer:
Robertgun
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March 22, 2014
Subject:
Fortunate to have been there

I just love to listen to this. I was in the handful of people audience for the Dead’s performance of Cream Puff War and Ralph Gleason’s interview. We happened to drive by 710 Ashbury as Ralph was standing at the open door of a Cadillac limousine. We saw Jerry, Bob and Pigpen climbing into the car. Ralph waved at us and motioned us to follow, which we did, out to the KPIX studios on Van Ness Avenue (at Greenwich Street). As we were walking in, Quicksilver were walking out. We were bummed, that we missed them. The Dead played Cream Puff War two or three times. We couldn’t hear vocals in the studio, as Jerry was singing directly to the soundboard. The performances were incredible. After they recorded the final take, sat down for the interview with Ralph Gleason. It was hard to hear that, since we were sitting pretty far away, behind the cameras in some small bleachers. I saw the first broadcast of the show and have only seen bits and pieces since. What a lucky day, especially since I had been around in Menlo Park and saw much of what happened before these guys went electric and became the Warlocks then Grateful Dead.

Reviewer:
Jerusalem3
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njpg
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Kamalajams
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ChinacatSunflower67
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DeadChyld
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L. Rosley
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LBF Fan
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Reviewer:
beezerjohn
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November 24, 2007
Subject:
KPIX review

This is a cool piece of history. The Wildflowers sound raw and have that 60’s psych-garage feel to them. Really cool song. Quicksilver sounds good too, and Cream Puff War is worth listening to as well. The Jerry interview is really interesting, especially if you, like me, haven’t heard too many early Dead interviews. Well worth a listen, or two, or three…

Reviewer:
nosehit
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November 5, 2007
Subject:
Collection correction

Selection 6 is wrongly titled “QMS & Dead composite”. Should be – QMS, Dead & WF (Wildflowers) composite – because that’s WHAT IT IS. Other the fact three bands ARE playing. One clue might be the announcer in the Outro (selection seven) who clearly states that three bands were playing the same song. Hello? With all due respect to Ssag – Dec. 5 2006 – Dave Freiberg sang other tunes but not Walkin’ Blues, that was always sung by Gary Duncan – as I was at most of their live Fillmore and Avalon gigs in the 60’s. The order of composite playing was: 1)QMS, 2)Dead, 3)WF (the sloppy guitar solo) 4)Dead (check out Pigpen’s harp) and 5)QMS (the finale). Who’s ever listening/reading: PLEASE, pretty please scour the friggin’ Earth for some live Quicksilver Messenger Service sets. Live, from ’66 to ’68 they were just as awesome, if not more so, than the incredible, edible Dead.

Reviewer:
PictureofNectar
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Reviewer:
Ssag
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December 5, 2006
Subject:
Walking Blues

He says right in his ending speech “three bands” playing the same song.

My take if you listen closely its QMS then GD then WF then QMS then GD then WF and then all three bands dubed/mixed together to finish the song or its ending.

I think I am right about this but I do know for sure the third singer to sing is not David Freiberg singing and he sung it for the Quick. Plus I know the sound of QMS very well and thats not Gary or John playing that solo in the third change. Anyhow, not that this matters but its still my two pennies.

Reviewer:
Family Man
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sammist
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Cliff Hucker
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-=dp=-
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floepiejane
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vwqms
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GreenManaleshi
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Reviewer:
Jose Gaspar
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January 28, 2005
Subject:
Evolution

The 1950s AM sound quality and indifferent material relegate these selections to the “historical” category with one exception: Garcia’s solos (mostly brief) still cut through like a knife through butter. Don’t know if it’s the recording or the technique, but the “Cream Puff War” solo actually SNARLS, a la Clapton’s work at the time. This number also smokes, making the listener wish for a more listenable recording.

Reviewer:
treesaretheanswer
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