Unbroken Chain: Spring ’95, Bust-Outs, and the Birth of RatDog

1995 Was a Lot Spring 1995 was a lot, even by today’s standards. The OJ Simpson murder trial became a national broadcast. A doomsday cult struck the Tokyo subway. A domestic terrorist bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

Then there was the Grateful Dead, at the peak of their financial success, even with Jerry Garcia’s performance more uneven than ever. Pollstar pegged the Dead’s 1994 ticket sales at $52.4 million, their biggest gross in the band’s history at the time. On the road that spring, the Dead performed 21 shows from mid February through April 7th in Tampa.

Out with the Old, in with the OLD On the third show of 1995, February 21st in Salt Lake City, Bobby & the Grateful Dead opened with Weir solo tune ‘Salt Lake City’ , and the band dusted off Dylan’s ‘Visions of Johanna for the first time since 1986. In the chaos of Spring 1995, the Grateful Dead were already looking back in time.

A month later, on March 19th in Philadelphia, Phil finally brought Unbroken Chain to the stage-its live debut, 21 years after From the Mars Hotel and they played it a few times, including in the spring run finale in Tampa.

If You Can’t run with the Ratdog… Fifteen days after Tampa, Bobby Weir debuted his next chapter at historic Fort Scott in San Francisco on April 22, 1995, a new working band playing smaller rooms while the Dead were still filling stadiums. A week later came a two night run at Sweet Water Saloon in Mill Valley, Ca, April 30-May 1st, billed as ‘Friends of Montezuma’-early Ratdog in motion.

Primus Sucks Joining Weir & Wasserman was drummer Jay Lane (Primus/Sausage/Freaky Executives) and Matthew Kelly (Kingfish/Bobby & The Midnights). Duo no more-this was a new band finding its sea legs: small gigs, lots of repeats, and a repertoire still under construction.

A useful snapshot of how it came together: a 1995 feature quotes Wasserman on introducing Weir to Lane (through Les Claypool) and describes the shift from acoustic duo to more rhythm-driven group with Kelly and Lane in the mix, here.

Later in the year, Weir & Wasserman would take the expanded lineup out formally on an east coast tour as Ratdog Revue beginning in August of 1995.

Early Ratdog is a band in motion and a big contrast to the Grateful Dead: small gigs, lots of repeats, and a band figuring out its sea legs. For their spring debut, Ratdog played 3 shows: one night at the historic fort Walton in San Francisco for Earth Day, and two nights at Sweetwater Saloon in Mill Valley, CA April 30th-May 1st. They would regroup for a full east coast tour in late summer.

What to listen for:

Background Work: Wasserman had already been recording (Wasserman Duets LP) & collaborating in the bay area ecosystem. Here’s a fantastic pro-shot video of Rob Wasserman, Jay Lane, and Les Claypool playing as “3 Guys Named Schmo” at the 1994 BAMMIES.

The Debut of Ratdog: First show, April 22, 1995

Cheers to Woody Harrelson! On the first night at Sweetwater (April 30), Woody Harrelson joins the encore for “Heartbreak Hotel” Novelty factor, sure — but honestly: not as rough as memory sometimes insists.

Weather For Eternity On night two at Sweetwater, the jam into “Good Morning Little School Girl” gets surprisingly inspired — an acoustic stretch that nods toward “Weather Report Suite” for a moment.Listen here

Eternity, first played by the Grateful Dead in 1993, is about as jammy as Ratdog got at this stage-and Eternity gets a little lift of-one of my favorite songs of the night. Listen here

Next post: Garcia’s death, the demise of the Grateful Dead, the late summer east coast RatDog Revue run and the late-’95 stretch where the small-room future starts to feel inevitable.