By 1972, the Grateful Dead were coming into their own as a musical powerhouse. Known for their legions of following fans and alternative approach to the music industry, the heart of the Dead’s ethos was their music. After releasing studio albums Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty in 1970, the band focused instead on live releases for 1971, capturing their ethereal qualities as best as possible.
Meanwhile, the band members dug deeper into their own songwriting talents, as both Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir released solo albums in the early 1970s. Weir’s Ace album features an incredible selection of Grateful Dead classics, with tracks like “Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Black-Throated Wind,” “Playing In The Band,” “Cassidy,” and more!
Among the new songs was an emotional ballad called “Looks Like Rain.” Though Ace was still a few months away from its release, the band brought the song out for the first time in New York, NY on March 21st, 1972. Playing the Academy Of Music in NYC, the debut of “Looks Like Rain” came in the middle of the first set, following a fun “Mr. Charlie.”
Listen to the whole show below:
Interestingly enough, the Pigpen ballad “The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion)” also made its first appearance at this show, coming in the second set. One of the few songs actually penned by Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, the song was only performed a handful of times before the beloved pianist passed away in early 1973.
“Looks Like Rain,” of course, would go on to become a staple of the Dead’s repertoire, and remains there to this day. You can watch them perform it on New Year’s Eve 2015 below: