The latest installment in the Grateful Dead‘s All The Years Live archival video series is available now on the band’s YouTube page. This twofer entry highlights the Dead’s performance of Traffic‘s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” into The Beatles‘ “Hey Jude” from Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, MA on July 2nd, 1989.
The video features a double-dose of Brent Mydland, who leads the vocal charge on “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and keeps it going as the song intertwines into “Hey Jude”. This past Wednesday would have marked the keyboardist’s 68th birthday, and the day saw numerous tributes from members of the Dead and its extended family. With this week’s All The Years Live installment coming just one day later, it appears the band had one more tribute to “The New Guy” up their sleeves.
Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux said in the video’s description,
In June 1984, the Grateful Dead performed Dear Mr. Fantasy for the first time, at Red Rocks. A year later, also at Red Rocks, they added Dear Mr. Fantasy by including the Hey Jude coda to the Traffic classic. And then we waited. Finally, in winter 1988, the Dead brought back Hey Jude, again attached to Fantasy, and it would remain this way for a couple of years, until Brent left the building in July 1990.
Watch the Grateful Dead perform “Dear Mr. Fantasy” into “Hey Jude” at Sullivan Stadium on July 2nd, 1989 below.
Grateful Dead – “Dear Mr. Fantasy” (Traffic) > “Hey Jude” (The Beatles) – Foxborough, MA – 7/2/1989
[Video: Grateful Dead]
Previous installments of the Dead’s ongoing All The Years Live series have included: