The latest installment in the Grateful Dead‘s All The Years Live archive video series is available now on the band’s YouTube page. This entry highlights the Dead’s performance of “Wang Dang Doodle” from Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro, MA on 7/2/89.
The latter-era performance of the Willie Dixon blues number came in the three slot of a unique first set that opened with “Playing In The Band”, followed by “Crazy Fingers”. The bouncy blues energy served its purpose in getting the people moving as the chorus of Bob Weir, Jerry Garcia, and Brent Mydland belt out “We’re gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long” to signal the start to a raucous evening.
Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux notes in the video’s description,
Debuting in August 1983, Wang Dang Doodle was a sporadically-played addition to the repertoire until late 1988, when it found a more regular place in the rotation. It was always interesting, however, where it would appear in the set. In early days, it was a show-opener, and was most regularly placed in the blues-song slot early in the first set, as it is here. Occasionally, it would be found in the second set coming out of a bluesy jam, like the 7/8/90 version coming out of I Need A Miracle after Space.
Watch the Grateful Dead perform “Wang Dang Doodle” in Foxboro, MA on July 2nd, 1989.
Grateful Dead — “Wang Dang Doodle” — Foxboro, MA — 7/2/89
[Video: Grateful Dead]
Previous installments of the Grateful Dead’s All The Years Live video series have included: