The absolute cutest most adorable little guitar lick Jerry Garcia ever played

Deadheads: THE GAUNTLET HAS BEEN THROWN DOWN. I ask you all to listen to this video and I dare anyone to challenge me with claims of anything cuter than this moment we shall briefly explore.

For the record, I was in attendance at this show at the Seattle Center Memorial Coliseum on May 26,1995, and even listening in real time could tell there was something unique or different going on. Specifically, there was seemingly some new effect pedal that Garcia was tinkering with during the jam portions of “Fire on the Mountain” which I had never heard before.   

Now, I’ll admit I have never really been one to often listen to bootlegs of previous or subsequent shows with the specific intent of following how a particular song is developed over time — something that countless deadheads have done over the last 60 years. So, I don’t know if this particular effect Garcia was using had appeared at recent previous shows, but I had personally never heard it, and had already seen a handful of shows that year in Atlanta, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and the 2 previous nights there in Seattle.

I’m also — although I have played my mandolin through a couple of effects pedals over the years — not a gearhead, so  I have no idea what the pedal is or what it is called. But, given how cute the lick itself is, I’ve given it a fluffy name of “poo wee” or “poo woo,” à la Kurt Vonnegut’s chosen language for birds in “Slaughterhouse Five,” which he calls “Poo-tee-weet.”

So, got your listening hats on? Get ready, here we go!

For an entry point, jump first into the 14:30 mark. Then, at the 14:37 mark there is seemingly motion of what sounds like parallel sixths as best I can tell — likely from the pedal and not from his fingers, as playing this sort of parallel intervallic motion on separate strings would be difficult for any guitarist, even Garcia.

I don’t know if this is a different feature of the same effect pedal, but at 15:09 we get the first introduction of an “octave slide” sound — that which I’m calling “poo wee” or “poo woo.” He tinkers with this a bit before the second verse starts, almost sounding like he’s trying it out for the first time. Don’t worry, he’s going to come back to it soon.

At 19:18 he returns to poo-weeing and poo-wooing both up and down this octave slide.

At 20:17 the buildup begins to the big finish of this musical exploration, at 21:14 he hops up an extra octave, repeating the poo-wees and poo-woos spanning the current octaves that have been introduced, until . . . UNTIL!!!

21:47 THIS IS THE MOMENT OMG IT’S SO CUTE I CAN’T STAND IT. It’s ephemeral to be sure — instantaneous and then immediately gone — but I submit that to be the cutest lick he ever played.

At 23:02 he quickly revisits the cuteness once again before backing down for the final verse.

So, there you have it, my deadhead friends. You got anything that can challenge this passage as the cutest little lick he ever played?

No, you can’t! So poo-woo on you! 🤣

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