Introduction (Live in Veneta, Oregon, August 27, 1972)

[Announcer]
Well, before you begin, fellas, I would like to introduce the band
(I don't know who this guy is but he ain't Bill Graham)
Well, thank you, that's the nicest thing I've heard today
(Well, we'd sure like to thank the Springfield Creamery for making it possible for us to play out here in front of all you folks here, and God and everybody
This is really where we get off the best)
Well, I'm sure that these fellas are all familiar with you by now
But in honor of this occasion here and the flats out here, first, I'd like to go over to Bobby Weir -- Bob Weir, I should say, of course, it's my age, on the rhythm and the pickin', and of course you know all his songs already. But I have a little something for you, Bob, from all us folks here in, yeah, Eugene, I get it -- okay, that's for when you sing the songs, the Texan songs, yeah, down in the da-da-da-da-da-da, that's for that. Well, I hate to say, personal problems over here, but we got evicted from our house in the middle of our walnut grove, and so this is the end of any of the walnuts we'll ever have again from Maple Isle, and I'd like to present this to Phil Lesh, the bass player here. Oh yeah, now this is for, this is a nice little thing here, he's still working out good, I love the way he can do it all day long, he's steady and always has been -- we're under attack here, some mysterious vibrations -- but this is for who we've always called Bill the Drummer, who is in love with these kinda things. Bill the Drummer. And now moving over here, ladies and gentlemen, to the fella here on what you would say your left and my right, the lead Garcia player -- no, the lead guitar player, Jerry Guitar -- no, Garcia. Okay now, we've got a couple more items here. Over here on the piano is a newer addition to The Grateful Dead that I met the last two scenes out and I've enjoyed very much, and I'm glad they traded Keith out, Keith's down here on the piano, just some lickety split, good old fingers on the move, he's gotta be down here, Keith Godchaux, Keith Godchaux, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, so then, we've run right through now, another new addition for you who haven't seen The Dead here in Oregon for a while is Keith's young beautiful wife Donna who sings with the band. And I have something for you too Donna -- I don't know where you are. Okay, I got one more and then we'll begin, which is for the man who has come straight out of R.A., from Pendleton, Oregon, to go down and coordinate activities in the Bay Area with lifting equipment to the point where I gave him my bad back, now he takes it over, so I'm gonna give him a present for that occasion. I'm speaking of none other than Ram Rod