I was listening to the Golden West Ballroom bootleg the other day and I caught something I hadn't picked up on in the past. A semi stoned or loaded DLR is tuning his acoustic guitar before Ice Cream Man, and he mumbles into the mic, "ya see, sometimes, I don't know why I bother tuning this thing if I can't play it." I now totally picture him giving Ed a playful side eyed glance and a smile with that barb. As early as 1976, he may have been wondering why his little finger picking delights weren't being put to use anywhere else in their act besides that one song.
Now I ain't kicking up 36 year old dirt here, but, aside from Could This Be Magic and maybe The Full Bug (the jury's still out on who's playing that intro, no?), it confounds me that his 6 string abilities weren't more employed. It's a bit to knee jerk of a reaction to blame Ed's fragile ego. It's not like Dave's abilities were a threat to Ed's. In any case, thank God for Stay Frosty! May we get more like it!
Who here wouldn't mind seeing Dave's skills be utilized more in this sense? Hell, I would even like seeing him bang out some rhythm on a Fender Tele at some point. A singer with an axe is never a bad visual either. Any thoughts?