mountain bed

Fricke's top 20 shows - I know these things are subjective, and he had some nice choices, but there is a glaring omission - NO '73? ARE YOU KIDDING? BEST YEAR EVER IMO, AND NO KEZAR? NO RFK? NOTHING FROM FALL TOUR? JESUS, MAN! Sorry, I got a little worked up there.

Ummm...you've never been to Indiana, have you? Seriously, though - you get down by the Ohio River it can be pretty nice. I LOVE Madison, IN.

IRBD, I would say UM is the poor man's Phish. And Phish ain't no poor man's anyone. I can't even bring The Cheese into this one.

Well said, Mike. One of the things I always liked about The Dead was their (near) total disdain for using the microphone as a pulpit. In fact, in the 15 years I followed the band there was almost ZERO talking between tunes. About all you'd ever hear was "We'll be back in a little bit" (after set 1) and "Goodnight" (at the end of the show). Garcia, knowing their audience, was on record as saying that using the stage as a platform for expressing his opinions was pretty close to perfect fascism, as the audience was (mostly) too stoned to resist the suggestions.

I like this one a lot. Good call. Kenny Wayne Shepard is the poor man's Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Nixon, for sure. After that I got nothin'.

I'm proud to call you a friend, you know.

I like this one, and I don't have the slightest idea why!

Bad Company is the poor man's Led Zeppelin America is the poor man's CSN Uriah Heep is the poor man's Deep Purple

Thanks for starting this thread, M ( !! The first time I heard Califone was through an old VC stalwart, Basil II. That was about 7-8 years ago. It was a revelation on par with the first time I heard Wilco. Since then I've managed to get nearly all their stuff, and they continue to amaze me. Bottom line - my favorite band at this point in time. Now....how am I going to get myself into one of these gigs? This is the kind of thing that occupies my mind.

Bill Bruford tops the list in Rock for me. Mr. H has a very fine list. I'd add Trilok Gurtu in there as well, Mike. I saw him play with McLaughlin and I was STUNNED.

I prefer the Beggar's "Sympathy" to the Ya-Ya's version as well, but it might end there when we're talking about that '69 tour. Both the '69 tour and to a slightly lesser extent the '72 tour are the best examples of why this band could legitimately claim the title (as mentioned at the beginning of Ya-Ya's) of "The Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band In The World". It's the perfect combination of professionalism and raw energy. For me, when I hear live versions of stuff like "Flash" or "Midnight Rambler" from that era (to name just a couple of examples) the energy is almost overwhelming to me. And I've

Keith Fucking Emerson. Christ, what is wrong with you people? He's the Jimi Hendrix of the Rock keys.

Michael Schenker!

As with the guitarist's poll, I'll start by saying Lesh is More, and then go from there. Mr. Christopher Russell Edward Squire Jack Bruce Rick Danko Greg Ridley JP Jones Geddy Entwistle Geezer First thoughts, and I can't even get started on Jazz on this one. Yet.

Jesus how could I have forgotten John Cippolina? I should punch myself in the face for that. And Trey Fucking Anastasio? I'm ashamed of myself. My God, I've followed that guy over half the damn country! And yeah, Lammy, Leo for sure. I guess I was thinking about Rock and Roll dudes. I gotta throw Betts in there, too. And Dharma. Jeez, this could go on all day.

I'm glad you said "Favorite" and not "The Best" cause these things are SO subjective. First off, can we just assume Jimi IS the best and get that out of the way? Well, obviously Jerry is my guy, then everybody else, which would include (no particular order): Robert Fripp Steve Howe John McLaughlin Jeff Beck Carlos Santana Tony Iommi Keith Richards Pete Townshend Terry Kath Mark Knopfler Frank Zappa I'm sure I'm missing a bunch there, those are off the top of my head.

No love for Diamond Dogs? I probably like Ziggy the most, but Dogs is pretty damn solid.

No Deer Creek. WTF.

^ Thanks for posting that, man! That's only 9 minutes but you get the idea. GOOD stuff.

I remember back when Harry Caray was recovering from an illness (heart attack? I don't recall right now) WGN had "guest announcers" for Cubs games until he returned. When Bill stepped into the booth one day and did the game it was the funniest shit I've ever heard at a baseball game. I WISH I would've taped that one. He did a fine job as HST in "Where The Buffalo Roam" as well.

I love David, too. I've seen the DNB a couple of dozen times. The most fun was probably in '02 when they played at my friend's bar in Charleston, SC. We went down from IN, stayed with with road crew, and had dinner with the whole band. I was able to hang and talk with David after dinner. What an interesting fellow. So I didn't come off as a fanboy I talked about everything BUT the music, Garcia, etc. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of The Civil War (HUGE buff), and comic books, among other things. One of the best nights of my life. My pleasure!

Have you heard the Phil shows with the David Nelson Band (7/2 & 7/3/99)? Man, I love those shows to death. Phil & Molo with DN, Mookie & BARRY FUCKING SLESS. They are truly awesome shows.

The Life & Times of Steve Marriott. Fantastic.