The Grateful Dead

[calvino]

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=516400

 

9.18 - 9.20 run is still seeding on bt.etree.

 

 

Just caught the last bit of the 9.19 Dark Star on XM. The whole "why don't you go home and Fuck somebody" is pretty classic. Especially how the "Get Together" song comes right back in.

[darkstar]

Damn....wish I had Sirius, 24 hours of Darkstars.....That's like dying and going to heaven.......

[Lammycat]

Acoustic '81 "Cassidy" from the Tom Snyder show...

http://gratefuldead.magnify.net/video/Grat...Cassidy-1981-05

[Analogman]

Link

 

Welcome back to the Tapers

[mountain bed]

Just like clockwork, every Monday around suppertime, comes Aman with This Week With The Grateful Dead. I can't tell you how much I always look forward to this.

 

As far as pure sound quality goes the 12/26/79 might be the best DP (imo). Just bee-yoo-tee-ful.

[Analogman]

Early in the evenin' just about supper time,

Over in the Grateful Dead thread they're starting to unwind. . .

[mountain bed]

[Analogman]

The Dead - Get Weirder

 

The Dead has released another video directly to its fans through YouTube. Much like a similar video issued last week, the uncredited clip is believed to be directed by longtime photographer Danny Clinch and features both interview and performance footage from the group

[Lammycat]

Excellent. Thanks A-man.

[Analogman]

I don't recall seeing these before - but I guess they are a couple of years old now - Phil and Ryan Adams:

 

1

2

3

[Analogman]

Link

 

December 29, 2008 - January 4, 2009

 

Welcome back to our continuing holiday editions of the Tapers

[mountain bed]

Yes, indeed, "The Nine" (as devotees of 12/29/77 call it) was a very powerful amazing show - enough to warrant DP status - #10 I think. Quoting Micheal Nash here:

 

"As the music ebbed to a near standstill, Garcia (in a manner I recall as being decidedly dramatic) stepped from the shadows and hit the opening riff of "China Cat" (the first version since October 1974), whereupon the crowd erupted in a thunderous ovation. As Weir added his figure, the roar just grew more jubilant - one of those great occasions with everyone utterly caught up in the moment and attentive to all its implications. Garcia's solos crackled with huge notes that sung of big intent. The subsequent jam delivered and then some, cooking from one note, the guitarists riding some wild wave whose size seemed to swell in exponential leaps. The passage ultimately peaked with incredible energy, and as if it could no longer be sustained, dropped into the hook to begin "I Know You Rider", where it suddenly sounded stuck, as if the band wanted to continue jamming but had overwhelmed itself in the very act. It was hard to explain, but the feeling was near-tragic, the music almost stopping before going into "Rider" and the vocals off to a sheepish beginning. You kinda had to be there, but it was painful, if only for a few moments".

 

I would imagine the roar from the China>Rider breakout was only exceeded by the one from that 12/31/78 show when the "1535 (or whatever it was) Days Since Last SF Dark Star" banner went flying off the balcony.

[Analogman]

Check out this photo from the recent Black Crowes Fillmore show:

[mountain bed]

Nice to see The Professor sitting in with those guys. Christ, that's a weird looking bass.

[Analogman]

Video news report about the closing of the Winterland.

 

The 12/31/1978 Grateful Dead show (Wolfgang's Vault link).

 

 

Amazon has a bunch of copies of The Deadhead's Taping Compendium (Volume 1) for 39 bucks.

 

I just picked up the second volume - from someone in my own state. Far out.

[mountain bed]

Video news report about the closing of the Winterland.

 

The 12/31/1978 Grateful Dead show (Wolfgang's Vault link).

 

 

Amazon has a bunch of copies of The Deadhead's Taping Compendium (Volume 1) for 39 bucks.

 

I just picked up the second volume - from someone in my own state. Far out.

Excellent! As I recall there are nice reviews of both the '78 and '83 WV shows.

 

NYE has been my favorite holiday for a long time - probably a direct result of being a lifelong Deadhead. I remember rushing home from parties in '85 & '87 so I could VHS tape the NYE show. One of my great regrets is I never saw a NYE show in person.

[NightOfJoy]

Here's a NYE story posted on another site........

 

"It is December 31st, 1988, and still I have no ticket for tonight's New

Year's Eve Grateful Dead show, the final night of an abbreviated

three-night run.

 

Having figured that two shows are better than none, I hopped in the

communal Ford van and (after a detour to a hot tub in Eugene, Oregon) came

down from Seattle for the festivities of the 28th and 29th. One of the

guys who came down with us (RIP, Daniel) had an extra New Year's Eve

ticket, but he seemed intent on bartering it in exchange for as much money

as possible. I had since relegated myself to the possibility of a New

Year's Eve spent dancing outside while cleaning up bottles and cans in a

vast asphalt jungle.

 

 

Another of my friends, though, found me in the parking lot of the Oakland

Coliseum on the afternoon of the 31st and told me that not only had she

gotten on the Bill Graham Presents list to work inside the show, and that

she would be getting hourly pay for her services, but she was told they

still needed more volunteer staff. I went next door to the baseball

stadium to call the BGP offices; the pay phone happened to be located

right next to an intense and very loud drum circle, so I was barely able

to hear that no one who could help me was left in the office -- which I

should've known, since after all it was just a few hours before showtime

on the last day of the year.

 

 

My friend and I decided I might as well go with her to where the staff

checks in, just to see if someone there could, uh ... help. My friend was

able to walk right in when her name was found on "the list," while I

waited outside to see what sort of talking she could do. More heads

walked up, gave their name, walked in, while I stood there waiting for

something, I wasn't sure exactly what. The wind seemed especially cold --

I felt that I was having my blood put on ice as punishment for even trying

such a dumb stunt.

 

 

The woman with the list asked my name again, checked her walkie-talkie --

nothing came through. Which struck her as odd, since -something- should

have come through on her radio. She found a co-worker with a radio that

worked, spoke my name into it, listened...walked over to me...and said I

should go in through that door there, find this particular person, make

sure of what task I'd be doing so there would be no misunderstandings.

 

 

And I walked into the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena for New Year's

Eve with the Grateful Dead.

 

 

I found the BGP staffer who had allowed me in. At this point years later,

I must admit I'm immune to the name-dropping bug since I truly and

unfortunately cannot remember her name. Her hair was decorated with a

crown of Babys Breath, and she seemed to be directing a dozen people in

person and another dozen over the radio while simply standing there. She

repeated my name to me, I verified it, she looked directly at me and said:

"Listen: your name wasn't on the list. But we could use some help

tonight, so we're going to take the chance." The responsibility delegated

from her eyes to mine was inescapable. I was handed a staff shirt and

seemed to mostly stand still watching the BGP regulars do their thing,

when we were summoned en masse for a pre-show pep talk from Bill Graham.

 

 

He was wearing street clothes, just like the band and the thousands of

attendees usually do. No giveaway of any midnight stunt Father Time had

planned for tonight. His fondness for this particular evening of all,

however, was obvious. New Year's Eve meant that there would be a lot of

people pushing themselves even further than they usually do, he said, and

that meant they would occasionally need a little extra help from us.

Just a nudge to get them going in the right direction is all that's

needed, he told us. Just a little nudge is all.

 

 

He knew, and we knew, and they knew even in their altered state, that the

way to keep things running smoothly on a night like tonight was to just

gently point the way, no need to make a scene, keep it cool and it'll be

cool. He mentioned that tonight of all nights was indeed something

special, requiring a special sort of attention from all of us, and his

fondness became our fondness. It was quite different from any other

experience I'd had with him, and was exactly what I had long suspected was

under the rough all-business exterior.

 

 

I was then plopped down at the rear of the floor to be a perimeter guard

for the volleyball game on the main floor behind the soundboard. This is

surely what his speech must have been about, for after all this time there

still were people coming to New Year's Eve shows spaced out of their gourd

and not realizing they were actually walking into the middle of a

volleyball tournament and about to get plonked on the head. My job was to

prevent them from getting plonked on the head, which I usually did by

rudely interrupting conversations from out of nowhere and reminding people

to look up. No need to push, just let them know to be aware and they'll

(usually) take care of the rest for themselves :-)

 

 

Closer to show time, I was moved to a spot dead center on the floor just

to the left of the soundboard, and handed a straight pin for the purpose

of popping stray balloons that might land on the work area at the board.

Between sets, a head in the crowd who was interviewing attendees spotted

my staff shirt and asked me what Bill Graham had planned for the stroke of

midnight. I could do nothing but smile and truthfully tell him I had

absolutely no idea whatsoever.

 

 

As the lights went down for the second set, a BGP staffer came rushing

through the crowd holding bottles of champagne and plastic cups. He

stopped in front of me, juggled a cup my way, aimed some champagne at it,

and continued on his way to hand a toast to the next volunteer worker he

could find. Nice touch by the BGPers to just nudge things along. :-)

 

 

As midnight arrived, I toasted Father Time, bearded and dressed in starry

blue, as he floated directly above me, standing atop a giant mirrored

ball, throwing roses down to the crowd. Never had such a good time...

 

 

After the show, I couldn't resist wandering through the building (I love

me some staff shirt!) to see what could be seen. I found a small lounge

with an afterparty in full swing, the "house band" not even starting their

set until 3 AM. I settled in at a table, and noticed that a couple of

tables away was seated Jerome John Garcia, with several lovely women

seated around him and a line of well-wishers streaming toward his table.

Not wanting to babble my way into stupidity, I refrained from hounding him

at his seat. As he got up to leave the room, however, I decided it

wouldn't be so bad if I just happened to be at the exit at the same time

he was.

 

 

I headed for the door and encountered a group of heads who figured they at

least didn't have anything to lose. One of them pulled out a camera as

the others surrounded Jerry and posed for the imminent photo. I stood off

to the side watching, and saw a goofy "aw, shucks" grin cover Jerry's

face. He seemed to look my way, as if to ask "Why me?" I looked back as

if to say, "Because you're Jerry, that's why." The bunch of them smiled.

The camera flashed. The heads wandered off to wherever they were going,

and the man in black continued on to wherever he was going, which at that

moment happened to be straight towards me.

 

 

Surely I had rehearsed a moment like this in my mind a thousand times

before.

 

 

But I could only keep smiling even more and, at 4:30 AM on New Years Day

1989, the only thing I could think of to say to Jerry Garcia, the only

other person around for a hundred feet, was:

 

 

"Happy New Year!"

 

 

"Same to you!" he shot back, still holding that smile, and he walked on

past me to whatever car or party or loved one awaited him next.

 

 

Suddenly unable to think of any pressing reason to stay inside the

building, I went back out to the parking lot, to a portal of the stadium,

where a small barrel fire was keeping happy heads warm and huddled in the

earliest pre-dawn hours of the new year.

 

 

It's one of those classic cases where I've come up with a better response

now that I've had a few years to think about it. If I had the chance, I

might say, "Hey, Jer, listen: I really want to thank you not only for what

you do, but for your determination to enjoy doing it. I've loved taking

part in it too, and it's good to see that you enjoy making it happen as

much as we do. The fact that you found something you like doing, and made

it into a way of living, helps inspire me and a bunch of other people to

realize that we can find something of our own that we like doing, and to

make a life for ourselves out of it as well."

 

 

I'll never again have a chance to see him that close in person. So I

don't know how he'd respond, although even if it were 4:30 in the morning

I'm pretty sure he'd have more to say than "same to you!"

 

 

Happy New Year, Jer. Miss ya.

 

 

And Happy New Year to you, Uncle Bobo, wherever you are."

[Analogman]

Weir, Lesh and Lane

 

Bob Weir and Phil Lesh reunited last night at San Francisco

[calvino]

Going through the Grateful Dead 365 book by Holly George-Warren, that I got for Christmas. Basically a picture book. It has some great shots that I have not seen before. To mention a few: from the Fillmore East, Pigpen sitting in with the Allmans and one from the 1970 run where Mick Fleetwood is on stage clapping along. Also some paintings of the band members by Stanley Mouse and lots of crowd/fan shots that are always interesting. May be worth checking out if you are interested in snap shots like me.

 

The same publisher who put this put this book out, put out one for the Stones a few years back, that also has some excellent shots.

[Analogman]

There is at least one photo in the first volume of the taper's book that shows them, The Allman Brothers, and Fleetwood Mac all on stage together. Must be from the same run - that would have been cool to see.

[Analogman]

Source

 

Happy New Year, everybody!! Hope and change are in the air! So what better way to kick off 2009 than to confirm what

[mountain bed]

May 7 in Denver....I swear that Lammy is one lucky guy. Nothing near me though.

[Lammycat]

I won't bitch about it being at the Pepsi Center, though, even if I'd like to.....

 

WSP just finished up there and I may have gone except that....it's the Pepsi Center!

 

I don't think that's the complete itinerary yet either, bro. So I'm sure you'll catch shit close to you....

[calvino]

I thought the same thing when I saw they will be playing Allstate Arena (Rosemont Horizon)...

 

Haven't seen a show there since the 94 Dead run and the sound was pretty bad (not to mention their playing was not that steller either.) I heard they updated things (the neil young show this past month was supposed to of sounded good). I must admit I'm pretty excited, haven't seem them all play together since the Terrapin Shows at Alpine.

[mountain bed]

Yep - Rosemont gets my vote as the shittiest place I ever saw the band. Saw em there in '88 and boycotted that place forever after that.