The Grateful Dead

[NoJ]

Donna should have slapped Keith around some and got him to shape up. His late 70s work was pathetic considering his earlier stuff.

[worldrecordplayer]

Keith was fantastic, the best keys in the Dead, those years he was on the baby grand. '72-74 particularly.  I think the band stopped using a real piano and he switched to the electric piano in the late '70's, and combined with his personal life issues, his sound and playing went downhill.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

But even when his sound and playing went downhill, he just became a non-factor. It never seemed prominent in the mix. At least not the shows I have heard. Maybe they turned him down?

Poor Jerry, on the other hand, was always on display, no matter how much he declined. The only time that changed was towards the end, when he is reported to have turned his guitar down himself.

[worldrecordplayer]

Speaking of Donna...Don't remember where I took this.

[calvino]

Speaking of Donna...Don't remember where I took this.

GD.jpg

 

That's a nice shot.

 

The closest I have ever been to the stage at a Dead show was about 30-40 rows back, and that was in a shed.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Wow, that is way cool. I never got anywhere near the stage...not even a floor seat.

[Lammycat]

The last year or so Keith was in the band he basically mimicked Garcia's riffs on keys. Got pretty annoying. I don't mind Donna save slaughtering certain parts of certain tunes with the banshee bullshit. Listened to a great late 70s Cassidy the other day and she really enhanced the tune nicely, as she was wont to do. At times.

 

Brent could do little-no wrong in my eyes. At the time and now. Love Keith's earlier sound but Brent was the kick in the ass the band needed at the time.

[mountain bed]

Donna is/was great, I dont mind her at all.

 

WIth Brent, the thing that annoyed me was the "tinkly tinkly" sound he used sometimes. I much prefered when he went with the B3 hammond sound.

Yeah, I dug Donna quite a bit, as I mentioned previously.

 

I liked Brent's "plinky" sound - very sharp attack with a quick decay. It really cuts through the mix nicely.

 

As far as Jerry's singing goes - when your throat is coated with cocaine and tobacco smoke it doesn't make for the sweetest sound. Some nights it was more of a croak! But one thing we can't argue: Jerry's PITCH was spot-on 95% of the time from about '70 on. He easily had the best pitch of anyone in that band.

[tongue-tied lightning]

just read about Jerry's 4 day coma in the book. I forgot about all that. He made an unreal recovery in 86'.

Merle Saunders helping teach Jerry how to play guitar again. Mountain Girl coming back and getting Jerry well again.

 

i agree Donna had her moments, and as long as Brent was on the B3 all was good.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Brent could do little-no wrong in my eyes. At the time and now. Love Keith's earlier sound but Brent was the kick in the ass the band needed at the time.

Can't argue with that. 

[worldrecordplayer]

As far as Jerry's singing goes - when your throat is coated with cocaine and tobacco smoke it doesn't make for the sweetest sound. Some nights it was more of a croak! But one thing we can't argue: Jerry's PITCH was spot-on 95% of the time from about '70 on. He easily had the best pitch of anyone in that band.

Jerry's singing was about the emotion in his voice, to me irregardless of the particular condition of the voice.  The man could bring me to tears with his ballads.  Warren's singing has a similar emotive impact.

[Shug]

Yeah, I'm with you, worldrecordplayer. One of the most impassioned vocal performances ever on Stella Blue was in Phoenix in '93 or '94 I forget which, but Jerry was really delivering the emotion in his admittedly croaky voice. Some of those bittersweet ballads really came to life in his twilight years. I think he was reflective and feeling it big time, probably with a pretty good idea of where he was in his life path at the time. So glad I got to be there for that one, it was intense and awesome.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

 

 

Tomorrow comes trouble

Tomorrow comes pain

Now don't think too hard, baby

'Cause you know what I'm saying

[mountain bed]

Jerry's singing was about the emotion in his voice, to me irregardless of the particular condition of the voice.  The man could bring me to tears with his ballads.  Warren's singing has a similar emotive impact.

I would agree. Warren might be the closest to delivering some of what Garcia's voice brought. I saw him do a Stella (as an encore!) with P&F once and it was just beautiful. He also could REALLY sing the shit out of some Brent tunes - Just a Little Light comes to mind. I never gave that tune much consideration when Brent sang it but it was tailor made for Warren's voice imo.

[Vacant Horizon]

Donna is/was great, I dont mind her at all.

 

WIth Brent, the thing that annoyed me was the "tinkly tinkly" sound he used sometimes. I much prefered when he went with the B3 hammond sound.

 

Yeah, something happened to Brent's Rhodes in after 81.  It sounded like a toy piano.  At least by 86 he had an actual piano sound.  I didn't mind his synth stuff either.  

 

Initially I really liked Donna.  A hippie girl in THE hippie band.  Come on!  I even used to like her songs on the studio albums.  Now, not so much.  She fits on some of the live stuff.  Where she really fit was in the studio as a harmony singer.  I absolutely love that sound they got with Jerry, Bob, Donna (Keith) singing together on all those mid 70s albums...Wake-Shakedown.  Amazing sound.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

She fits on some of the live stuff. Where she really fit was in the studio as a harmony singer. I absolutely love that sound they got with Jerry, Bob, Donna (Keith) singing together on all those mid 70s albums...Wake-Shakedown. Amazing sound.

Hell yeah! Her contributions on Reflections and Cats Under the Stars are stellar too.

I think Reflections was really one of the last great Dead albums. The whole band was on it, and pretty much every tune is a winner. Cats was more a Jerry solo album, with different players and a less Dead-ish feel. But it's hard to imagine the history of Dead shows without Might As Well, It Must Have Been the Roses or They Love Each Other.

[Vacant Horizon]

Hell yeah. Her contributions on Reflections and Cats Under the Stars are stellar too.

 

Yes!  I totally agree.  Love those albums.  Run for the Roses has its moments as well.  

 

Incidentally, anyone like any of Hunter's albums?  I've only heard a few tunes through the years.  

[Lammycat]

Promontory Rider is decent. As much as everyone knows how awesome the guy is as a songwriter, his vocals don't do much for me.

[calvino]

Promontory Rider is decent. As much as everyone knows how awesome the guy is as a songwriter, his vocals don't do much for me.

 

I agree about Hunter's live performance - not my cup of tea - though it was great being in the same room him.

Caught him a few times (Terrapin Station and once he opened up with Phil, I believe). His rendition of Mountains of the Moon was cool to hear, though.

 

I guess he is doing some shows again in the Northeast later on this year.  It is great that he still writing with various people, though he recent writings with Dylan haven't been either of their best stuff.

 

Also I wish he would blog again - his writings were always cool to read

[Mr. Heartbreak]

First time I ever heard Hunter, I thought, Okay, now I understand why he needs the Dead to play his songs.

Kudos to him for still having the balls to perform. At his best, he sounds like Oscar Brand.  

[Vacant Horizon]

Well, he writes good words, but his tunes are really pedestrian.  I know Jerry is all over his albums, so I just wondered if it's worth tracking them down.  From what I've heard, there's definitely a Dead vibe to the albums.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Well, he writes good words, but his tunes are really pedestrian.  I know Jerry is all over his albums, so I just wondered if it's worth tracking them down.  From what I've heard, there's definitely a Dead vibe to the albums.

Not so much, at least not in my opinion. The really interesting thing to track down is the full version of Terrapin on the LP Jack O'Roses. Even that is not something you'll likely want to hear much, but it's fascinating to hear all the other verses that didn't make it onto the Dead's version. Bonus points to Hunter for the phrase "ivory wheels on a rosewood track."

[tongue-tied lightning]

i finished reading the Jerry book, Dark Star. Good read. I forgot about Jerry lgetting into diving. He was quite a character. His relationships with Sara, MG, Manasha, Barbara & then lastly Deborah were all interesting. they lasted until he got bored it seemed.

 

to many cigarettes & candy. the diabetes took a huge toll after 1986.

[Lammycat]

One of the books on Garcia talks about how JG would usually send a manager to break up with his women for him.  Certainly pretty weak/lame, but indicative of his avoidance issues. For as awesome as the guy may have been he certainly had some asshole qualities (as his daughter frankly noted at his public memorial)....

[tongue-tied lightning]

ha, shitty father, great banjo player though