The Grateful Dead

[mountain bed]

Jer as we knew him.  A full song preview of Sugaree from Monday's Meet Up at the Movies.

 

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/124912/Previously-Unreleased-Video-Grateful-Dead-Sugaree-1989

Yeah, I remember that Sugaree: standing on a muddy slope, soaked to the bone. The Big Guy belts out, "Ya know in spite of all you've gained you still gotta stand out in the pouring rain". REAL funny, Garcia. A funny , very memorable moment for me.

[jw harding]

Missed Trey sitting in with Phil's son last night at the crab shack by half hour. Bummer. Cool place though. Staying around the corner from the old Front St rehearsal space. A sketchier less cartoony version of the Shakedown St album cover.

[i'm only sleeping]

Enjoying Phil & Friends, 4-22-15, including Bill Frisell. Very jazzy and intimate performance. And Phil sings rather well, to my surprise.

 

Check it out: https://soundcloud.com/quinfolk/sets/txr-frisell

[Vacant Horizon]

Enjoying Phil & Friends, 4-22-15, including Bill Frisell. Very jazzy and intimate performance. And Phil sings rather well, to my surprise.

 

Check it out: https://soundcloud.com/quinfolk/sets/txr-frisell

 

Thanks!  Been meaning to look for this.  Can't wait to listen.  I'd love to see Frisell sit in with the Dead. 

[i'm only sleeping]

An interview with Bill

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/grateful-deads-drummer-pens-a-memoir-1430236048

 

Quote:

You can see by looking at Apple and Microsoft which one took acid.

[Fritz]

Enjoying Phil & Friends, 4-22-15, including Bill Frisell. Very jazzy and intimate performance. And Phil sings rather well, to my surprise.

 

Check it out: https://soundcloud.com/quinfolk/sets/txr-frisell

 

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

[worldrecordplayer]

Anyone go to the Movie last night?  I wanted to but couldn't make it.

[Lammycat]

Nope, but suitably it was raining pretty hard around here during the 7 p.m. start time....

[calvino]

Ha -  the rain held off to after I got home last night.

 

It was fun --- a great mix of people - age wise. Decent crowd. Many danced, smoked and drank - it was fun. It would have made for a great setting for a vaporizer commercial.

 

The video wasn't much better than the boot I had for years - except it didn't have the annoying audio drop-in's between songs that both my boot video and audio tapes have.

I once heard that the audio was Healy - not sure if that's the case though.

 

Great show by Jerry --- both Phil and Brent seemed a bit subdued, though, esp. Brent. Weir was on, too.

[Winston Legthigh]

So, over the past year or so, after starting with Europe 72, and then Live/Dead, I've added a substantial amount of shows to my collection, and have really been enjoying the exploration. I've especially enjoyed the 72-74 and 77 eras the most. My only experience with seeing the Dead in person were at Alpine Valley during the summers of 88 and 89, but I don't recall much of either run of shows. 

 

So, the other day I dug out my old copy of Without a Net, to get a sense of the late 80s/early 90s sound. I didn't get far, because I didn't really enjoy it at all. I thought Brent's keyboard sounds were 1) really cheesy / fake sounding, and 2) way too loud in the mix, and it ruined the sound of the whole band for me. His muppety voice was fine in harmonies though. 

 

So, I guess that means I'll stick to the 70s? (which I can't get enough of, Donna be damned. Actually, she doesn't bother me that much, even her yay-yay-yayuhs during Playing with the Band).

 

I was thinking of picking up Wake Up to Find Out, but now I'm pausing on it... I just don't think the set-lists from that era are that interesting - but maybe I just mean that towards the "newer" songs. 

 

Any comments you all have on that era? I know that Bob Weir thinks it was one of their strongest, as far as band synergy goes...

[calvino]

I haven't heard the actual official release of Wake Up to Find Out -- but Brent may be tempered in the mix a bit more then he is on Without a Net ---- I believe Without A Net was a bit of a tribute to Brent -- at least it was dedicated to him -- which may explain his prominence in the Without the Net mix.  I always have enjoyed Without a Net, though.

[Lammycat]

I agree with Bob Weir. If you were listening to early 1990s (anything after summer 90 onward), it was Vince Welnick's cheesy-sounding keys you heard, not Brent (Brent died in summer of 90). It's one of the cleanest-sounding and tightest-sounding in the band's history, imo ('87-'90). This doesn't necessarily make it "THE BEST" era, but it's one of my favorites as the playing was so tight, Gracia's voice was solid, the band was apparently having a lot of fun on stage, lots of old-school bust-outs, etc., etc. 

[worldrecordplayer]

I give Wake Up to Find Out a very strong recommendation.  That Branford second set is magical, about as good a representation of the Dead as you'll find. 

 

I find the 87-90 period to be another peak GD period. I thought the band was hitting on all cylinders.  Set 2 of MSG 1987-09-18 is another treasured set, a "must-have" in my book.  Let me know if you want me to hook you up with that one.

 

Fall of '90-91 had Bruce to offset the cheesiness of Vince's toy sound, and I saw a lot of tremendous shows during the Bruce era.

 

But I agree, nothing tops '72-74 and then '77 in my book.  Got to see a bunch of those shows.

[calvino]

I bought the 1st Spring 90 box set - but still haven't pulled the trigger on the larger 2nd Spring 90 Box.

 

Only 500 or left -- hoping it will sell out, soon - so I won't be tempted.

 

I wonder if they are waiting for the 2nd Spring 90 set to sell out, before they announce their next one?

[Winston Legthigh]

 If you were listening to early 1990s (anything after summer 90 onward), it was Vince Welnick's cheesy-sounding keys you heard, not Brent (Brent died in summer of 90).  

 

I'm specifically referring to the first two songs on Without a Net, (Feels like a Stranger, and Mississippi Uptown Toodle-oo) which definitely features Brent.

[Winston Legthigh]

The Palladium channel has been showing The Grateful Dead movie lately, which I had never seen, so I DVR'd it and watched it in spurts over the weekend. 

 

Loved it, especially all the fan stuff. That kind of time-capsule stuff is priceless. 

 

What was with the guy who was constantly launching fireballs behind Keith's piano? That made me laugh, but it reminded me of the guy in the "coke-deal-gone-bad" scene from Boogie Nights - the guy who kept lighting firecrackers...

[jw harding]

I never cared much for Brent or the Dead in the 80's in general. Generally stick with the 70's, then the shows with Bruce in 90 and 91. Lots of great stuff in the 60's of course, but I find the need to be in the right head space to appreciate it. Not good while doing the dishes.

[Winston Legthigh]

I never cared much for Brent or the Dead in the 80's in general. Generally stick with the 70's, then the shows with Bruce in 90 and 91. Lots of great stuff in the 60's of course, but I find the need to be in the right head space to appreciate it. Not good while doing the dishes.

Ha - grilling and kitchen duties are my prime Dead time. My wife recently has a requested a moratorium on the Dead though. But our two-year old loves when she does her "hippy dance" when Scarlet Begonias or Eyes of the World comes on. 

 

The 60s stuff is a little too greasy for dishes, so to speak. The missus tolerates that era the least. 

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I think YMMV, depending on what you like/what bothers you, etc., etc.

 

I know many people love the Marsalis material, and there are arguments to be made for Brent vs. Vince and so on. For myself, I still gravitate almost exclusively to late 60s, 70s, and very early 80s Dead. For a couple reasons.

 

1) Jerry's voice - Not to start a debate, but I find that Jerry's Persian-related decline (and smoking didn't help) really makes him hit or miss from '78 on. Even early- to mid-80s shows are often intolerable for me due to the "froggy Jerry" phenomenon. By the late 80s, recovery or no recovery, his voice was pretty much shot to shit, IMHO. I have a copy of the Long Island Sound shows, and have had a copy of the one I attended for years, but I almost never listen to any Jerry vocals from that period on. Can't stand them. And I have tried...and tried.

 

2) Jerry's playing - Of COURSE Jerry's playing suffered tremendously after he got into heavier drugs. People often refer me to a link for an '84 Scarlet > Fire, and my response when I check it out is inevitably the same: "Wow, this really sucks compared to just about any 70s version of this classic pairing." Muffed vocals, missed verses, plus a really horrendous sounding voice. The guitar playing is often noodly and overbearing in its wankery. And this is JERRY we're talking about here. Drugs will fuck you up. Do you really prefer a 17-minute Sugaree, in which Jerry plays the same "crescendo" over and over and over, to a nice crisp '72 version? I know some people do. I sure don't.

 

3) Vince - There are things to hate about Brent - the tinkly cheesoid keyboards that made Touch of Grey a hit, for one - but his Hammond playing and excellent harmony vocals charged Jerry up often, and even some of his own compositions are not bad at all. Then comes Vince. Holy crap, what were they thinking? By the time he joined the Dead, Vince sucked. His keyboard playing was terrible and his vocals are not even worth criticizing.

 

4) Bobby's ascendance - Yeah, I know, Bobby said he "carried Jerry" during the 90s (uh, more like "carried his dope"), but is that really a good thing? Don't get me wrong, I love Bobby as a rhythm player (well, after the 60s anyway). And as a singer (well, after the 60s anyway...with the exception of the pterodactyl squawks in Estimated). But if you want me to choose between Jerry and Bobby, it's not even close. Bye, Bob. Okay, okay, there are some GREAT Bobby moments in the 80s and 90s (Throwing Stones, Desolation Row), but then there is also some real dreck (Picasso Moon, anyone? Oh, you like that one? How about the slide in Little Red Rooster? Okay, then).

 

5) Mickey - Wow, do I ever love that whole period in the band when it was Billy all by himself on the drums. Just saying.

 

6) Drums > Space - Some of you guys actually listen to these, huh? More than once! Amazing. Enjoy!

 

So, sure, there are plenty of great moments in the 80s and 90s. I never saw a show pre-1982 myself. But I wish I had. And when it comes to things like the new Dave's Pick - which is really NOT a Jerry-centric show, as it only has 6 Jerry tunes in the main set - I would much rather listen to something like that for the first time than, say, a newly-unearthed 1994 show. If you are enjoying '72-'74 and '77 the most, it's probably because of any or all of the above factors. Or some others. Maybe it just means you are picky, like me.

[mountain bed]

In my experience there are very few shows from ANY era where the band is totally ON the whole night. '77 probably comes closest, and that's not even my favorite year. Once you involve yourself in this thing it's very much like panning for gold - in some shows there's a set, or a string of songs, or a song, or even just a piece of a song - maybe just a minute or a few seconds(!) where you hear and it go, "DAMN, that's IT!" That's what makes this what it is for me.

 

Here's an example:I was listening to 9/18/90 MSG the other day. It was ok, certainly nice enough. Then To Lay Me Down comes on, and at the end Garcia does a Van Morrison-style vocal rave-up, and it just made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I'd never heard him take this lovely song into this place, and I'm sure anyone who was there was left dumbstruck. Maybe he was singing his heart out for the recent loss of Brent, I don't know. But it's sure worth a listen.

[mountain bed]

Hey, if anyone gets the word on when the next box is coming out, please post it up asap. I'm not seeing anything yet.

[Analogman]

I wonder what David was hinting about in the last video? I noticed he said something along the lines of "I can't believe we are going to put the whole thing out."  

[Lammycat]

 

 

Here's an example:I was listening to 9/18/90 MSG the other day. It was ok, certainly nice enough. Then To Lay Me Down comes on, and at the end Garcia does a Van Morrison-style vocal rave-up, and it just made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I'd never heard him take this lovely song into this place, and I'm sure anyone who was there was left dumbstruck. Maybe he was singing his heart out for the recent loss of Brent, I don't know. But it's sure worth a listen.

Not for nothing, but that's one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, versions of To Lay Me Down. You struck gold putting that show with that version on....

[calvino]

Parts of that run was released as a Road Trip -- that To Lay Me Down is on the bonus disc. It's a good one.

 

Not sure what the next box will be, lot's of rumors of course. The recently found Betty Boards would be nice - a few shows spanning a decade so, might be cool.

 

Road Trips: Vol 2, Number 1: Madison Square Garden: September 1990: Bonus CD Grateful DeadInitial release : 2008

Grateful Dead / Rhino

 

A single CD of live music from the September 18, 1990 show at Madison Square Gardens. This bonus CD was distributed with early ordered copies of the Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 1 double CD set.

 

 

• Mississippi Half Step
• Picasso Moon
• To Lay Me Down
• Eyes of The World >
• Estimated Prophet >
• Foolish Heart >
• Jam

[mountain bed]

I wonder what David was hinting about in the last video? I noticed he said something along the lines of "I can't believe we are going to put the whole thing out."  

I have my wish list. A 30 year Anniversary of Summer '85 would be nice!

Not for nothing, but that's one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, versions of To Lay Me Down. You struck gold putting that show with that version on....

Yeah, it's just in between average to above average versions of regular rotation tunes. For my money the 9/20 2nd set is the highlight of the run.