The Grateful Dead

[jw harding]

That run of albums from Anthem of the Sun > Europe 72 holds up pretty well against any other bands string of albums. A few of the 7 albums released were live albums, so the Dead don't seem to get as much credit. But like we said, a lot of songs made their debuts on those albums, and the Dead were not a studio band, so the normal rules don't really apply. I guess Aoxomoxoa is the one weak spot, but it has some great tunes even if it didn't come across in the recording. 

[Winston Legthigh]

That run of albums from Anthem of the Sun > Europe 72 holds up pretty well against any other bands string of albums. A few of the 7 albums released were live albums, so the Dead don't seem to get as much credit. But like we said, a lot of songs made their debuts on those albums, and the Dead were not a studio band, so the normal rules don't really apply. I guess Aoxomoxoa is the one weak spot, but it has some great tunes even if it didn't come across in the recording. 

The only studio albums that I've listened to are Working Man's Dead, American Beauty, and Terrapin Station. I never really go back to their studio output, since the live stuff is where it's at, and unlike pretty much every other band, there's so much out there to get into. 

[i'm only sleeping]

new cowboy songs project by Bobby

 

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/125951/Bob-Weir-Prepping-Album-Of-Cowboy-Songs

[Mr. Heartbreak]

The only studio albums that I've listened to are Working Man's Dead, American Beauty, and Terrapin Station. I never really go back to their studio output, since the live stuff is where it's at, and unlike pretty much every other band, there's so much out there to get into.

I'm a fan of the much-maligned Shakedown Street. There are great live versions of some of the songs, but not many have just-exactly-perfect vocals. I especially love Jerry's icy vocal sound on Fire on the Mountain. Lowell George was the producer, and the reissue has some nice bonus tracks, including Lowell singing lead on Good Lovin', so it's well worth the money.

[Vacant Horizon]

This cowboy album sounds interesting.  I'd really like to see a new Ratdog studio album or some sort of compilation of the new tunes Furthur did.  Anyone know any good copies of Colors of Rain etc.?  

[worldrecordplayer]

The only studio albums that I've listened to are Working Man's Dead, American Beauty, and Terrapin Station. I never really go back to their studio output, since the live stuff is where it's at, and unlike pretty much every other band, there's so much out there to get into.

You have to add Garcia and Ace to that list of studio albums to listen to. And definitely Wake, side 2 of which became my favorite single side of any GD studio release a year or 2 ago when I got the MOFI vinyl. Funny how everyone considered that album "weak" at the time it came out.

 

 

 

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[mountain bed]

Blues For Allah is easily my favorite studio LP. It's really unique among GD albums. They went to the studio with no material, no songs written at all, and they were under no economic pressure to deliver the record on a deadline. They took their sweet time and let things develop organically with everybody contributing ideas. The title track is one of the weirdest things they ever done - totally non-commercial. But everything on the record is first-rate: Help>Slip>Frank, Music, Crazy Fingers. And I love Bobby's pastoral interlude Sage & Spirit as well. 

[Winston Legthigh]

I will definitely check out Garcia and Ace, and Blues for Allah. One from the Vault is one of my favorites, so it will be interesting to hear the studio versions. 

[calvino]

The new book So Many Roads has a great passage on the recording of Blue for Allah - great book over all.

[Shug]

I think Ace is the best studio album from the Dead.  Its essentially a Grateful Dead album of all Bobby songs, because the Dead were the band.  "Talking about Ace in an interview in the early 1980′s Weir said: “That was a Grateful Dead record, as far as I’m concerned. And I don’t do that material with my side groups. ….. It was all me singing, all my songwriting. I started by using a couple of different musicians, and it just settled in to being a Grateful Dead record right quick". 

 

I think it rides the razor-thin line between live inspired performance and studio precision/perfection better than any other Dead studio album.  Playin' In The Band is probably the best example of what I'm talking about. I just love how its both concise and focused yet spacey and jamming at the same time and the sound is so wonderfully clean.  I know the reasons why people love American Beauty and Working Man's Dead, and while I also think the songwriting was at a definite peak then, I think most of the performances lack just a bit of that live energy that makes them crackle (except for Easy Wind and maybe New Speedway Boogie)

 

I like  the traditional songs half of Garcia (I assume you are talking about his first solo album with Sugaree, Bird Song, The Wheel, To Lay Me Down, Loser and Deal on it) but too many instrumental soundscapes detract from it, IMO.  Too bad he didn't record studio versions of a few more originals from that time period that never got released.  He's Gone and Ramble On Rose would've fit nicely, I think.

 

I'm also a fan of Shakedown Street, it just sounds great and its pretty high energy intense, too.  I love that version of Good Lovin' and I Need A Miracle.

 

I also second Wake Of The Flood. Stella Blue is fantastic on there as is Eyes and Let It Grow!

 

Some may not prefer the time period or the lineup, but the way they recorded In The Dark live on stage in an actual venue without an audience resulted in another very good studio album, I think.  I happen to like most of those songs a lot, so that sways my opinion of that record.  Check out this jam from the 1987 sessions for the So Far video  https://youtu.be/5fjZS6GqbwA?list=PLy410m9tOby7UdZ_6Oiv4nKRfksvnLn5l

[worldrecordplayer]

I agree, In the Dark is an excellent release, the live performance recording has energy to the playing. In his book, Billy wrote he didn't understand why they didn't record the next one the same way. Don't share your view of Shakedown as an album.

 

 

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[mountain bed]

I think Ace is the best studio album from the Dead.  Its essentially a Grateful Dead album of all Bobby songs, because the Dead were the band.  "Talking about Ace in an interview in the early 1980′s Weir said: “That was a Grateful Dead record, as far as I’m concerned. And I don’t do that material with my side groups. ….. It was all me singing, all my songwriting. I started by using a couple of different musicians, and it just settled in to being a Grateful Dead record right quick". 

 

I think it rides the razor-thin line between live inspired performance and studio precision/perfection better than any other Dead studio album.  Playin' In The Band is probably the best example of what I'm talking about. I just love how its both concise and focused yet spacey and jamming at the same time and the sound is so wonderfully clean.  I know the reasons why people love American Beauty and Working Man's Dead, and while I also think the songwriting was at a definite peak then, I think most of the performances lack just a bit of that live energy that makes them crackle (except for Easy Wind and maybe New Speedway Boogie)

 

I like  the traditional songs half of Garcia (I assume you are talking about his first solo album with Sugaree, Bird Song, The Wheel, To Lay Me Down, Loser and Deal on it) but too many instrumental soundscapes detract from it, IMO.  Too bad he didn't record studio versions of a few more originals from that time period that never got released.  He's Gone and Ramble On Rose would've fit nicely, I think.

 

I'm also a fan of Shakedown Street, it just sounds great and its pretty high energy intense, too.  I love that version of Good Lovin' and I Need A Miracle.

 

I also second Wake Of The Flood. Stella Blue is fantastic on there as is Eyes and Let It Grow!

 

Some may not prefer the time period or the lineup, but the way they recorded In The Dark live on stage in an actual venue without an audience resulted in another very good studio album, I think.  I happen to like most of those songs a lot, so that sways my opinion of that record.  Check out this jam from the 1987 sessions for the So Far video  https://youtu.be/5fjZS6GqbwA?list=PLy410m9tOby7UdZ_6Oiv4nKRfksvnLn5l

Nice post, Shug. I agree that the Playin is the closest they ever got to live in a studio setting. I heard the Skullfuck version first, then not long after heard the Ace version. WOW, that song grew hair fairly quickly. 

 

I think it's amazing that during Europe in '72 Playin was hovering around 9-10 minutes (pretty close to the LP length) then on the last night of the tour it goes REALLY out, about 18 minutes. When they reconvened during the Summer  all of a sudden it was a titanic monster that was at LEAST 18 minutes, leading up to 30 minutes in Oklahoma City in November.

 

If I would have heard Playin at every single show I saw I would not have complained ever. I love Playin that much. It is THE Weir song of choice for me, no question. 

[Skian]

Happy Birthday! Jerry.

Your friends are still playing some good music.

Hope you can hear.

[i'm only sleeping]

Happy Birthday! Jerry.

Your friends are still playing some good music.

Hope you can hear.

     

[i'm only sleeping]

^Now starting hearing Dave's Picks 15. Bertha  always puts me in a great mood and this version sounds great 

[Winston Legthigh]

^Now starting hearing Dave's Picks 15. Bertha  always puts me in a great mood and this version sounds great 

Got mine today too. Going to listen later tonight.

 

When I started burning the CD into my computer, the first disc was labeled: Nashville Crashville Charlie Brown!

 

Tennessee Jed was labeled Tennessee Fred, and Deal was labeled Deal (Burn your little ears off!)

 

Funny.

[calvino]

That is pretty funny - got mine today, too.

[mountain bed]

Haven't got mine yet, and I'm a bit nervous. The email saying it had been shipped was Tuesday. 

[winterland121072]

I'm in jackson hole with family for vacation and can't believe the number of deadhead stickers everywhere...

[Shug]

After many hours of listening and researching the opinions of many on archive.org and headyversion.com and my memory of past listening, I just finished compiling a 1973 composite show for my listening parties.  I love the "we-just-landed-on-Pluto"  alien/prehistoric meltdown jams and the Dark Stars from '73, but not everybody can get into that at a party (especially if your guests are not dosed), so I left off some of my favorite jams from that year (Playin>meltdown>Mind Left Body>He's Gone>Truckin' from 12-2-73 or Dark Star from 11-11-73, etc).  Here's what I came up with for strong performances, also taking into consideration sound quality.  In general, I like high energy intense ensemble playing over sweet, pretty and mellow, but I tried to come up with at least a little balance in that sense. I can't believe how hot that Big River is, but how sweet is that Row Jimmy?  I leaned pretty heavily on November and December for good reason, they were peaking then, although there was some really good stuff in Feb and March that year, too, and also in May and June. As always, I'm interested in what people here would pick or not pick in a similar kind of project because I know many of you have a lot of listening time and knowledge.

 

Here Comes Sunshine                   12-19-73 Tampa

Big River                                        12-19-73 Tampa

Big Railroad Blues                          12-19-73 Tampa

Jack Straw                                       2-9-73 Stanford

Loose Lucy                                     11-11-73 Winterland

Mexicali Blues                                 11-17-73 UCLA

Tennessee Jed                                11-17-73 UCLA

You Ain’t Woman Enough                2-15-73 Madison, WI

Cumberland Blues                           11-14-73 San Diego

The Race Is On                               11-17-73 UCLA

Row Jimmy                                       11-17-73 UCLA                                                                                                                         Playin’ In The Band                         12-19-73 Tampa

Weather Report Suite                    12-18-73 Tampa

China Cat Sunflower>                     2-9-73 Stanford

I Know You Rider                             2-9-73 Stanford

 

Mississippi Half Step                       12-2-73 Boston

Beat It On Down The Line              12-2-73 Boston

They Love Each Other                    5-26-73 San Francisco

He’s Gone>                                     5-26-73 San Francisco

Truckin’>                                          5-26-73 San Francisco

The Other One                                5-26-73 San Francisco

Eyes Of The World>                       10-29-73 St. Louis

China Doll                                       10-29-73 St. Louis

Morning Dew                                   12-2-73 Boston

Sugar Magnolia                               11-11-73 Winterland

 

Johnny B Goode                              3-24-73 Philadelphia

 

Sing Me Back Home                         3-24-73 Philadelphia

[Oil Can Boyd]

 

China Cat Sunflower>                     2-9-73 Stanford

I Know You Rider                             2-9-73 Stanford

I'm a big fan of China Cat > I Know You Rider and this is one of my absolute favorites.

[Atticus]

After many hours of listening and researching the opinions of many on archive.org and headyversion.com and my memory of past listening, I just finished compiling a 1973 composite show for my listening parties. I love the "we-just-landed-on-Pluto" alien/prehistoric meltdown jams and the Dark Stars from '73, but not everybody can get into that at a party (especially if your guests are not dosed), so I left off some of my favorite jams from that year (Playin>meltdown>Mind Left Body>He's Gone>Truckin' from 12-2-73 or Dark Star from 11-11-73, etc). Here's what I came up with for strong performances, also taking into consideration sound quality. In general, I like high energy intense ensemble playing over sweet, pretty and mellow, but I tried to come up with at least a little balance in that sense. I can't believe how hot that Big River is, but how sweet is that Row Jimmy? I leaned pretty heavily on November and December for good reason, they were peaking then, although there was some really good stuff in Feb and March that year, too, and also in May and June. As always, I'm interested in what people here would pick or not pick in a similar kind of project because I know many of you have a lot of listening time

 

When will you be mailing us our CDs of this?

[Shug]

Ha ha!  Yeah, that is a tease to list it all out like that, sorry!  Its all on archive.org though.  Easy to stream and there are ways to capture streaming audio so soundboards can be had with a little investment of money and time.  On archive I look for anything that has Charlie Miller's name on it.  You can't go wrong.

 

https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?and[]=year%3A%221973%22&and[]=subject%3A%22Soundboard%22&and[]=subject%3A%22Charlie%20Miller%22

 

What would really be sweet is if I had a big rural property and could throw a proper hippie party at which people could dance and freak freely like we used to do in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties in Nor Cal.  This "show" screams daytime party to me with the sun going down right at the end for a sweet Sing Me Back Home.

[Analogman]

You can find most of those SBD shows at bt.etree.org and/or Dime a Dozen.

[worldrecordplayer]

Hey Shug, did you consider that sweet sweet Here Comes Sunshine>China Cat>Rider from St. Paul? Don't have the date off the top of my head, but the transition from HCS into China Cat is one of the smoothest ever.

 

 

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