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That's awesome!

 

RE: earlier posts...I definitely need this book So Many Roads.  I didn't know anything about the '84 recording sessions.  I assume it would've been most of the stuff that ended up on In The Dark plus Day Job.  

 

I agree about artists being infantile.  Definitely Neil Young.  If he had a real producer his last 10 years' output may have resulted in 2 good albums rather than 10 almost absolutely unlistenable ones.

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That's awesome!

 

RE: earlier posts...I definitely need this book So Many Roads.  I didn't know anything about the '84 recording sessions.  I assume it would've been most of the stuff that ended up on In The Dark plus Day Job.  

 

I agree about artists being infantile.  Definitely Neil Young.  If he had a real producer his last 10 years' output may have resulted in 2 good albums rather than 10 almost absolutely unlistenable ones.

Lanois is a great producer, and I love Le Noise, but otherwise agree.

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Has anyone seen a show at Phil's club? It looks nice -- bet is sounds great, too.

I was in town for a conference, and stopped by to check it out. Cool place on the harbor. Phil's son's band was playing, and Phil was hanging out. Pretty weird to see him walking around and socializing. I just missed a sit in by Trey by 15 minutes, who was in town for rehearsals. 

 

It would be cool to see Phil play there, but they don't give much advance notice for the shows he plays, so it's hard to plan a trip for out of towners.

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Lanois is a great producer, and I love Le Noise, but otherwise agree.

Yeah, I may have over stated things a bit. I agree, I love Lanois too and do think most of that album is good. I saw that tour and it was great!

"The Maker" = my favorite JGB cover....

Yes!

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A lot of people have covered that one over the years, from Willie Nelson (used at the end of Slingblade), to Emmy Lou, to Dave Matthews (yikes), but Jerry's is the best.

Yep. Love the Willie version and the Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds version, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVxLQv-IT8

 

And, Emmylou has the perfect voice for the song....

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Not a great year but that Augusta show they played was pretty awesome.  One of my favorite shows that I attended.  

 

Some vids from that era show Jerry looking filthy.  Was he showering?  Maybe I'm not remembering correctly.

 

82-84 are interesting years to me.  It's amazing that not more than two years before they recorded the stellar Reckoning only to have Garcia's voice and stage presence change so much.  He was only 40!  Luckily the guitar playing didn't really get too bad until close to end.  At least to my ears.

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Recently read an interview with Garcia from the mid-80's, Guitar Player I think. The interviewer describes Garcia's prodigious body odor, burnt fingers, and white powder covering his shirt. Garcia then proceeds to break up a giant coke rock and blow some massive rails during the interview. Great interview.

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I must admit, I laughed out loud at that description of the interview.

 

I saw most of my shows between 82-84, when Garcia was in dire straits, but I thought the shows were all great. Didn't really have anything to compare them to, of course...and I was somewhat impaired myself at all of those, so...

 

Listening to all the Dead shows I've downloaded over the years but haven't gotten to yet...I've got about 50 or 60 of them, I think, ranging from a shitload of '69 shows all the way up through a handful of '80s shows. Working through the 3/28/72 show, which I think is the last American show of that run right before Europe. Not too much to differentiate this show from anything else from the same time period, but the Looks Like Rain has that beautiful work from Jer on pedal steel, and the Big RR Blues is pretty fierce. We'll see what else it reveals...

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Recently read an interview with Garcia from the mid-80's, Guitar Player I think. The interviewer describes Garcia's prodigious body odor, burnt fingers, and white powder covering his shirt. Garcia then proceeds to break up a giant coke rock and blow some massive rails during the interview. Great interview.

That sounds interesting. I remember watching an 84 video and close ups of Garcia's fingers showed so much dirt under his nails. It's interesting how the band talks about the final years and pre coma, but not this era where it seems he was on a 3 year bender. Tragic.

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The thing about that first half of the 80s decade is this - Garcia looks like death warmed over, but DAMN if he didn't play like a demon in that period. Yeah, it could be sloppy, but when he was on he was REALLY ON.

 

It's just amazing to me that a guy could be so fucking sick and yet play so well.

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I'm about half way through the 80's on the 30 Trips box set. Really solidifying my dislike for the era. Weir really gravitated toward some lame covers in the 80's. What is the point of CC Rider? Is he trying to do an Elvis tribute? Other covers like Rooster, Promised Land, Beat It, El Paso are ok, but when you get 2 or more in a set it's overkill. Brent's organ added a nice sound, but otherwise don't care for his keyboard sounds, and his backing vocals. One exception would be Loser, which he helped make into a powerful, ferocious monster with the organ and vocals. Any other tunes standout in this era? Think I mentioned Shakedown before. Otherwise, 90's > 80's. 

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