The Grateful Dead

[NoJ]

Glen Ellyn, eh? I grew up just east of there.

[jw harding]

The musical strengths of Throwin' Stones are enough to help me overlook the hippy dippyness of the lyrics. St. Stephen-esque triumphant guitar line from Jerry, great vocal breakdown, like the incorporation of the nursery rhyme. Standing on the Moon's lyrics are pretty cheesy too, no?

[Lammycat]

I listened to the rest of the Branford Marsalis show - there are definitely some sublime moments in the 2nd set, but all of the good momentum came to a screeching halt when they opted to play Throwing Stones - another "spinning blue ball in outer space" song about Mother Nature vs the bad guys (who are bankers and politicians), and all the bad things that are happening while Mother Nature cries in her sleep. Snore. One grammar point for Mr. Barlow (and the four other guys who wrote this song - IT TOOK 5 GUYS TO WRITE THIS SONG): The world ROTATES on its axis. (not REVOLVES).(Re: "Now watch as the ball revolves and the nighttime falls").

 

Here's a nice article on the show from the WSJ.

 

Anyway... I'm not a big fan of the "new" material that they played in the Brent (and later) eras. I can name a couple songs that I do like, like Althea, and West LA Fadeaway, but otherwise, this show just affirms my seat in the 72-74 era. 

 

 

TOPIC CHANGE:

Do any of you ever get stuck on a single show for a long time? I've been listening to the Lincoln NE show from Feb 1973 over and over and over for the past couple months. It's the same show that I praised the Big Railroad Blues in a post a while back. Still listening to it. It was my soundtrack when I entered the Glen Ellyn BBQ fest a couple weeks ago (I got an 8th place ribbon!). It's my soundtrack (in bits and pieces) when I mow the lawn, or start up the coals to grill. I keep coming back to it. 

I've been stuck on Lake Placid '83 for for over 30 yrs....

 

Also, I think Throwing Stones really grew into a great musical piece (same as Victim or the Crime). Some of the improv work in the jams were just fantastic. Bob's rapid-pace strumming playing off Garcia's high notes....that song was sometimes the highlight of a show for me if it was really full ON.

The musical strengths of Throwin' Stones are enough to help me overlook the hippy dippyness of the lyrics. St. Stephen-esque triumphant guitar line from Jerry, great vocal breakdown, like the incorporation of the nursery rhyme. Standing on the Moon's lyrics are pretty cheesy too, no?

Yes on all of this.

[Winston Legthigh]

I've been stuck on Lake Placid '83 for for over 30 yrs....

Do tell - Were you there? 

 

The setlist looks strong. I will have to check it out.

[Lammycat]

Do tell - Were you there? 

 

The setlist looks strong. I will have to check it out.

No (I was at the 2 Hartford shows just before this one). 

 

The overall tone of this show is fantastic as is the overall playing.

 

The Sugaree (opener, no less!) is a monster at over 16 minutes. The Esau and Deal are both excellent in the 1st set, as well.

 

EVERYTHING in the second set is gold, imo. The "Touch" is real swing-like and twangy (Bob's guitar sounds the whole show have a certain twang to them). Garcia's voice is just a bit road-weary and nasally and hits the heart.

 

The ""To Lat Me Down" is top-notch, with Bob slightly muffing a harmony towards the end of the verses part. Everything post-Drums is just dynamite. "The Wheel" is slow and intent and squeaky. SMOKING "GDTRFB"-> "Good Loving" (with some of my favorite Weir raps in the improv lyrics part..."all that smokin' haze it's a wonder you can see..."

 

Back to twangy guitar goodness from Weir on "Revolution" with an extra Garcia rock out on it. 

 

Love the whole vibe of this show. Find the sbd of it if you can....

[jw harding]

Anniversary of a great show. Great vocal on To Lay Me Down, apparently Jerry on piano.

 

https://archive.org/details/gd1970-09-20.sbd.smith.97364.sbeok.flac16

[winterland121072]

Well...

 

Terrapin > PITB > UJB > drums > Wheel > China Doll > PITB from 19 May 1977 is about as perfect as it gets...

[Lammycat]

TOPIC CHANGE:

Do any of you ever get stuck on a single show for a long time?

Here's another one: 6.8.90 Cal Expo, particularly 2nd set:

Uncle John's BandChina Cat SunflowerI Know You RiderEstimated ProphetFoolish HeartdrumsThe WheelI Need a MiracleBlack PeterSugar MagnoliaU.S. Blues

Besides everything else in this set, the "Foolish Heart" is one of my favorite versions and leads to a fantastic  jam pre-Drums, where eventually it was just Garcia and Brent on stage.

[calvino]

Anniversary of a great show. Great vocal on To Lay Me Down, apparently Jerry on piano.

 

https://archive.org/details/gd1970-09-20.sbd.smith.97364.sbeok.flac16

 

I listened to this one again this morning -- one of my favorites.

[winterland121072]

I've been listening to second set of 9.17.1982 for the last 28 years...

[Lammycat]

I've been listening to second set of 9.17.1982 for the last 28 years...

Yeah, awesome show/set. The Dew is excellent, High Time sticks out, as well, and the Spanish Jam...

[winterland121072]

Yeah, awesome show/set. The Dew is excellent, High Time sticks out, as well, and the Spanish Jam...

 

...and that guy screaming, "MARSHALLLLLLL!!!!" during the space...

[Analogman]

Bob Weir - Blue Mountain (legal NPR Stream - whole album)

[NoJ]

6/9/77

[Lammycat]

6/9/77

Absolute MONSTER Help->Slip->Frank!

[Winston Legthigh]

I've been stuck on Lake Placid '83 for for over 30 yrs....

 

 

Now, see, Brent's sound in this show is awesome. I love it. I'd be interested to know when the plinkity shit started infiltrating his keyboards. 

[Lammycat]

Now, see, Brent's sound in this show is awesome. I love it. I'd be interested to know when the plinkity shit started infiltrating his keyboards. 

He switched the keyboard systems up a bit (while maintaining the B-3 the whole time, I believe) but maybe the sounds you're mentioning started with the MIDI stuff that Bralove started adding to their instruments in '87 or so....

[NoJ]

10-12-1968

[Lammycat]

10-12-1968

Enjoy the "Feedback".....

[NoJ]

Oh yeah, 10-12-68 is great. Good clean recording, super high energy.

[jw harding]

6/9/77

My go to show for a while now. Dream setlist and incredible playing throughout.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

September 23rd, 1982. Veterans' Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT. My first Dead show, 34 years ago today.

 

I'm sure I've posted about this a few times here over the years. At 17, I was a little rocker dude, heavily into Van Halen, The Who, Aerosmith, etc. My brother, three years my senior, had already graduated high school with a head full of acid and a bottle of Jack in his hand, more or less. I hadn't even taken my first dose...still experimenting with weed and a little booze.

 

I'd heard bro playing the Dead on our little record player. Europe '72. I thought they were okay, but a little dull. Not hard rocking like the bands I was into. Somehow, I'd gotten enough into it that I was willing to tag along for the Dead show on 9/23.

 

Listening to the board today, there doesn't seem to be anything extraordinary about it, though Jerry rips off quite an unhinged solo in Alabama, and Brent's vocals sound right on. Maybe it takes a murky audience recording to convey the energy of the room. All I can say is that I was levitating throughout this experience, and not due to whatever little herb was smoked that night. I was relatively straight for my first Dead show: no LSD, no booze.

 

Like a lot of Dead shows from the 70s and 80s, the second set was where minds were blown. Lost>Saint was incredible, Garcia's fills bouncing off the walls like snowflakes or hail. The still-unreleased Throwing Stones and Touch of Grey were massive singalongs. In those pre-internet days, it was unheard of for people to actually know all the words to a song that hadn't been played on the radio before. The Wheel>The Other One>Wharf Rat would have sealed the deal if I hadn't already been converted. Yep, the bus came by and I got on. Big time.

 

To top off this night of firsts, they closed it out with Baby Blue. It was the first time I'd ever heard the song, having only a moderate exposure to Dylan's major tunes on AOR radio. What an introduction.

 

Give it a listen if you've got a couple hours to kill.

 

https://archive.org/details/gd1982-09-23.sbd.miller.108973.flac16

[Winston Legthigh]

September 23rd, 1982. Veterans' Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT. My first Dead show, 34 years ago today.

 

I'm sure I've posted about this a few times here over the years. At 17, I was a little rocker dude, heavily into Van Halen, The Who, Aerosmith, etc. My brother, three years my senior, had already graduated high school with a head full of acid and a bottle of Jack in his hand, more or less. I hadn't even taken my first dose...still experimenting with weed and a little booze.

 

I'd heard bro playing the Dead on our little record player. Europe '72. I thought they were okay, but a little dull. Not hard rocking like the bands I was into. Somehow, I'd gotten enough into it that I was willing to tag along for the Dead show on 9/23.

 

Listening to the board today, there doesn't seem to be anything extraordinary about it, though Jerry rips off quite an unhinged solo in Alabama, and Brent's vocals sound right on. Maybe it takes a murky audience recording to convey the energy of the room. All I can say is that I was levitating throughout this experience, and not due to whatever little herb was smoked that night. I was relatively straight for my first Dead show: no LSD, no booze.

 

Like a lot of Dead shows from the 70s and 80s, the second set was where minds were blown. Lost>Saint was incredible, Garcia's fills bouncing off the walls like snowflakes or hail. The still-unreleased Throwing Stones and Touch of Grey were massive singalongs. In those pre-internet days, it was unheard of for people to actually know all the words to a song that hadn't been played on the radio before. The Wheel>The Other One>Wharf Rat would have sealed the deal if I hadn't already been converted. Yep, the bus came by and I got on. Big time.

 

To top off this night of firsts, they closed it out with Baby Blue. It was the first time I'd ever heard the song, having only a moderate exposure to Dylan's major tunes on AOR radio. What an introduction.

 

Give it a listen if you've got a couple hours to kill.

 

https://archive.org/details/gd1982-09-23.sbd.miller.108973.flac16

cool. Awesome write up. 

 

I can never get enough of fan write-ups of Dead shows. 

[Lammycat]

September 23rd, 1982. Veterans' Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT. My first Dead show, 34 years ago today.

 

I'm sure I've posted about this a few times here over the years. At 17, I was a little rocker dude, heavily into Van Halen, The Who, Aerosmith, etc. My brother, three years my senior, had already graduated high school with a head full of acid and a bottle of Jack in his hand, more or less. I hadn't even taken my first dose...still experimenting with weed and a little booze.

 

I'd heard bro playing the Dead on our little record player. Europe '72. I thought they were okay, but a little dull. Not hard rocking like the bands I was into. Somehow, I'd gotten enough into it that I was willing to tag along for the Dead show on 9/23.

 

Listening to the board today, there doesn't seem to be anything extraordinary about it, though Jerry rips off quite an unhinged solo in Alabama, and Brent's vocals sound right on. Maybe it takes a murky audience recording to convey the energy of the room. All I can say is that I was levitating throughout this experience, and not due to whatever little herb was smoked that night. I was relatively straight for my first Dead show: no LSD, no booze.

 

Like a lot of Dead shows from the 70s and 80s, the second set was where minds were blown. Lost>Saint was incredible, Garcia's fills bouncing off the walls like snowflakes or hail. The still-unreleased Throwing Stones and Touch of Grey were massive singalongs. In those pre-internet days, it was unheard of for people to actually know all the words to a song that hadn't been played on the radio before. The Wheel>The Other One>Wharf Rat would have sealed the deal if I hadn't already been converted. Yep, the bus came by and I got on. Big time.

 

To top off this night of firsts, they closed it out with Baby Blue. It was the first time I'd ever heard the song, having only a moderate exposure to Dylan's major tunes on AOR radio. What an introduction.

 

Give it a listen if you've got a couple hours to kill.

 

https://archive.org/details/gd1982-09-23.sbd.miller.108973.flac16

I was at this show too and the only thing that really sticks out was me kind of wandering around on my own and settling into a side seat and when they opened 2nd set with Touch some older 'head next to me asking me if I knew what tune it was (I didn't) but not in an inquisitive manner but rather in a snarky manner. WhenI said "no I don't" he scoffed/chuckled and said "yeaaaaaah, I remember MY first show!" That son of a bitch scarred me for life as my first show was in same venue but spring of '81. 

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Thanks, guys. I thought Lammy was at this one, too. What a long, strange trip it's been. Funny how you got falsely accused of being a "Touch-head" before the term had even been coined!