Author Topic: Great App for Deadheads! (Read 1158 times)

sonicus · « **Reply #30 on:** January 06, 2014, 09:22:30 AM »

I concur with Bill ___ And it has been said before and I will write it here again there is nothing else like a live Grateful Dead Concert
The live experience was definitely where the magic was at .
Some of the lighting in a bottle can be heard in live recordings , but not all of it got caught . I am glad that I felt the part that could not be bottled in person ! That part still lives in my mind and my heart.

I have a very eclectic taste in music and I also respect anyones likes and dislikes , so it's OK in my opinion ___ not to get it I certainly am glad that I get the Dead and so many other genres of music as well .

Wolf

keith_h · « **Reply #31 on:** January 06, 2014, 10:02:49 AM »

No, I never saw them live. I don't discuss my youthful indiscretions on the internet but some were performed listening to Dead records at parties.

Funny you mention jazz as the Dead always seemed to have more of a country and bluegrass feel to me. At least it does for the material that sticks in my memory. I don't have any issues with the Dead, it just doesn't talk to me.

Keith

sonicus · « **Reply #32 on:** January 06, 2014, 10:16:21 AM »

keith, it's all cool___
The country & bluegrass are definitely there. The improvisational methods and the directions that the improvisations go to and the destinations of these improvisations arrive at is where the Jazz comes to life in my opinion . This is the live experience versus the studio experience. Like an amoeba constantly changing shape, never the same shape again. Endlessly______.

lbpesq · « **Reply #33 on:** January 06, 2014, 01:33:45 PM »

The other jazz influence, IMHO, comes from Dixieland jazz in that each instrument became a lead instrument that played around the main theme, defining it by outlining it rather than playing it directly. Add to that substantial improvisation, and throwing in significant portions of blues, R&B, country, folk, good ol' rock 'n roll, and Americana, and they created a completely original musical recipe. This at a time when most other rock music consisted of a rhythm section with the lead guitar wailing.

Bill, tgo

ed_too · « **Reply #34 on:** January 06, 2014, 05:26:11 PM »

Peter and Bill ? I like your suggestions about jazz and Dixieland ? I think it gets to what I always found in their shows. I?d seen them enough to seem to know where a riff was going and would have the next note sounding in my mind ? but one of them would grab it first and twist/tweak/whack it and give back something just a little new ? and make me say ?whoa?.
Or
It might be more about what Jonathan (Jalevinemd) reminded me about hearing ?Morning Dew? in the balcony of the Boston Music Hall in the mid-70?s ? Phil would play the ?pipe organ part? and the balcony would shake ? so much your eyes couldn?t focus.

Ed

dead_head · « **Reply #35 on:** January 06, 2014, 08:27:56 PM »

The Grateful Dead's strong suit has always been the live gig. Their studio efforts never achieved the mass appeal that the live performances did, as exemplified in the still very active trading of cassettes of vintage shows, internet archives, and scrupulous obsession with concert dates,song lists, etc. The band members themselves have admitted that theirs is an improvisational approach, and when it's on, it's inspirational, and when it's not, it's forgettable. But the wonderful thing about music is that there's always something for everyone, regardless of preference, and whether or not the Dead float your boat. Peace.....

Rob

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #36 on:** January 06, 2014, 09:36:36 PM »

The improvisational methods and the directions that the improvisations go to and the destinations of these improvisations arrive at is where the Jazz comes to life in my opinion . This is the live experience versus the studio experience. Like an amoeba constantly changing shape, never the same shape again. Endlessly

From a TV interview (don't remember with who, but sometime around '79-'80):

Bob Weir: We never play a song the same way twice

Bill Kreutzmann: Hell, we barely play it the same way once!

sonicus · « **Reply #37 on:** January 07, 2014, 01:02:59 AM »

Another aspect of the Grateful Dead improvisational formula would be the art of creating a morphed segue from tune to tune seamlessly making the transition .
Like this ___
With extreme foresight ,ears wide open as well as eyes including the magical third eye tuned in ___ , sensitive musicians one in mind and many in body ;___the music floats from one one melody to the next, with harmonic content molding into shape with the delivery of a symphony descending from a cloud_______

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #38 on:** January 07, 2014, 07:05:12 AM »

Thanks, Bill; a large part of my love of the boys has always been how jamming for them was everybody conversing with everybody else, instead of the typical rock jam of rhythm section providing a groove into which the lead player lays a masturbatory guitar solo (and don't get me wrong - I have nothing against musical onanism, enjoying a good wank as much as the next guy, but GD's way is better), but somehow I had missed the Dixieland connection! That makes perfect sense.

The seques were, indeed, magic, Wolf; they'd launch from a song, take us to distant planets (briefly visiting other songs on the way) and, with nothing up their sleeves, end up at a new song - frequently in a new time signature(s). Seamlessly! There is nothing to compare with listening to their instrumental debates on which way to go.

Peter

jhamby · « **Reply #39 on:** January 07, 2014, 02:21:18 PM »

Things I love/loved about the Dead:

-- Every instrument an independent voice in an interdependent whole.
-- Transitions to unknown destinations.
-- Discovering new paths to known destinations: Scarlet->Fire or China Cat->Rider.
-- Moments of sublime grace and power.
-- The psychedelic material: Dark Star, Other One, Morning Dew, China Cat, Estimated Prophet, Eyes of the World.
-- The emphasis ballad slot: Black Peter, Wharf Rat, China Doll, Stella Blue, Dew.
-- Dynamics and clarity of the sound system.
-- Getting to do the only dance I know (The Spaz).

Things I could do without:
-- Marginal singing.
-- Cowboy songs.
-- Patterned pseudo-improvisations, which became more prevalent over time.
-- Garcia's drug-induced decline.
-- Botched lyrics and blown changes.

It was what it was, and the best of what it was was magic.

John

hieronymous · « **Reply #40 on:** January 07, 2014, 11:37:37 PM »

Nice list John!

Trying to nail down a musical genre for the Dead's entire output is like trying to do it for Miles Davis or Frank Zappa - there is a LOT going on over a 20 year career.

For me, I think I first keyed into the often overlooked progressive rock elements - intricate musical passages, odd times, long solos, etc. As far as studio stuff, Blues for Allah and Terrapin Station were my favorites early on, though I came to prefer the live stuff from a few years earlier. I only saw them a few times near the end - didn't quite get it, preferred Phish at the time but came to love the Dead and the deep well of music and inspiration that they drew from.

And actually, there might be something to the Zappa/Dead parallel - there are a couple of CD compilations of original recordings that influenced both artists/bands. Excellent collections of music, and illuminating of the output of both.

The Roots of the Grateful Dead

The Roots of Frank Zappa

peoplechipper · « **Reply #41 on:** January 09, 2014, 10:29:22 PM »

I've never really gotten the Dead.

I used to work with a guy who was a fan and one time while 'enhanced' he played some album(can't remember which one...) and when he pointed out the transitions from song to song they were cool; the thing that sorta twists my head about them is how a band of that size can sound so SMALL...I understand holding back, but I guess I'm more impressed when a small band sounds bigger than when a big band sounds small...I'll admit I haven't listened to them in quite some time so I'll try them again and see if I get it; I suspect it'll be like my adult attempt at Bananas though; I still hate them...Tony

lbpesq · « **Reply #42 on:** January 10, 2014, 06:25:34 AM »

I used to work with a guy who was a fan and one time while 'enhanced' he played some album(can't remember which one...) and when he pointed out the transitions from song to song they were cool; the thing that sorta twists my head about them is how a band of that size can sound so SMALL

Tony, did you and your friend obtain your enhancement from Steve Martin?

Seriously, though, I really don't understand what you mean. I've heard many descriptions of the Dead over the years, both positive and negative, but I've never before heard small!

Bill, tgo

peoplechipper · « **Reply #43 on:** January 11, 2014, 07:51:36 PM »

Very good Bill!

Forgot about that...the enhancement came in the form of little teeny stamps...what I meant was that some bands sound bigger than three people for example; Frank Zappa used a large band but sounded like it, some of the Dead I've heard just doesn't sound at all like that many people onstage...anyway, I'll admit I haven't heard that much of them and not for some time...Tony

jx2638 · « **Reply #44 on:** January 19, 2014, 09:19:05 AM »

I couldn't find this in the app store and when I seemed to find it via google search it wouldn't download. Anyone know the status? Has it been shut down??