Author Topic: Greatful dead and phish (Read 998 times)

kmh364 · « **Reply #45 on:** June 02, 2004, 03:46:17 PM »

For those that care: I pre-ordered the latest GD release...it's neither a From the Vaults nor a Dick's Picks series member. It's entitled Rockin the Rhein, the first in-it's-entirety show document culled during the Europe '72 tour that produced the album of the same name (one of my fave's). It was recorded on April 24, 1972 @ the Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf, (West) Germany. I got it last week, but just opened it today. The HDCD-remastered sound (for a 32 yr. old recording) is excellent and the performances equally as good. It throws in a couple of tunes from the same tour, this time at the Lyceum in London, including the LAST Lovelight ever sung by Pigpen. I also got a bonus disc from March '72 (just prior to the European tour) at the Academy of Music (Brooklyn?) in NYC. The recording of the set is credited to Bob Matthews (of Alembic), Betty Cantor, Dennis Leonard, and Jim Furman (of Alembic). You had to know Ron's touch was in there somewhere, LOL! Highly Recommended.

hollis · « **Reply #46 on:** June 02, 2004, 04:11:52 PM »

Read the lyrics. That's where the visualization started with me. Robert Hunter's words paint pictures. The pictures aren't always pleasant, but it's clear they are well painted. In vivid detail that leaves the meaning up to the audience. The meaning has shifted and deepend for me as the years roll on.

pace · « **Reply #47 on:** June 02, 2004, 05:36:00 PM »

The first impression is always the one that sticks, and for the the longest time I didnt get it in regards to the GD either. Growing up in the 80's everytime there was a GD concert around here it was treated like a freak show~ all the burnouts living in a timewarp are back in town, oh the horror, the horror!!!!!

The two things I remember turning me on to the band were: 1)Hearing Box of Rain on the radio one Sunday after church. 2) Catching the tail end of a '69 Other One>Feedback on the college station. It amazed me how the same band (1 year difference) could sound worlds apart. ~For me thats what they're all about. The record button was on for the better part of 30 years. To be able to listen to a group of musicians evolve from primal psychedelic-blues to cosmic-country to Miles-esque fusion, to ultimately embody American music as a whole is quite a long strange trip~ I like hearing the tunes take different shape each year, I like hearing the results of new equipment/technology as it was introduced..... etc, etc....

Others who get it may be more into the sociological side of following the band around the country, or recording the concerts, or ingesting insane amounts of acid...... I guess my point is that there are so many angles from which people can apreaciate or criticize this group~ there's something for everyone (ie~Alembics!!!!)

There are countless times where I'll go through the trouble of searching out a GD show which someone referred to as hot or on, and when I give it a listen I'm like WTF is the big deal?!?!? The band sucked on this night....... I would hate for that to be my first impression of this band.

kmh364 · « **Reply #48 on:** June 02, 2004, 06:08:07 PM »

BTW, I've played Unbroken Chain (from Mars Hotel) for people definitely NOT into the Dead (without telling them who it was), and got comments like realy nice tune, I didn't know you were into Jazz?, Great! Who's that, etc. The point being that (as above), there's somethng for everyone in the Dead's music. I heard Phil sing that one during last summer's Dead tour (with Joan Osbourn as back-up) and it still sounds nice (and still slightly out of key...we are talking about Phil's SINGING, here, LOL!

As an aside, I had a 20-yr old college kid (waitress) grab me in a restaurant while wearing my tie-die tour shirt from '03. She gushed about how great they were (just like I did when I was her age). She said she was disappointed that they didn't jam longer (i.e, each song wasn't a half-hour long, LOL!) just like I'd have been if I was her age. I replied that this was The Dead NOT the Grateful Dead, that Jerry wasn't with us anymore, and that they were'nt trying to fill Jerry's shoes: they were just making music and carrying on...older and, hopefully, wiser. It was actually cool to hear them move through almost a dozen songs in an hour (there's a first time for everything, LOL!)...what with it being an outdoor gig, 100F @ 100% humidity, and me over 40 with no desire to imbibe in herb or alchohol to alter my consciousness, LOL! Hell, it's a b*tch playing for more than a few minutes at a time when you're 60-ish, LOL!

kayo · « **Reply #49 on:** June 03, 2004, 01:31:10 PM »

Food for thought on the dead

It truly sheds light on the perception of the GD if you've been to one of the live gigs and dropped a dose or two...... you'll never see them the same way again. I perceive them as movement as much as a band.

Having said that, the organic/intricate dynamic that they represent isn't my cup of tea either.....

I'd rather see (or hear) John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Al DiMeola, Steve Morse, the late SRV, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, the late Jaco, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock and the likes.

Different strokes, right?

gbarchus · « **Reply #50 on:** June 04, 2004, 01:02:29 AM »

For me they weren't about technical accuracy as in pitch or rhythm, even though I love singing the harmonies of Uncle John's Band with three friends and an acoustic guitar. And the challenge of playing the odd meter of Playing in the Band or the bouncing bass lines of Bertha increased my musical awareness. In fact, I think they were about stretching those limits. But, for sure, they showed me that it's about being in the moment and allowing yourself to be part of something greater than yourself.

hollis · « **Reply #51 on:** June 04, 2004, 10:59:25 AM »

Gale,
You are Dead on!
It is all about being in the moment...

Enjoy

kmh364 · « **Reply #52 on:** June 05, 2004, 09:58:40 AM »

Food for thought: My appreciation of the Dead's music has led to my appreciation of most forms of music, including classical, jazz, country, reggae, etc. As a teen, I found that the Jersey Deadhead crowd was very prejudicial against any band outside the circle of the dead (i.e., NRPS, Airplane/Starship, Janis, Quicksilver, CSNY, etc.). I got caught up with that for a little while, but learned quickly that there is much more out there than the Dead, and Dead-related bands. Before I was into the Dead, I was into all the current bands, Like Led Zep, Grand Funk, Alice, Mountain, ELP, Queen, etc. These days, I love all the old bands, but dig just about everything EXCEPT dance music like Hip-Hop/Techno/Club/Rap (just not my speed). It's all good. Like Kayo, the live shows I appreciate most are with virtuoso players like he mentions. Even if the style/type of music isn't the most accesible, I love to watch players that have mastered their instruments.

zappahead · « **Reply #53 on:** June 05, 2004, 10:50:26 AM »

I gotta say that I agree that the Dead can definetly lead to an appreciation of other musicians if you stay away from getting too zeroed on what the crowd is listening too and look more for the influences and others who fit or kinda fit into the genre of the Dead and the basics of what they try to do.

I got into the Dead fairly young and branched out into other acts who you can see influenced jam bands. Stuff like Coltrane and Miles Davis and people that guys like Garcia played with here and there (Saunders and Grisman). It also led me to taking a closer look at bands and musicians I may have dismissed or not given a full listen to like the Allmans, Widespread panic and Frank Zappa.

I ran into a lot of close mindedness in the Dead crowd, you will find people who have branched out, but you will also find a lot of people stuck in the same sort of cliques of close mindedness that you run into with fans of other forms of music. I remember having a lot of friends who never even gave the opening acts a shot or who would cringe when the tape deck had anything in it but a bootleg of a Dead concert.

kmh364 · « **Reply #54 on:** June 06, 2004, 06:07:54 AM »

Having been out of the Dead 'scene for quite some time (Before last summer, I last saw them in '88 after Jerry came out of his diabetic coma and had to relearn the guitar), I was actually shocked how popular the Dead's music still is. The newbies took over right where the previous generation(s) left off. In addition, people seem to be starved for (what I call Dead-inspired) Jam bands, hence the popularity of newbies Phish, Blues Traveller, Dave Matthews, etc. Obviously, the Allman Bros. are stil going strong as well. I was surprised, however, to see that tons of people brought out their Dead-style recording gear at a Warren Haynes (Govt. Mule) show I went to a few months ago. It seems that Jam Bands are to the Baby Boomers (and newbie GenX and GenY'ers) what Jazz was (is) to the previous (counterculture)generation. As I've said before, it's all good. I love Jazz as well (the original jam bands, LOL!). So did Jerry (despite his jazzy leanings, a fact that many Dead Heads missed the boat on...maybe it was the smoke or the blotter? LOL!). Jerry used to listen to a lot of Miles, Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins for inspiration and horn phrasing techniques that he could apply to his playing.

Would you believe I have a cousin that was inpired to listen to Clasical Music because of the interesting orchestration on the epic Terrapin Station title track? I just happened to be in a phase where I was getting into classical, so I was able to help out her further appreciation by recommending some of the more accesible works by mainstream composers.

To me, the Dead was allways about melding a myriad of musical styles into their own unique, constantly evolving musical composite. If you're a close-minded Dead Head, you're really missing out on what they're really all about.

811952 · « **Reply #55 on:** June 07, 2004, 11:37:49 AM »

Right now I'm listening to The O'Franken Factor on www.airamericaradio.com. They bump into and out of breaks with the Dead. Very nice snippets, although entirely too short. I'm hearing things that I (as a neophyte deadhead) think I need to purchase...
John

kmh364 · « **Reply #56 on:** June 07, 2004, 06:35:06 PM »

ck dead.net for all things Dead. Dick's Picks are a relatively inexpensive way to experience classic Dead shows, warts and all.

kmh364 · « **Reply #57 on:** June 10, 2004, 05:25:13 PM »

For those who care: Just got it this PM, listening to it right now...New release from jerrygarcia.com...first in a series of live JGB recordings from the archives entitled Pure Jerry. This one is from '77 at the Theatre 1839 in SF. HDCD-mastered. Sounds damn good (and quiet) for a 27-yr old 7.5ips two-track tape taken from the sound board. In particular, the John Kahn fretless bass solo in Jerry's classic cover of Irving Berlin's Russian Lullaby is outstanding. It feels like Jerry is alive and well and right in the living room with me. The band was on for these two shows! If you're familiar with JGB shows, (I was at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic NJ, in winter '79/'80 for a particularly good show...Robt. Hunter was there as an opener!), you know how ssssslllllllooooowwwwww they usually played. These shows are, thankfully, very lively (for Jerry, LOL!). Of course, it doesn't hurt to listen on my house-mate's mega-buck hi-fi (Theta Digital, Audio Research Hybrid electronics, Infinity Renaissance 90's, MIT Shotgun interconnects/cables, etc),LOL! Regardless whether it's car stereo, boom box, hi-fi, tin cans/string, it sounds good on all of them. Highly Recommended! Enjoy.

hollis · « **Reply #58 on:** June 11, 2004, 07:16:35 PM »

Kevin,

I do the same thing with Unbroken Chain for people who aren't into the Dead.... I pulled the same stunt on my mother (who was convinced that the Dead were just terrible honey) with Weather Report several years ago.....Mom's a Dead Head now.....

My wife could take 'em or leave 'em. I remained patient and occasionally would throw in a Dead tune while playing mostly my own stuff....
Every time I'd play a Dead tune, she'd ask what's that one?. Grateful Dead, my reply....It's kinda a running joke with us... My wife's a Dead Head now.....

Enjoy

hollis · « **Reply #59 on:** June 11, 2004, 07:18:39 PM »

Sorry, double post

(Message edited by hollis on June 11, 2004)