NEMD Grateful Dead Appreciation Thread

What an old thread to bump.. I really shoulda merged it with this one - bluelight.org/vb/threads/297557-Grateful-Dead-Appreciation-Thread back when I was still modding here ;)
 
Laika said:
What an old thread to bump.. I really shoulda merged it with this one - bluelight.org/vb/threads/297557-Grateful-Dead-Appreciation-Thread back when I was still modding here ;)
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did that although that pretty much disperses the whole thread 6 years back into this one but oh well

I also would recommend skipping the studio albums. Europe 72 I think would be the best introduction. My favorite live show (see above) remains 3/1/69 (very old and quite different from some of their later stuff), the cliché "greatest show" of course is 5/8/77 which also I think serves as a good introduction to that era. listen to and take in those three, I think, and you're off to the races to discover more of what you like in their incredibly vast repertoire.

I used to have an (old school kind with the black and white screen and wheel, but one of the ones with larger capacity, I forget tbh) iPod which was strictly Dead and had just about every good show from '69 to '95, a few hundred of them, but I lost it years ago (I used to bring it with me and some headphones everywhere when I was going to and from shows or partying or taking a bus or whatever, at some drug soaked event it just separated itself from me, I like to think that someone found it and appreciated it though) which was a great loss to me tbh, I can no longer instantly pull up some of my favorite shows, of which there are a bunch

the set of shows around halloween at Radio City Music Hall around halloween 1980 are a bit more obscure than most of this but are fucking amazing, a lot of acoustic stuff, this is not a great recording (from 10/28/80) but a great tune, this is set 1 (including weird ass prelude content including chilling a bit with (or more like trolling) jerry phil bobby & everyone else & some other weird shit from the official concert video recording) from halloween and set 2 should show up right next to it on Youtube…
 
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Skipping Workingmans Dead and American Beauty is like losing your virginity without ever even touching a tit, first. They are absolute musts and god damn they sound good on vinyl.
 
fair enough although tbh I've never owned or I think even listened to in full, start to end, any studio album except American Beauty, Aoxomoxoa and the self-titled debut, although if you like that kind of thing the whole studio produced proggy Terrapin Station suite is pretty epic and played only a few times in full live, a few of the other more complex and/or obscure songs songs (Blues for Allah, anyone?) are interesting in the studio produced versions, but to me it's all about the live shows, the energy, the infinite variations, the not-even-all-fully-conscious interactions between band and crowd
 
I got American Beauty on Vinyl for Xmas. I used to feel the same way about Gateful Dead albums as SKL but recently have really enjoyed going through them. You even find some nice hidden gems like Pride of Cucamonga, I dont think The Dead ever performed that one live.
Europe 72 and Skullfuck are a good introduction to early 70's Dead live shows. I see those two as companion albums and they do a great job of showing the Dead in the their American Beauty/cowboy song phase.
72 and 77 are the years I listen to most when going back to listen to shows. The 77 new years eve run at Winterland was glorious. I just finished listening to 12/29 earlier in the week.
 
If I said my favorite Dead song was Fire on the Mountain would a serious Deadhead rip on me for it?
 
I think youre good as long as you dont say Touch of Grey or that one song about cocaine.
 
My favorite song is Casey Jones!!!!


But nah really it's probably Jack Straw. I think that one's a Weir solo work though.

Blues for Allah is easily my favorite studio album.

Live albums, I really like Europe 72 and Dead Set.
 
I dont have a favorite song. Its fun to rediscover songs that i didnt used to pay much attention to. One of my faves right now is Ship of Fools.
 
Brokedown Palace, Ripple and Hes Gone will always evoke en emotional response from me.
I love crying on LSD.
 
Ship Of Fools really does seem fitting with the state of the World. Actually it always did.

Was bored at work yesterday and figured I'd watch an interview or two. So there was one where the Jane Pauley asks Garcia and Weir what accounts for their current vitality and Weir says "clean living" and Garcia spits up and says "yeah that's it!". Too funny. Around the 18:50 mark. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC6N1vpRl1Y

Some of those dates in the video are clearly wrong though.
 
I was just reading somewhere that their supply of drugs was greatly diminished during the Europe '72 tour, from an interview with Bobby, although he did mention dropping dose at some of the shows.

Make of that what you will.
 
Though there seemed to be plenty on the festival express tour. I love the part in the DVD where jerry expresses his love to Janis.

I'm listening to the 2/18/71 Dark Star > Wharf Rat> Dark Star. I love "beautiful jam" transition in to dark star. One of my faves for sure.
 
When you look at videos I think Bobby may be the one who shows it the most when he is fucked up/tripping way out there although I must say a lot of quality output from him in some of these shows. I saw an absolutely terrible Ratdog (I think, or some Dead incarnation with a lot of Bobby) show one time where he was blatantly out of his gourd. You might have been there, actually, I don't recall. But I remember everyone on lot talking about it after.
 
There was the Furthur show where he was high on pain pills and fell over on to John K. There's a YouTube video of it, but I wasn't at that one. Speaking of John K, one of my friends is his roadie now. You and I tripped acid at it house once in Jersey back in the day.

I saw Bobby a month ago at Xmas jam and he's sounding the best he has since I started seeing The Dead in 2003.
 
I couldn't ever really get into RatDog and particularly their solo material but I really liked Bobby vocals and guitar particularly in the 70s "cowboy songs" but his sometimes more subtle but essential part in other more Jerry-centric material as well. I like some of his instrumental stuff but like I said the original RatDog stuff not so much. Phil and Friends was always my shit though. I think that I've been to more of their shows than any other specific Dead incarnation/derivative (partly because I did a whole 12-night run once in NYC lol) although I've seen I think more DSO shows than anything, I probably did my longest actual city-to-city touring run with them doing it real gypsy style catching rides with people in exchange for drugs or whatever.

You may remember the Russian chick I was with for a while (although she was too spontaneous and free-spirited to call it a "relationship" I guess, I use the word "with" loosely, if I was willing to give up my whole New York thing and career and just tour she'd have been my old lady but I wasn't about to hop on the bus full time at that point), you met her at one GOTV, although it was more of an off-and-on thing. I met her first at a DSO show and traveled with some people she was traveling with but it wound up to be actually a really crazy situation, but it's among my most vivid memories, really, from that part of my life.

DSO. I have a special love for them even though they are a simulacrum although post-Kadlecik it's not what it once was. I don't know why on earth Dead & Company didn't use him rather than John "yourbodyisawonderland" Mayer. Although he can shred considerably better than I'd given him credit for knowing him only from his radio-pop output.
 
I love this clip so much. It feels so candid, like the song is still a work in progress. It gives me chills


Some of the other Jerry and Crosby jam sessions you can find are a great listen too. The PERRO sessions, it was like a 60's bay area super group jam.
 
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Fun fact: there's is a rough draft of a song called "Mountain Song" on the PERRO sessions that later got fleshed out and became one of Furthurs original songs.
 
ChickenScratch said:
Skipping Workingmans Dead and American Beauty is like losing your virginity without ever even touching a tit, first. They are absolute musts and god damn they sound good on vinyl.
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bought my kiddo a vinyl get up and Miles Davis Kind Of Blue and the Beatles the White album for his bday this year. GD individual shows on vinyl are fucking.. no so fkn pricey.. so pricy
 
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