BornAgainDeadHead

The Mother Load

2006-08-26T22:42:00.000-04:00

Google Video is very quickly taking over from YouTube as the premier source of GD Bootleg Video. Got a few hours to spare?

3/24/90

10/9/89

4/8/85

10/31/80

note: only downside is it seemed to take forever to download the embedded video. That being the case, better off just going to the source!

You Choose: Viola Lee Blues

2006-08-21T20:33:00.000-04:00

A You Choose request, and a great request at that!

Take My Poll

3/3/68 Viola Lee Blues
3/21/70 Viola Lee Blues

Thanks Scott D...

2006-08-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

... for the kind link on the Archive Forum to the Best AUDs list. :-)

The Other Ones: Zappa

2006-08-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

Over my 35 years, there is no single band that I have been more devoted to more than the Grateful Dead. There have been others though over time that have come close though. Typically, I listen to one band at a time. Don't know why, but I just do, and almost always have been that way (It could be worse, my 1st college roommate only listened to ONE SONG at a time. Remember "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers? I still cringe when I think of that nightmare!)

Thanks to the magic of my favorite website, you guessed it, Youtube, I have been able to explore some of my old favorites recently. Overall, I've always loved bands that have been a bit off center, those who employ a variety of styles, who are typically underappreciated, who advance and evolve over time, and who are phenomenally talented. For a couple years in the mid-nineties, I dove into the brilliance of Frank Zappa. Like The Dead, the best Zappa was live Zappa. I've always felt that Zappa and Garcia were two of the most underrated, finest improvisational guitarists in rock history. Zappa also had a bizarre sense of humor that is almost unmatched in rock history.

It had been years since I had listened to Zappa last, but after checking out some Little Feat on Youtube (who I will feature next), I thought I would see what they had from Zappa, and the collection there is outstanding. I owned alot of live-Zappa on tape, but never saw him live. At least I can enjoy him now. So sit back and enjoy one of my Zappa favorites, Florentine Pogen:

Happy 64th Jerry!

2006-08-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

Today would of been Jerry Garcia's 64th birthday, and to celebrate, take a listen to a sweet Sugaree from Jerry's 31st birthday show at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ.

Christmas in July...

2006-07-28T22:13:00.000-04:00

...or Hannukah in July in my case I guess. No matter. This is a public television broadcast of a christmas concert performed december 17, 1987 at the warfield theater in san francisco, via Duanebase. Man I love YouTube! :-)

You Choose: Bertha

2006-07-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

Time for another round of You Choose, this time featuring a favorite 'barn-burner', Bertha. Which one will You Choose?

Take My Poll

8/6/71 Bertha
10/27/80 Bertha

You Choose: Morning Dew

2006-07-14T20:42:00.000-04:00

Very close votes on the Terrapin and Eyes so far, just as I had hoped for :-) Thanks for the suggestions, I'm trying to find good AUD versions of those songs from different eras. If you are able to find any hot AUDs on The Archive that aren't on my Best Of list, please be sure to let me know, that will help enhance this effort for sure.

Anyway, moving on to today's You Choose. Your mission, if you accept it, is to select your favorite of two of the greatest Morning Dews recorded. The Cornell version is often referred to as the best, but some may like Pigpen-era version better. They are each special in their own way, but which one will You Choose...

Take My Poll

11/8/70 Dew
5/8/77 Dew

You Choose: Terrapin

2006-07-11T21:33:00.000-04:00

In our second installment of you choose, we'll go with Terrapins from '78 and '87. Both are excellent versions, but which one will you choose?

Take My Poll

5/6/78 Terrapin
3/24/87 Terrapin

You Choose: Eyes of the World

2006-07-07T21:24:00.000-04:00

It's audience participation time once again. This time around, I'll be selecting two versions of a song, include links to the versions of the song, and you get to vote on your favorite! Since 'eyes' are kind of a theme on this blog, Eyes of the World is as good of a song as any to start with.

I'd invite any suggestions you might have for future 'You Choose' polls. The ground rules are that there must be two verisons of the same song from different eras, and they should be linkable from The Archive, meaning that they will likely need to be from an AUD source. This should be interesting, so without further aideu...

Take My Poll

6/26/74 Eyes
3/29/90 Eyes

One Year Ago...

2006-06-30T17:15:00.000-04:00

Wow! Another milestone. I just realized today that I've been at this for a year now (with a brief hiatus earlier this spring). Early June 2005, I thought that it might be fun to blog about the Grateful Dead. Little did I know at the time where it would go, who I would connect with, or what would happen in the coming months. Alot happened in the past year:
- 10 year anniversary of the Dead's last show
- 10 years since Jerry left us
- The Archive Scandal
- Ramrod Passed Away...
- ...And So Did Vince

I've had fun making this as interactive as possible with items like:
- Best AUDs at The Archive
- 10 Questions, and
- Desert Island Dead

The Grateful Dead blogging community has grown quite a bit over the past year, and I've feel privileged to have been a part of it. Thank you again to those who have visited over the past year. The Grateful Dead lives on in the hearts and souls of all of us. This blog has been, and will continue to be my tribute.

Dreadful Wind and Rain

2006-06-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

Ode to all the rain we've had here in the DC area the past few days:

It's all night pouring, pouring rain; Lord but not a drop on me - Bertha

A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through - Box of Rain

Sound of the thunder with the rain pouring down - Brown Eyed Women

And I feel the wind, and I taste the rain - Comes a Time

Your rain falls like crazy fingers - Crazy Fingers

Rain gonna come but the rain gonna go - Doin' That Rag

And brave the storm to come, for it surely looks like rain - Looks Like Rain

Come again; walking along in the mission in the rain - Mission In The Rain

And the rain fallin' down, rain fallin' down - Saint of Circumstance

You still have to stand out in the pouring rain - Sugaree

As the lightning cries out of the rain - Wave To The Wind

And little change, the wind and rain - Weather Report Suite, Part I

Summer Solstice!

2006-06-21T21:30:00.000-04:00

Yes, today is the first day of summer, and to celebrate, GD via YouTube, from 17 years ago this very night!

Goin' DownUnder

2006-06-14T11:20:00.000-04:00

Throw some shrimp-on-the-barbie, grab your favorite Sheila and head down under to join John and his new blog, downunderdead. Thank you John for the kind words, it's sweet to know I inspired someone. In fact, it's kind of Ironic, John inspired me, and I inspired John :-)

Also, welcome to Joy, who shares a wonderful Vince Welnick Story on her blog.

Garcia/Grisman on Letterman

2006-06-09T23:17:00.000-04:00

Just found this on YouTube (gotta love YouTube!). A sweet Garcia & Grisman performance on Letterman from c.1993.

Delaware Shore, Here I Come!

2006-06-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

Rainbows end down that highway where ocean breezes blow

I'll be heading off to the beach with the family this weekend for a week, so you probably won't be hearing from me until I return. I'll actually be heading back by myself home for a day in the middle of the week for something semi-work-related. It's about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour trip, so to keep me entertained, I just purchased this week Dick's Picks Vol. 8 and Download Series Vol. 5.

The ride across the Eastern Shore in particular is flat, straight and rather boring, so this should keep me from 'Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad'. Looking forward to a nice week away. Be back soon.

Vince Welnick: 2/21/51 - 6/2/06

2006-06-03T14:12:00.000-04:00

Sad news for Deadheads everywhere today as we mourn the death of Vince Welnick, the last keyboardist for The Grateful Dead. According to the Mercury News, an unofficial spokesman at the Welnick home said that "It looks like he took his own life.'' If that is true, then this tragedy is even greater in magnitude. Vince admitted that he fell into a deep depression after Jerry's death in '95. Apparently, he never fully recovered, and as a result, could not go on in this world any longer.

Myself, and I'm sure Deadheads everywhere, pass along their greatest condolences to the Welnick family in this difficult time. RIP Vince, you will be missed.

He's Gone, and nothing's going to bring him back.

PS - Thank you my ol' Deadhead friend for passing this unfortunate news along.

Updates to Best AUDs

2006-05-30T21:53:00.000-04:00

I've added a couple new AUDs to Best AUDs at The Archive. One was the Unbroken Chain breakout in Philly in 1995, worth making the list if only for the Unbroken Chain. The other show is the 9/9/72 show. Super hot. Check out the notes, this guy did some great work on this recording to make it one of the best I have found, especially from that time period.

Anyone else who would like to contribute more to the Best AUDs list, please feel free.

Blues Traveler Live in Rockin' Rockville

2006-05-30T21:34:00.000-04:00

Saw Blues Traveler live (and free) with the Wife at the annual Hometown Holiday's festival in Rockville, MD on Sunday night. I hate to say it, but I'm afraid that I was a bit underwhelmed by the performance. I can't say that I've ever been much of a fan, but I've usually liked what I've heard, and always liked "The Hook".

There is no denying the brilliance of John Popper and the overall chops of the band. But as hard as they played (and it sounded like they were playing hard), there was no spark in the crowd, nothing to really grab you and get you up hopping. Maybe I was a bit tired from a long day (ugh, I'm getting OLD), maybe it was the indifference of most of my fellow suburbanites there, but it just didn't work for me. Oh well.

I'll give the City of Rockville one thing though, they can pull out some big names for this annual Memorial Day festival, including Kansas, Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat and Tears, The Gin Blossoms, , Hootie & The Blowfish, Live and even the Jefferson Starship, who I saw there in 2003. That was a pretty hot show, even sans Grace Slick. Marty Balin, Paul Kanter & Co. actually did just fine.

RadioDeadHead

2006-05-25T22:34:00.000-04:00

During my 11 year Deadhead hiatus, one of my favorite bands for a 3-4 year stretch was Radiohead. I think I liked them for a lot of the same reasons I liked The Dead. They were their own band and created whatever they felt like creating at the time. They changed up the set lists night-to-night. When they could of cashed in after The Bends and OK Computer, two of the best albums of the 90s IMHO, they instead went about as far in the other direction as you could possibly imagine. Listening to some of their more recent work reminds me a little of Seastones/Brian Eno/King Crimson. There had to be a big influence there somewhere.

Anyway, while searching around Youtube, I came across one of my favorite songs of theirs. It was never released, but was featured in their concert movie, Meeting People Is Easy. Here it is live, Nude (Big Ideas), from the Bill Graham Civic Center in 1998. It's a stunningly beautiful song. Check it out and enjoy:

So, what's the deal?

2006-05-24T20:53:00.000-04:00

No need to worry, everything is cool. No fight to fight really. It's been more of a 'quantity' issue than 'quality' issue. Just a lot of different things to deal with and not much time to deal with much else, such as:

New house...issues at my current job...thoughts of changing jobs
...two young kids (boys, 5 and 2)...money...
health (especially my mom's, my grandfather's)
...disappointing sports teams (Nationals, Terps, Wizards)...turning 35...

Each issue on it's own probably wouldn't be too tough to deal with, but all together, well let's just say it's been a handful. Compared to the troubles of some, it certainly could be much much worse. But things are looking up in the short term. My 10 year wedding anniversary is this weekend and the wife and I are going to indulge ourselves, sans kids, for a nice long weekend. We'll all be going on vacation then in mid-June to the beach. So some much needed R&R coming up for sure.

In the meantime this evening, I'm sitting back listening to the 6/28/85 Hershey, PA show. The family wife, kids and I went up to HersheyPark this past Easter Sunday. It was a spring preview weekend, so the tickets were cheaper and the crowds were smaller on Sunday in particular. We all had a great time there that day. I couldn't help to look over at the Stadium adjacent to the Park, smile and think, "Hey, the Grateful Dead played there 21 years ago". Cool :-)

Going back home, that's what I'm gonna do

2006-05-22T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hello again. Thanks to those who have been checking in. Everything is good, just a bit hectic and a tad stressful. Maybe I need to write again just to escape a bit again. The Dead are good for that you know...Escaping.

Right now, I'm escaping into the 7/7/89 JFK show. Sweet Healy mix. Excellent quality for a stadium show. I need to get some new Dead. Since the whole Archive debacle, I haven't downloaded much. I was going to download more AUDs, especially since I went through the trouble of compiling the list. Maybe I'll download a couple new Dicks Picks, or Download Series instead. A month or so ago I got Dicks Picks 21. Not bad, it was between that and Reckoning. Should of got Reckoning. I'll need to something soon as I have a couple semi-long drives coming up, and I'll need some new tunes to keep me going.

...Ugh, just saw something about RamRod passing last week. Very sad. RIP brother. He's gone, gone, and nothing's gonna bring him back...

Hope all is well with everyone out there, if anyone still checks in here that is. I'm going to write more, even if it's Not Dead Related (NDR). Good for the mind and the soul. Nothing left to do but smile smile smile...

Vacation or Sabbatical?

2006-05-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

Thanks to those who've been checking in. Everything is OK, albeit a bit turbulent for me right now. I've had alot of other things on my mind recently, so it's been hard to focus on much else. I do want to start writing again. I'm still thinking about expanding this blog to be more than just a Grateful Dead blog once thing settle down.

Through it all, I can still decompress with the Good 'ol Grateful Dead on my 30-45 minute commute to and from work. I'm listening to alot from '72-74 right now. What a truly glorious period of the band's history...

This blog ain't dead yet. Till then, Keep 'on Truckin'

Blogger Vacation

2006-03-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

Take a vacation, fall out for a while...

A blogging vacation that is. It's been a couple weeks since my last post, for a number of reasons, I just kind of took a break. I wasn't feeling well for a while, wasn't sleeping well either, then went on a business trip to San Diego two weeks ago, and just haven't got back into the groove since. I wrote alot the first several months of this blog's existence, it was starting to get tough to keep it going with new and fresh ideas. The collaborative nature of this blog has been positive, and I hope to come up with some new ideas around that.

I may start blogging on some other subjects as well, probably around things happening in my life, or other things that interest me. I don't plan on going political, in fact I'll probably keep my personal views and opinions to myself for the most part. I even thought about starting up a completely separate work-related blog, but I'm still not sure if that's a good idea or not. This however is first and foremost a Grateful Dead blog, I'm just still thinking about where I want to take this and what else would be worth blogging about.

In my hiatus, I missed a couple birthdays, so with apologies, happy belated birthday wishes to Phil Lesh who turned 66 on March 15, and TC, who turned 62 on March 19.

Jonathan's Desert Island Dead

2006-03-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

Jonathan takes off for the Desert Island with five favorites...

1. DP 18 - Like Mark, this collection just blows my mind every time I hear it. The Samson alone is worth the price of admission, but to follow it with that ripping Scarlet > Fire is unworldly. To include what,for me, is the consummate "Eyes" is almost unbearable.
2. DP 35 - The House Boat Tapes. Despite the noveltythat surrounded this release when it came out, it's a great collection of music. 1971 Dead at their peak.
3. 10/26/89 - Miami, FL - This show came from outer space, I swear. Great performances during the whole thing, and the Dark Star here is Halloween-worthy.
4. 4/23/77 - Springfield, MA - One of my favorite '77 shows, with what is perhaps a Top 5 Scarlet > Fire for me.
5. 4/17/71 - Princeton, NJ - The Brooklyn Bridge rave-up, my favorite Pig moment of all time. And as was typical for '71, the rest of the set ain't bad either.

Pigpen - RIP

2006-03-08T21:04:00.000-05:00

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan left this earth 33 years ago today. As I write this, I'm listening to the 3/24/71 show which has classic versions of Hard To Handle and Next Time You See Me.

Pigpen was a bluesman to the core, he lived hard, and was the heart and soul of the Grateful Dead even for years after he passed away. It makes me think that it's a real shame that he has never been, and probably never will be, respected for the great showman that he was, at least outside of the Dead community. As his tombstone says though, "Pigpen Was And Is Now Forever One Of The Grateful Dead". And he will be in the hearts and souls of Deadheads now and forever too.

Two New DeadBlogs...

2006-03-05T14:04:00.000-05:00

...well, not necessarily new, but new to my DeadBlog list.

Librarian In Tye Dye - Is written by David Dodd, author of the great Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics website and recently released book.

Lightmuzik was recommended to me by Microdot, who was a major contributor to my Best AUDs at The Archive compilation. This blog is run by a fell Marylander and Aquarian, he also works for a non-profit, and he's almost the same age as me (all from his profile). And he blogs about the Grateful Dead, talk about having alot in common!

Check 'em both out!

SLC's Desert Island Dead

2006-03-03T19:01:00.000-05:00

SLC Library Boy went a bit overboard with his Desert Island Essentials. He's packin' heavy for his trip, but that's OK, no way I could ask someone to narrow-down a list like that. BTW, he did 'narrow-it-down' himself to shows from '72 to '79 :-)

03-25-72 Academy of Music, New York, N.Y. (Sat)
1: Hey Bo Diddley> Mannish Boy> Rap Jam> Jam, Take It Off> Mona, Wo Wow Hey Hey> Unknown, Pollution, Eighteen Children, Jam> Jam
2: How Sweet It Is, Are You Lonely For Me, Next Time, B. E. Women, Smokestack, Top Of The World, Sugaree, L. L. Rain, Bertha
3: Mr. Charlie, B. T. Wind, Deal, Playin, Lovelight, Casey Jones
Hell's Angels party/benefit - also: Bo Diddley - first set with Bo Diddley - "Unknown" is a blues number - Donna Godchaux's first official appearance as a member of the Grateful Dead - first "Hey Bo Diddley" - final "Mannish Boy" - only "Take It Off" - first "Mona" - only "Wo Wow Hey Hey" - only "Pollution" - only "Eighteen Children" - only "Are You Lonely For Me" - only "How Sweet It Is"

This is available as Dick’s Picks #30. The Bo Diddley set is fantastic, but this whole run is amazing. Previous guests include The Beach Boys (who play an off-the-hook “Good Vibrations”) and the return of T.C.

05-11-72 Rotterdam Civic Hall, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Thu)
1: Playin, Sugaree, Mr. Charlie, B. T. Wind, Deal, Chinatown Shuffle, Mexicali, China Cat> I Know You Rider, Hurts Me Too, BIODTL, B. E. Women, Jack Straw, Big RxR Blues, Good Lovin, Casey Jones
2: Morning Dew, Me & My Uncle, Two Souls, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Next Time, Dark Star> Drums> Dark Star> Sugar Magnolia> Caution> Who Do You Love> Truckin> Uncle John E: Saturday Night
final "Caution" - final "Who Do You Love"

This whole show kicks, but the second set run, from Dark Star to Uncle John is incredible.

08-27-72 Old Renaissance Faire Grounds, Veneta, Or. (Sun)
1: Promised, Sugaree, Me & My Uncle, Deal, B. T. Wind, China Cat> I Know You Rider, Mexicali, Bertha
2: Playin, He's Gone, Jack Straw, Bird Song, Greatest
3: Dark Star> El Paso, Sing Me Back Home, Sugar Magnolia, Casey Jones, Saturday Night
Springfield Creamery benefit - "Field Trip" - also: NRPS

This is the legendary show that was filmed for the still unreleased movie “Sunshine Daydream.” I’ve traced the (lack of) info concerning the (non) release here:
http://deadnews.blogspot.com/2005/08/sunshine-daydream-dvd-updates-or-lack.html

I recently acquired the first half of the movie and it’s amazing. I can’t wait to (one day) get the rest. But in the mean time, the audio of this show rocks my world.

02-09-73 Roscoe Maples Pavilion, Stanford U., Palo Alto, Ca. (Fri)
1: Promised, Row Jimmy, B. T. Wind, Deal, Me & My Uncle, Sugaree, L. L. Rain, Loose Lucy, Mexicali, B. E. Women, El Paso, H. C. Sunshine, Playin
2: China Cat> I Know You Rider, Jack Straw, TLEO, Truckin> Eyes> China Doll, Big River, Ramble On, Box Of Rain, Wave That Flag, Sugar Magnolia, Uncle John, Around E: Casey Jones
"Beer Barrel Polka" tuning before "Mexicali" - first "China Doll" - first "Eyes" - first "H. C. Sunshine" - first "Loose Lucy" - first "TLEO" - first "Row Jimmy" - first "Wave That Flag"

This show has powerful energy behind it. Deadbase has a great review of this show. The 1st time versions are a lot of fun, including an up-tempo, funky They Love Each Other (TLEO).

06-16-74 State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, Ia. (Sun)
1: Bertha, Mexicali, Row Jimmy, BIODTL, Scarlet, B. T. Wind, Sugaree, El Paso, Roses, Jack Straw, China Cat> I Know You Rider, Around
2: U. S. Blues, Race Is On, Eyes> Big River, Playin
3: Tennessee Jed, Me & My Uncle, Deal, Greatest, Ship Of Fools, Truckin> Nobody's Jam> Wharf Rat> GDTRFB E: Casey Jones

This whole show is tight, but I just can’t get over the beautiful and unexpected transition from Eyes of the World into Big River.

10-18-74 Winterland Arena, San Francisco, Ca. (Fri)
1: Around, Sugaree, Mexicali, Peggy-O, BIODTL, B. E. Women, Cumberland, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, WRS Prelude> WRS Part 1> Let It Grow
2: Phil & Ned> Jam> Dark Star> Morning Dew
3: Promised> Bertha> Greatest, Ship Of Fools, NFA> GDTRFB> Saturday Night E: U. S. Blues
"Beer Barrel Polka" tuning before "Mexicali" - final "WRS Part 1" - final "WRS Prelude" - "Sugaree", "BIODTL" and "Ship Of Fools" appear on "Steal Your Face"

Phil & Ned (a minimal electronic jam by Lesh & Nagin) into “Jam” into Dark Star into Morning Dew is just perfect.

03-23-75 Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, Ca. (Sun)
Blues For Allah> Stronger Than Dirt> Drums> Stronger Than Dirt> Blues For Allah E: Johnny B. Goode
first "Blues For Allah" - first "Stronger Than Dirt" - with Merl Saunders and Ned Lagin - without Donna - FM broadcast KIOI-San Francisco - Students Need Athletics Culture & Kicks (SNACK) benefit –

This show is very unique. Besides the crowd pleasing encore, it is all instrumental. It’s very fusion-jazz-like. Check out the rehearsals for this show. There are some stellar jams.

07-18-76 Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, Ca. (Sun)
1: Half Step, Cassidy, Row Jimmy, Mama Tried, Scarlet, L. L. Rain, Tennessee Jed, Minglewood, Loser, Music
2: Might As Well, Samson, Candyman, Lazy Lightning> Supplication> Let It Grow> Drums> Let It Grow> Wharf Rat> Drums> Other One> St. Stephen> NFA> St. Stephen> Wheel> Other One> Stella Blue, Sugar Magnolia E: Johnny B. Goode
FM broadcast KSAN-San Francisco

The second set portion starting with Lazy Lightning thru Stella Blue is out of this world.

02-26-77 Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, Ca. (Sat)
1: Terrapin, Minglewood, TLEO, Estimated, Sugaree, Mama Tried, Deal, Playin> Wheel> Playin
2: Samson, Tennessee Jed, Music, Help> Slipknot> Franklin's, Promised, Eyes> Dancin> Around
E: U. S. Blues
first "Estimated" - first "Terrapin"

Wow! Nuff said.

05-07-77 Boston Garden, Boston, Ma. (Sat)
1: Bertha, Cassidy, Deal, Jack Straw, Peggy-O, Minglewood, Half Step> Big River, Tennessee Jed, Music
2: Terrapin> Samson, FOTD, Estimated, Eyes> Drums> Wheel> Wharf Rat> Around E: U. S. Blues
Bill Kreutzmann's 31st birthday

Everyone has the Barton Hall show and the show directly before and after get over shadowed. Cornell is great but this and the next are just as good.

05-09-77 War Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, N.Y. (Mon)
1: Help> Slipknot> Franklin's, Cassidy, B. E. Women, Mexicali, Tennessee Jed, Big River, Peggy-O, Sunrise, Music
2: Bertha> Good Lovin, Ship Of Fools, Estimated> Other One> Drums> NFA> Comes A Time> Sugar Magnolia E: Uncle John
last "Mexicali": 10-19-74 [65]

I think 5/7, 5/8, & this show make a great 77 trio.

01-22-78 McArthur Court, University of Oregon, Eugene, Or. (Sun)
1: Minglewood, Dire Wolf, Cassidy, Peggy-O, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, Music
2: Bertha> Good Lovin, Ship Of Fools, Samson, Terrapin> Drums> Other One> Close Encounters> St. Stephen> NFA> Around E: U. S. Blues

If you’ve never heard this show, stop what you’re doing and listen to it on the archive. The aliens communicate through Jerry here, no doubt about it.

10-27-79 Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Ma. (Sat)
1: Jack Straw, Candyman, Me & My Uncle> Big River, B. E. Women, Easy To Love You, Minglewood, Stagger Lee, Sailor> Saint> Deal
2: Dancin> Franklin's, He's Gone> Caution Jam> Other One> Drumz> NFA> Black Peter> Around E: Saturday Night
last "Caution Jam": 10-22-78 [68]

The whole show is amazing, but that Dancin’ is just too damn funky.

Joby's Desert Island Dead

2006-02-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

Joby comes in with his top five Desert Island classics. Here's hoping for some more Retro Reviews!

9-20-70, Fillmore East, New York NY Best acoustic set ever, best Caution ever, Davids Nelson and Grisman guest star. Check my blog within the next day or two for a full review of this fantastic, historic show.

8-27-72, Veneta, Oregon Obviously a long time favorite and classic, and arguably the finest show of 1972. What can be said that hasn't already?

6-29-76, Auditorium Theater Chicago Illinois Hard to pick just one great show from this fabulous month in 1976, I chose this one for the highlights: Peggy O, Mission In the Rain, Might As Well, St. Stephen->NFA->St. Stephen. Wish they broke out the Cosmic Charlie this show, but that would have just been TOO perfect.

10-16-89 (Nightfall of Diamonds) Meadowlands Arean, East Rutherford NJ This was by far the hardest choice for me, to pick between this show or 10-9-89, the Warlocks show I had the good fortune to actually attend. I chose 10-16 for the fact that they played Attics and sang We Bid You Goodnight, but it's really a coin flip.

My last pick is a best-of-tour compilation CD I have from the 1992 Warfield Theater run with Jerry Garcia and the David Grisman Quintet. Here's the track list: The Thrill Is Gone, Rosalie McFall, The Fields Have Turned Brown, 16x16, Sitting In Limbo, Oh The Wind And Rain, Louis Collins, Bag's Groove, When I First Unto This Country, Long Black Veil, Shady Grove, Down Where The River Bends, She Belongs To Me. I know it's not Dead per se, but I had to have some Garcia/Grisman or I'd go mad on that island.

- Joby

Ned's Desert Island Dead

2006-02-24T20:22:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Ned and his Desert Island Dead. Hmmm, I'm a poet and didn't even know it :-)

Quality is important to Ned and is a big fan of their early work (although he loves the '91 MSG Branford show) . Without further adieu...

3/1/69
5/2/70
4/29/71
9/21/72
9/10/91

Deep's Desert Island Dead

2006-02-23T15:34:00.000-05:00

Deep offer's his essential Desert Island Dead:

American Beauty - The ONE!

5/11/72 - one of my favorites from that Europe tour. The Tiger Jam on the Dark Star is probably the most monstrous TJ I have heard, and the way in which the band leaves behind all that dark energy behind them and gallop into a rollicking melodious country jam is MAGIC.

DP3 - fantastic set all around.

4/24/72 (Rockin' The Rhein) - hands down, one of my top 5 Dark Stars. The Me & My Uncle that is sandwiched between the Dark Star performances plays out with all the detail and liveliness of a movie. Plus the Good Lovin' is brilliant. Great night for the band.

Reckoning - for the laid back sunny days

Stewart's Desert Island Dead

2006-02-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

Here's five from Stewart:

(1) 03/01/69, Fillmore West -- Sublime early Dead throughout and featuring my desert island Dark Star.
(2) 11/11/73, Winterland -- My favorite show from my favorite year; best China Rider and a Dark Star > MLBJ> Eyes > China Doll for the ages.
(3) 08/13/75, One from the Vault -- Can't be stuck on a desert island without a Help/Slip/Frank, and this one, beginning with legendary Bill Graham's classic intro of the band, is an easy choice.
(4) 05/08/77, Cornell -- My first bootleg makes this a sentimental pick; also, rumor has it that the show itself isn't too shabby either.
(5) 06/30/85, Merriweather -- Summer of '85 is justifiably iconic; how could I survive on a desert island without this Shakedown to keep my bones boogying?

"My" (Stewart's) "only reservation with this list is the absence of a monumental early 70s Playin' (a la Veneta); not sure I could last without that."

Happy Birthday Vince!

2006-02-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

Everyone wish Vince Welnick a happy 55th today! I remember seeing Vince's 3rd show with The Grateful Dead, and being blown away immediately by his confidence, the intricacy of his playing and his vocal harmonizing ability. I thought he fit in right away, but there were many others who never truly accepted him, much like Brent and Keith before him. In retrospect, Vince had a similar sound to Brent, but played a much more complimentary role, similar to Keith. The Vince/Bruce Hornsby combo provided a particularly unique sound to The Dead in the 90s. In the end, I saw more Dead shows with Vince behind the keyboards than I did shows with Brent. He was a fine choice to keep the bus rolling after Brent's demise. So once again, happy birthday to the last man to tickle the keys for The Dead, Mr. Vince Welnick!

Helen's Desert Island Dead

2006-02-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

It's Helen's turn with her Desert Island essentials:

03/19/95 - Phily Spectrum - Because I was there for the Unbroken Chain breakout and while the rest of the show was fair, this alone made it number one on my list of stellar moments. It was really the thing we all waited for. Incredible moment.
06/18/95 Giants Stadium - This is the last time I saw Jerry live. It's odd because I went alone and was making my way out of the Stadium but stopped and sat down not really knowing why. Jerry closed with a beautful Brokedown and I knew instantly why I had stayed.
09/03/77 Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ - The first bootleg I got. It will always be one of my all time favorites.
10/09/89 - Hampton, VA - Just recently heard this show and was blown away by it. Saddened that it is no longer available on archive and I only have the stream but I am working on it!
Europe '72 - I admit to stealing this pick from Mark but as soon as I saw it I thought "Of course, that would have to go with me!"
Bonus - Not a Dead show but I would love to take Keller Williams "Crazy Fingers" because his interpretation of these Dead tunes is amazing and I havent' had nearly enought time to enjoy it yet.

Excellent choices Helen! Please continue to send in your Desert Island selections via e-mail.

Mark's Desert Island Dead

2006-02-19T09:20:00.000-05:00

Mark is the first to visit our Desert Island. Ideally he would like every recording on one giant CD, but that would be cheating ;-) (although you could fit it all on a I-Pod I guess, but sorry, no I-Pods allowed on this island...)

Here's four 'real' CDs that Mark would have to have on the Desert Island:

Closing of Winterland
Europe '72
DP Twenty (which has become a favorite)
DP Eighteen

Thanks Mark! Can't wait to see more!

Desert Island Dead

2006-02-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

Audience participation time again folks! You probably know how this works, you going to a desert island and you can only take a handful of records with you. What essential Grateful Dead recordings would you need to have to stay sane? Let's keep it to five, but give or take one if you need the flexibility. Feel free to include bootlegs (SBDs and/or AUDs), studio recordings, major label live releases, Dick's Picks, Download Series, etc. There's plenty to choose from, this could get interesting.

I'm going to go with favorites I downloaded from The Archive. My five include:
- 4/29/71 - Closing of The Fillmore East. An absolute classic, including all-time favorite versions of Midnight Hour, Hard to Handle, Alligator and Second That Emotion.
- 6/14/76 - Best show in the comeback year. Beacon Theater rocked that night and the quality of this recording is top-notch. Great stage banter too.
- 5/7/77 - The night before the infamous Cornell Show. The show overall is hot, but the Mississippi Half-Step alone makes this my favorite '77 show.
- 11/30/80 - Great SBD and AUD rolled into one! The contrast between the two sources makes this a fascinating recording, not to mention a scorching Sailor>Saint>Deal to close the 1st set, and my all-time favorite Ship of Fools in the 2nd.
- 10/9/89 - As I have mentioned before, I could of been at this Hampton classic, but chose to go the night before instead. Still kicking myself over that one. I'm actually just going to take the 2nd set of this one, and the AUD source at that. IMHO, the best 2nd set ever. I've listened to it probably 100 times, and it never gets old.

So what would you have to have on that Desert Island? Please share by e-mailing me your list.

Good Lovin'

2006-02-14T07:15:00.000-05:00

On this Valentine's Day, a tribute to my wife of 10 years:
---------------------------------------------------------------
"I love you more than words can tell" - Brokedown Palace

"The girl I love, she's sweet and true" - Don't Ease Me In

"You don't know how easy it is to love you" - Easy To Love You

"Love me, I will love you too, nothing else I'd rather do" - France

"You know I love you baby, I gotta get you all alone" - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl

"Cause you're the only girl I know that can really love me so" - In The Midnight Hour

"It's all right, 'cause I love you, and that's not gonna change", "But I'll still sing you love songs, written in the letters of your name" - Looks Like Rain

"My love is bigger than a Cadillac" - Not Fade Away

"Just a little spoon of your precious love, is good enough for me" - Spoonful

"She's got everything delightful. She's got everything I need" - Sugar Magnolia

"To lie with you once more, to lie with you. With our dreams entwined together" - To Lay Me Down

Sweet Jams

2006-02-07T22:36:00.000-05:00

Just recently redeemed an ITunes gift card, for what else? Grateful Dead of course! This time around I went for two Dick's Picks, Volume 12 and Volume 13. I'm addicted to both already as they both have very unique qualities.

Volume 12 is actually two second sets, 6/26/74 in Providence, RI and 6/28/74 at the Boston Garden. This jam-laden Dick's Picks is '74 Dead at their finest. Highlights of the first disc include a hot China Cat>Rider, and a facinating Spanish Jam. The second set includes a typically wonderful Eyes of the World (the 'Eyes' from '73 and '74 are my favorite) and a beautiful To Lay Me Down. The third disc just goes off the charts though. It starts with a strong Weather Report Suite followed by a mesmorizing 27 minute Jam. They close out this hot 2nd set rockin' with US Blues, Promised Land, GDTRFB, and Sunshine Daydream. Looking for something to veg out for a couple hours to? Dick's Picks Volume 12 would be a great choice.

Volume 13 is the May 6, 1981 Nassau Coliseum show. The first set is a typical early 80's barnburner with great versions of Dire Wolf, Big Railroad Blues and Deal. Disk Two and Three really shine though. While downloading Saint of Circumstance, I found it odd that it a bit odd that it was 42 minutes long. What I discovered was a hidden gem, an outstanding Scarlet>Fire from 11/1/79 (you can check out the SBD version on The Archive here). The transition jam between Scarlet and Fire needs to be heard to be believed. There is a section there where Jerry and Brent play off eachother and launch into another dimension. Truly a classic Dead moment. After Fire, we go back to 1981 to a historic He's Gone tribute to Bobby Sands. Another classic moment. If that wasn't enough, they launch into a mindbending Caution/Spanish Jam. After listening to this the first time, I was pretty much a quivering lump of jelly I was so blown away. A truly amazing second set finshes with The Other One, GDTRFB, Wharf Rat, Good Lovin and a Don't Ease Me In encore. I love this show (plus the surprise Scarlet>Fire), 'nuff said. Check 'em both out and enjoy!

100th Post

2006-02-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

I know I mentioned it around New Year's but I'm still amazed that this is still going, not to mention that I've actually had 100 things to post (thanks to many of you of course). So thanks again for stopping by.

In conjunction with my 100th post, I've decided to remodel the blog a bit. I've reorganzied my link section and I've added a new Feed via Feedburner. If you have in the past, or would like to subscribe to BornAgainDeadHead, you will notice a new orange icon below the Blogger icon on the right sidebar. It appears to work pretty well. I used it to add a feed to my MyYahoo.

Thanks again, more to come...

BUMP - 10 Questions & Best AUDs

2006-01-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all those who submitted their answers to my 10 questions. It just confirmed for me how diverse the Deadhead community is, even online! The 10 questions are listed below for anyone else who wants to join in the fun.

Also, rather than bumping up the whole Best AUDs at The Archive post, I thought I would make reference to it here once more. I've focused more recently on the 90s, and found a couple gems from '93 in particular. Check out the Broken Arrow from 4/4/93 (Phil delivers a great version of one of my favorite Robbie Robertson songs, and the Standing On The Moon from 9/26/93 (Best SOTM ever? You decide...)

10 Questions for...
1. 1st Dead Experience -
2. 1st Dead Show -
3. Last Dead Show -
4. How many shows did you go too?
5. Favorite Dead year or time period?
6. Favorite band member (if it’s Jerry, 2nd favorite?)
7. Other favorite bands -
8. Favorite movie -
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)...
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead...
Feel free to include a link to your website, blog, Myspace, etc. too.

10 Questions for...Andrew

2006-01-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

Andrew (who has brown eyes BTW) provides his 10, and wants to know when there will be 10 new ones. I'm not sure if I'll do another 10 questions, but I think I have something else along similar lines in mind. More to come...

1. 1st Dead Experience - I'd heard a couple of songs on the radio while in High School (Truckin', Casey Jones, UJB ), but someone gave me a tape in 1985 when I was in College (I think it was Cal Expo, 1984), and I was hooked! Once I heard the way they were jammin' on Iko Iko live, there was no turning back.
2. 1st Dead Show - July 26, 1987. Dylan & The Dead, Anaheim Stadium, CA.
3. Last Dead Show - June 25, 1994. Silver Bowl, Las Vegas, NV.
4. How many shows did you go to? 7 Shows (I also saw the Jerry Garcia Band at Irvine Meadows, on August 1, 1992, his 50th Birthday)
5. Favorite year or time period - 1972 to 1979, the "Donna" years.
6. Favorite band member (if it's Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Jerry's my favorite, so my 2nd favorite is Donna Jean Godchaux. The vocals on so many songs sound much fuller and richer with her contributing.
7. Other favorite bands - Eric Clapton, Blues Traveler, Bob Dylan, CSN, Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin. Mostly Blues influenced Classic Rock.
8. Favorite movie - There are so many movies I love, but I'll say "Joe vs. The Volcano". Anyone else familiar with it?
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... The Holy Bible. Finished reading through it in a year in December for the 2nd time and just started again in January. Also reading Humility by C.J. Mahaney, The Book on Leadership by John MacArthur, and re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... I'm playing Beach Volleyball or Golfing. I also enjoy Mountain Biking, Hiking, and Camping (anything outdoors). If I must stay inside, then I hang out with friends and we will do "Dinner & A Movie". We'll pick a DVD to watch and cook a meal based on the movie (e.g. - We made Jamaican Jerk Chicken while watching Pirates of the Caribbean and we cooked Pasta Carbonara when we saw The Italian Job).

Grateful Dead live on Playboy After Dark

2006-01-24T21:43:00.000-05:00

Sent to me today by an old Deadhead friend. Enjoy.

Mountains of the Moon / St. Stephen

More Grateful Dead live video can be found here.

10 Questions for...Jim

2006-01-21T12:39:00.000-05:00

Jim and his ten:

1. 1st Dead Experience – Reading BAM magazine review of their Orpheum Theater shows in 1976. Had never heard the music, but the review described concert starting with Gregorian chants and I just thought, “Whoa, that’s wild.”
2. 1st Dead Show – Oct. 10, 1976 Oakland Coliseum The Dead and the Who. What else is there to say? Two of the greatest bands in the world providing an entire day’s worth of glorious music. I went there to see the Who, but was definitely impressed by the Dead. I was 14 at the time. No idea how I talked my parents into allowing me to go.
3. Last Dead Show – Oct 10, 1982 Frost Amphitheater, Palo Alto, CA
4. How many shows did you go too? 35-40 plus numerous JGB shows at the Keystone in Berkeley and S.F.
5. Favorite year or time period - 1969. About as heavy as it gets. Absolutely mind-blowing stuff that knocks the stuffing out of whatever hard-rock outfit you want to name. Pigpen’s stuff was scorching, too.
6. Favorite band member (if it’s Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Bobby. He seemed to always “have it together” on stage, with clear strong vocals, a good stage presence, and good guitar. I also think Jerry’s guitar work is particularly impressive on Bobby’s songs.
7. Other favorite bands – Jefferson Airplane, Dreams Come True (Japanese), Springsteen, REM, the Who, Jimi Hendrix
8. Favorite movie – The Grateful Dead movie.(Does that count?) Watch part of it nearly every morning as I’m stretching. Puts me in a great mood and reminds me what a wild scene Grateful Dead shows were.
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... Creature from Jekyll Island – A second look at the Federal Reserve. As Willie Nelson states on the jacket, “Scary. It’s the story of the world banking system. Enough said.”
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... Watching cartoons (with kids) or concert DVDs.

10 Questions for...SLC Library Boy

2006-01-20T19:01:00.000-05:00

The man with all the Grateful Dead News fit to Blog...SLC Library Boy

1. 1st Dead Experience - Growing up, I lived right next to Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. One year, when the Dead came to town, I was overwhelmed by all the heads in my neighborhood. I starting talking to them, asking dumb things like "are they heavy metal?" (I thought that b/c of the shirts) and "who's Jerry?"
2. 1st Dead Show - It took me long enough, but the first show I went to where I was really into the Dead was 6/17/94 Eugene.
3. Last Dead Show - 2/20/95 Salt Lake City.
4. How many shows did you go too? 10
5. Favorite year or time period - 1973-1978 is, by far, my favorite era
6. Favorite band member (if it’s Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Jerry, so, second favorite, Phil.
7. Other favorite bands - I'm very much into House Music, but have been listening to old Talking Heads shows lately.
8. Favorite movie - Harold & Maude
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... To be honest, my most recent read was a comic book (Fantastic Four).
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... jamming w/ friends, playing cello, making beats...

SLC Library Boy - Salt Lake City, Utah
Blogger Profile
Tribe Profile
Trading List (just started)

10 Questions for...Tim

2006-01-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

Tim adding his "two or three cents"...

1. 1st Dead Experience – Some guys I admired in high school turned me on to Live Dead, but it was Europe '72 that really blew me away. After growing up with Zeppelin and the Stones, Jack Straw and China Cat/I Know You Rider were a religious experience!
2. 1st Dead Show – Rosemont Horizon (outside Chicago), December 6, 1981. Jerry wasn't really fat and still played on stage right, and the Rhythm Devils did a killer duet on the floor.
3. Last Dead Show – Soldier Field, Chicago, July 8, 1995. Second-to-last Dead show ever. Couldn't make the next day, had to get back home to Georgia :..(
4. How many shows did you go to? In 13+ years, all Dead and Dead family shows: went TO well over 100, actually got in to see a dozen or so less than that.
5. Favorite year or time period – 1970-1975
6. Favorite band member (if it's Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Long Love The Phil Zone!
7. Other favorite bands – The Jayhawks, Gram Parsons, Lyle Lovett, Warren Zevon
8. Favorite movie - Withnail and I
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read) - The Secret Man by Bob Woodward, it's about Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat" from the Watergate era.
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... In no particular order: playing guitar, playing with my two Australian Shepherds, playing with my wife of nearly 14 years, writing, mountain biking, building trails for mountain biking.

10 Questions for...Jonathan!

2006-01-19T12:29:00.000-05:00

We had to twist his arm...here's Jonathan

1. First Dead experience - I remember hearing about them in middle school and thinking "Man, what a cool name for a band!" I think I heard UJB and Truckin on the radio about that time as well.
2. First Dead show & 3. Last Dead show - These are one and the same: 6/30/95, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh. What a show! The rainstorm during set break brought the "Rain" medley out from the boys: Rain ; Box Of Rain ; Samba In The Rain ; Looks Like Rain
4. How many shows did you go to?- Just the one, but I've seen "The Dead" on last year's tour. I know, doesn't really count.
5. Favorite year or time period? Right now, it's 1989. But ask me next week and I'm liable to say 1971.
6. Favorite band member - Phil. Phil. Phil. The man continues to be cool, inspire, and make great music.
7. Other favorite bands - Beatles, Stones, The New Pornographers, Rush, Radiohead, Phish, Springsteen, Guster, Miles Davis, John Coltrane
8. Favorite movie - The Godfather I
9. I am currently reading - The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
10. When I'm not online or listening to the GratefulDead - I hang out with my family (gorgeous wife and two awesome and beautiful kids), I play in my band, listen to jazz, watch entirely too much TV, read, cook really, really good Italian food.

10 Questions for...Xian

2006-01-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

Christian (aka Xian) joins the fun...

1. 1st Dead Experience - hearing Friend of the Devil and Uncle John's Band on FM radio around age six.
2. 1st Dead Show - June 24, 1984. Saratoga Performing Arts Center(SPAC), Saratoga Springs, NY
3. Last Dead Show - June 4, 1995. Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
4. How many shows did you go too? 109 (approximately)
5. Favorite year or time period - 1973
6. Favorite band member (if it's Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Pigpen
7. Other favorite bands - Minutemen, Television, Meat Puppets, Pixies
8. Favorite movie - The Sting
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... Koba the Dread(memoir about Stalin by Martin Amis)
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... I like to play my ukuleles, watch TV, dance, talk politics, write stories, and hang out with my girlfriend Briggs.

BTW, I love what he's doing with his blog, I didn't realize that Uncle John's Blog was actually a Wiki. Very cool.

10 Questions For...Jim

2006-01-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

Jim (aka Westchesterdead) with his Ten...

1. 1st Dead Experience – I was working on an 8th grade science project of a model of the lunar eclipse (painting styrofoam balls and boxes, etc.) and I borrowed an eight track tape from my older brother.
2. 1st Dead Show – May 9, 1981, Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY. It was Easter Sunday and I was sixteen at the time.
3. Last Dead Show – Not sure, maybe a Giants Stadium show in June of 1991. Sadly, I didn’t keep track of that tidbit.
4. How many shows did you go too? I’m not sure….under 15, I think.
5. Favorite year or time period – Early 70’s and I recently fell in love with the year 1976.
6. Favorite band member (if it’s Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Phil, even more than Jerry.
7. Other favorite bands – I just completed downloading all of my non dead CD’s to my 60 gig video Ipod – I spent a lot of time listening to Morphine, The Clash, Nirvana, Cake, Beck, and then old stuff like James Brown and Duke Ellington. I have another 40 gig Ipod for all of my Dead collection.
8. Favorite movie – Too many to name, but ‘Cool Hand Luke’ is near the top of the list – It’s a great movie, escpecially when Paul Newman eats the fifty hard boiled eggs, with the help of George Kennedy.
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... A series of horrific non-fiction books centering around tragedies at sea, with the last one being The Ice Master by Jennifer Niven - a story about the doomed voyage of the Karluck in 1913. It's time to get out of the water.
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... I manage the saltwater reef tank at our office and hike in the woods searching for geocaches with my girlfriend, who got me into this sordid hobby after I bought her a handheld GPS unit. This past Sunday, I popped my ankle out of joint on the trail and went tumbling down a hill head over heels. It's usually a bit more fun than that.

10 Questions For...AJ

2006-01-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

AJ with his ten...

1. 1st Dead Experience - I think I heard Tennesse Jed from Europe 72 when I was in middle school, then I got Skeletons shortly after
2. 1st Dead Show - sadly, i was only 15 when jerry died, and didn't get to see any shows.
3. Last Dead Show - see #2
4. How many shows did you go too? 0 :-( I've seen various band members in various forms live maybe 10 times
5. Favorite year or time period - 1974, except when I like 77 better
6. Favorite band member - after Jerry...Bobby, cause he's under-rated
7. Other favorite bands - tons, but definately Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Phish
8. Favorite movie - tough one...Spinal Tap was pretty darn good
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read) - The Clash of Fundamentalisms, by Tariq Ali
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead - grad school, studying International Peace and Conflict Resolution

Ten Questions for...Helen

2006-01-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Peace and please say No to GMOs from Helen...

1. 1st Dead Experience - Turned on by a friend - 1st show below and never got off the bus
2. 1st Dead Show - Sept. 20, 1982 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
3. Last Dead Show - June 19, 1995 - Giants Stadium, E.Rutherford, NJ
4. How many shows did you go too? Have always had a hard time nailing this down. As far as I can tell 130, give or take 20
5. Favorite year or time period - I hang on to the late 80's. This is when I transfomed from party-animal to Wharf-Rat
6. Favorite band member (if it's Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Well, it's Jerry so 2nd fav is Phil.
7. Other favorite bands - Allman's, Mule, Dave Matthews Band, Rush, Yes, Moody Blues
8. Favorite movie - Shawshank Redemption
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read) Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... Besides work and sleep, I knit some, do jigsaw puzzles, take photos, non-profit grant writing

Ten Questions for...Mark

2006-01-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

Here's Mark:

1. 1st Dead Experience - Listening to "American Beauty" album that my oldersister (not a Deadhead) bought in 1972. I subsequently "stole" it and I still have that same copy.
2. 1st Dead Show - Day On The Green in October 1977 - The Dead opening forThe Who. Can't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday, though.
3. Last Dead Show - 1982 - Vietnam veteran's memorial show at MosconeCenter.
4. How many shows did you go too? 5 or 6
5. Favorite year or time period - Mid to late 70's
6. Favorite band member (if it's Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Bill Kreutzmann andMickey Hart - Loved the drums!
7. Other favorite bands - Cowboy Junkies, all sorts of blues artists, HotTuna, Janis and Big brother.....
8. Favorite movie - Don't really have one.
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read) - Jarhead
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead - Working on remodeling our house in Sonoma County, reading, taking day trips around theBay Area, hanging out with friends.

10 Questions For...Deep

2006-01-14T22:21:00.000-05:00

From Deep (aka Ventilatorblues)

1. 1st Dead Experience - High school (in India), someone made me a mixed tape, with "New Minglewood Blues" and "Me & Bobby McGee" on it
2. 1st Dead Show - :( Came to the US only in 1998
3. Last Dead Show - :( Came to the US only in 1998
4. How many shows did you go too? :( (you get the drift)
5. Favorite year or time period - 1972-1974, without a doubt
6. Favorite band member (if it’s Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Phil
7. Other favorite bands - Garaj Mahal, Steve Kimock Band, King Crimson
8. Favorite movie - Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... The Secret of the Veda, by Sri Aurobindo (Sri Aurobindo was an Indian mystic/spiritual leader - The Vedas are ancient Indian sacred texts)
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... I spend time with my non-Deadhead wife, watch movies, and try to meditate

10 Questions for...Joby

2006-01-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

Lots of responses right off the bat, very cool. I'll put them up as individual posts throughout the weekend.

First up, Joby.

1. 1st Dead Experience - 9th grade I skipped school with a cute Deadhead girl and went over to her house. She put on a soundboard copy of the Harpur's College show (long before Dick's Picks 8 came out!) and I was immediately hooked.
2. 1st Dead Show - 3/30/87 Philly Spectrum
3. Last Dead Show - 5/21/95 Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, Las Vegas
4. How many shows did you go to? Around 100-120
5. Favorite year or time period - 1989 - 1990
6. Favorite band member - Beyond Jerry they're pretty much equal in my eyes
7. Other favorite bands - Neil Young, Bob Dylan, CSNY
8. Favorite movie - Blues Brothers is a great choice, loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Altered States, Kevin Smith's Jersey movies, anything by Terry Gilliam
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)- checked out from the library at the moment are: "The Truth (with jokes)" by Al Franken, "Mr. Lucky" by Jim Swain and I am rereading the Illuminatus Trilogy
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead - I'm playing poker or hanging out with my wife & 18 month old daughter

10 Questions

2006-01-13T21:46:00.000-05:00

I'm kind on this 'we do have a community here' kick right now, not to spite Bobby, but to prove a point. The Grateful Dead have been gone from us for 10 years now, but still live on strong in a large part because of the Internet. The Well, The Archive, blogs, The Dead's own message board, are all examples of how Deadheads are able to connect in ways that we never did before. Sometimes a cyber-connections leads to a real connection, we learn from each other, we share each other's successes, each other's pain, and most of all, celebrate together the great music of a great band.

According to the stats of this blog, my readership has grown quite a lot lately, and I thank you for stopping, reading and contributing. I thought it would be fun to learn a bit more about each other. I'll start, the questions will be in bold, if you would like to participate, please send me your responses via e-mail and I'll put it up in a new post.

10 Questions for... Ben (aka BornAgainDeadHead)
1. 1st Dead Experience - I started listening to my Aunt's Dead albums in my senior year of High School. I think Europe '72 was the first one I got into.
2. 1st Dead Show - July 12, 1989. RFK Stadium. Washington, DC
3. Last Dead Show - June 26, 1993. RFK Stadium. Washington, DC
4. How many shows did you go too? 20
5. Favorite year or time period - Right now, it's the early '80s, their most underrated period produced some amazing shows.
6. Favorite band member (if it’s Jerry, 2nd favorite?) Bobby, even with recent events.
7. Other favorite bands - Haven't been listening to anything else recently, but just before I was 'born again', I was heavily into The Pixies.
8. Favorite movie - Blues Brothers. Has it all, great music, great comedy, and the greatest chase scene of all time.
9. I'm currently reading (or I recently read)... My Life by Bill Clinton. Brilliant mind, kind, caring, and in retrospect, he got impeached for what???
10. When I'm not online or listening to The Grateful Dead... I love to spend time with my wife and two wonderful boys and follow my local teams (Redskins, Terps, Nationals, Wizards).

Feel free to include a link to your website, blog, Myspace, etc. too.

Eyes of the World

2006-01-05T20:37:00.000-05:00

I read a column posted over on Grateful Dead News the other day that in part brought up Bob Weir's assertion during the whole LMA debacle that a 'community' couldn't exist in Cyberspace:

"The cyber guys can talk all they want about the cyber community, but they can't tell you the color of each other's eyes," he said. "What kind of community is that?"

It got me thinking, we just never told each other what color our eyes are. What an oversight on our part! Well, my eyes are hazel. What color are yours?

(credit to Helen for the idea)

Best AUDs at The Archive

2006-01-02T14:25:00.000-05:00

BUMP! BUMP!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe new year. I would like to express an extra special new year's kudos to Microdot, who has kept me VERY busy the past couple weeks with his contributions to the list below. From my count, he is responsible for recommending 65 of the shows below. He found some really special shows and I can't thank him enough for taking part in this effort.

I will of course continue to add to the list and I encourage you to keep those recommendations coming in. If you are looking for some years to explore, we are still a little light from '75-'78, '88-'91, and we don't have anything yet from '92 on.

Thanks again and have a grateful 2006!

3/26/68 - Melodyland Theater - Anaheim, CA (via Microdot)
3/29/68 - Carousel Ballroom - SF, CA (via Microdot)
3/30/68 - Carousel Ballroom - SF, CA (via Microdot)
4/15/69 - The Music Box - Omaha, NE (via Microdot)
5/3/69 (partial show) - Winterland - SF, CA (via US Blues)
3/21/70 (early show) - Capitol Theater - Port Chester, NY (via Microdot)
3/21/70 (late show) - Capitol Theater - Port Chester, NY (via Microdot)
6/24/70 - Capitol Theater - Port Chester, NY (via Ventalatorblues) Note - Available only for Lossless download.
9/20/70 - Fillmore East - NYC (via Anonymous)
11/8/70 *** - Capitol Theater - Port Chester, NY (via Microdot)
12/28/70 - Legion Stadium - El Monte, CA (via Microdot)
8/5/71 - Hollywood Palladium - Hollywood, CA (via Microdot)
8/6/71 ***- Hollywood Palladium - Hollywood, CA (via BADH, aka your's truly). Best AUD ever?
4/29/72 - Musikhalle - Hamburg, Germany (via Microdot)
9/9/72 *** - Hollywood Palladium - Hollywood, CA (via BADH) Another great one from Hollywood.
7/1/73 - Universal Amphitheatre - Universal City, CA (via US Blues)
8/1/73 *** - Roosevelt Stadium - Jersey City, NY (via BADH)
9/7/73 - Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY (via BADH)
5/17/74 - Pacific Colisuem - Vancouver, BC (via US Blues)
6/8/74 ***- Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (via Microdot) Note: Looking for some great filler, check out the 'PITB>WR>PITB, Eyes'
6/22/74 - Jai-Alai Fronton - Miami, FL (via US Blues)
6/23/74 - Jai-Alai Fronton - Miami, FL (via US Blues)
6/26/74 ***- Providence Civic Center - Providence, RI (via US Blues)
6/28/74 - Boston Garden - Boston, MA (via US Blues)
6/30/74 - Springfield Civic Center - Springfield, MA (via US Blues)
7/21/74 - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA (via US Blues)
7/29/74 - Capital Centre - Landover, MD (via US Blues)
8/4/74 ***- Philadelphia Civic Center, Philly, PA (via US Blues)
8/5/74 - Philadelphia Civic Center, Philly, PA (via US Blues - he sure does have '74 covered, doesn't he! Whew!)
6/17/75 ***- Winterland - SF, CA (via Microdot)
6/10/76 ***- Boston Music Hall - Boston, MA (via Microdot)
7/16/76 - Orpheum Theater - SF, CA (via Microdot)
9/24/76 - William & Mary College Hall - Williamsburg, VA (via Microdot)
9/27/76 - Community War Memorial Auditorium - Rochester, NY (via Microdot)
9/28/76 - Onongada County War Memorial - Syracuse, NY (via Microdot)
9/30/76 - Mershon Auditorium, Ohio State U. - Columbus, OH (via Microdot)
10/15/76 ***- Shrine Auditorium - Los Angeles, CA (via Anonymous)
2/27/77 ***- Robertson Gym, UCSB - Goleta, CA (via Microdot)
4/23/77 - Springfield Civic Center - Springfield, MA (via Microdot)
4/29/77 - The Palladium - NYC (via Microdot)
5/26/77 - Baltimore Civic Center - Baltimore, MD (via Microdot)
6/9/77 ***- Winterland - SF, CA (via BADH)
10/29/77 - Field House, Northern Illinois U. - Dekalb, IL (via Microdot)
11/4/77 - Cotterrell Gym, Colgate U - Hamilton, NY (via Microdot)
1/22/78 ***- McArthur Court, U. of Oregon - Eugene, OR (via Microdot) Note: Check out the Other One>Close Encounters Space!
5/6/78 ***- Patrick Gymnasium, U. of Vermont - Burlington, VT (via Microdot)
5/16/78 - Uptown Theater - Chicago, IL (via Microdot)
12/19/78 *** - State Fairground Coliseum - Jackson, MS (via Microdot)
12/28/78 ***- Golden Hall, Community Concourse - San Diego, CA (via Microdot)
12/30/78 - Pauley Pavillion - Los Angeles, CA (via Microdot)
1/8/79 ***- MSG - NYC (via US Blues)
1/10/79 - Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY (via US Blues)
1/11/79 - Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY (via US Blues)
1/15/79 - Springfield Civic Center - Springfield, MA (via Stewart)
1/20/79 - Shea's Buffalo Theater - Buffalo, NY (via Microdot)
5/7/79 ***- Allan Kirby Fieldhouse, Lafayette College, Easton, PA (via Anonymous)
5/9/79 ***- Broome County Arena - Binghamton, NY (via Microdot)
9/1/79 - Holleder Memorial Stadium - Rochester, NY (via Microdot)
10/27/79 ***- Cape Cod Coliseum - South Yarmouth, MA (via Microdot)
12/30/79 - Oakland Auditorium Arena - Oakland, CA (via Microdot)
12/31/79 - Oakland Auditorium Arena - Oakland, CA (via Microdot)
5/1/80 - Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, NC (via BADH)
6/7/80 - Folsom Field - Boulder, CO (via BADH)
6/12/80 - Portland Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR (via BADH)
6/21/80 - West High Auditorium - Anchorage, AK (via Microdot)
9/6/80 - State Fairgrounds- Lewiston, ME (via aoxoa)
10/27/80 ****- Radio City Music Hall - NYC (via aoxoa) Note: My #1 favorite right now!
11/29/80 - Alligator Alley - Gainesville, FL (via BADH)
3/3/81 ***- Cleveland Music Hall - Cleveland, OH (via BADH)
3/7/81 *** - Cole Field House - College Park, MD (via BADH)
3/9/81 *** - MSG - NYC (via BADH)
3/10/81 - MSG - NYC (via US Blues)
5/5/81 - Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY (via US Blues)
5/6/81 *** - Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY (via BADH) Note - this show is featured as Dick's Picks Vol. 13
5/9/81 *** - Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY (via BADH)
5/15/81 ***- Rutgers Athletic Center - New Brunswick, NJ (via Westchesterdead) Note - The whole show is available to Stream, but only about half the show is available to download. Strange.
5/16/81 - Barton Hall, Cornell Univ. - Ithaca, NY (via Microdot)
7/4/81 - Manor Downs - Austin, TX (via Microdot)
7/11/81 - Alpine Valley Music Theater - East Troy, WI (via BADH)
7/14/81 - McNichols Arena - Denver, CO (via Microdot)
8/14/81 - Seattle Center Coliseum - Seattle, WA (via Microdot)
9/11/81 - Greek Theater - Berkeley, CA (via Microdot)
9/12/81 - Greek Theater - Berkeley, CA (via Microdot)
9/13/81 (partial show) - Greek Theater - Berkeley, CA (via Microdot)
9/26/81 ***- War Memorial Auditorium - Buffalo, NY (via BADH)
10/15/81 - Club Melk Weg - Amsterdam, Netherlands (via Westchesterdead)
2/7/82 - Warfield Theater - SF, CA (via Jonathan)
7/17/82 - Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura, CA (via Microdot)
7/18/82 ***- Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura, CA (via Microdot)
7/27/82 ***- Red Rocks Amphitheater - Morrison, CO (via Microdot)
7/28/82 ***- Red Rocks Amphitheater - Morrison, CO (via Microdot)
7/29/82 ***- Red Rocks Amphitheater - Morrison, CO (via Microdot) Note - What an amazing run at Red Rocks! Hot Hot Hot!
7/31/82 - Manor Downs - Austin, TX (via Microdot)
8/6/82 - St. Paul Civic Center - St. Paul, MN (via BADH)
4/12/83 **** - Broome County Arena - Binghamton, NY (via Microdot/dhs) Note - an extra star because it's THAT good.
6/27/83 - Poplar Creek Music Theater - Hofman Estates, IL (via Microdot)
6/28/83 *** - Poplar Creek Music Theater - Hofman Estates, IL (via Microdot)
8/21/83 - Frost Amphitheater - Palo Alto, CA (via Microdot)
9/2/83 *** - Boise Pavillion, Boise State Univ. - Boise, ID (via Microdot)
10/11/83 - MSG - NYC (via Microdot)
10/12/83 - MSG - NYC (via Microdot)
10/14/83 - Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT (via Microdot)
10/15/83 *** - Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT (via Microdot)
10/17/83 - Olympic Arena - Lake Placid, NY (via Microdot)
10/31/83 - Marin County Veterans Coliseum - San Rafael, CA (via BADH)
12/27/83 - San Francisco Civic Auditorium - SF, CA (via Microdot)
12/28/83 *** - San Francisco Civic Auditorium - SF, CA (via Microdot)
12/31/83 - San Francisco Civic Auditorium - SF, CA (via Microdot) Note: Individual track listings are not accurate. Looks like a good NYE show nonetheless.
4/20/84 - Philadelphia Civic Center - Philly, PA (via Microdot)
4/21/84 - Philadelphia Civic Center - Philly, PA (via Stewart)
10/11/84 - Augusta Civic Center - Augusta, ME (via Microdot)
10/12/84 *** - Augusta Civic Center - Augusta, ME (via Microdot)
12/28/84 - San Francisco Civic Auditorium - SF, CA (via BADH/Crazy Fingers) Note: Actually found this show from today's post on Crazy Fingers.
3/31/85 *** - Cumberland County Civic Center - Portland, ME (via Microdot)
4/1/85 - Cumberland County Civic Center - Portland, ME (via Microdot)
6/24/85 - River Bend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH (via Anonymous)
7/1/85 - Merriweather Post Pavillion - Columbia, MD (via Anonymous) Note: I had this show on cassette I think. It's been a long time since I've heard this one. I've got to pull out those old tapes someday, just to remind myself what I had.
8/31/85 - Manor Downs - Austin, TX (via Microdot)
9/2/85 - Zoo Amphitheater - Oklahoma City (via Microdot)
9/7/85 - Red Rocks - Morrison, CO (via Anonymous)
9/15/85 - Southwestern College - Chula Vista, CA (via Microdot)
11/1/85 ***- Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA (via Anonymous)
3/28/86 ***- Cumberland County Civic Center - Portland, ME (via Microdot)
6/21/86 *** - Greek Theater - Berkeley, CA (via Anonymous) "We'll give you Phil after the show" :)
12/15/86 - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (via Joby)
3/22/87 – Hampton Coliseum – Hampton, VA (via BADH)
3/23/87 – Hampton Coliseum – Hampton, VA (via BADH)
3/24/87 *** – Hampton Coliseum – Hampton, VA (via BADH)
3/27/87 *** - Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT (via Microdot)
3/29/87 *** - The Spectrum - Philly, PA (via Microdot)
3/30/87 *** - The Spectrum - Philly, PA (via Microdot) Note: Jonathan recently reviewed this show
4/2/87 - The Centrum - Worcester, CT (via Microdot)
4/3/87 - The Centrum - Worcester, CT (via Microdot)
4/4/87 *** - The Centrum - Worcester, CT (via Microdot) Note: Stream/Download the whole show. Good luck otherwise figuring out what is what.
7/6/87 ***- Civic Arena - Pittsburgh, PA (via BADH)
7/8/87 - Roanoke Civic Center - Pittsburgh, PA (via BADH)
4/23/88 ***- Irvine Meadows - Irvine, CA (via BADH)
7/15/88 ***- Greek Theater, U of California - Berkeley, CA (via Microdot)
7/29/88 *** - Laguna Seca Rec Area, Monterey, CA (via Joby)
12/10/88 - Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA (via Microdot)
12/11/88 - Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA (via Joby)
3/27/89 - The Omni - Atlanta, GA (via Jonathan)
3/28/89 - The Omni - Atlanta, GA (via Jonathan)
4/9/89 – Freedom Hall – Louisville, KY (via BADH)
8/6/89 ***- Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA (via Microdot)
8/19/89 ***- Greek Theater, U of California - Berkeley, CA (via Microdot)
10/9/89 ****- Hampton Coliseum - Hampton, VA (via Microdot) Note: One of my all time favorites. Just as good as the SBD, if not better. Wanna hear 10K people completely lose it? Check out d2t05...
10/18/89 - The Spectrum - Philly, PA (via Microdot)
12/27/89 - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum - Oakland, CA (via Microdot)
3/24/90 ***- Knickerbocker Arena - Albany, NY (via Microdot/Joby) Note - AUDs from the 'Dozin At The Knick' shows. Credit to Joby for suggesting a different AUD source.
3/25/90 ***- Knickerbocker Arena - Albany, NY (via Microdot)
6/8/90 - Cal Expo - Sacramento, CA (via BADH)
6/15/90 - Shoreline Amphitheater - Mountain View, CA (via Microdot)
9/10/90 ***- The Spectrum - Philly, PA (via BADH)
9/11/90 - The Spectrum - Philly, PA (via BADH)
9/16/90 ***- MSG - NYC (via BADH) Note - this show is featured as Dick's Picks Vol. 9
2/20/91 – Oakland Alameda County Coliseum – Oakland, CA (via BADH)
3/17/91 ***- Capital Center - Landover, MD (via BADH) Note - Wow! Glad I ran across this one. Remember it as one of my favorites, check out the Reuben & Cherise & Speedway Boogie
10/31/91 (2nd set only) - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum - Oakland, CA (via BADH)
2/23/92 - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum - Oakland, CA (via Ventilatorblues)
6/12/92 - Knickerbocker Arena - Albany, NY (via BADH)
12/5/92 - Compton Terrace Amphitheater - Tempe, AZ (via BADH)
12/12/92 - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum - Oakland, CA (via BADH)
4/4/93 ***- Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY (via BADH)
9/17/93 - MSG - NYC (via BADH)
9/26/93 ***- Boston Garden - Boston, MA (via BADH)
10/1/94 - Boston Garden - Boston, MA (via BADH)
3/19/95 - The Spectrum - Philly, PA (via BADH) Note - If only for the Unbroken Chain.

*** - Personal favorites so far (i.e. clearest and richest sound with minimal 'close noise', set list, performance, etc.)

(Updated 8/16/06 10:15PM)

Have a Grateful New Year!

2005-12-31T09:20:00.000-05:00

As we bring 2005 to a close, I look back on the year that was: Watching with my wife my two boys get bigger, smarter and more wonderful every day. A job I continue to like with a company I'm proud to work for. A nice vacation in the Outer Banks. Baseball back in DC. The Wizards making the playoffs, and the Redskins finishing the year strong. Starting this blog! I've been at it for about 6 months now, hard to believe. And what a year to start this up too, with the 10 year anniversary of Jerry's passing to the Live Music Archive fiasco. I also have to feel good that a nice little Grateful Dead blogging community has popped up this year. Yes, community can exist in Cyber Space.

Reflecting further back, nobody did New Year's Eve quite like the Grateful Dead. Whether it was Bill Graham's surprise grand countdowns, the vast array of guest musicians sitting in during the shows, or the live FM broadcasts, a Dead New Year's show was always something unique and special.

So ring in the New Year with a great NYE show. Here's a few of my favorites:
12/31/69 - Boston Tea Party - Boston, MA. A rare NYE show outside of the Bay area.
12/31/71 - Winterland - SF, CA - Fun FM broadcast. A brief play-by-play of the New Year's Countdown kicks off a spectacular show.
12/31/87 - Oakland-Almeda County Coliseum - Oakland, CA. Classic PPV show that I still have on videotape (maybe I need to replace that with the DVD someday...) Very underrated show IMO including a fun encore with the Neville Brothers.
12/31/90 - Oakland-Almeda County Coliseum - Oakland, CA. Sweet show with Branford sitting in.

New Year's resolutions? I don't really believe in them because I never keep them. But if I were to try to make and keep any of them, it would be to start eating better and exercising more of course, and to keep this blog going strong. So happy new year all, see you again in '06!

Jobygoob's Retro Reviews

2005-12-22T20:44:00.000-05:00

A new entry into the Deadblog Space, welcome to Jobygoob's Retro Reviews. Joby will be reviewing shows for us, and has two up so far, the 10/9/89 Warlocks show in Hampton, a personal favorite of mine, and a 8/29/87 JGB show. Check it out!

Biography: Jerry Garcia

2005-12-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

Just finished watching Biography: Jerry Garcia, and I must admit I was a bit disappointed. You would think the best way to reflect who Jerry was would of been by showcasing his music. There were a couple clips from Grateful Dawg and Live at Shoreline, but very little else. The background music could of been Jerry, Dead, Old and In The Way, whatever, but instead was this generic 'hippy' droll. What were they thinking??? In addition, alot of the still photos that they showed didn't synch up with the time period that was being covered. For example, they named albums from the early 70s and concurrently showed the album covers. When the mentioned Skull and Roses, they showed the cover of their very first studio album. Ugh.

The interviews were interesting, but who was interviewed was a bit unexpected. If you didn't pick a regular bandmember, who would of you picked to interview? Hunter, right? No, Barlow actually. Barlow as good, don't get me wrong, but he wasn't as tight with Garcia as many others were. In fact, the only one who was tight with Garcia over the years was Parrish. Donna was a good interview, as was Trey Anastasio (as a fan). The interviews with Trixie and Tiff were kind of depressing.

I did enjoy however the TV interviews with Jerry, where his true charisma came across full-force. The interviews with Blair Jackson were strong too, reinforcing what he had wrote in his outstanding biography of Garcia (post on this to come in the near future).

The Dead organization was not listed in the credits, but the Garcia estate was. There couldn't of been to much input from either into the the production of this show, but who knows how much input they were allowed. Bottom line is that who ever was responsible for this didn't know very much about Jerry or The Grateful Dead, and the sloppy results showed. Not the tribute that I would of hoped for, but come to think of, a pristine biography of Jerry wouldn't of been quite right either.

AUD Appreciation

2005-12-12T21:02:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm almost a week immersed into my AUD binge, I've discovered an appreciation for these recordings that I've never had before. There was a comment on the last post which recommended the 5/5/81 show at Rutgers Univ, and how the crowd goes crazy because they can see the lighting through the skylights in the hall while listening to Looks Like Rain. I also think of the 9/10/90 show in Philly when they busted out Shakedown to start the show. I was there, and it just brought back the amazing memories of how electric that old arena was that night. The best AUDs really make you feel like you are right there in the middle of it all. The clean, sterile, crowdless SBDs just don't have that same feel to them. Kind of like a Sitcom without the studio audience/laugh track. Its still funny, but for some reason, not as funny, like you need the community of others to laugh "with" to truly enjoy the experience.

I miss being able to download those great sounding SBDs, the Matrix versions especially, because those offered the best of both worlds. AUDs is what we've got, so enjoy, like I am right now with the 10/27/80 Radio City show. Keep those contributions to the Best AUDs Catalogue coming as we continue to build up a nice resource for anyone who wants easy access to 'the best'.

Dead Freaks Unite!

2005-12-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

Wanna know where Deadheads around the world are? Check out the Deadhead Global Map. Like an idiot, the first time I entered myself in, I entered the wrong zip code. Duh. The second zip code for me (20878) is the right one, so if anyone ends up here who knows how I can remove the first of my two entries for the map, please let me know.

Bobby's Turn

2005-12-03T22:23:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Irenie for providing a link to a recent interview with Bobby concerning his views on the whole downloading controversy.

Well, he certainly took a different spin on this situation, stating that the decision was made in part over concerns over distribution rights of the artists whose songs they have covered over the years. I'm no legal expert, so I have no idea as to the merit or accuracy of those concerns. I am disappointed however about the attitude. As I listened, I felt talked down to, like he was annoyed with us and we should either accept it or go away, good riddance.

His views most certainly align more closely with recent statements made by McNally and Owsley than they do with his former band mates, Phil and Mickey in particular, and others closely linked with the band like Hunter, Barlow and Gans.

What Bobby and the others don't get was that downloading from The Archive wasn't simply about getting free music. Yes, that was nice and was certainly more convenient than traditional tape trading. It was about much more. The Archive had become a vibrant community which enabled fans, new and old to share their thoughts and experiences. It was about exploration and re-living wonderful memories. Overall, it represented the epitome of the spirit of the band for so many years, that once they had played their music, it was ours. For many regular users, it was an online community that brought together people in a way that traditional tape trading never could.

These are my opinions of course. Probably the most disappointing thing about this past week is the fact that this issue has fractured the band and the community worse than ever before. Bobby's hardline stance on this subject certainly has not done anything to improve his image with many fans. It's a damn shame too, I've always loved Bobby's music, and probably always will. I'm just disappointed, that's all, disappointed that he saw The Archive as a threat rather than the great 'experience' that it provided many of us.

There are some deep wounds now, hopefully they will be healed in time. Peace.

Hail GDNB and UJB!

2005-12-02T21:38:00.000-05:00

I can't praise enough the incredible extensive coverage of this past week's Grateful Dead/LMA events at the Grateful Dead News Blog and Uncle John's Blog. Kudos is well deserved to the time and effort put into their work. The post from my alma mater's newspaper about tonight's Phil and Friends show at The Patriot Center made me feel a bit guilty about not being there. Had a conflict though, hope to catch Phil next time around.

Rather than repost links to the recent articles they posted, I thought I might comment on a couple quotes from McNally and Mickey from those posts:

McNally: "It makes the band happy and it makes 99 percent of all deadheads happy. There is the one percent who will never be happy until the band shows up in their living rooms."

Dennis still doesn't get it, does he. First of all, it's probably more than just one percent that still are not completely happy, and all they want is to be able to download SBDs again. I know that it's probably an unjustified sense of entitlement behind that feeling, but I just find that statement by Dennis to be condescending, not to mention still out-of-touch with the reality of the situation.

McNally: "We didn't create a giant one-stop place for swapping the music online. That happened behind our back and was presented as a fait accompli."

Happened behind our back? The Archive has been around for how long now? Phil said himself that he used it when he was writing his book! Who does Dennis really mean when he says "we"?

Mickey: "I fully support the position taken by Phil in his message and always have. Being a field recordist myself, I stand united with the taper community and always will notwithstanding anything in the media to the contrary."

OK, so Phil and Mickey have officially denied involvement in any decisions related to this matter. I get the sense from Justin that Bill wasn't involved either. I've heard that it was one against three on this issue. Guess that implicated Bobby then, huh. Haven't heard anything from him yet either. Hmmm. And quite ironic that I am now listening to Music Never Stopped while writing this. Hmmm.

A World-Wide News Flash

2005-12-01T20:45:00.000-05:00

One of the truly facinating things that came from this fiasco is the wide press coverage it's received. For the past few days newspapers and websites across the country ran stories (mostly via wire sources such as AP, Reuters, UPI, etc. But even more facinating is the how much this story was picked up via the wire overseas, including South Africa, France/IHT, and North Korea. North Korea? OK, that site looks like some lame attempt to look modern and hip to the West, but how many North Koreans do you actually think have ever even heard of The Dead?

It's been a crazy week folks. This whole thing has given The Dead more publicity than they have had in years. Good news is that the music is back, albeit more limited than some of us would like. The bad news is that The Archive is getting so much traffic today that I haven't been able to get in until just now! Oh well, nothin left to do but SMILE, SMILE, SMILE!

A Grateful Morning

2005-12-01T08:34:00.000-05:00

Well it appears as if a compromise has been reached. According to an AP Story this morning, The Grateful Dead organization has backtracked due to the tremendous backlash of the Deadhead community, and have agreed to allow AUD downloads and SBD streaming on the Live Music Archive.

Although it doesn't get us back to where we were prior to this mess, it is probably a reasonable compromise. AUD downloads should never of been halted in the first place, and although losing SBD downloads is disappointing, the ability to stream is better than nothing.

But there is still a very grey area here that needs to be addressed. What about SBD recordings with AUD patches (like the '77 Cornell show for example)? What about SBD/AUD matrix versions? What about SBDs that were remastered and submitted (like the work that Ben did)?

Also, if SBDs are not available to download on The Archive anymore, will some, most or all of them be made available for purchase in the future? If so, what's the time table? If not all SBDs will be available for purchase, why could those not be made available for downloading once again on The Archive?

This is a very complex issue indeed. Answers to the questions above still need to be addressed. But at the very least, we know that we were heard, and the band cared enough to make a sensible decision that benefits both their fans, and protects their music at the same time.

More to come I'm sure...

New Developments

2005-11-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

Check out Uncle John's Blog and Grateful Dead News for some timely updates on the LMA issue. A couple interesting quotes by McNally:

According to Grateful Dead spokesman Dennis McNally, the removal on November 22 of all downloadable Dead recordings from archive.org was the result of "a great communication snafu."

Yeah, no kidding!

“The idea of a massive one-stop Web site that does not build community is not what we had in mind. Our conclusion has been that it doesn’t represent Grateful Dead values.” Most fans, he continued, “understand they were being granted an extraordinary privilege, and they responded by taking it very seriously” by respecting the band’s wishes not to sell their live recordings. “This is not the same situation,” he added.

Why didn't LMA represent GD values? Especially if they acknowledge the fact that fans "responded by taking it very seriously"? I hope that the official explanation that we expect from McNally any day now is more descriptive than this. Good news is that it looks like we'll get the AUD recordings back to download, that Phil wasn't involved in the decision, and according to Justin, it isn't Bill and Mickey's fault either.

Bad news is that there are those in The Dead organization who see the SBDs on LMA to be a threat, and we still don't know why.

Rolling Stone Article on LMA Controversy

2005-11-29T15:42:00.000-05:00

Kudos to David Gans for being all over this issue and hosting a constructive forum on this topic on his blog. Today, he linked to a new Rolling Stone article about the LMA Controversy.

According to Rolling Stone:

An official statement from the Grateful Dead camp is expected in the next few days. In the meantime, longtime band publicist and spokesperson, Dennis McNally, told Rolling Stone that he thinks "David Gans' comments were dead -- you'll pardon the expression -- on."

And here I sit so patiently, waiting to find out what price...

A Response...

2005-11-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

If you look back on my prior post, Black Wednesday, my first comment is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to several affiliated with the Grateful Dead organization.

This afternoon, I received a response from customerservice@gdstore.com:

Ben,

We truly do value your input on this situation. I will pass your comments on to the powers that be.

Thanks,
Name Removed
Customer Service

It's not much, but it's something. It's communication. Someone is listening. It's a start. Better than nothing. Thank you.

Wo-oh What I Want To Know...

2005-11-25T17:02:00.000-05:00

These past few days, I have, like many others, gone through a myriad of emotions. Since the decision to remove SBDs from The Archive and allow only streaming of AUD recordings, those emotions have ranged from anger to sadness to disappointment to shock to disbelief, and even for some, indifference. From the initial firestorm on the Live Music Archive Forum, to the 1200+ petition 'signatures' to date, to the almost 70 comments on the subject at David Gans' blog, to the several insightful comments on my blog, this issue has created such negative feelings overall, that all I can ask now is WHY?

That's all I want to know. The Archive has their cryptic explanation, but you have to feel that they are probably bound legally by what they can and can't say. I doubt it was their decision anyway. The real explanation needs to come from The Grateful Dead organization. They need to say something, anything! Did they do this so that they can sell every show on I-Tunes? If so, fine, so-be-it. If that's the case, then when will these shows be available, will they still charge $15-20 per show? If that's not the case, then what other explanation is there. We just want to hear something. There is a sense of entitlement amongst alot of Deadheads, deserved or not. If we deserve anything right now though, it is some sort of communication. And we want it now.

Justin, you read this blog, do have any light you can shed on this? Can you pass the word of our discontent along? Do the responsible parties even realize the shit-storm they have created over this decision?

I'm finishing up Garcia: An American Life, and there was something I read last night that really struck a cord in me. After Jerry died, Mountain Girl was quoted as saying:

"From the beginning to the end he (Jerry) always wanted the music to be available to the people. He didn't want the funky people shut out. He hated being shut out because of money, status or class"

The Archive was one of the best examples of the spirit of making the music "available to the people". Will people be shut out? Maybe. One thing's for sure, the music won't be as 'available' any more. If all the music will be for sale now, some people will be shut out "because of money, status or class". So then, is that spirit gone or irrelevant now? Is there something else driving this change in methodology? If someone would just tell us, we may just understand.

Wo-oh what I want to know... Don't you want to know too?

Happy Belated Birthday Bruce!

2005-11-24T10:10:00.000-05:00

A happy belated birthday to Bruce Hornsby, who turned 51 yesterday. Although Bruce was only a part-time member of the Grateful Dead, he brought great energy, spirit and talent to the band when they needed it after Brent's death. Happy birthday Bruce, and happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Black Wednesday

2005-11-23T08:21:00.000-05:00

Today is a sad day for Deadheads everywhere. For some unknown reason, Grateful Dead SBD recordings are no longer available on The Archive. I've been reading the Forum on The Archive, and there is alot of anger and disbelief there right now, as you can imagine. Not knowing the motive for this action myself, I'm withholding my judgement and reaction until I learn more.

If in fact The Dead are pulling these SBD recordings for their own commercial gain (i.e. to boost DP and Download Series sales), then shame on them. That would be very much against the spirit of they have always been about. Considering the popularity of The Archive, I think The Dead need to explain themselves. If there is a legitimate reason for this action, then let's hear it. As of this moment, there is no explanation on The Dead's website I will be writing them myselves to see if I can get an answer. I encourage you to do the same.

If you haven't done so yet, sign the petition! Let your self be heard! http://www.petitiononline.com/gdm/petition.html.

"I wanna find out what's wrong with me and my baby" - Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)

Edited - 9:16PM 11/23/05

Dead-Pod

2005-11-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

Today, I join I-Pod Nation.

I was recently given an I-Pod Nano as a gift, and being that I've wanted one for quite a while, I'm pretty pleased to finally have one. Of course, one of the best features of I-Pod/I-Tunes is not only the full Dick's Picks inventory, but the also the more recently Grateful Dead Download Series . I'll probably going to start of with Dick's Picks #4, which I believe is widely considered to be the best. Any other suggestions out there? I'd like to download the best of the best, but there's so much to choose from. Yummy :-)

Hey Now!

2005-11-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hey now! (hey now)
Hey now! (hey now)
Aiko aiko un day
Jockomo feeno ah na nay
Jockomo feena nay!

Just in kind of an "aiko-aiko" mood tonight :-)

Ratdog - 11/8/05, Frederick, MD - Concert Review

2005-11-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

For those of you who read my post a few weeks back about the invasion of Dead-related bands in the DC area (BTW, Grisman and NRPS are coming to town soon too!), you saw my concern about the possibility of being disappointed with seeing bands like Ratdog and Phil Lesh and Friends. I put these concerns aside, and got tickets for the Ratdog show in Frederick, MD, which was last night. And boy am I glad I went! What a great band and a great show. No, it wasn't the Dead, Bobby's voice isn't what it used to be, and I still don't like the beard, but it was good enough. Last night's show, held at the Weinberg Center for the Arts, sure brought back alot of memories, and the music itself was fantastic. The Weinberg Center is a small, intimate and old theater in downtown Frederick. From the moment I got there, I knew I did the right thing. It was good for my relatively-straight self to be among the Freaks and the Heads once again. Overall the crowd was a good mix of young and old, straight and freaky. Once I met up with my brother, we headed in for the show. We had good seats, about 30 rows back to the right of the stage. The sound was good, but not as clear as I would of liked, at least where we were sitting.

The show began with Here Comes Sunshine that included a nice long jam, which transitioned to a very bluesy Maggie's Farm, to She Says, and to It's All Over Now. At this point, I'm very happy as I've been loving the 'All Over Now's' from the 70s lately. I can tell now that this is a very tight band, their pace on alot of songs is a bit slower than what The Dead did, but they sounded great nonetheless. Memphis Blues came next, followed by Sitting In Limbo, a song (along with She Says) that I was not familiar with. The 1st set closed with an outstanding Althea. I was never a huge fan of this song, but Bobby and the boys raised the roof with this version. That could of actually been a all-time-favorite version for me last night.

the 2nd set opened acoustically with Twilight Time (another new one for me), which transitioned to Me and My Uncle, which transitioned to The Winners (yet another new one for me). They 'plugged-in' and turned it up next with a powerful I Need A Miracle, which moved into a spot-on Uncle John's Band (my perma-smile is very apparent at this point), and then into Terrapin. Up to this point, Bobby had sung a couple 'Jerry' songs, and it sounded good. The music for Terrapin was fine, but I wasn't crazy about Bobby's vocals on this one. Terrapin melted into a spacey Jam as Bobby left the stage to let the rest of the band shine. The Jam eventually became very funky and fast, highlighting their musical chops to the extreme. When Bobby came back on, the flowed into At A Siding and Terrapin Flyer. It took me a while to realize what they were playing as I had not listened to the Terrapin Station LP in a long time. It was a nice twist though, and very well done. A smooth, driving Corrina was next, which eventually made way for an always great 2nd set closer, Not Fade Away. I'm in heaven at this point, especially when they leave the stage and the entire theater is clapping and singing along, "You know our lovin' not fade away!" I had been transported back 15 years, and it was just fine with me. Bobby and the boys came back on to rock-the-joint with a Johnny B. Goode encore.

My expectations were exceeded and it looked like a good time was had by all. The music danced me all night long, the scene was friendly and open, the security was even cool, letting people move around at will. I even moved up pretty close the stage myself for the 2nd half of the 2nd set. I will go see Ratdog again. I may have to get this show on CD as well. Now I'll have to consider the upcoming Phil and DSO shows a little more based upon my experiences last night. It was good to be back.

Shows I've Downloaded: Update

2005-11-06T14:30:00.000-05:00

Back in June, shortly after I started this blog, I did a post on the shows I had downloaded. I've been busy since, selectively downloading 12 since then. I've actually downloaded a few more, but after another listen, decided that they weren't keepers. A 'keeper' for me should be a well played show of course, but should also be of excellent quality. Many more to download, but here's what I've added to the collection:

Alpine Valley - 8/7/82 - One of my favorites from the early 80's. Great Bobby show and a great overall set list with highlights including a Music Never Stopped opener, BIODTL>On The Road Again combo, Let It Grow, and a early Man Smart, Women Smarter.
Boston Garden - 5/7/77 - See linked review.
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - 5/9/77 - See linked review.
Capital Centre - 3/14/90 - My first Cap Center show and the first of a great 3 night stand. Highlights include a strong Cold Rain & Stranger to open, the first Loose Lucy in 16 years, another great Let It Grow, and beautiful versions of Crazy Fingers and Black Peter in the 2nd set.
Fillmore East - 9/20/70 - Downloaded the acoustic 1st set only. The sound quality is spectacular, but for some reason, falters in the 2nd set. The set list speaks for itself, made even sweeter with guest appearances by David Grisman and David Nelson.
Fox Theater - 11/30/80 - Oh, I love this show, not only for a great performance, but one of the few shows here that give you both a great SBD and great AUD recording. The entire 1st set and the start of the 2nd set is the SBD, but for whatever reason, it shifts to the AUD version at Samson & Delilah. I almost wish the whole recording here was the AUD version as it's one the best I've ever heard. Highlights include Cassidy, Sailor>Saint, Ship of Fools, Drums, and a UJB encore.
Meadowlands - 4/1/88 - Great ultramatrix (SBD & AUD) and a great Jerry show. Highlights include Mississippi Half-Step, To Lay Me Down, Deal, China Cat>Rider.
New Haven Veterans Mem. Coliseum - 5/5/77 - See linked review.
Oakland Auditorium Arena - 12/28/79 - Hot late '79 show, best of the end-of-that-year run, if not the whole year. Highlights include Sugaree, It's All Over Now, Music Never Stopped, and Terrapin.
Shoreline Amphitheater - 10/3/87 - A fun, unusual show, with highlights including Hey Pocky Way, My Brother Esau, Bird Song, and a Cumberland>Maggies Farm combo to open the 2nd set.
St. Paul Civic Center - 5/11/77 - See linked review.
Stanford Maples Pavillion - 2/9/73 - Historic 1st show of '73. Lots of funny banter, a Wavy Gravy Rant, and several first-time-played songs including Row Jimmy, Loose Lucy, Here Comes Sunshine, They Love Each Other, Eyes of the World, China Doll and Wave that Flag. Great recording, an absolute must have.

Check 'em out for yourself and enjoy!

Jerry In The News

2005-10-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

My Google News Alerts have brought up a couple news items concerning Jerry. 10 years gone, his spirit lives on...
San Francisco Names Amphitheater for Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia Movie Planned

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test Revisited

2005-10-30T15:05:00.000-05:00

Over the past year, my renewed interest in The Grateful Dead has inspired me to learn more about the band's history, the band members, and the surrounding culture. A month or so ago, I was looking for a new book to start, and took a look back at our bookshelf, where I encountered The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe.

I read this book originally while a student at The Univ. of Maryland in the early 90's, the height of my 'Deadheadness'. The most interesting thing about re-reading this book was the difference in my perspective then compared to now. Back then, in my early 20's I was a bit more free of mind and spirit. I had an adventurous soul and had very little to tie me down or hold me back. Going to Dead shows back then also gave me a sense first hand of what the days of the Acid Tests were like. In other words, I could relate.

Reading this book now, at the age of 34, with a wife, two kids, a job, a mortgage, a car payment, etc., I naturally had a very different point-of-view reading this. Earlier in the year, I read On The Road for the first time, and thought to myself, 'how could people actually live like this?' The Kool Aid Acid Test the second time around made me wonder the same thing. It may not be all me though, it may be the today's sanitized, pre-packaged culture that makes it much harder for me to relate.

Today, 12 years removed from being 'on the bus', I'm a very different person in a very different world. The beatnik and hippie cultures of the 50's and 60's seem like centuries ago. Both were before my time, but at least I was fortunate enough to get a taste of it in the late 80's-early 90's. Reading these great books brings that spirit back to me once again, an escape to a different time, a different place. I'm starting Garcia: An American Life by Blair Jackson now. I've heard great things about it and will share my thoughts when I'm done (may be a while, I'm not the fastest reader). Yet another escape to another time...

Got My Ratdog Tix!!!

2005-10-26T20:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I pulled the trigger today and bought two tickets to the Ratdog show in Frederick, MD on November 8. My brother will be going with me, which will be cool for a number of reasons, one because we never saw a Dead show together. Got pretty good seats too. The seats I was pulling up online were in the back of the theater, I felt I could do better. I called the box office this morning and got seats about 10 rows further up, but off to one side. Saved me a few bucks too. Should be fun :)

If any one reading this blog plans on being at that show, let me know. I've added a Deadlink to the unofficial Ratdog website as well, very nicely done.

Grateful Threads at The Archive

2005-10-24T10:40:00.000-04:00

I was perusing the Live Music Archive Forum at Archive.org last night, and ran across two great threads. Both are very descriptive views on what The Grateful Dead mean to different people, and the impact the band continues to have on people's lives. Alot of what keeps me hooked is resonated in these threads. Check 'em out.

Addicted to The Dead, You Too?
GD: Working In The Jam

One Week in May '77: Part 6 - 5/11/77

2005-10-22T13:30:00.000-04:00

Tonight we end our brief journey that began just a few nights earlier in New Haven, CT. On Wednesday, May 11, 1977, the Bus rolled into the St. Paul Civic Center (capacity: 16,000) in St. Paul, MN. This show is not typically mentioned in the same breath as the shows from the previous 4 nights, but IMHO, it's just as good as any they played in May '77.

The first set is a tour-de-force 90 minute roller coaster, starting with solid versions of Promised Land and They Love Each Other. The Big River ("I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota") that comes next is almost as hot as the one played two nights earlier, followed by a flawless, haunting Loser. The highlight of this show comes next in a stunningly beautiful Looks Like Rain. This is an all-time favorite version of this song, and probably my favorite Donna moment. Her backing vocals are as sweet and angelic as they ever were, a perfect compliment to Bobby. The whole band shines on this, particularly with Jerry and Keith providing perfectly aligned textures to this masterpiece. Listen in particular to Keith at the end of the final chorus, it's just perfect. But we're just getting started here folks...A fun, upbeat Ramble On Rose comes next (marred only by a cut going into the last verse), followed by almost perfect versions of two more songs that they just couldn't seem to go wrong with that week, Jack Straw and Peggy-O. After a strong El Paso, Jerry kicks in with a jammin' Deal. You would think the set would be over at this point, but not tonight. No sir. The best Lazy Lightning>Supplication of the week follows. After a long, magical Sugaree, Phil (not Bobby suprisingly) ends a marathon first set with a salty "Thanks, we're going to take a short break. Y'all do whatever you want."

How do you follow up a first set like that? A tough chore indeed, but the Boys were up the task this night. A powerful Samson and Delilah leads off, followed by an equally hot Brown Eyed Women. Another Estimated Prophet is next, sounds like the rest, but the Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain that follows is another special version indeed. The highlight here is the jam in Scarlet before the final verse which just grows and grows in intensity before finishing off strong and cooling off into a mellow transition and Fire. Things heat back up a bit with Good Lovin', but you can sense that they are starting to tire a bit with a somewhat weak Uncle John's Band. A spacy post-UJB jam, reminiscent of something they may of done a few years earlier, flows into a Jerry solo, which then transitions to a textbook Wharf Rat that once again is marred by a significant cut in the recording. The second set ends with a rockin' Around and Around. I love the way that they turned it up a few notches in 1977 with this song, and this version is a good example, ending the set with a bang! As with the first set, Phil chimes in with a "Thank you and good night!" Again, unusual. A sweet, shuffling Breakdown Palace encore closes another great show.

I began this quest searching for answers, in particular, what made these shows so great? I've read, I've googled, I've listened, and nothing really sticks out as truly out-of-the-ordinary. The band was tighter than ever for a number of reasons (Terrapin Station sessions, completing the Grateful Dead Movie, new songs, repetition of a number of songs night after night, fighting back adversity), and these Bertha Boards, through a five show succession, turned out great. As mentioned before, I've read that Jerry discovered Heroin during this time, which you would of thought could of diminished his abilities. That didn't appear to of happened however.

All that mattered was that the stars were aligned, the cosmos were in balance, the karma was good. You can't go wrong with any of these shows. Download, sit back and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Brent!

2005-10-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

Boy, the band member's birthday's seem to come in bunches, don't they. Tonight, we wish a happy birthday to the late Brent Mydland, who would of been 53 today. I never realized til now just how much younger than the rest of the band he was.

Born in Munich, Germany, Brent moved to San Fran a year later. When he joined The Grateful Dead in 1979, he brought a new and very unique sound to the band, not only with his diverse keyboard skills, but also with his gruff vocal style. I'll admit that I was never a fan of Brent's original songs, but I always thought highly of him as a backup vocalist and keyboardist. I think a couple of my favorite performances of his were in the second half of the second sets of the 10/8/89 and 10/9/89 Warlocks shows. Already two of may favorite all-time sets, Brent truly shines on Gimme Some Lovin' on the 8th, and the Death Don't Have No Mercy (which I'm listening too right now, the goosebumps!) and Dear Mr. Fantasy on the 9th.

Brent left us way too early in 1990. Some loved him, some didn't. I don't think many can deny though his contribution to the band. RIP Brent, you are missed on this Earth.

DC Dead: Invasion of the Dead

2005-10-17T21:35:00.000-04:00

Holy guacamole! The three biggest Dead-related acts will be converging on the DC/MD/VA area coming up in November and December! Two shows on the same night even!!!

Ratdog: Wednesday, November 2 at Rams Head Live in Baltimore,MD. Tuesday, November 8 at Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD.
Phil Lesh and Friends: Friday, December 2 at The Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA.
Dark Star Orchestra: Tuesday, November 29 at Recher Theater in Towson, MD. Friday, December 2 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. Saturday, December 3 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC (Rex Foundation Benefit, Black Tye-Dye Ball)

OK, first of all, someone wasn't scheduling smart here. Phil competing with DSO in the same geographic area (20 miles apart) on the same night. Bad idea. I already know that I won't make it to the Baltimore Ratdog show as I'll be on the West Coast that day. But Frederick I could possibly do. Phil on Friday and DSO on Saturday?

I'm really torn about this though. On one hand, what an opportunity to see all three bands within a month of each other right while in the middle of my Dead-frenzy! Think of the blogging possibilities! On the other hand though, I'm kind of hesitant. All I have of The Grateful Dead (other than the music of course), is my memories of seeing them live. Could that be tainted if I was disappointed in seeing any or all of those three bands today? I know it won't be the same, but could it be good enough, close enough? I've heard a bit of each band and like what I've heard so far. In fact, I heard some live Ratdog last night doing Playin', and was pretty impressed.

What to do? What would you do if you were a lone Deadhead tied up in a straight and narrow world, too concerned about the remote possibility of being disappointed? Ugh, sad and pathetic, huh? A nice problem to have though :)

Weir Freaking!

2005-10-16T21:34:00.000-04:00

Perfect timing to discover this Bob Weir tribute blog tonight on Bobby's Birthday. Check it out!

Happy Birthday Bobby!

2005-10-16T05:45:00.000-04:00

Happy 58th Bobby! Bobby seems like he's probably a nice guy and all, but I think that the picture to the left probably reflects how he feels about getting older these days (or about random bloggers celebrating his birthday). I've always had a special place in my heart for Bobby. Maybe it was demeanor and his 'normal' appearance/attire (polo-style shirts) that made me relate to him the most. In addition, his music, his humor, his energy, made him a truly unique force. Born in San Francisco, Mr. Bob Weir Trouble (an early nickname) never quite fit the hippy, psychedelic mold that Jerry or others did. He looked more like an athlete back then, or maybe a surfer. Now today, fully-bearded, he kind of looks more like Jerry, from the neck up at least.

Many of my favorite Grateful Dead songs are Bobby's, including Sugar Magnolia, Let It Grow, Lost Sailor>Saint of Circumstance, Lazy Lightning>Supplication, Cassidy, Music Never Stopped and more. IMHO, he was always under appreciated by alot of Deadheads. He was the one to carry the band when Jerry was in poor health many times, and he continues to carry on the spirit of The Dead today. I haven't had the opportunity to see Ratdog myself, and I'm probably going to have to miss out on seeing them when they come to Baltimore in November. But I just found out they will be playing in Frederick, MD a week later. Hmmm. May just have to look into that one...

Anyway, happy birthday once again Bobby!

One Week in May '77: Part 5 - 5/9/77

2005-10-10T20:58:00.000-04:00

So, how do you follow up arguably the ‘greatest show of all time’? With another great show! Do you even think the boys knew that the show they had just played in Cornell would be considered their best ever? Probably not, the truth is that they were clearly ‘in the zone’, on a roll like few other times in their history, playing as if they were truly of one mind, one spirit. As I look at the set lists for this week, there were a number of songs that were played at least 3-4 times, such as Peggy-O, Tennessee Jed, Music Never Stopped, Estimated Prophet, and more. Maybe simple repetition was leading to a tighter sound?

May 9, 1977 however started off quite different than the other nights of that week. Played at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (Capacity: 16,000+), a blazing Help On The Way>Slipknot>Franklin’s Tower kicks off the first set. Gotta love any show that starts off with H>S>F. Another highlight of the week, especially the Help>Slipknot. I particularly love the crispness of the percussion in this performance. A couple slips on the lyrics during Franklin’s is probably the only thing keeping version from being the best ever. Perfect versions of Cassidy and Brown-Eyed Women follow suit. The Mexicali Blues that come’s next is a bit uneven, never finding quite the right tempo. Another Tennessee Jed follows, sounds like the rest (really not a fan of this song). A super-hot Big River roars to life after Jed, possibly an all-time best version. Jerry is on fire during his second solo with the boys blasting away on all cylinders behind him! Yet another beautiful Peggy-O slows things down a bit, and then, a bit of a surprise. A Sunrise actually, Donna’s song that was only played 3 times live, once that night. Not a bad song, but it sounds more like the Jefferson Starship than The Dead, IMHO. Another Music Never Stopped closes a marathon, well performed first set.

The second set starts off with a slow-tempo Bertha, very similar to the version played in New Haven 4 nights earlier. Bertha to me is supposed to be a fun, danceable song, the band didn’t see it that way in ’77 I guess. Things heat up a bit next with some of Bobby’s Good Lovin’ (need more cowbell!) I love the soulful, stunning Ship Of Fools that follows, played to perfection and a personal favorite version of mine. A mellow, yet intense jam links a rare back-to-back Estimated Prophet>The Other One. During the end of the Estimated jam, Mickey and Billy start to take over a bit driving the band into one of the strong Other Ones that I’ve heard from the late ‘70s. Mickey and Billy keep churning with some Drumz, which leads into a solid Not Fade Away (marred only by an AUD patch during the first verse). Just when you think the roof is going to blow off the building, the boys take it down a notch for a Comes A Time that comes straight from the heart. Jerry’s solo after the final chorus starts off coming from somewhere very, very deep inside, then finishes beautiful and bluesy, the band’s heart and soul are truly one during this special moment of the show. It seems like they are truly emotionally drained at this point as they slowly rev up Sugar Magnolia, but then kick into high-gear at the first verse and find the energy to finish the second set off strong. A show that seemed to have just about a bit of everything finishes off with a Uncle John’s Band that kind of makes you just sit back and say “Ahhhh”.

Again, no visible magic, just a band at their peak whose sound was about as tight as ever. Some just refer to a great 4 show run from New Haven to Buffalo this week, but the show two nights later belongs in this great run IMO. So off we go to traverse the Great Lakes to the Twin Cities. Until then…

A Belated Happy New Year!

2005-10-09T21:32:00.000-04:00

Forgot to say to all my Jewish brothers and sisters out there, a belated L'shanah tovah! It's been a very hectic past week with the holiday, work's been busy enough, but having to make up for a day being out...plus a busy weekend, I haven't been able to concentrate on this blog, or more importantly my One Week in May '77 series. I hope to have Part 5, (5/9/77) out in the next couple days. Still looking for that magic formula that made that week such a spectacular one...

Justin Kreutzmann's Blog

2005-10-04T18:14:00.000-04:00

I just discovered Justin Kreutzmann's Blog, Rock and Reel, via Dead on Friday (thank you Jonathan!), and wow! Looks like he's been blogging for a few weeks now, and he's got some great stuff there, including several interviews. The most recent post is a very interesting interview by David Gans with Justin's Dad (Bill, of course). Check it out!

One Week in May '77: Part 4 - 5/8/77

2005-10-02T21:36:00.000-04:00

In my search for what made 5/8/77 special (outside of the almost flawless performance and the overall excellent recording quality), I've come up relatively empty. I'm still not sure it's the best show ever, let alone that month or event that week? The first set is good, but not nearly as good as the shows directly before and after that one. But the second set is an absolute beauty, very possibly their best 'set' performance ever. The recording quality may be the clearest and richest Betty Board ever released, but there a couple of AUD patches that mess-up otherwise great performances of a couple songs. And why Ithaca? Why a show at an Ivy League school? Why wasn't their best show in San Francisco, New York, or in any of a number of other classic concert halls, rather than an old, barn-like gym that sat around 7,000?

Whatever it was, nothing sticks from my research as anything pointing to this being a great night. No special karma, no weird or unusual circumstances surrounding the show. The popularity of this show may very well simply be from the fact that it was the first top-quality Betty Board to be circulated amongst tape traders. I know that when I was accumulating my original collection, that this show stood out as one of my favorites, simply due to the fact that it sounded so clear compared too many of the other shows that I had on tape. The fact that their overall playing was so flawless (except for one instance) has always made this show a treasure. But on the other hand, I've seen better set lists, and I've heard more energy and intensity in other shows. 5/8/77 just seems to have it all though, no show was ever perfect, but this may have been as close as they ever came. Best ever, probably not, but historic and fabulous nonetheless.

First set kicks off with a strong Minglewood Blues, but next three songs, Loser, El Paso, and They Love Each Other, while played immaculately, are combined not what I would normally consider to be the start to a great show. The Jack Straw and Deal that come next have much more spirit behind them. The Lazy Lightning>Supplication is as jazzy and complex as ever, but a weak AUD patch during the Lighting jam is a let down. I love the Brown Eyed Women that comes next, once again played perfectly, possibly one of their best versions of that song. An OK Mama Tried follows, with a "Thanks Mom!" at the end, I'm guess from Phil (not sure why, maybe some sort of inside joke). Next comes a Row Jimmy that is solid, but I much prefer the late 80's Row Jimmy's to 70's versions anyway. The Dancin' In The Street however is very interesting. As they start it up, either Bobby accidentally jumps in with the first vocals early, or the rest of the band comes in late. No matter, the crowd cheers, Bobby's probably all embarrassed, and they recover overall with a spectacular performance of the old-time Motown hit. In my 5/7/77 post, I discussed how sometimes they seemed to bounce back from adversity with some of their most inspired performances. I think that this Dancin' is just another prime example of that.

As mentioned previously, it's the 2nd set that sets this show apart. After pleading with the crowd to "Take A Step Back" so that their friends up front wouldn't be so "bug-eyed", history is made with a truly magical Scarlet>Fire. The Scarlet, although good, is not necessarily the best one I've ever heard. What makes this version special is the brilliant transition, and the remarkable Fire. Through the final five minutes of Fire, Jerry leads the boys unparalleled journey unparalled in almost anything else they ever performed. How do you follow that up, with another great Estimated Prophet (I'm not sure they played a weak Estimated in May '77). After Estimated, the St. Stephen>Not Fade Away>St. Stephen is a bit overrated in my book. I'm not feeling a whole lot of energy here, certainly nothing compared to the St. Stephen's of the 60s or the NFAs of the 80s. The Morning Dew that follows though is another absolute classic. Arguably the best version ever of this song, they soar through the highs and lows with a gracefulness not many other musical groups have ever been able to copy. As the climax of Dew builds and builds with increasing intensity, you get the sense that Jerry and the Rhythm Devils are challenging each other to see who can take it to the next level. It's fun to hear Keith think that they are wrapping up, when they still have a few more rounds to go. You have to crank this Dew up to 11 to get the full effect, it just doesn't get much better than this. To top it all off, the One More Saturday Night is also perfect, a great ending to an amazing night.

So is it the best? The controversy lives on. Over 150 people have commented on this show at archive.org alone. Deadbase says their feedback reflects that it's the best show ever, but many over the years, including myself contend whether or not it's the best show even that month. You know what? Who cares anyway. The argument is fun to have as all Deadheads continue their quest for their favorite Dead show or 'moment'. This show overall is not my favorite I must admit, but there are moments in this show that are truly unequalled. And when I'm looking for just that right pick-up, something that brings it all together for me, there's nothing I'd rather listen to than the Scarlet>Fire and Morning Dew from 5/8/77.

Next, we go west, Truckin' Up To Buffalo. See you there...

One Week in May '77: Part 3 - 5/7/77

2005-09-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

Today we move on to Beantown, home of my namesake Deadhead blogger. The 5/7/77 show was played at the Boston Garden. The historic "Gahden" sat a shade short of 15,000, what a great place that had to be to see a show. This show however almost never happened. The day of the show, a crew member named Peter "Craze" Sheridan allegedly fired the union stagehands. Eventually things were smoothed over, but the night never truly recovered as the band suffered through numerous equipment repairs, including Jerry's guitar breaking before the Encore. During the equipment repair between Minglewood and Half-Step, Bobby rags on Mickey's need to "beat a nail into something", then gives Billy K. a hilarious roast in celebration of his 31st birthday

This night doesn't get the hype that the next night in Cornell does, but IMO, this show is every bit as good, especially considering everything they had to deal with that night. It almost seems on many an occasion that the tougher you made it on them (or they made it on themselves), that they would respond with an incredibly strong performance. If that is true, this night was the ultimate example.

The Bertha that starts of the first set begins a bit slow and methodical like the one in New Haven, a brief feedback snafu catches them by surprise during the first chorus, then they really kick it up-tempo during the second verse. From then on, you know it's going to be a fun night. After some brief equipment repairs, they launch into a hot Cassidy that really kicks into gear about the 3:30 mark. A very danceable Deal follows for the 2nd straight show. The Jack Straw that comes next is a bit disappointing as they never quite find the right groove. They respond strong with another great Peggy-O (although I think I like previous show's version better), followed by a nasty New Minglewood Blues. The Mississippi Half-Step that comes next is epic, possible the best one they ever played. Played with a funky shuffle to start, Jerry soars into orbit with a spectacular solo, and the band follows suit with amazing intensity. It slows down a bit to go "Across the Rio Grand-eo", then kicks back into a powerful finish. Truly the highlight of this show, and one of the top highlights of the entire week. As if that wasn't enough, Half Step moves quickly into Big River which starts off with a funky disco beat, finds a typical up-tempo beat to drive it through. A garden-variety Tennessee Jed is next, and a Music Never Stopped which features a jam that just builds and builds to orgasmic heights, finishes an amazing set.

The 2nd set starts off with an exquisitely played Terrapin Station, followed by a strong Samson and Delilah, two of the newer songs in their rotation that they seemed to truly enjoy playing. Friend of the Devil is next. FOTD was never a favorite of mine, at least until I heard this version. This was played absolutely beautiful and from the heart. Keith really shines on this one, Jerry sounds oh so sweet. Next comes a Eyes of the World>Drums>The Wheel>Wharf Rat combo that is out of this world. The fun, hi-tempo Eyes leads into a Drums, which trips a bit uneasily into a great Wheel powered by the Rhythm Devils and Keith, then a nice jam transition into a haunting Wharf Rat. A magnificent 2nd set closes with a rockin' Around and Around. Another song that wasn't a favorite of mine, at least until I heard the '77 versions, which rock with incredible intensity. U.S. Blues closes this incredible night, a night marred by numerous distractions and equipment failures.

I'm starting to think that this may be one of my all-time favorite shows, possible even greater than the 'greatest' show that took place the next night. That's our next destination, Ithaca, NY. The campus of Cornell University, at Barton Hall. What was it about that show that made it so legendary, and amongst many Deadheads, so controversial? We'll explore that in the next post in this series.

One Week in May '77: Part 2 - 5/5/77

2005-09-25T20:26:00.000-04:00

This may be tougher than I thought, finding things that made this week particularly special (special at least in my mind). They had just recently finished final touches on The Grateful Dead Movie, they had worked out the kinks from an uneven '76 comeback tour, and they had spent considerable time and effort in the studio working on Terrapin Station. On the other hand, this was also about the time that Jerry had discovered heroin, which you think would of hurt of him more than helped him musically and spiritually.

So why is the playing so tight? Why are there moments during this week that are possibly unequaled in their history? Why is the recording quality of these shows so crystal clear and rich (guess we'll just simply have to credit Betty Cantor for her perfect mixes)? Haven't figured that out yet unfortunately. I've done a bit of reseach so far, if you have any insight, please feel free to contribute.

Regardless, the May 5 show in New Haven, CT was a fantastic start to an amazing 5-show stretch. Played at Veteran's Memorial Coliseum (Capacity - 9,500), this show started off with a scorching first set, followed by an almost equally impressive 2nd set. This show was covered last year by the Dark Star Orchestra at The Fillmore, with Donna Godchaux making a special appearance, and that show was recently released on DVD.

The show starts off with a garden-variety Promised Land, after which Bobby cracks, "Sorry to be late, but you see a funny thing happened on the way to the show tonight, the airplane went the wrong way." Must of been an inside joke. They played in NYC the night before, I doubt they flew from NYC to New Haven. What followed was a spectacular 18 minute Sugaree, one of the best I've heard. Next came a unique Mama Tried>El Paso combo (only time ever played as a combo in that order), followed by a decent Tennessee Jed (never have been a big fan). The Looks Like Rain is excellent, with Donna adding very soft and sweet backing vocals, but this one wasn't even the best one that week. Next comes a hot, shuffling Deal, you know the kind you just bounce around to. After Lazy Lightning>Supplication (always a favorite of mine), a practically perfect Peggy-O follows. Listen closely on this version for Bobby and Keith, who both apply a beautiful texture to this great song, Jerry's solo soars as well. An incredible 95 minute 1st set ends with a powerful Music Never Stopped. The show could of ended there and most I'm sure would of been completely satisfied.

The 2nd set opens up with a methodical Bertha (I'm not so crazy about the slow-tempo Bertha's of this time-period), but then heats up with an Estimated Prophet that's about as good as you will ever hear. The Scarlet>Fire next is red-hot. The Scarlet may be better than the Cornell version 3 nights later, the transition is nice, but not spectacular, the Fire has it's moments, but never hits any spectacular highs like it did at Cornell and other times. Alot of reviewers at archive.org are always looking for the better Scarlet>Fire than the Cornell one, this one is close, but not quite as good overall. A typically fun Good Lovin' comes next, followed by St. Stephen. I only like the late 60's St. Stephens myself, the late 70's versions just don't have the same energy. This version shines though in an extended jam that has a Not Fade Away tease and a smokin, but brief blues shuffle. The Sugar Magnolia that comes next is a bit disappointing as they struggle to find a good tempo, kind of like the Bertha that the set started with. The last half of the song finishes strong as they find a driving high-tempo groove to close-out a solid 2nd set. A rockin' Johnny B. Goode encore that Chuck Berry would be proud of ended the night.

Like a couple other shows played this particular week, the 1st set outshines the 2nd. A joy overall to listen to though. Next, we'll head a couple hours north-east to Boston for what was a problem-plagued, yet still amazing show two nights later.

1000 page views!

2005-09-24T10:49:00.000-04:00

Cool. I'm still shocked that anyone actually has any interest in what I'm writing. Thanks to those who have been visiting and commenting. Hopefully many more posts to come.

One Week in May '77: Part 1 - Intro

2005-09-22T20:39:00.000-04:00

Tonight starts a series of posts that will analyze one week in the history of The Grateful Dead. A week highlighted by their most legendary show, with the two shows leading up, and the two shows that followed. May 1977 is considered by most Deadheads to the pinnacle of their greatness. Not only were their performances the best during this month, but the quality of the recordings of those shows are generally unmatched in their consistency throughout that month.

It's the shows starting in New Haven, CT on May 5 through the show in St. Paul, MN on May 11 that I will focus on. The recording quality of these shows are top-notch, and each of those 5 shows featured some of their best performances. This series will look into interesting things that happened around those shows, and the highlights of the shows themselves. Hopefully we'll discover what made that week so great. The Cornell show on the 8th is considered by many to be their best performance ever. Many would argue that too. As I go through this analysis, I'm still not sure if that show was even the best show that week, let alone the best of their 30 years together.

As always, I invite your comments. I plan on putting a good deal of research behind this, but if you have anything to add, please feel free. That said, I'm going to go off now and start working on my next post in this series, the 5/5/77 show at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, CT.

Concert Roster

2005-09-18T20:14:00.000-04:00

As I continue this blog and reminisce about the many Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band shows I saw (well not that many compared to some, but 23 in all), I can't help but think of the many other bands I've seen over the years. My junior year in high school through college was when I went to the most concerts. I've compiled a list below of the major headlining bands I've seen over the years. This of course doesn't count opening acts or smaller, more unknown bands. Still a decent list I think. Basically, if a 'classic rock' band came through the DC area from 1987-1994, I saw them. Well here's the list, the number in parentheses is the number of times I saw the band:

Aerosmith
Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman & Howe
Don Henley
Eric Clapton
Fleetwood Mac
Genesis
George Thurogood
Huey Lewis & The News
Iron Maiden
Jefferson Starship
Jimmy Buffet
Little Feat (3)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Pink Floyd (3)
Radiohead
REM
REO Speedwagon
Rod Stewart
Rolling Stones
Rush
Smashing Pumpkins
The Eagles (2)
The Kinks
The Pixies
The Who
U2
Van Halen
Yes

I can't say that I've seen too many concerts recently. The sorry state of the music business, combined with raising a young family has been a bit prohibitive. Oh well, at least I have the memories (and slight hearing loss) to show for several years of seeing and hearing some of the greatest live rock bands ever.

Sweet Peggy-O

2005-09-15T20:48:00.000-04:00

God I love this song. It's been a favorite of mine lately, especially the late-70s to early 80s versions. It's got to be one of the most beautiful songs they ever played, and on certain nights, it could touch even the toughest of souls.

The Dead's version was based upon a old, traditional folk song of Scottish origin. The original song eventually took a new life in the Southern United States. Dylan had a similar version on his debut album in '62 called "Pretty Peggy-O". The Dead first played it in December of 73, where it remained a staple for the next 22 years.

It starts off with a rolling Jerry-riff, then the rest of the band just kinds of folds into a slow, smooth shuffle. Jerry kicks in and takes you on a journey with Peggy and her sweet William. What can really make this song special though is Jerry's solo. Done right, it can soar to amazing, emotional heights.

I've been listening to alot of 1977 lately, a particularly good year for this song. A truly excellent version can be found during the 5/5/77 show. Check it out.

Happy Birthday Mickey!!!

2005-09-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

That's right, another birthday. In addition to remembering the somber events of September 11, 2001, on a happier note we can celebrate the 62nd birthday of one of the most influential, innovative and creative percussionists of our time.

Mickey has always been a personal favorite of mine. All you have to do is just watch him during a show, and you know that there's no other place on the planet he'd rather be. Sometimes, he has this devilish grin on his face, challenging his brother-in-drums Bill to raise it to another level. Sometimes, he has a sort of zoned out look where it's almost he's like on another plane of existence than the rest of us.

Several years back, I saw something on TV about his work with the Smithsonian's American Folk Life Center, where he was working to digitize the most endangered recordings in the Center's collections. He's also been lobbying on The Hill for funding for this program. Truly a noble cause.

Here's a great interview from 2003 that I found that pretty much covers his whole career. Check it out and wish Mickey a happy 62nd!

Happy Birthday Pigpen!

2005-09-08T21:28:00.000-04:00

That's right, Rod "Pigpen" McKernan would of been 60 today. Born on September 8, 1945 in San Bruno, CA, Pigpen was the resident bluesman of The Dead from the band's founding until the summer of 1972. Early on, he was primarily The Dead's keyboardist, but where he really shined was when he sang the blues. His powerful and energetic versions of "Hard To Handle", "In The Midnight Hour" and "Turn On Your Lovelight" were highlights of many a show in the late 60s and early 70s. Even towards the end, he could still belt out classics like "It Hurts Me Too" with the best of them.

Pigpen's 1st love was the blues, but his 2nd love was the "Sauce". He never pretended to be a hippy, he preferred the hard-living Hells Angels look in the 60's, then the Cowboy look in the early 70's. He loved to share the bottle with Janis Joplin and both met a similar demise. Although rarely mentioned in the same breath as Janis, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, it surely wasn't for a lack of talent.

In addition to his blues vocals, harmonica and keyboard skills, he was also one of the great early Rappers. His raps were perfect compliments to the songs that came directly from his heart. Ralph Gleason once wrote that Pigpen took "Lovelight" and "made it into a one-man blues project. He sang for almost 20 minutes, stabbing the phrases out into the crowd like a preacher, using the words to riff like a big band, building to climax after climax, coming down in a release and soaring up again."**

Pigpen died way too young in March of '73. But, his spirit always remained with the band and with Deadheads everywhere. His gravestone reads "Pigpen was and is now forever one of The Grateful Dead". How very true.

** from Dennis McNally's "A Long Strange Trip"

Build A Set List: 1979-1985

2005-09-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

For this Build-A-Set-List I thought I would focus on the period from the time when Brent Mydland joined the band to pre-"In The Dark". The sound changed dramatically when the Godchaux's left at the end of 1978 and the gravelly-voiced, keyboard wizard, Mr. Mydland got on the bus. Their sound overall didn't change much during this time. If anything, the quality of the shows varied both in sound and in recording quality. For a long time, I didn't think much of this period, but more recently, I have truly enjoyed exploring the shows from this era.

This period reflected more structure in their set lists than they had previously, introducing the Drums/Space segment in every second set. This period also introduced a number of new (and underrated in my opinion) songs from "Go To Heaven" and "In The Dark". There's alot of great shows to be found in during this time, they just weren't quite as consistent as they had been in years' past. Without further adieu:

1979-1985 Ultimate Set List

Set 1
Feel Like A Stranger
Franklin's Tower
Minglewood Blues
Loser
All Over Now
Althea
My Brother Esau
Don't Ease Me In

Set 2
Samson and Delilah
Iko Iko
Lost Sailor>
Saint of Circumstance
Drums>Space
The Wheel
The Other One
Ship of Fools
Good Lovin
Not Fade Away

Encore
Baby Blue

As always, any resemblance to an actual set list is purely coincidental.

Ben The Deadhead: Don't Judge A Book...

2005-09-01T20:41:00.000-04:00

If you saw me walking down the street today, you would never guess that I'm a Deadhead. Even 15 years ago, unless I was wearing one of my Dead shirts or a tie-dye, you still probably wouldn't of ever guessed. I'm a pretty average looking guy. My hair has always been relatively short, I'm usually clean-shaved, I've got a respectable job with a respectable (and fairly conservative) company. I saw only 20 Dead shows, 3 JGB shows, and had about 75 shows on tape. I had a number of friends who saw many more shows and had many more tapes than I did.

But that's just me. I didn't grow out my hair because I thought I would look ridiculous with a big, bushy hairdo. I didn't travel with The Dead, mostly because I've always been highly responsible, almost too responsible I guess. But there has always been a bit of a rebellious streak in me, and it's mostly been represented by my musical tastes. I love music that is creative, innovative, smart and fun. Music that you can really lose yourself in. Dead show scenes also appealed to me because of the true sense of freedom that you had when you were there. The sights, the sounds, the smells, all appealed to that rebellious side.

Deadheads are everywhere though, doctors, lawyers, Senators, NBA hall-of-famers, even conservative, uptight talking heads (i.e. Tucker Carlson). We come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Looking at some of us though, you would never know. It's the music and memories in our heads that makes us Deadheads, and keep us in love with this great band.

That Great Live Concert Moment

2005-08-29T20:27:00.000-04:00

Interesting article in this week's Washington Post Magazine. Memoirs of a Music Man (may require free registration) is a former Post music critic's journey searching for "the great Live Concert Moment". By that, he means "total-body bliss, a rush so strong it turns brain cells into Jell-O and, for a moment or two, you sort of leave your skin." The gist of the article however is that Rock & Roll barely has moments like that anymore, that even the most outrageous moments in a concert are all-too-often choreographed these days, that it is far more the exception than the rule for a band to be truly spontaneous anymore.

Now, most of us Deadheads have had a number of those "great Live Concert Moments" for sure, often several times a show. Unfortunately, the writer, David Segal, only barely touches on The Dead and how they met his criteria for 30 years. He wrote:
The trick for every band is to keep fresh something that is forever threatening to go stale. This was the secret to the longevity of the Grateful Dead. People followed them around full time because the show changed every time they played, and if you missed a concert you missed something singular.
He waxed poetic on other truly great live acts such as Elvis Costello, The Pixies, Guided By Voices, and Bruce Springsteen. But only 2 sentences about The Dead. It's a shame, maybe he just didn't make it to many shows, or maybe the ones he went to, they just weren't on those nights. Anyway, I guess he's just not much of a fan, or he just simply never truly 'got it'. The Dead are not for everyone. But they certainly delivered enough "great Live Concert Moments" for those of us who 'got it' to last a lifetime.

Take a vacation, fall out for a while...

2005-08-27T21:50:00.000-04:00

Just got back from The Outer Banks, and boy is my ass tired! Seriously, 8 hours to get home today, kind of wore off the vacation 'glaze' a bit unfortunately, not to mention sitting in the car that long can take it's toll on anyone. It was still a good trip though. Got to spend alot of time with my boys, who just LOVE the beach. Lots of food, sun, sand, etc. We took a day trip down to Manteo to the NC Aquarium, which my little one got a big kick from. On the way back, stopped at Jockey's Ridge, where my and my older one climbed the dunes. Climbed the Currituck Beach Lighthouse as well.

It was a easy trip down, we left around 5AM and got to our beach house by 11. Today was a different story though. A nasty accident on US-158 and 20 miles of stop-and-go on I-95. Ugh.

Unfortunately, no one else in my family on this trip really shared my appreciation of The Dead. But I had a little time to myself, like when I would hang out at the house while my little one took his daily nap. I'd shoot some pool, pop in a CD and jam out for a while. A couple nights back, I hung out on the deck with a beer and my headphones, listening to the second set of 12/28/79, just looking up at the stars. The conditions weren't perfect, there was still a little too much light pollution, but I was still able to see thousands of more stars than I usually can here in the suburbs of DC. With a nice cool breeze, it was kind of perfect actually.

Best thing about the trip is that I was able to "fall out for a while" and forget about some things. I love my job, but I just need to escape from it for a little bit. Hardly even thought abut it. Now on Monday, I can hopefully go back in recharged and ready to go.

So I'm back now, with many more posts to come. Keep checking back for more.

BTW, I've added a new blog to my Deadlinks, another Deadhead named Ben. Very cool blog, check it out!