Grateful Dead

Good morning rockers!!! Don’t all excited. Put your hard drives away. I’m not coming back. But because of the foolish actions of a few, I now have to come back and “explain”. The following may be harsh, so if you have a weak stomach, change the channel now…………….. Imagine my surprise and bewilderment when I hear from secondary sources that a well intentioned but misguided individual feels it’s his prerogative to post what I naively believed was a personal and confidential communication, the posting of which has caused me significant distress and embarrassment. Thanks Phil Carson, thanks for your bad judgement, bad form, and bad kharma. Next time you feel like airing somebodys dirty laundry in public without knowing all the facts, maybe you’ll mind your own business and keep your mouth shut. The only real meaning to be gleaned from all this is that I can never trust you again. So be it…………. And by the way, thanks for all the subsequent posts, which read more like a series of obituaries than well earned accolades. Creepy, just plain creepy……………… I started a self-imposed sabbatical back in January. During that time, PRIOR to my stroke, I had pretty much decided I was not coming back to deadnet. I had no intention to post a teary farewell message, instead preferring----like many other old timers here have done----to merely fade away without significant fanfare. But because an arrogant few think that because I’ve chosen to resign from this shared madness of ours that I must be suffering from some mental disease or defect, now I have to give “reasons”. So here are just a few, if you take offense be a dear, be an adult and deal…… *** Regardless of the topic, the threads are dominated by a small group of people who, while very well intentioned, keep saying the same thing over and over. This gets old quickly………… *** “Dave’s Pick (fill in the number here) sucks, I could do a much better job picking shows for release”. No, you couldn’t. Let’s be real----we’re incredibly blessed that a large portion of the Dead’s career was well recorded, and we’ve had access to it. Grow up you whiners. Now, it’s almost spoon fed to us on a silver platter, and still people bitch whine moan and complain. You don’t want it---don’t buy it. Don’t like it---let it rot on the shelf. Or maybe you could engage in a better alternative----get off your lazy asses and build your own large, comprehensive Dead collection, then you don’t have to rely on TPTB for your Dead fix. *** “I want my (fill in the year here) box set and I want it now!”. OMG this whine is older than Methuselah, let’s grow up and move on…………. *** “Dark Star! Dark Star! Dark Star!”. Not every Dark Star was a gem. Personally, I would prefer a well played Other One to a poorly played Dark Star. But hey, that’s just me……………… *** “The Dead were in top form in 1989”. Oh PLEASE!, just drop it. Mostly proves that lots of Deadheads still take mind altering substances. These are from the people who wouldn’t know a good show if it bit them in the ass, or a bad show if it slapped them upside the head. Probably the same people who think that Barton Hall and Veneta----two of the most horribly overrated Dead shows ever---are deserving of “Classic” status. Also probably the same crowd that think that Albuquerque and Ann Arbor were wasted picks, but that a box set from 76 would be just wonderful. Dead on valium----no thanks, I’ll pass………………. *** “Garcia is a god and must be revered!!!”. Balderdash. Garcia was a flawed human being----just as we all are. Very good musician, yes, but not the center of the musical universe. You think I’m wrong? Then compare his work with the Dead vs his solo endeavors, where he usually lost the focus and edge that playing with the Dead gave him, where his shows ranged from “well, OK” to downright boring, and where he fell victim to his own worst devices and inclinations. And I saw lots and lots of Jerry shows over a wide range of years. My own opinion is that the people who deify Jerry really don’t understand what the Dead was----a synergistic musical phenomenon that relied on the input of all the participants. Lesh always got his props, but turning Garcia into a deity does great disrespect to Pigpen and Weir. *** Here’s the most important issue-----I don’t have anything new to add to the discussion. My mission here is complete. I have opened people’s eyes about the Dead’s music of 1971. I never claimed 1971 was their best year ever, only that it was my favorite year. I’ve posted numerous time about the important shows of the year, I’ve given away sh*tloads of 1971 recordings, and I’ve written long posts about the various runs that year---including the beloved Port Chester, which I still think will NEVER be released as a box set. Frankly, I’m a little tired of being the poster boy for 1971 Dead recordings. I’ve done my part for King and Country. I’ve distributed thousands of recordings and mentored large numbers of fellow 71 freaks. Mentorship is a large responsibility, and you need to choose your apprentices carefully. I have chosen well, I know they will carry on, never forgetting my mantra: “share everything with everybody, never asking for or expecting anything in return”. Given the nature of my profession and recent life events, I’m acutely aware that I’m closer to the end of my journey than to the beginning. That doesn’t mean I’m in a “dark place". In fact, I’m moving towards the light, the light that will guide and illuminate the rest of my life. I’m moving on into the sunlit uplands of my mind, something I should have done a very long time ago……… In closing, I would like to say that I have successfully poked the bear, hit the beehive with a stick, stirred up muddy waters, burned my bridges, and probably generally pissed people off. That was probably something that needed to be done. Now it’s time to move on to more pleasurable endeavors. However, anybody that wishes to respond or continue the discussion, let’s move it off line, via e-mail. Farewell my friends, take good care, live large, rock on, carry on, sleep in, love your significant other, play with your dogs and children, stay focused, play it loud and proud, don’t look back, the future is uncertain but the end is always near……………… Peter Gillespie, MD aka “Doc” P.S. I won the Box Set Contest. And no, I’m not telling you what it is. You’ll just hafta wait. Serve you right to suffer lmao…………… P.P.S. I have an unopened Roy Buchanon Town Hall CD and an unread/unused book about James Brown that a misguided soul sent me, if anybody would like these I will send them to you at my own expense. If nobody wants, since they have bad kharma stuck to them I’ll throw them in the trash. P.P.P.S. Last and final offer ever: anybody who ever needs or wants 1971 Dead shows, now or at any time in the future, I can be reached at: DocEleven@yahoo.com. I used to say “you know where to find me”, you just won’t find me here any more. Goodbye & good luck!!!!

Surprised no one's mentioned this yet but RIP Danny Kirwan. He may not be Peter Green but he made some nice contributions to The Mac both with Green and after. Phil said in an interview that he basically plagiarized Passenger from Station Man. Some other good songs from Kirwan: Coming Your Way, Sunny Side of Heaven, Sands of Time, Bare Trees. I'd love to hear anyone else's favorites. Fleetwood Mac had to have the most bizarre history of any rock band I can think of and that includes Danny Kirwans myriad of problems.

Really good Cumberland Blues and Big River's seem to have the same effect on me. Especially when they stretch them out. Great little first set jam vehicles (and I guess the occasional second set). Try not to tap your feet or move something.. in fact, I believe it's impossible to stay perfectly still when they are really getting it. Or perhaps that's not Juniper I taste in my gin. Whatever.. both great tunes and to me have a similar tempo and feel when they are really getting it.

A tough hit. One of the toughest in a long time. Watching old episodes of Parts Unknown. Just cool stuff. Very disturbing trend in suicides. Sorry for your guys Vguy. Toughest trophy in all of sport. Ovechkin deserved it. All that needs to be said. Most of all, best to Doc. Top guy on this site.

jerry poured me a bowl of cereal, jerry helped me file my taxes, jerry taught me how to parallel park, played super Mario 3 with me that one time....

....if nothing else, their album covers kick ass. Orgasmatron anyone?

6/09/17, Tedeschi Trucks Band. Our heroes are mostly gone, but here's the real deal. Just go to Archive.org, All artists, Tedeschi Trucks Band, 2017-06-09. Recorded from a handful rows back. Go deh!

I don't recall 2009.

I don't recall 2009 being that weird!