Grateful Dead

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I liked your consideration of Pete Townsend's performance with The Dead. The comparison between the two bands reminds me a bit of the discussion we had on here a few weeks ago about whether The Dead could be considered a jazz band. I didn't think they could, but I think their approach to playing rock music was "jazz like". And I think this is what confounded Pete Townsend when he played Not Fade Away with them in 1981. Its a simple, rock n 'roll song. But the Dead slowed the tempo and jammed, as was their wont. This obviously worked in spades for them-but they took the song out of the narrow (but great) confines of what normally constitutes the best rock n' roll music. As a great rock guitarist, poor old Pete was left standing at the starting line. I think most other rock guitarists would have been, too. John Cipollina, a bit more surprisingly, also seems a bit lost to me on the New Years Eve 1978 show, when he tries to play along on the same tune. Obviously not as easy as it looked! And as I sit here waffling, the Who Live at Hull has been pushed through my letter box. It could be a bumpy night.

Yeah. That is pretty much what I said. But thanks for restating it so emphatically. I'm glad you like the Who.

Dick Clark calls it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKT0Kz5VGhw

Thanks for The Who at Hull - the remastered full Leeds is a bit pricey for my budget. Think there's 2 or 3 more copies left at amazon after my purchase. Thin - nice snowsport reference but didn't a snowboarder win the Gold in Woman's Skiing Giant Slalom in the recent Olympics? Since I fell behind the Spring 90 anniversary listen this year and I always fall behind in my E72 attempts, I'm attempting a hybrid. I listen to a couple from one or two from one tour and then one or two from the other tour. Been an experience. Aurally the 90's shows are 3 dimmensional with contributions from all. But I do notice a huge difference in the Jerry's role in comparing the two tours. A lot of the pieces that Jerry would drive in the Europe shows are almost parcelled out to Bobby and Brent. Jerry still has the the solos, but the rest of the fill is a group effort. I still love both, but was just something I never took note of before... Loving that Hawaii JGB release and the recent RFK box. Looking forward to the box set announcement, they never cease to amaze me...

Thin, very well stated. One thing I want to add, is that the improvised set list versus the static set list is usually a trade off. The advantage for the Who is that they're so well rehearsed from playing the same songs every night, that there are virtually no mistakes, ever. I've seen them 30+ times and I have 50+ live recordings, and they never had an off night. Always tight, never flubbed lyrics. The only exception was technical issues with the synthesizer backing tapes on the '73 Quadrophenia tour. The Dead suffers some fallout from the improv and varied set lists. I don't mind it at all, only illustrating that there's a trade off.

Townsend wasn't outmatched by Garcia. Yes, he looked and sounded like he was trying to fit in but couldn't get in the groove - at all. That doesn't mean he was outmatched - he was just waaaay out of his comfort zone. Towshend's style of playing is to take a 2.5 minute song and pack as many car chases and explosions into it as possible.... windmills, power chords, leg-splitting jumps, with his hair on fire and a kilbasa down his pants. The Who beat the shit out of their instruments while the Dead make love to the music. Not a slam on the Who - they're amazing and in 1970-71 they were THE band that everyone, including the Dead, was chasing.... I see "Skullfu@k" as their "Who" album, recorded in Spring '71. Did Townsend look neutered with the Dead? Totally - because he's not a finesse player, and the Dead are all about a musical conversation.... playing in a circle and feeding off each other. Look at Not Fade Away - perhaps the Dead's most bombastic, power-chord song - If Pete would fit on ANY Dead song it would be that one, right? Nope! For the Dead, even NFA is still a subtle conversation with each other and the audience. \ Pete kept trying to find a spot set off an explosion at Rockpalast, only to realize that his "thing" doesn't work with the Dead - at all. Kinda like the way John Mayer admitted after joining Dead and Co that his usual blues-y thang didn't work and he'd have to adjust and re-approach, which he did masterfully. Jerry would have looked equally out of place, even silly, onstage with the Who. And Who fans would have called him "outmatched" as well. It's like comparing the gold-medal mogul skier to gold-medal Giant Slalom guy.... they're both gonna fail miserably at the other guy's game.

Listened to nothing but KISS from age 5 - 10, then heard Baba O'riley at my cousin's house over Christmas break, and we must have listened to it 20 times that week. That plus side 1 of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy, and side 1 of The Kids Are Alright movie soundtrack, which has the Smothers Brothers "Roger From Oz" intro to My Generation. I was hooked. Who Are You was the first record I bought that wasn't KISS, followed closely by Meaty Beaty and Who's Next. First saw them 7/9/89, two days after first Dead show 7/7/89. Saw them about a dozen times now, most recently a year or two ago, whenever they were at MSG and Philly for the 50th bash.

And as we all know, Who and Zeppelin are better than the Stones and Beatles, but Pink Floyd is the greatest British band ever.But they’re all in the minor leagues when compared to Grateful Dead. My first Who show was July ‘89, a little more than a week after seeing GD at Alpine. Was in row 32 on the floor, and extensively wide-eyed. It was an awesome rock n roll show, with all the greatest hits, even Boris The Spider. Also saw the Quadrophenia tour in ‘96 and the greatest hits tour in 2000, but those didn’t compare to the raw power of the ‘89 show. Love the Isle of Wight DVD, also have the Texas ‘75, Knebworth, and Kids Are Alright DVDs. But yeah, same setlist night after night. And that’s not just The Who, but also Zep, Stones, Floyd. Floyd claimed that the setlists had to be the same to keep the choreography with the video that was being played. But when you play each song the same night after night, well, that just goes to show that you are not in the same league as GD.

Well I taught that weeping willow how to cry cry cry,Taught the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky. https://archive.org/details/gd1987-04-07.140340.sbd.miller.flac2496 The Who is a great stress release.

Funny that you mention that show. I was going to post something about that as well. Not sure what the correct word is, but Townsend seemed outmatched. Could be the lack of familiarity with the music, booze, drugs, etc. Who knows. I think he realized that his routine was not going to work in that particular setting so he stepped to the background. From what I have read, he came away with a great deal of respect for the Dead as muscians after that outing. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate The Who musically. Just not my listening preference.