Grateful Dead

WTF happened to this board? Been gone for a week and I come back to read the recent posts, and it's 15 minutes of my life i'll never get back. Minimal thoughtful commentary re: the music. Instead it's dominated by indignant era-griping, indignant Phish promotions, indignant gripes about shows outside the US, douchey trolling, direct personal swipes, indignant retaliations and politically-tinged rants. 90% waste of time and energy - why am I here??? Tempted to drop off like so many others have recently because it just doesn't seem worth the energy. How about we ALL ignore the noise and emotional jockeying and JUST focus on GD music? :O The spirit of this board is to share intelligent feedback re the DaP series and the Dead's music overall. Let's focus, people. SO - In that light.... (deep cleansing breath...) I'm curious what folks think is Jerry's best album? While i love all of them, I go crazy (good crazy) every time I hear "Compliments" (with Let it Rock, Turn on the Bright Lights, Russian Lullabye, Mississippi Moon, etc.) To me this is Jerry's most personal, intimate album. It's what "Thanks I'll Eat It Here" is to Lowell George, or "Laid Back" to Gregg Allman, or "Storyville" to Robbie Robertson (Storyville is a MUST-OWN!). It just feels like a departure from every other album - like a personal diary, doin' it just for you. Can't get enough. PS: I just realized Doc's post below! Hiya Doc! Yes, it's just getting MUCH worse, isn't it? I may join you shortly. I think, like college, it's natural to move on after 4 years and grow up. Pop in for the occasional alumni day.... There's only so much you can gleen from anything - my cup may be full.

all of the box sets released since the return of the Betty's uses the Plangent processing.in Dave's own words the new box set sounds like new tapes compared to the unplangented versions. the one exception has been the July 1978 box which still hasn't sold out and people think sound sort of meh. only Dave's Picks put out unplangented reels and that is because they aren't in the budget. the new ABB sonic journal is a good example of how the old GDM set has been improved by a Plangent processing of the same reels used for the GDM release.

.

Are there any two track releases besides the Winterland 1973 box set that utilized Plangeant? I've read a lot about their technology, and a lot of comments indicate that there is a very specific type of audio anomaly that it corrects best, which I'm sure everyone here has heard of, flutter and wow. From what I've read Plangent is only really necessary when you can hear the deficiencies on the master tapes. It sounds like it is almost a necessity for multitrack sources, but not so much for two track sources that already sound good to the ear. By good to the ear they indicate the absence of flutter and wow, as well as the ability to listen to it loudly without distortion or changes in pitch. In other words, it sounds like you're almost always going to need it for multitrack sourced shows, because it would not be cost-effective to listen to 16 or Four 24 tracks all the way through in a concert to inspect for audible problems, and even if you did have the time, good pitch on one track might not match the pitch of another track which also sounds good to the year. Then when you mix it you realize you have two instruments that are not playing in the same register. It would be cool to compare a soundboard of a two-track to a two track release that's gone through plangent.

LMAO Rock on!

they are a vast upgrade to what was out there. maybe it is the Plangent processing of the master reels? if they can sound that much better, imagine what the GD portion of the GD February Fillmore shows could sound like? i'd pay for a box of Fillmore 1970 GD sets to replace the Dicks Picks and Bear's choices compilation sets. nonPlangent processed reels are a remix waiting to happen, lets start here.

The new bear sonic journals with the ABB are golden! Thank you Bear, gotta love someone that demands from thenselves that much intention, attention and presence in whatever they do. Great recordings from the maestro himself.

how about back to the real problem here and the fact Dave's picks is wasting the reels on non plangent processed releases? join me in lobbying for a new series. Plangent Processed Betty Boards subscription series. this is an appeal to the powers that be for a new subscription series of 3 times a year of Plangent processed returned "Betty Boards" available in limited edition CDs and digital download forever. the series can start with 2/26/77 Winterland, which would be a sin not to have Plangent processed and instead used for a Dave's Pick release. as shown with previous releases from the "Bettys" the Plangent process significantly improves the sound from the tapes. by offering limited CD and unlimited digital versions it allows for maximum return of investment for the additional processing costs.

so you want to talk about D & C in Mexico? What a huge ripoff, I was checking the prices, really? to go to Mexico? Bad drinks, crappy weed, no inspections of public facilities. A woman I worked with back in the 00's was electrocuted in a pool in Mexico, no inspections so the wiring was faulty in the pools lighting, she dove in and ZZZZappppp, found her the following am. oh and good luck with any legal action in Mexico, forgetaboutit. Here's a question for the boys, why the hell do this in Mexico? why not Fla or Calif., or somewhere in the good old USA. To go, don't you have to get a passport? plane fare, cost of the show etc... 5 grand easy, are you fricking serious? Another stinking money grab or is it so Bobby can go on vacation? I would laugh if no one showed up. On another subject, phish, they can't hold a candle to the Dead so don't even bring them up, they just ain't that good, plain and simple. Now Fish, there's a band, I hear Barry M. is an attorney now and does a lot of pro bono work. Always loved the way he played. Speaking of Country Joe and the Fish, today is 49th anniversary of Woodstock opening day, they did an awesome set and you can see some of it in the movie. Good times (those were the days, my friends). Any old timers out there got any Woodstock stories? I have one but it would probably burn off both your ears :)

This thread is getting salty. Even Jim done got pissed off. I was having a sort of relevant convo with Oroborous (check your PMs my man :) about this Phish / Dead "controversy". When I started going to a lot of shows in the late 90s, I would see the Allman Brothers religiously (really Terrapin?), Phish, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, moe., later on Umphrey's McGee, STS9, Tauk. These bands all have their loyal fans. What they all have in common is that practically all of those fan bases also are into the Dead. The Dead were like the common denominator of the jam band circuit. Hell they pretty much invented the jam band circuit. I got more interested in the Dead from talking to all these other fans at other shows. Go to any other jam band concert and count the folks in Dead T shirts. Some of them probably weren't born yet to have actually seen the Dead. When I was younger, I really liked Phish. I loved their zany, goofball irreverance. Now that I'm less younger than I used to be, I think I appreciate a little more reverance. Dead songs, for the most part, are earnest. They say what they mean and mean what they say. Phish songs are often ironic. They aren't intended to mean anything except as a vehicle to jam out. When I'm scrolling through here, its usually with my morning coffee, or during lunch, and I'm never going to stop reading and watch an entire concert video, of anyone. I just want to read what other people think about whatever inane topic we're on at the time. That's all. Oh and I still like, but don't love Dave's 27. It is neither the disgraceful embarrassment that some paint it as, nor the most amazing 2 1/2 hours of music ever put down on tape. That's enough for me to keep subscribing. Peace.