Grateful Dead

..and Pogo Lives!

"This whole things smacks of the same attitudes that led to the gate-crashing at Deer Creek.. and it makes me feel sick, the same way it did in '95. So may self-rightous (sic), selfish, whinning babies... gimme, gimme, gimme... mine, mine, mine... free, free, free." Totally agree. Very sad to see the state that this has declined to. It's become a platform to idiots to pump their own agenda.

I'm not at all happy about the way the decision to stop the MP3s and change to streaming was implemented, but I think that a lot of the responses have been counter-productive. There's no point in blaming David Gans or David Lemieux (well, I've got no reason to as I've not seen any evidence that they've done anything wrong). Moreover, to David Gans' credit he has at least joined the discussion. But you ain't going to win friends and influence people by calling them names or making potentially libellous allegations. It would be nice if those who actually were responsible for the decision gave us a reason, and it might be a good idea if some of the ranters took some time out to grow up a little, and it would also be beneficial if Rhino rolled out some CDs a little more regularly. And, if they wanted to save costs (and make them cheaper too), they could use slimline triple cases and dispense with costly inserts (how many people read the liner notes, anyway? If they want to provide info, put a link to a website). Oh, and it would help some of us if Rhino could get their postal prices right for packages to Europe. CJ

Wow. What a bunch of ungrateful crybabies. I wonder if Rhino knew who their customer base was going to be when the leased the vault? Making a change without an explanation was definitely not a good move, but apparently they have a good reason. Here are some possibilities: 1) Their agreement with Bobby, Phil, Mickey, Billy and the Garcia Estate might prohibit Rhino from allowing free downloads. 2) There might be a concern with distributing songs that Ice Nine does not hold the copyright. Phish will no longer sell downloads from their vault where the publisher will not allow their songs to be sold over the internet. Hence, if you want the complete show, you have to buy the CDs (which I prefer anyway). Check out livephish.com for more info. 3) The sales of NYE 1976 and Three From the Vault might suck. If we aren't giving back why should we get free music. How many people bitching and moaning about no more downloads have bought at least one of these releases? If you have, particularly if you have bought everything, then this change in policy does not apply to you and you should instead be pissed off at all those here taking and not giving back. The Grateful Dead made a big mistake that most of us have benefited from; they did not have a policy of keeping their vault airtight. Subsequent bands like Phish, Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident and moe. leaked enough soundboards early on in their careers to spark interest, but for the most part, their vaults are sealed as are the Allman Brothers Band's. This is a two way street. The Dead allowed taping and even trading of soundboards. We're supposed to buy their official releases. Rhino and Grateful Dead Productions do/did not exist to provide you with free music. They exist to provide you with high quality products; soundboards of Grateful Dead shows of the best possible quality and on the best storage medium possible. The music on your CDs is a lot more secure than those on hard drives, iPods, CDRs, DATs and cassettes. My fear is that with so many soundboards in circulation and so many ungrateful deadheads expressing their selfish opinions or not buying CDs that demand is too low to allow Rhino to release more shows. Here's a couple of Jerry comments. When he said, "When we're done with the music, our fans can have it", he may have only been referring to audience tapes. Their are Jerry Band soundboards out their from the 70's, but even Jerry and Steve Parish kept the Jerry vault relatively sealed after the 70's. This tells me a lot of what Jerry might have thought about this issue today. Secondly, when people say that if Jerry were alive today, this would not be a problem, they forget that Jerry was really tired of all the parasites in the parking lot in the 90's. What do you think he would have thought about this issue?

Good Deadheads vs. Bad Deadheads. Celeb Heads vs. Wannabes. Who is going to say the next stupid thing and how many wise comments will follow? The new hippy crack... Oh, by the way, crack is not a good thing. "How does this song go?"

It's sad to see the way things are progressing here on this site. I have read every post and have come to the conclusion that 90% of the people here are upset for all the wrong reasons, I mean it's been 5 days and people are freaking about every possible chaotic situation imaginable. You'd think this was Armageddon and a meteor was about to KILL us all.To be honest, I think everyone should just chill out and give this some time before the walls come tumbling down. Patience and thought make for clear decisions and calm review of any situation. No one REALLY knows what transpired and until it has been clarified, take a deep breath and relax. You may very well be surprised at the outcome of all this hullabaloo. This kind of speculation in the real world starts wars, collapse governments and generally sucks in the long run. Be grateful for what we already have and thankful to those who had the foresight to (TAPE Etc.) take us on this journey in the first place. I enjoyed the Mp3's while they were available and miss them but it's not going to ruin my days. I have made purchases from the store and was satisfied with the products. I THINK I'LL JUST SIT BACK AND WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS. Peace, Andy-Dead since '76

The end of Uncle John's Band leads into segments used on Riverside Rhapsody for Infrared Roses. Cool! Thanks for the music this week David.

I think its time to start playing hardball with these guys. I am considering suing for the following Lost hours of my productive work time due to overuse of Dead.net 200hrs*$0.5 = $100 Personal suffering resulting from stress induced flatulence in my dog $500 Replacing dead plants in my garden because I have been too preoccupied to water them $135 Royalties to Starbucks Inc for quoting Lily Allen lyrics $150,000 Mental anguish over exposure to profane language (real and virtual) $0.75 Loss of productive hours for my wife who has been trying to work out what the hell is wrong with me (she earns all the money round here) $5,000 RSI damages resulting from clunky navigation to the most recent post ;-) $913 Personal distress and prescription costs related to my failure to get Audacity to work $40,000 Compensation for my futile recent purchase of a 1 Terabyte HDD to store all future tapers section downloads (its true!) $350 Replacement of rare Wild Man Fischer LPs burnt in an irrational fit of anger on Monday $750 And finally Carbon offset costs of all the hot air and foul gases generated by this business (and my dog) $375,000 Have wonderful weekends everyone, hope you all get to patch your bones and have some fun. Its mushroom season here so I'll be in the woods ......BUT DON' T FORGET …it could all start again on Monday......… ..........if that's what we really really want?

The mp3's are not a God given right. Who do you people think you are? Be GREATFUL for what you had and stop with the whining about what you think you are owed. Thanks everyone for the great music that I will continue to enjoy til I die, and maybe when my son is born he will grow up listening and enjoying the music his father loves so much. Thanks again, and PLEASE keep it comming anyway you can.

tj crowley my thniking is that most of the posters here are NOT dead head...oh! they enjoy the music and stuff but have not climbed on board the bus ... it takes more than just a downloader or attndee to gigs..the deadhead thing goes deeper entering one's perception..one's spiritua attitude..one's approach to the denizon's of this planet....listenning and enjoying the sounds of 'the boys' does not qualify for being a dead head. it's not limited to a few but rather the qualifier is special w/ an application of brotherly love and tolerance of other's and their defect of character and short coming's. things happen..it's part of the yin/yang..failure to accept create's inner tormoil and dis-harmony

The last sentence seems fitting for this situation, this I assume was from the suits at Rhino after the ARCHIVE.ORG 2005 Change of Policy regarding SBD downloads.... STATEMENT TO MP3 SITE OPERATORS "The Grateful Dead and our managing organizations have long encouraged the purely non-commercial exchange of music taped at our concerts and those of our individual members. That a new medium of distribution has arisen - digital audio files being traded over the Internet - does not change our policy in this regard. Our stipulations regarding digital distribution are merely extensions of those long-standing principles and they are as follow: No commercial gain may be sought by websites offering digital files of our music, whether through advertising, exploiting databases compiled from their traffic, or any other means. All participants in such digital exchange acknowledge and respect the copyrights of the performers, writers and publishers of the music. This notice should be clearly posted on all sites engaged in this activity. We reserve the ability to withdraw our sanction of non-commercial digital music should circumstances arise that compromise our ability to protect and steward the integrity of our work." FROM ARCHIVE.ORG Dead to the Core www.myspace.com/bongwizard

Something I just remembered after reading the latest posts: 1981, The "Aud" in Buffalo. Gates opened late. People were pushing toward the door. Flashes of the Who tragedy in Cincy. Deadheads crushed? I thought for sure the stampede to the floor would be a disaster. But the folks in the front turned around and said "No need!" People actually backed off! And it turned out to be an "orderly" entrance to the arena by the crowd. Maybe everyone needs to take one step back and think, "No need!" Have a great and grateful weekend!

maybe they pulled the mp3's because people were trading amongst people. Its a well known no-no in the trading community not to trade mp3's. Maybe the people at GD didn't want inferiour recordings flooding the trading community? i've never in my life seen so much bitching/whining/moaning/complaining. Anyone who knows anything knows there are other places to get GD music. This isn't the place to be begging for handouts. Be thankful for what they do give us. you are aiming your insults/bitching/moaning at the wrong people. D. Lemeuix and david gans are here to help folks. Mayeb write rhino and let them know what they are doing is wrong. But to keeping on whining to D. lemeuix and D. gans won't change anything. they have rules they are instructed to follow. If your only source of tunes is from dead.net i feel sorry for you. That is pathetic considering the pletherora of other dead trading sites/bnp vines ect ect....until rhino stops all that trading(god i hope not), all of your bitching/whining/moaning will really fall on deaf ears. i can see after reading all these pathetic posts that if they do decide to pull everything...it would be due to these insulting demands. seriously folks

I am truly ashamed at the amount of anger directed towards David Gans. David you brought us the music when we couldn't get the music and you sure as hell don't desreve this. For those of you bashing him, he at least has the stones to post here and try to put reason back in the discusion. David for you I give the finger to those bashing you, and also a BIG THANK YOU for doing what you have been for so many years. I can't tell you how many nights I stayed up, or made arrangements to listen to your shows over the years. This whole discourse is starting to remind me of how bad the scene got back in the 90's. You know the ugly times when no venue wanted to host dead shows, the hanger's on in the parking lots without tickets, etc. Well now here it is again. Ugly, selfish banter and behavior. Do me a favor everyone. Put on your favorite show, watch the sunset, drink a cold frosty one and love the one you're with. Two weeks ago I had the most awesome experience driving through Yellowstone National Park cranking Nassau 90 with Branford. Know what? Smiling ear to ear and just enjoying the ride. Maybe we should all do this, chill and enjoy what we have. Again David, Thank you! .......Might and Glory.

...we're all going to have to get back into trading again! I have to defend David Gans at this point, I don't care WHAT he said, his effort and contributions over the last umpteen years far outweighs pretty much ANY statement he may make about pretty much anything. Let's do exactly what it looks like Rhino doesn't want us to do...get copies of all the Tapers Section downloads to everyone that wants it. I have sixty or seventy CDRs full of almost all the material that WAS available for download. I am missing the last six or seven weeks. I've already put out a request to someone for a trade for the missing material. Surely someone or a few someones out there (and myself) would be willing to get the trading ball rolling once again and offer to either trade CDRs of the Tapers Section stuff for other musical material or even do B&Ps for it. I am willing and I hope others will be too. Craig craigeyler@yahoo.com

Wow man, that would be one fucked up crowd! Now where have I seen that before... heh Anyway, interesting trajectory to this thread.. the initial shock, the wave of anger, then the inevitable armchair psychiatry theories (okay, I'm guilty) and more anger, now the backlash to the backlash and apologies for the attacks. I propose that in the next 3 hours we all go listen to our favorite shows. Meet back here in a while. Then we can all ... I dunno, slap each other around some more. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be burning, sipping a Boddington's and spinning 12/08/73...

tj crowley IMAGINE...if everyone practiced their religion for more than an hour a week...IMAGINE

tj crowley the best things in life.....are not things...go to the baech and pick up the sand holding on tightly......do you have much in your hand?...now pick up sand holding it slightly in your palms...the power of smoothness is demonstrated in the creating of the grand canyon...it was created by water !!!! life happily w/o concern of material objects...when they are gone what then will bring you happiness?

tj crowley notice.....look over the posting's......did anyone question the health of dave l? was anyone concerned if he was ok? real qucik we are to complain of the gifts w/o worry of/for the gift giver

The entire world would be a better place!

tj crowley yes! echo this across the lands and spread the vibes.....

tj crowley dawg440 see above some messages are posted out of sequence

The rage and entitlement with regard to this whole MP3 to streaming change is astonishing! People, every iota of music we have from this organization (yes, organization) is a gift. We should be appreciative for what we have, just as we should be when we wake up in the morning...or whenever you wake up. Free stuff is always cool, but come on. If Starbucks gives you a coupon for a free cuppa joe, do you bitch when you go back the next day and you have to shell out 2 bucks for another cup? No. You gladly/begrudgingly dig into your wallet and pay them what they are asking you to. Either that or you leave. Same thing here. Stop complaining and move on. To that end, much has been said about it already, but it bears repeating; there are plenty of places to get great lossless legs of all sorts out here in Al Gore's internet. He created it for trading Dead shows, you know. I digress... David Lemieux, thanks a ton for releasing some beautiful sounding nuggets from my first show in this week's Taper's Section. I do appreciate it. I am sincerely grateful. It has brought back a ton a great memories, as much of this music does. Enjoy what you can, while you can. Life is short. Be well.

Somebody suggested Rhino should start marketing choices by Mr. Lemieux under the banner "Dave's Picks" but I think "Dave's Faves" sounds better!

After the semi-masochistic effort of reading 47 pages of venting, here's my bit: The two-line explanation at the bottom of this week's Taper's Section notes was evasive at best. It reminded me of the way a bank would announce a fee increase, saying they're doing it so they can "serve you better." I would like to get more Grateful Dead music from the source. I buy everything that is released. Other download sites are overwhelming and I don't feel right about using them for music I could get from GDP. The TS downloads were great [I find it funny that I didn't figure out how to download until just before the format changed to streaming only] and I took them to be a tantalizing trickle from the vast reservoir of the legendary Vault. Like others, I found they stimulated my interest in Dead music. It's hard to understand why so little music has come out recently; digital music is so simple to distribute (unlike pressing a vinyl disc for example). There is a bottleneck (bureaucratic or otherwise) between the stores of music and the hunger of thousands of voracious listeners; if it were just removed, both sides would benefit. Just let David Lemieux choose the shows to release, and we'll eagerly buy them. I have fantasized for years about a concert-of-the-month subscription. Just tell me where to sign up, and I'm there. A steady stream of revenue has got to have some appeal in establishing a stable business. There are various ways to approach the Tapers streams. They could go back to downloadable format; downloading could be restored for those files that were available in the past only; downloading could be available for a small charge, or as a bonus with a subscription or purchase; downloading could be limited to recordings wiith flaws, like dropouts, mix problems, missed vocals, or out of tune instruments, that make them less marketable. It doesn't have to be a complete shutoff. I hope we can hear more of the music before long. Mary E., you're some kind of saint for dealing with us all, and thank you Izzie for telling the children to behave. - DW

beenwaytoolongatsea jack if ya got nothin' new to say ..... divide and conquer -- they are winning!! stay together, remember in this world of troubles, we got to looooovvvve one another ...... if you all are gonna talk about what jerry said or speculate on what jerry thought tell us about what he SANG those were the words he meant .... let there be songs to fill the air not noise like this combative chatter dt in berkeley

Taking away the stream really sucks. Doubt that I'll be back. DL - If you have any influence, please try to get Rhino to give us back the mp3's. Till then--farewell.

And how magnanimous will we all feel when it is revealed that this diabolic plot to deprive us of OUR music, was ACTUALLY an attempt to bring the music to us in better, and/or multiple formats!!! An unsuccessful attempt, albeit; however, now why should they try again, given the way so many have responded… OH, THE SHAME we will have to bear… AGAIN... Deer Creek – again…. (not) All The Children Learning From Books They Were Burning

Howdy GD folks , I must admit, I appreciate the Vault 3 release, and it's probably great quality. However, I'm surprised that this show would be deemed for a vault release. It's rather weak, in my opinion, accordingly to Phil's book , the band was under stress at this point. And many first versions of GD tunes performed for the first time like wharf rat are very timid to say the least. I think there are better choices for 71, of which san antonio is very , very high quality performance and the source that circulates is rather low quality; maybe, there isn't a better source available. However, the late 71 with Keith is very, very powerful and had been a shot in arm for the dead at the time. How bout, some rare stuff from 72, like a clean Hamburg, Germany...that is a nice show...or how bout the glorious complete 05-26-72, that show is one of the best of all time, they go out of that tour with a bang...you don't know that the band is exhausted, the playin in the band to the promised land , is all high power stuff, not to mention the second set opener Truckin' , that yes has been released , but the other one is incredible, as is most of 1972. more 72, please I'll buy it , espeicially if it's complete. Ursa Minor I wish that for just one time, You could stand inside my shoes, and for just that one moment, I could be you - Bob Dylan, Positively 4th St.

Maybe I'm missing something....with the new pop-up window...i'm able to go to other sites and surf the net without having to open up a new window and the sound seems to be working just as before. It used to be that unless I opened a new window going to another website would cut off the music....may be the technical difficulties have been fixed....although Bobby still can't get the words right on Truckin' ....

I hope Robert Hunter is off kayaking and somehow manages to overlook this thread... All The Children Learning From Books They Were Burning ( the more you know; the more it hurts )

the funny thing to me about all these debate's is the horrific spelling !! But that's just me!! Rogue

I always have and alway's will love you all!!Rogue

It is with deep regret that I have now realised (to my eternal shame) that I …. ……..MAY NOT BE A REAL DEADHEAD In the light of this I think it is only fair for me to ask readers to dismiss my recent posts on this forum as irrelevant and frivolous confections. Thank You

...and the crowd goes WILD! www.gdradio.net Streaming Grateful Dead and more

Love to you all, shareholders, employees, customer-heads, and even the anti-consumers who think life is for free, and even the angry and the sarcastic,and even the rhinoceros/management. And most of all love to David + David, and Izzie for living in a system with lack of communication. I wish you all a happy Monday here in THE STREAMER'S SECTION

on Monday will any of that show be streamed? Bob W - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spanish Jam

Let's see if this one gets removed if I alter the tone. I am dismayed at the sudden change with no explanation as it recalls many past events that were distressing as well (lack of musical product since Rhino took over as DPs, vault releases or official downloads which were going very well and like clock work with Lemieux & Norman at the helm, not to mention the archive fiasco and Bobby's tone, or the '73 Box Set snafu). I am a patient man though, and my love of the music of The Grateful Dead keeps me hanging in and checking in from time to time. I loved the Taper's Section because it was the only regularly updated place that showed the lights were still on and there may be some hope for the actual selling of products again in the future. I'd like to thank David Lemieux for that, and thank him as I have many other times for all he and Jeffrey have done in carrying the torch and always trying to choose the best music. What I don't understand is that if I surf to Rhino's site at www.rhino.com there are lots of other bands being marketed regularly with new releases, great looking and expanded re-issues, box sets and DVDs. Why are they not capable of more here with a whole site dedicated to The Grateful Dead and access to the vault? It makes me sad and frustrated. In addition, what the heck is happening with the Garcia estate? So much more music and possibility and nothing happening at all. I don't need a big explanation, just some sign that there is intent to market the music that has and continues to be a major part of and inspiration for my life. Over and Out.

tj crowley i'll admit that despite my catholic (i'm a recovering irish catholic) my master of the language is poor...but to add to this delima, my laziness to check is even poorer....rather than re-read, i'll just hastily post and then say to self 'wow! that was pretty poorly written' but alas to no avail posted anyway....figured most of us are injured from the massive substances taken and damage to the neuro-transmitter's would be realized....

tj crowley i too was dismayed by the choice of product to release (vault III) and have already put it away for MAYBE future reference..there's so much (this is obvious) to choose from that has not been OFFICIALLY released to send this out as a 'to pay for ' product but this is just MY opinion..for those angered by the decision to nix the avaiability to download (as i am as well) there's alot that had been allowed..hope you saved to your site to re-shuffle selections..after weeding out songs that i'd rather not hear again (and again..and again...and again) there's still enough to keep this traveler busy while on the hi-ways to/from employment (50 minute ride). go back to your already downloaded selections and mix differently ie..china/ryder sets..to create a altered state of consciousness. the 'ggod book' states to remain childlike..this dosen't mean impulsively but rather to view the world from a aweness place..each day brings something new....you cannot step into the same river twice..this will improve your attitude

life is but a stream.....this week could be the best yet....stellar UJB...midnite hour...absolutely incredible....sound quality and performance...OUTSTANDING .....!

On page 46 (46!) of this set of posts, sixstringsmoreorLesh stated: "my thniking is that most of the posters here are NOT dead head...oh! they enjoy the music and stuff but have not climbed on board the bus ... it takes more than just a downloader or attndee to gigs..the deadhead thing goes deeper entering one's perception..one's spiritua attitude..one's approach to the denizon's of this planet....listenning and enjoying the sounds of 'the boys' does not qualify for being a dead head. it's not limited to a few but rather the qualifier is special w/ an application of brotherly love and tolerance of other's and their defect of character and short coming's. things happen..it's part of the yin/yang..failure to accept create's inner tormoil and dis-harmony" Hmmm. Trying to understand this. To be a deadhead or not to be, that is my question. Let's see. I'll make a list (tongue planted firmly in cheek) of non-deadhead like characteristics for myself: 1. I hate the smell of patchouli. (not good, so far) 2. I attended just one GD show. (major negative points) 3. I didn't miss work/school/other obligations to attend said show. (ouch!) 4. I don't have a ponytail - i'm male, btw - , nor do i have facial hair. (nuts) 5. I do not ingest/smoke/inject any illicit substances. tried "the pot" once, but apparently i'm allergic. (crushing) 6. I can't stand tie-dyes. (shoot me now) 7. I've never traded a tape in my life. (it's all over) 8. I can spell and feel I have a relatively good grasp of English grammar. (see above quote) 9. "it's not limited to a few but rather the qualifier is special w/ an application of brotherly love and tolerance of other's and their defect of character and short coming's." i'm agnostic. this piece of the quote seems somewhat less-than-vaguely like Christianity to me. (the horror) 10. I don't attempt to define the term "deadhead" and make it sound like some sort of exclusive club. Membership is open to anyone who wants one, in my humble opinion. Who cares about terminology? I thought it was about music! (stick a fork in me; i'm done) Please don't take away my certificate of membership in the Deadhead club for this post that was granted to me by the Grand Poo-bah of Deadheads himself (to speak his name would bring a fate worse than death.)

If you think about it, this whole brouhaha is quite extraordinary for a band that hasn't played together as itself in 12 years and has 45% deceased membership.

I actually signed in to leave a comment about how the new system sucks but then I read a couple comments and I see the subject has already been covered.Like some others I felt the afterlife dead was moving forward with this version of dead.net. o well. Long ago I paraphrased Bill Graham's famous statement: The Grateful Dead are the worst at what they do. Irresponsible. Lazy. Dull witted. Unfortunately they are the only ones in modern history who actually tried to DO what they are doing. At the end of this strange history we can see it was really all about Jerry and his power to make it seem like it was about everybody else as well. He had me fooled. Phil, Mickey and Bobby are now a part of what everybody else also does and they are among the best. Brilliant, dedicated, inspired: Unfortunately the whole field has very little meaning or value to the higher mind. It's worse than that. Excellence within the field of normal entertainment bears the greatest responsibility for the dumbing down of the world population and the political repression that has turned once great america into a police state. The Phils and George Lucases and Johnny Depps and Paris Hiltons of the world are the enabling force that allows the central bank to enslave the well entertained masses. It's a ancient Roman Empire trick, Caesar invented the NFL. Because the Grateful Dead did at one time exist those of us who experienced the power of the Magic Moment merging performer audience and music into a single greater entity hold Dead.net to a higher standard. So the new streaming format sucks in that context. probably not worth mentioning. Fuck the pope. Fuck the roman empire. Regicide is now the only answer. And Jerry, if you read this crap in heaven, thanks for trying. Sorry I wasn't more help.

I hate the smell of patchouli also, everything else I am guilty of. Am I a Deadhead? People have called me that most of my life, I guess I'm kindof used to it now!! Please, everyone get real and just enjoy the music and the way it makes you feel when you listen to it. The rest will take care of itself.

Hey now, This is my letter to the feedback link. Posted here to share. Scoobie Dear Grateful Dead, While you and now Rhino have the right to do what you want with the vault, I'd like to point out a few things. (Trying not to be redundant). 1. The streams aren't implemented well. I am running a well configured Ubuntu linux system. Neither stream option will play on my system. 2. The streams aren't convienent. I can't listen at work. I can't listen on the bus. If I'm at home, I've got a gazillion Dick's Picks, vault releases, and my collection of fan recorded shows. 3. You've removed the main reason for me to visit the site weekly. Think of all those featured merchandise ads I'm missing. A band that has broad love from a narrow fanbase, can't afford to alienate the fans. Hopefully you will remember this. Peace, Love, and Family Scoobie Lay it down dirty, play it back clean.

"If you think about it, this whole brouhaha is quite extraordinary for a band that hasn't played together as itself in 12 years and has 45% deceased membership." It really IS extraordinary, isn't it? The Beatles were a recording entity for just 7 or 8 years. The GD has been GONE longer than that (physically, anyway.)

So, Monday is just 2 days away. Perhaps (please, dear God) we'll hear, or see, something about the streaming change then. I have a feeling that updates to this site happen very, very early Monday morning. By the way, did anyone notice how this week's Tapers Section didn't appear until relatively late in the morning. What was it, 10 or 11 a.m., EST? This will be my last post until Monday. I promise. Unless, of course, I get bored, since I can't listen to this week's MP3's and have too much free time on my hands.

Dear all I regret to inform you that this will be my last substantive contribution to this particular forum, as further detailed comments are specifically forbidden in my new contract as Senior Vice President (marketing) with Rhino Records. Through tough negotiation on behalf of you all I have obtained special permission to tell you a little about some forthcoming releases. You will understand that it may take a little while to cut down those Winterland shows into a sort of ‘model’ show of special highlights, so I beg your patience for a while. In order to reward you for that patience we have decided to issue a limited edition compilation entitled ‘Grateful Dead: the Love Songs” as selected by guest compilers Britney Spears and Lily Allen. I am not really supposed to tell you (but I will) that I will also personally be opening exciting discussions next week with the representatives of some leading rap artists. I trust these advances will go some way to compensating you, the loyal deadheads, for all that you have suffered this last week. Best wishes cosmicbadger ;-)

I have never head of Lily Allen. What's wrong with me? GD Hour blog Station list