Grateful Dead

....also condolences. Mom is still here and killing it at 81. Doesn't drive at night but otherwise a tough mama. She lives in a two story though. Stairs man, stairs. Put one step in front of the other ma!

Hang in there, never easy to deal with. Stay strong! Think of the good times.
OROBOROUS. Good to see you back in the mix. Stay busy, makes the down time easier.
Not sure what is going on with this site, but it doesn't seem to be running well.
And it has to be the first year that I can remember where they didn't do the 25 days of Christmas deals. I guess when you can't deliver anything why try to offer additional deals. Sad.

Man, life's a funny thing. Depending on how you look at it, of course. Personally, I've always tried to see the punchline in any given moment. I think that's what helped me survive as long as I have. Never really taking this long strange trip too seriously. Even when some seriously serious shit has happened. Which it routinely does, and recently has.

As the good Dr. Thompson so famously said, "Buy the ticket, take the ride". Well, it's been one hell of a ride, and I'm deeply grateful for all of it. I was blessed with some pretty wonderful experiences and accomplishments along the way, my son at the top of them all. And I got to meet quite a few of my heroes, Spielberg among them. Oh, and Garcia, too. At the top of the Ritz Carlton in New York City after the Dead's Madison Square Garden show on 10/19/94. Chatted for a while, then shook his hand. Didn't come down for weeks off of that high.

But it looks like the time has come for me to move on. The undiscovered country from which no visitor returns and such.

Before I go though, there are a few folks here who I want to thank:

Angry Jack Straw: cool as balls, this guy. And also my virtual eye-roll partner when shit has gotten really weird or childish on this site. Appreciate the offline banter, good sir. And also the copy of Dave's 1, my favorite show.

KeithFan: a genuine and sincere human being who jumped on the chance to share the coveted 9/28/75 Golden Gate Park show with me. One that I routinely listen to, btw. Every time Cosmic KeithFan pops up in rotation on the 2019 bonus disc, it always makes me smile, smile, smile.

Bolo: whose surreal release clues never failed to make me scratch my head in frustrated amusement, and whose occasional comments on my posts meant more than he probably realized.

DeadVikes: another genuine cat, whose chats about shows and eras I really enjoyed. Wish I'd pursued more of them.

SpaceBro: who drove me fucking crazy most of the time, but whose passion for his favorite era is unmatched by anyone on this site. Hats off for sticking to your guns, bro. And for finding a way to make Marvin the Martian part of the Dead lexicon for me.

I've been on this site for ten years now, under one avatar or another. And, like any family, it's delighted me and exasperated me in equal measure. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way though.

Except for CAPTCHA. What a fucking nightmare. I will NOT miss those bikes and buses and traffic signals and cars and crosswalks.

Love and light to all of you.

Keep on truckin' as long as you can.

Sorry to hear.. Wishing the best.

Man, all my best to you. You are a solid, knowledge and generous guy. We all hope we will hear from you again. Hang in there!

Best

Whenever the "time" comes, here's to an eyes wide open trek into realms unfettered by TIME. Too bad we only "met" on these pages, but you have become a virtual brother anyway. Onward my friend! –Jeff

Sixtus, very sorry to hear about your father. Always difficult, but especially so during this time of year. My thoughts and prayers to you and your family.

Skulltrip...safe travels brother...may the four winds blow you safely home!

Attended the funeral for a good friends mom yesterday as well. My friend was the one who turned me on to The GOGD many years ago in high school. RIP “Denni”.....close the gap of the dark years...

KCJ

Till we meet again . . .

The spirit displayed here is incredibly comforting and genuinely appreciated.
To All, Thank you.
Sincerely.

Skulltrip - your presence will be missed, as rightfully noted.
Goodbye just for now; not forever.

Cheer and Warmth to Everyone
Sixtus

Thank you for the kind words. I sent you an email. If you get a chance to read it, would be great to hear from you, whatever your situation may be.

And as far as Lindley Meadow goes - man, I love the extra volume and fuzz coming from Jerry. I wonder if he was still on the Wolf from '74 or already on the Travis of '76.... There was a rumor that Lindley Meadows was played through another band's rig that day, after the Dead blew up an amp or two.

Sorry to hear about your Dad. I'm sure your presence is a great comfort for him, probably more than any of us can imagine. Take care!

Hello again folks. Was going through some more boxes in my music room again this afternoon and found a couple of complete 1977 Winterland box sets I’m going to be selling, if anyone interested drop me a message. And also still have a complete 2019 Dave pick series collection looking for grateful homes along with the 1977 Boxsets my brothers & sisters .

....alas, unable to PM you lovemygirl. Oh well.

Of all the multi- stand Winterland runs they did this, this is the most overlooked in my book.. 12/10, 12/11, 12/12/72.... I know they were not scheduled to play. Listening to 12/12 right now. Dave played 12/11/72 when i was driving to Logan at today in Grateful Dead History.. I haven't figured out why I overlook this... There is a Dark Star on 12/11/72 show also....
be good everyone.. bob t

Believe it or not.. I have not hit those yet.. Perhaps a weekend adventure is in store. Then again, I have to believe these will get the royal treatment one day. I bet we start getting a '72 a year from here on out.

Would love to get one to replace the one I sold when I needed extra money.

Thanks.

Bangalore Escorts are being advertised on another board.

If we post spam are we exempt from doing reCRAPTCHA too?

Yes, they bypass Crap at cha. They seem to really like entertainment.

The Dead should have played at the Taj Mahal right after Egypt. That would have blown some minds.

Why don't just release W77 box on vinyl or at least the ninth would be great.

There are a handful of shows from December 1978 where Jerry goes with the Bean for whatever reason. Listening to 12-12-78, it sounds to my ears to be one of them. Any photos from that week circulating? I thought there were some of them. I wonder the backstory behind the choice. Wolf in the shop?

Have a grateful day everyone!

I sent a PM, but don't know if it went through. I'm interested if any Winterland 77 box sets left.

For my money, the best sounding of all Jerry's axes. Along with whatever hot-rodded Fender amps he was using at the time, that clear, bell-like lead sound with a hint of grit was the ultimate player's tone.

https://jambands.com/news/2019/12/13/jerry-garcias-alligator-guitar-sel…

Now the calendar has shipped, so I don't have any complaints about my order from six weeks ago. (other than the lag time between order and shipment . . . )

New PM's are not going through. Unless you reply to an existing, good PM thread whatever you send to someone else is only sent to you.

Yeah, I know, and I've reported it to the tech folks so they're working on it. So sorry for the extra layer of aggravation.

Thanks for letting me know about the PM problem. I thought I was going nuts every time I saw the message I wrote come back as sent to me. I do talk to myself sometimes, but rarely do I write to myself.

Both the Alligator and the Wolf sounded superb with whatever amps they were powered through...but for me the supreme tone was sourced with the mighty Gibson SG during 1969 and 1970. Sometime during 1969, Jerry started playing a sunburst strat at some of the shows, but the SG continued to make regular appearances, and can still be heard, I believe, to devastating effect, at Binghampton 5/2/70.
But those Fillmore West shows from February-March 1969 may be the best recorded example of just how perfect that guitar sound was. I have never heard anybody get a better sound out of a Gibson SG. Apart from John Cipollina.

And what kind of condition is it in?

I love the tones Jerry was able to get from his guitars throughout his career.. even in the acoustic days, his picking was clean and he seemed to always have a recognizable tone. Playing in the Band and Estimated Prophet are great examples but there are many. As his career progressed, so did his experimentation with tones (and guitars). Listen to Stella Blue or Loser over the years for example.. there was a progression.

I took a bunch of art classes in college for fun and I remember reading about Van Gough at some point. There was talk about his use of colors, specifically Oranges and Yellows. There were lots of theories that his epilepsy and the drugs taken to control it combined with perhaps the absinthe he loved to drink (contains a toxin called Thujone, which when taken in high doses also makes ones vision skewed towards oranges and yellows) might explain why his paintings often reflected those qualities. That is how he might have actually seen things.

I always equated Jerry's tone to similar qualities but instead of absinthe his drink of choice, at least in the early years, was Prankster Juice.

Anyway.. silly and unprovable observation, but I do consider Jerry a tonal genius much as I consider Van Gough a genius of color. Since the topic came up I thought I would put pen to paper, I don't think I have ever discussed this thought before with anyone. I still think there is perhaps more than a thread of truth in this.

Finally.. a friend shot me something on Meyer Sound this morning and it got me poking around in a few places. There was a pretty decent article on Jerry and his guitars which sort of circles this whole discussion that I found quite interesting. A pretty big topic for a Friday afternoon. TGIF!!

https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/how-jerry-garcia-revolutionized-th…

Great comparison, and one that has never occurred to me before. Van Gogh' paintings are absolutely stunning if you ever get the chance to see the originals. The first time I came across them was in 1991, when I was in Amsterdam. I went into the Rijksmuseum just because I happened to stumble across it-I had no real knowledge or interest in Van Gogh. But I was transfixed...so many extraordinary paintings, and the more I gazed at them the more moved I was by what I was seeing. Definitely the unexpected highlight of the trip.

The famous painting The Sunflowers is hung up in a London gallery, and I saw that again a few months ago. I walked into the room, and it was hanging at the end of the large room. And it was shining...I could see it even from a distance. You get closer, and it looks as though it is lit from within. Its...well, I say all sorts of things are amazing...but this really is.

Back to Jerry, he did develop his tone, as opposed to John Cipollina, who as far as I can tell, found his sound and kept to it. Would it be fair to say that Jerry was initially inspired by drugs, and then confined by them? Maybe a bit presumptuous. But certainly in the first 10 years of the Dead's life, at least, he seemed able to stretch the imagination in way no other guitarist I have ever heard quite can or could. And believe me, I have heard a few.

Sixtus:

I'm very sorry to hear about your father's condition, and hope you will accept the sympathy of all of us.

Having your parent go through an impending death situation is never nice or easy. My own father was going through a situation with congestive heart failure, and we lost him about 3 days prior to Christmas about 4 years ago. While I'm single, my brother is married, has 2 sons, and it was an awkward time for him to separate those observances for the purpose of remembering them so they aren't inextricably associated in his family's minds. I can't help but think of the similarity of that to what you're going through.

I'm 2000 miles away from where Dad lived (and where I grew up), was planning on visiting him in mid-January, but alas, had to rapidly change travel arrangements to be there for the memorial. That certainly sounds kind of selfish, I know, but it's done, and I had to balance competing responsibilities (and while he understood that, I still regret it). The one thing the memory of that tells me, is not to try to defer any unfinished business I have with someone I care about - serious matters of health don't wait for or respect human traditions (the "end-game" occurred very rapidly for him- when his health began to slide it was done in a span of about 2 days). Details of the arrangements he took great care to talk to me about when we lost my mother about 13 years prior, so what my brother didn't know, I did and could fill in whatever gaps there were, so we knew his wishes were carried out.

Thinking about you.

This is not eBay. If you have something you want to give away or sell at cost I think that is reasonable. You have been known to sell things at higher than cost to people on this web site.

You said something in defense of yourself and your business practices on the public forum when you were selling Stanley Mouse stuff a couple of months ago. It sounded like you had somebody complain prior to the Stanley Mouse artwork you were peddling, and you were trying to discredit that person before they spoke out.

It wasn't that long ago that you told me you needed CDs burned of the Fillmore West 1969 box set. I offered to help because you said you were going blind. You also said how grateful you are and that you would give me exclusive information on the shows that would be included in the 2019 box set that was released this year. I spent hours trying to convert the FLAC files that I have of Fillmore West 1969 into something that you could play, not because you offered me information that you really didn't have, but because I would do that for anyone indeed, especially someone who allegedly went blind. But then it got weird. You kept stringing me along on the PM, saying that you would tell me in a couple days and then a couple days would come by and you would just say something generic like "oh it's going to be so good you're not going to believe how good it is. It will be Primo". Or "soon very soon my friend". I think what happened was you realized that it was going to take me a lot longer to figure out how to convert Flac files into something I could burn onto CD, and you ran out of excuses to sell me because you didn't really know what the box that was going to be.

Anyway this ain't eBay pal. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in the bylaws it says you can't sell stuff here.

Anyone spin the DaP 10 Thelma yesterday for its anniversary? I went though a bit of it, and, I think time has done some good. Upon first listen years ago (jeez, how time files!) it left me a little cold. While I am still not a huge fan of those massive Lovelights, or the sloppy renditions of the newer tunes, I really love the Alligator>Caution>Feedback on disc 3! Also, the overall ambiance of the sound is cool - you can tell it was a small club, and you can almost tell it is LA. Plus, the album art is up there with some of the best of the series!

Sad news around these parts lately. Kind thoughts all around.

Also, agreed with MindLeftBody, selling stuff for a profit here isn't too cool. At cost, maybe. Free, even better; but like the man said, this ain't eBay.

Peace to all, and PLAY DEAD!

Everyone knows it was an invisible alien that made Van Gogh crazy, luckily the Doctor came along and helped him!

I'm not so keen on the first 2 and a half cds, I have to say. For me, it doesn't really catch fire until half way through the 3rd. The bonus disc, from the night before ,12/11/69, is the hands down winner with this release as far as I am concerned.

11/30/79- Stanley Theater - Pittsburgh, PA
12/01/79- Stanley Theater - Pittsburgh, PA

There has been fantastic audience recordings released of these two shows in 2496.

https://archive.org/details/gd1979-11-30.148526.fob.naks.wagner.miller…

How about it Dave.

I didn't know that, but this explains why they gave up those barbaric ear probes in favor of the more modern version.

Daverock.. I, too, dig Van Gough, spectacular stuff.. The impressionists and post impressionists in general. This makes me hungry to visit some museums in the not so distant future.

I love Phil's comment on playing in Lille too " for those hours on stage after the rain in the north of France, he lived in a Cézanne." Plus Lille one has my favorite cover art of all the Europe 72 pieces Scott McDougall did for the Dead.

That 12/12/69 Thelma show was not my favorite on my first listen or two, but it has grown on me and the sound quality is good. At this point I'm pretty fond of it actually. The bonus disc from 12/11/69 is possibly my favorite single disc of dead music, that is a great Dark Star on there, and that disc hit the spot the first time that I listened to it, and every time since.

Interesting discussion of Van Gogh, his paintings are striking, really pleasing stuff to my eyes.

For anyone interested, real absinthe can easily be shipped into the U.S. from a number of reputable sellers. Been drinking it for years. There's definitely a "there" there, and under it's spell one can easily see the influence upon the impressionist painters among others. Highly suggested. The stuff available in the U.S. does not have enough thujone in it, not even close.

As far as guitar, that was a great GP article! Thanks for posting. One thing I've come to believe over the years is that single coil pickups, and the Fender Stratocaster in particular, are the preferred delivery method for the greatest soloists in the history of rock music. Jeff Beck and David Gilmour have such nuance, such a distinct feel in their playing that is very lyrical at times, and the single coils transmit that in higher definition than the rather more muddy, higher output humbucking pickups, in my opinion.

And let's not forget Hendrix - no one has made it cry and sing like that since him, except maybe SRV, another noted Strat-cat. I'd put Roy Buchanan on this list although he generally played Telecasters (though single coil equipped).

I love Slash, and there's nothing like that Les Paul into Marshall big rock tone, but for pure artistic genius I've got to go with the single coils, and I heard that sound better from Alligator around E72 than I ever did from any of Jerry's Irwin guitars or any of the others, even in single-coil mode.

Just my two-cents worth. I admire all of Jerry's work and respect your informed opinions.

\m/

I think the stuff made today does not contain wormwood extracts, which I think was the process that made you trip (and later made you blind). ..but I could be wrong.

Still.. if you could post a link of one of your more liked brands I would be willing to try it.

What could possibly go wrong, right?

....btw. I've been interested in trying absinthe for a while. Sounds yellowish.

I do know, and PM's are still not working.

As for the yellowish Absinthe.. think antifreeze green, and full on Triple X high alcohol content.

I am fairly sure they pretty much eliminated the impurities, specifically the wormwood oil alchemy that gave it "hallucinogenic properties." I could be wrong, but when people started getting really sick and sometimes dying they eventually figured out the cause and it disappeared for some time from pretty much all countries. It did come back somewhat recently as a cleaned up, "safe", spirit maintaining it's high alcohol content.

So anyway Led.. hook us up with a starter brand to whet our whistle. If it doesn't make you trip, we will find a way to add some adjuncts for that old-fashioned feeling.

Again, I could be wrong. I get this feeling there is this 120 year old grandmom in Romania that still makes her own wormwood/morning glory version that will knock your socks off. My Swiss grandmoms recipe uses 12" of boiled down San Pedro cacti, yielding the bright green colourss. It works.. and tastes appropriately nasty. Perhaps if you mix it 50/50 with absinthe it might be something you can keep down.

... Everyone that reads this message should go immediately to the nearest way they can listen to Otis Redding. I promise you will be happier after than you were before. G'damn MG's!

Peace

- Otis? I think he was only 26 when he passed... plane crash. Tell me he doesn't sing like a man that knows about it all. Kinda like Jerry.

I would say I prefer single coil guitars to humbuckers generally-although my tastes are more inclined towards telecasters than strats. I could list dozens of players, but mention of the great Otis Redding puts me in mind of Steve Cropper of the MGs, and all the great records he played on with Otis, and at Stax generally during the 60s.

For pure sound + eye candy a large bodied Gretsch is hard to beat-especially a 6120 or a White Falcon. I'm lucky enough to have a 6120 with a single coil dynasonic at the bridge and a P90 at the neck, a la Eddie Cochran. I'm no great shakes on the guitar...but you wouldn't believe the sound this thing makes. You can get slapback echo even before you plug it in.

With Jerrys SG I just liked the sound of the single string solos he did with it. You could perform open heart surgery with that tone.

I am on the same wavelength as LedDed as far as Jerry and the Alligator Nash Strat (the Fender Strat has that smoothness about it that suited Jerry's style so well). Somebody on this site recently said that they couldn't think of anyone who made a Stratocaster sound as good as Jerry did (it may have even been LedDef). That comment stuck with me.

But I also love the pure power and volume of the the SG that Daverock talks about. I think it's a toss up between Pete Townshend and Angus Young on who put that sound to greatest effect, as far as overall career impact. Townshend built an empire on it that far outlived his personal use of the guitar; you've only to listen to Live at Leeds or Isle of Wight '70 to appreciate what the SG did for The Who in '69 / '70. It's the guitar that gave Tommy a set of balls. It played a very similar role in the Dead's evolution as a band, and IMHO may have been the most impactfing facet of the Live Dead sound and success (along with the record's engineering distinction as the first live 16 track recording - this brought out an incredible "harmonic" that was spearheaded by the SG).

But for me, the real magic would be taking somebody with the artistic virtuoso talent that might be very well suited for that smooth polished sound of the Fender Strat, and placing the Gibson SG in his hands. Imagine that. If only such a player existied. A slick player who is both fast and gentle, picking through the glowing hot interlacings of those sharp SG strings and unforgiving pickups. Whew. And then if he could glide seamlessly from lead to rhythm at need (whatever it took to serve the song). But alas, no such man exists.
Just a fantasy band, so I may as well take a step further and pair this divinely talented wielder of the SG with a tight riff-master who could lay simple but tasty groundwork for our lead player to weave his way over, under, and alongside . Then you'd have the makings for something extraordinary and unparalleled. But this kind of talent.... simply...... doesn't...... wait.....he does exist! And his name is Reggie Hammond. No wait, that's a movie. His name is Mick Taylor.

has left the building. Moving right along...

Keith - I agree that The Who only really found their live sound once Townsend strapped on a Gibson SG. On the original studio album of Tommy, they still sound like a pop band to me. On Live At Leeds/Hull/Isle of Wight they were well and truly rocking out, 70s style. For better or worse.

Interestingly ( if you are a nerd like me) the SG that Pete played actually had single coil pickups - P90s. Other players who used SGs with P90s on their early albums were Robbie Krieger, Santana and, surprisingly, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. And he had a sound that could topple a factory.

Also...Pete's premier studio axe in the 1970s seems to have been a Gretsch 6120, albeit one loaded with humbucking filter tron pickups. That great guitar sound on Won't Get Fooled Again?...its a Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman by all accounts.

Took me a minute to get your Wonder Woman comment, but now I'm up to speed.

Checking out 12/12/72. I've had the Bird Song in a 73/74 Bird Song folder awhile, but the time's come to get more of the show in. With limited time on my hands, it's always the (75% of the time) reduced audio quality of the soundboard recordings that send me into the Normanized archives. But the tracks I grabbed from this 12/12/72 show (aka Return To Winterland) sound pretty solid from an audiophile standpoint.

Me and Bobby McGee - exceptionally good I would venture to say.

Tennessee Jed - this song has been steadily growing on me for 5 years. 1972-73 is real nice. It's the instrumental jam about 4 or minutes in

Playing In The Band - as good as the Europe 72 versions are, they get longer as the year goes on, and they good longer in a rocked out jammin kind of way, as opposed to a spaced-out jazzy kind of way (which believe you me has its place in Dead Greatness).

Even Around and Around sounds great.

That's as far as I've gotten.....Keith is raging loud. I wonder if Betty recorded this. They're really all pretty much raging loud.

I'm sure none of this 12/12/72 business isn't news to a lot of you, but it's melting my face at the moment so I thought I'd pass it along.

**************************
And Now For Something
Completely Different
**************************
It would be awesome if they made software that allowed you to make your own mix from a multi-track source, and the CDs (like Veneta) came with a second CD / DVD that contained each of the tracks. Then you just open your software program, put your DVD in your drive on your computer, and load the tracks for each song. From there a virtual soundboard would come up that allows you to start mixing. Even cooler would be if there were effects you could put on each of the tracks. I would turn up Jerry and add more distortion in a lot of spots. I would turn Keith up on most of Europe '72, I would substitute Donna's scream on Playing in the Band with Daltrey's from Won't Get Fooled Again. I would have multiple mixes for all songs. Turn up Billy for that "rock out hard" mix.

....has left me scratching my head. 1984? Which is the name of the new movie?

Daverock, hats off for knowing Pete's studio guitar on Who's Next. I bought the LP in October of '83 (I can remember an astounding number of dates up through college years). I was in 6th grade at the time, and had gotten into The Who shortly after It's Hard came out the previous year. I remember being hooked on Athena from the radio, and then Christmas of '82 I went up to Buffalo, where my extended family lived. My cousin and I spent most of our days listening to music (and eventually, most of our nights drinking). Well that year we delved into my Uncle's album collection, which consisted of at least 7 crates of rock music. He put on Baba O'Riley from The Concerts for the People of Kampuchea (excellent live version in their first touring year without Moon). We just kept playing it over and over, probably 20 times that week. I think it's safe to say that's when I became a Who-Head.

Anyway, I'm babbling at this point, but let it suffice to say I eventually bought the Who's Next Deluxe Version, and learned through the extensive liner notes the history behind Lifehouse; the abandoned Who's Next recording sessions from the Record Plant in NY (featuring Leslie West on several of tracks; AND the the Gretsch 6120 he used to record the album, which was given to him by Joe Walsh.

Rare trivia that perhaps only one other person I could think of other than Uncle Gary might be aware of off the top of their head, and that is Kevin Brandon, who posts here periodically and is also a Who-head.