Grateful Dead

You are correct sir about the Bm...also a Dm and Dsus2 according to Ultimate Guitar Tabs on the “Official Version”. I love the above mentioned app. Has most every song that you can think of and usually there are many versions to play so if you’re not quite getting one arrangement there is usually a way for guys like me to dumb it down a bit. That said I need to add those chords on UJB as they are in my range. Will also try the riff....I have a little pentatonic game as well! (I’m guessing there)

For the record, and if memory serves, I do believe I’ve seen youtube of you playing WilfredT, and you are an excellent player. I’m like a wanna be campfire player at best, but it’s more fun then a frog in a glass of milk.

Good to see ya!
I think Bob was alluding to what I’ve heard/read all of them say over the years; it got harder and harder to get the band (especially Jerry) to rehearse and some of those songs you just couldn’t do well without rehearsal: LS, Cosmic Charlie, St Stephen etc. Unfortunately another side effect of ole Jer Bears monkey...especially when you consider how hard many of Jer’s parts were on these songs...it’s a bummer but no wonder many of the greats were set aside.

GUITARS & CADDILACS; used to play all the time. Tried to play guitar for ten years, occasionally professionally, once in the studio....switched to bass and rarely looked back. Did try the solo acoustic/apre thing briefly, but wasn’t that good and it’s really hard carrying the whole show by your self. And Scarry! Don’t have that front man Mojo either “star waaarrrsss, nothing but staaaarrrrr wwwaaaarrrsss” much prefer to play with 3 to 5 people, the interaction is where it’s at. But the rush of playing in a hot band in front of a bunch of people IS uncompareble....talk about a high!
But yeah, I preferred being in the back row under the dark lights grooving on the Bass. Played that professionally on and off for 20 years, last ten it was my main, though not only job...It was a gas, but after 100-150 nights a year, often at shitty bars and clubs, when your feet are killing you and your back can’t take that heavy lumber anymore, we’ll sometimes it’s a double edge sword doing what you love for a living....unfortunately haven’t really played in like ten years now. Had to TRY and grow up and get a real job....plus after I got booted out of my main gig, eventually all the calls stopped coming as it is a small, close knit group that gets the gigs here.
I truly miss it in my minds eye, but I don’t miss schlepping that heavy ass gear at 3 in the morning, or getting hassled by the law, or trying to get inspired when your back hurts and it’s late, and there’s only 4 drunks left, but I do miss it.
GUITARS
- Ibanez Muscian Series I got in 79 and modified with Alembic circuitry/pickups in 84.
- Madeira Acoustic
- 84 Alembic Spoiler 4 string electric Bass
- Michael Kelly Club Deluxe 5 String Acoustic/Electric Bass. picked this up early century when I was playing a lot to get upright sound etc. Never spent enough on upright to be proficient as it’s physicaly painful, and it’s a drag trying to play live with a loud band. I liked the sound I good get with the Kelly and a Sans Amp tech 21 Acoustic DI. It’s made for Acoustic guitar but works awesome for the Acoustic Bass. Seceret is the adjustable mid....
shit, ramblin again, sorry, fun topic. DAVEROCK sportin’ the Bobbie Dazzler! Nice axe bra! My guitar teacher always played and sold Gretches. Wish I would of got one, but wanted a Bob Weir Ibenez so bad. Almost had one but got the Muscian series instead. I’ve seen pictures of both Bob and Jerry playing one but not sure what show (s)? Think it was around when Bob was first using Ibenez?

There's a B Minor in there somewhere...I think after the G. The riff is fun, too! Don't forget to learn that :-)

Thanks for sharing info. on your guitars, too. I also have a '96 Washburn (D-20 in Koa). My brother just bought his first guitar, a Seagull S6... :-)

Yeah I think that’s the same source as I had. As I say at the time it was definetly my best sounding tape which in those days wasn’t saying much, but this one shined! Great show too, and looks like it must of been a great place to freak freely from the news clip.
So my buddy Doug hooked up with some dude who either was doing the taping or ? Not sure I really knew, but they knew WTF they were doing, had like Nac with sennhieser mics and were usually low generation and near that quality.
I had the best gear so most of my friends/cousins would bring their new tapes to my house for coping etc so I’d usually get decent generations. Some shows better than others depending on where they were located. Remember, this was before taper section so some diehard pros would poach in front of board, which sometimes was awesome, other times too loud or tone unbalanced etc...
Anyway, we start getting some killer 83’s, probably end of year I’m guessing. Unfortunately I never got the source guys info and next thing you know ole Doug’s knocked up the bosses daughter, whose family is super religious so shotgun wedding and no more fun for ole druggles, poor bastard! And no more tapes for us! Dooaah
Funny part was he got our band to play his ultra conservative wedding, but’s that’s a whole nother story for the bonfire....

Hey all, COVID seems to have me busier than I’ve ever been with both the wife and kid working and schooling here at the cave...so I’ve just been lurking here lately on the site, but I have to jump in on a good guitar convo.

Dennis, I’ve read that 1983 is right around when Gibson started producing great acoustics again, shifting back to some of the methods that they used on 60s flat top guitars. I would love to play that Hummingbird. I’ll bet it sounds awesome, and from knowing what I know of you, it is probably very well cared for! I just recently learned UJB. It was surprisingly (to me at least) very easy to learn and made up of only 5 basic chords (G, D, C, Am, Em) which are some of the first chords (and easiest) that most guitar players will learn. Rhythmically, the toughest part of the song IMO is probably in what would be considered to be the chorus....that is the part that goes “whoa-o what I want to know is ______________....there are some quick chord changes in that line which take some practice, but all in all, not to difficult. That said, singing it and playing at the same time for me is much more difficult. I have only recently been able to incorporate some singing along with my playing and I have been playing for more than 20 years. Some of that I think is confidence factor of worrying about what others think I sound like, which I really don’t give a shit about anymore, but the other part is that rhythmically it is not easy to learn, especially if the song has difficult chord phrasing. Did anyone hear the Bob Weir Shakedown interview from Friday night? He had some interesting comments about Lost Sailor and the reason it didn’t stay around for too long in the bands repertoire. Too difficult to play and the other band members didn’t want to spend the time on it. And we’ve seen that LS has only recently been brought back into D&Cs repertoire. So this got me thinking about the progression of Bob Weirs playing ability. Of course it’s widely know that Bob was nearly kicked out of the band early on because of complaints about his guitar playing. And to be fair he only started playing guitar at the age of 13 and then met Garcia just 3 years later. And any player is going to experience some plateauing, especially early on. That said, it make me wonder if the shift in style on WMD and AB were at least partly made in efforts to help with this handicap as the arrangements are much simpler and back to the basics. (Here is a quote from wiki on the subject:
“The incident apparently led to a period of significant growth in Weir's guitar playing. Phil Lesh said that when drummer Mickey Hart left the band temporarily in early 1971, he was able to hear Weir's playing more clearly than ever and "I found myself astonished, delighted and excited beyond measure at what Bobby was doing." Lesh described Weir's playing as "quirky, whimsical and goofy" and noted his ability to play chord voicings on the guitar (with only four fingers) that one would normally hear from a keyboard (with up to ten fingers).[13].

Cousins: what kind of guitars do you own? What gets the most play? Based on your bands genre, I’m going to guess a Fender Telecaster?

Here are my guitars:

1). 1996 Washburn Limited Edition Acoustic
2). 2017 Gibson Les Paul High Performance in Cherry Red Sumburst
3). Seagull Artist Studio CW Deluxe Element
4). MJT Custom Telecaster build that is aged vintage relic...Taos Turquoise over 3-Tone burst
5). Rhino issued Grateful Dead Dancing Bear/Stealie ukulele (don’t really play this one just decoration
6). I also recently ordered a Taylor GS Mini Koa Plus E with edge burst on my 4 years zero interest Sweetwater card. I needed a good travel guitar and this one gets phenomenal reviews....can’t wait!, but sshhhhhh! Don’t tell Mrs Casey!

-the one I play the most (currently) is the Seagull...most accessible hanging on the wall right next to the couch in my living room. It has a pick up so I can plug it in but I rarely do as it projects nicely anyway. It as a solid Sitka Spruce Top, with Solid Rosewood back and sides, Mahogany neck and Ebony fingerboard, gold vintage tuners. It’s a beautiful guitar that sounds just as good as it looks.

Oro - Great repo car story...had me LOL as usual! For those interested, I promise to finish my Gorge story very soon. Fell off the wagon on that one, but the details are still there. Anniversary is also fast approaching....bummed I can’t do the repeat as I planned for Boulder in July...hopefully we can get back at it soon!

Doc - Great to read your regular posts again. Glad you’re back.

Be Well Dead People!

KCJ

Led Ded: just read your post...couldnt agree more. No better hobby and incredibly gratifying when you are able to overcome a plateau....repitition and practice....I’m at least one hour a day usually early mornings or later at night!

I am a guitar freak. I have about two dozen electrics, two acoustics and a couple basses, untold effects pedals and several amps. I actually do pick up those instruments with my two hands and play the shit out of them, every day, sometimes only for a half hour and other times all day long, esp. on weekends.

It's the most gratifying hobby I've ever known. When you start out, you suck and sound like shit. Over time, you learn other people's songs, chord changes, scales, etc. One day you find yourself sitting there with a drink and wailing along to "Layla" at full volume, kicking ass and blending right into the record. And then, you start coming up with your own stuff. Some people eschew covers and play as themselves right off, but if there's a kind of music you like, learning that stuff gives you a toolbox of techniques from which to start doing your own thing.

You get out of it what you put into it, practice practice practice. I don't really practice so much as play, but you hone your skills through repetition and hours devoted as you pick up new things here and there. One of my favorite things is to crank up a "Big River" like the one on One From The Vault, and wail along with Jerry. He was so good in his prime it's sick.

I'm not in a band. I have a straight job and a family (and a mortgage etc.) However now and again getting in a room with other musicians, especially with drums present, and turning up is as much fun as it looks. Unfortunately it looks like a bleak time right now for anyone struggling to make it as a musician. First album sales were destroyed by the internet and bands had to depend on live concerts and merch sales. What are they going to do now?

A long time ago, I might have leaned that way, but I'm glad I went with the straight job, keeping the guitar playing on the side, pure artistic expression with no strings attached or record company bullshit. Last, anyone who's always wanted to learn to play the guitar, go buy a decent one and get after it! If you keep with it, it will reward you more than you can imagine.

\m/

LOVE that show from '77 (AND the Saint Paul show from the 1978 box), but cannot allow myself to get distracted from my E72 studies. I still need to finish Bickershaw AND Amsterdam, then get to Rotterdam on its anniversary today. The back-to-back concerts on this tour make things difficult . . .

I didn't get into Grateful Dead until I was 21 (1991), but if I had been born ten or fifteen years earlier, I would have attended those old MN and upper-midwest shows.

Hey Dennis, I'll take your Hummingbird if it's lonely :-)
I play guitar in a band(Western Swing/Honky Tonk) , although not sure when we'll be able to play out again this year.

Just got DP29 in from Real Gone Music. I never bought any of the DP's when they were coming out, my buddy was getting them and sending me copies, money was tight and what the hell. In the end, wish I had bought them all as they came. Now I'm too cheap to pay some of the prices I see for complete sets, and the wife would never understand :-).

I have to say for anyone who hasn't bought these real gone music releases, they did a nice job on it. At first blush I thought the bonus tracks weren't included, but though not listed, they are there. It was 60 bucks from amazon (got a price cut before it shipped!) So maybe I'll look into getting the real gone collection,,,,, if it's cheap enough :-)

Dave the Rock and the Gretsch - I know Dave's not the only one on these boards who has guitars AND I know absolutely NOTHING about guitars or playing. But I looked up your guitar and yeah, pricey things. The demo's online made it sound very nice. My question, can you really play? I've met many people over the years who have instruments of all types, played "in my youth", they can still strum a few basic cords, but really can't play. I have a Gibson hummingbird my wife gave me back in 83-ish, why, I have no idea. Maybe she thought I develop unknown talents. I told it's a nice guitar, quite a few people have strummed it over they years and say "very nice". But one night at the store a customer who came in all the time (doctor of some sort), had just bought a new hummingbird, asked me bring in my old one. Bastard sat down and knocked out UJB off top of head. Blew me away. BTW - said my old hummingbird was much louder than new ones.

So Dave, do you play? Also other folks out there, do you really play? I believe some of you are in bands?

Just curious.

The bonus disc is simply amazing! Classic songs/jams and the sound is superb. This was a GRATE addition to a magnificent show. Thank you Dave!