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    clayv
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    Sweet liberty! We're venturing into the depths of 80s Dead with the complete show from 4/20/84 at the Philadelphia Civic Center and we're placing bets you'll think this one is more than fine. A strong contender for our mega 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN boxed set, 4/20/84 missed the cut by virtue of its setlist being a wee bit too similar to the years before and after. As DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 35, it's found its time to shine. The first set delivers yin yang harmony between Jerry and Bobby songs, yielding driven and powerful takes on tracks like "Feel Like A Stranger," "Cold Rain And Snow," and "Brown-Eyed Women." The second set begs the question - will we ever stop peaking? - with a monumental "Scarlet>Fire," a ripping "Samson and Delilah," a "Space" that pulls shapes that know no names, and that "Morning Dew" - get.in.to.it! And because this one might have ended just a little too soon, we've packed disc 2 and 3 with knock-your-socks-off bonus material from most of the second set from the previous night, 4/19/84. Grab ahold while you can!

    Limited to 22,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOL.35: PHILADELPHIA CIVIC CENTER, PHILADELPHIA 4/20/84 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and is guaranteed to sell out. 

    *Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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  • wilfredtjones
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    lists of concerts attended

    My list is so pitiful compared to a lot of those that have been shared here, but I am still thankful for the very few concerts I have seen and had decent experiences at. Thankfully no puke on backs of calves for me. That would have really sucked, Jim! Maybe when it's safer to hit live shows again, I would consider attending some in-person live entertainment again. But keep the tales coming!

    By the way, I randomly noticed today that the 30 Trips box (affectionately known as Boxzilla, Boxilla or The Porch Crusher) is lean on Late Era China Cat>I Know You Rider's. Other than some of the AUD splices or cd packaging (or original price or price now!) there is very little to complain about with that box. I really think it got some shows out that would have taken much longer or wouldn't have even been considered if other than as a release for a much later date.

    Have a Grateful Day all!

    P.S. Oh and DH Brewer check out the Internet Archive Grateful Dead forum for Mando Jammer's 1984 show by show review for examples of more good shows from that era. I think another place to start might be BCT, Silva Hall or Greek '84. But, everyone has their favorites. :-)

  • JimInMD
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    Bring it on, GFar

    Rant freely, great read.

  • Gary Farseer
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    Eddie and a circlular discussion

    I was sort of shocked but not surprised about Eddie Van Halen. I saw Van Halen probably around 10 times the first being the 80's Invasion tour and the last being in Charlotte NC in 1996, I think the Balance tour.

    Now I am going to try and weirdly bring a few posts together. When I saw them in 1996 it was because some friends of mine were opening for them. I have written about them before. Two of my friends were in the band but not at the same time. The band was Brother Cane which had some decent success in the early to mid 90's. I have posted this link before:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwmYh8GubK0.

    My friend Glenn was the bass player at the time. He quit and the 2nd guitarist (Roman who plays harmonica in the video) when Glenn played moved to bass and another friend Dave came in as the 2nd guitarist here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFXlBlKMwNI

    So Dave actually wrote the better songs than Damon the lead guitarist vocalist of the band. None of Dave's songs ever made it onto a record. OK why all of this?

    All are still professional musicians. Damon has written songs for and with Stevie Nicks and others and played in Alice Cooper for about 5 years. Dave plays with Atlanta Rhythm Section, does their summer shed tours and even writes some.

    Some mentioned Ricky (Rick) Nelson a few posts back. Well I saw Rick's last show at a very small club (so takes care of the small club discussion) near my hometown. The next day he died in a plane crash. The next day was 1985-12-31. So I had become a head in 1982, first with LiveDead and then Bear's Choice. But it was the Radio City Music Hall taping from 1980 (October 30-31) that I saw in September 1982 on the USA network, that hooked me. On New Year's Eve 1985, I saw for the first time Grateful Dead live (in action) on the USA network nationwide tv broadcast. They started broadcasting with the 2nd set which started locally at 2am. As it had been since the 1980 Radio City shows, I had not seen Jerry in picture or anything. He had aged so much, I guess it didnt surprise me when he got sick. To tie this all back in just a little bit, here is a picture taken 1985-12-31 of Rick Nelson's plane shortly before taking off.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFXlBlKMwNI

    Now the third gentleman from the left is Damon, who played this show in the opening act called Headline. Just weird how the world turns.

    So to go full circle, in 1996 when Brother Cane was opening for Van Halen I got to meet the band, minus Sammy. Eddie, Alex, and Michael were all fun to hang around and easy to get along with, made me feel comfortable. Sammy pulled up separately in a long limousine with a tall beautiful blond with him. He did not acknowledge my friends but more importantly the other three in Van Halen. The other 3 came out and watched Brother Cane's sound check, and joked around. I still have an unworn Mike's Cafe Tshirt I got from Mike. Some may know what Mike's Cafe is...

    And to close, I apologize for the long meaningless rant. Here is Rick Nelson's last set list.

    https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ricky-nelson/1985/pjs-alley-guntersville…

    His show was a very good show, and I am glad I went. I did have to be dragged to it by older friends...

  • Gary Farseer
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    Long Strange Trip

    I like many others really try to not bring politics or religion to this board. That said within our community I also believe that the minute you cut off an era of the dead's music, you have truly exited the bus and stopped the long strange trip. I am still very weak in 90's Grateful Dead, but I am not closed off to it. Someone wrote they would like to see a post Bruce 90's release. Now that I can accept. Why, because I need to explore this area of Grateful Dead. Just from the very limited Bruce shows I have heard, I notice Bruce seems to lean on his same chops over and over. I could be wrong, I need to hear more Bruce era Grateful Dead as well. One thing I will not do anytime soon is stop my long strange trip.

    I have a bunch to post so forgive me if I blast a few out.

  • proudfoot
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    wow. Eddie Van Halen

    I went through a Van Halen phase in high school, which quickly passed.

    Still, Eddie Van Halen: props to you.

    and another one's gone, and another one's gone, and another one bites the dust.

    but some people keep breathing. odd.

  • DaveStrang
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    Concert Bills / Last 5

    As I expected, my fellow Deadheads saw some incredible multi-bill concerts. A mis-matched 3 band concert that I saw at the Tower Theatre also involved the PSG:

    1. Patti Smith Group: avant-punk?

    2. Sparks: LA power popsters whose lead vocalist sang with a falsetto...may sound strange, but they've been a long time favorite. This was my 2 younger sisters 1st concert...GD were next...and quite the contrast!

    3. UFO: with Michael Schenker; this band was p*ssed off...I don't know if it was because they were the opening act or if it was just being on the bill itself...either way they were the LOUDEST band I EVER heard.
    We walked into the Tower about 10 mins. after UFO went on and saw the entire lobby was filled with people. I found Kenny, an usher (from whom I used to purchase 'doses' ) and asked him why everyone was in the lobby. He told me, "Dave, they're so loud you can't stand at the aisle break for more than 2-3 mins". He was standing beside me shouting directly into my ear but I had trouble hearing and understanding him. When I finally got the message I thought 'Too Loud? Impossible!' I walked down to the aisle break and sure enough...this was a pain I never experienced before...like being stabbed in both ears with sharpened screwdrivers. The only people in the theatre were 4 head-banging metalheads standing approximately 30-40 ft. from the left side PA. I think any potential new fans were lost that night as well as the hearing of the 4 Mheads.

    Last 5:

    1. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Sexy Ways; a remastered single disc compilation put together by King Records & Rhino...thanks for the remastering Rhino. Highly suggestive lyrics or outright lewd and obscene as deemed by 1950's standards? Released 1993.

    2. X - Alphabetland; 40 years after their 1st album, X come roaring back in style. 11 songs, 27 mins. total...hit-n-run and they're done...all meat no potatoes.

    3. Louvin Brothers - Tragic Songs Of Life; a proto-blend of Country/Bluegrass/Folk/Gospel and a major influence on the Everly Brothers who in turn would be a major influence on the Beatles, particularly Paul McCartney. I've come to realize there are less than 6 degrees of separation when it comes to music. Ira's mandolin playing would go on to influence others for years to come. Combine that with the almost unearthly sibling vocal harmonies and a cover of Leadbelly's 'In The Pines' and you've got a winner on your hands IMHO.

    4. Paul Kelly - Spring And Fall; Australia's answer to Dylan. He's been at it for 40 years and is virtually unknown in the States...I think everyone can name an artist or band who they feel is/was criminally overlooked or underrated. For me Paul Kelly is one of them.

    5. Yes - Keys To Ascension & KTA 2 (studio); Two 2 disc releases, 1 disc studio/1 disc live for each. The 2 studio discs make up, what I think is the last great album by the well known quintet of Anderson/Howe/Squire/Wakeman/White. The live discs make up a complete show (compiled from 3 nights) at the 650 seat Fremont Theatre in San Luis Obispo, CA and is a keeper as well.

    +1 GD - Dick's Picks Vol. 3: 5/22/77 Pembroke Pines, FL ; a fellow DH posted a link for the missing songs on a long gone DaP thread, and I say Thank You...I need complete shows!

    Thanks to my fellow DHs, GD and Rhino for providing an oasis of happy, controlled insanity in these very uncertain times...sorry for rambling!

  • Vguy72
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    RIP Eddie Van Halen....

    ....throat cancer.

  • That Mike
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    Two Opposing Shows

    Two shows I saw that were both unexpected for different reasons, were by the “two” Beatle drummers, Ringo Starr, and Pete Best. Starr was playing with one of his All Starr lineups (I remember Edgar Winter) at a local casino, and while not a huge Beatle guy, a friend is, so I went. I always felt Starr’s playing was underrated, but at this show, it felt so mailed-in, so contrived. He even remarked about not needing to leave the stage to do the encore, because “you know I’m going to do it”. Kind of a let down, especially after seeing McCartney a few times, and he really worked it. Starr played some drums, but mostly just did that goofy peace sign and walked the stage.
    Pete Best was touring his bar band, playing small venues and bars, and he was playing west of Toronto in a pretty run down town called Hamilton (the Dead have played there), and we went more for the novelty. Surprisingly, despite playing this shabby hall, the guy played his ass off, and it was all pretty upbeat Mersey music, and there was never a let down in the tempo of the show. He hung around for a meet and greet after, and a nice guy to boot. I have no idea why the Beatles booted him way back when (my friend almost directly asked him, but he gave a PC answer about how “great the lads were”), but his playing was pretty stellar from what I heard.

  • estimated-eyes
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    shows

    For multi-band shows, two that stand out for me are:

    Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, Alpine Valley 1990 night one of two. We all know how this ended on night two, but for many years this was one of the best nights of my life. A fairly mixed group of my friends (some from college, some from high school, some hippies, some who preferred metal) caravaned and parked with a keg and bong in the lot-- the back lots were very different than they are today with woods and trails to navigate. We all drank beer, smoked and then me and my college buds ate paper and took off on our own. Stevie Ray blew us away-- will never forget how he just owned that stage that night. Clapton was good, but how to follow that up!

    The other one was a 'Blues Festival' featuring Dr. John, Buddy Guy and B.B. King, summer of 1991 (I think) at the Marcus Amphitheater in Milwaukee. This one stands out for how inappropriate the venue was. There were probably less than 1,000 people in that 20,000 person shed. Dr. John did his set, including a song with a lady dancing with a python. Buddy Guy does his set and did his "Roaming Buddy" in this empty amphitheater-- ran all the way up to the bathrooms on the concourse at the top!! I was hooked on Buddy Guy and saw him as often as I could for the next 20 years.

    The next time I saw Buddy Guy was the best club show I saw-- R&R Station in Madison, winter 1992. Also saw Otis Rush in a small club in Milwaukee, c. 1998.

  • daverock
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    Last three

    I saw the fast and furious Norwegian jazz rock band Elephant 9 in January this year at the famous jazz club Ronnie Scotts. At the set break I overheard someone asking for his money back as it wasn't proper jazz. He got that right!
    At the end of last year I saw Gong/Steve Hillage and a few weeks before that Hawkwind. And all was well with the world.
    I'd forgotten about Mahogony Rush. I'll bet they were a blast live.

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Sweet liberty! We're venturing into the depths of 80s Dead with the complete show from 4/20/84 at the Philadelphia Civic Center and we're placing bets you'll think this one is more than fine. A strong contender for our mega 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN boxed set, 4/20/84 missed the cut by virtue of its setlist being a wee bit too similar to the years before and after. As DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 35, it's found its time to shine. The first set delivers yin yang harmony between Jerry and Bobby songs, yielding driven and powerful takes on tracks like "Feel Like A Stranger," "Cold Rain And Snow," and "Brown-Eyed Women." The second set begs the question - will we ever stop peaking? - with a monumental "Scarlet>Fire," a ripping "Samson and Delilah," a "Space" that pulls shapes that know no names, and that "Morning Dew" - get.in.to.it! And because this one might have ended just a little too soon, we've packed disc 2 and 3 with knock-your-socks-off bonus material from most of the second set from the previous night, 4/19/84. Grab ahold while you can!

Limited to 22,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOL.35: PHILADELPHIA CIVIC CENTER, PHILADELPHIA 4/20/84 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and is guaranteed to sell out. 

*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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In reply to by Colin Gould

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Sorry to hear Peter Green passed. To hear the live “Rattlesnake Shake” from early FM recordings - such as Live in Boston - was to hear Thunder itself. A gifted guitarist, but unfortunately a troubled soul. RIP.

Any Husker Du fans 'round here?

Bob Mould's next band Sugar...I got a copy of Copper Blue about a weeknhalf ago. Some good tracks

Husker Du:

Zen Arcade
New Day Rising
Flip Your Wig

If you want to hear some high-octane psychedelia, check out Reoccurring Dreams on Youtube....14+ minutes of fun.

....hmm. I visited a reddit post yesterday about Fleetwood Mac. Posted that the Peter Green Mac was the better Mac. Feedback was 50/50. Then this.
I still don't believe in coincidences.
Husker Du is good. As are the Minutemen and Seven Seconds.

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He replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and played on the "Hard Road" album from 1967. That's the only album I have with him on, and its a good solid blues album. Maybe not quite a spectacular as the Clapton driven Beano album from the previous year-but its worth hearing.
I saw him live once at a blues festival, Bishopstock, round about 2003. That was quite sad, really. He seemed disengaged and all the main solos and audible guitar parts were played by someone else. Peter didn't sing or talk to the audience, as I remember it. He just seemed sort of propped up there, with a guitar hung round his neck. Yet they used his name to advertise the band. The price of being a living legend, I suppose.
I have only heard Fleetwood Mac's singles with Peter on-and they do seem to be significantly better than the MOR band from later in the 70s.

That was the only Husker Du album I ever owned. I don't know how typical it was , but I used to like it. I was surprised when I first heard it how melodic it was-buzz saw guitars and enough energy to detonate a factory...but also quite poppy in way. A good way.

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My favorite Peter Green tune (with Fleetwood Mac)

"I can't help about the shape I'm in
Can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0ag8DkipmQ

RIP blues man.......

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I am a big Peter Green fan. After he left the band he founded, Fleetwood Mac, he did go on to make several solo albums, quite nice stuff. The early releases with him and Danny Kirwin were peak early Mac. I saw Peter once at the Fillmore, he was a little subdued. RIP Peter.

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did some 7/24/87 and 7/26/87 view from the vault can't wait for this release and rz thanks for the california earthquake never knew or heard but if only two were played they should be released cool cool stay cool and love early fleetwood mac with peter green have some cds for that and when saw Tom Petty at the pepsi center they ripped oh well...well oh well rip

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Several months after the Dead’s 69 run at the Ark In Boston, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac held court at the Boston Tea Party across town in 1970. Love those BTP releases, and listen to them a lot. Peter Green was a true guitar God who will be missed. The music remains. Be at peace Peter.

The Dead played 6 shows at the BTP in 69. Including New Years Eve, a rare NYE show outside the Bay Area.

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George Harrison said Albatross was the inspiration behind Sun King from Abbey Road. Now that's a piece of music! I would have been okay if it went on another 5 minutes, but I guess sometimes it's the small bits that keep you wanting for more. It's a perfect union of bass and guitar melodies. I imagine this is what codeine would sound like if it had a voice. Rain has a similar effect, though obviously more upbeat (and one of Ringo's finer moments).

I sense French Roast and Jai-Alai 6/23 in my immediate future.

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Sounds like a good performance here. Audio is just okay, but I'm sure once I treat it with some Poweramp magic it'll get a little better.

It's interesting- I recently read that Betty Cantor Jackson used to record those 70 shows on her private board. Not sure who paid for the actual tapes, but it does sort of answer the nagging question I've had in my mind for a while now - how is it possible that audio quality degraded so badly in the 80s. It also explains how the tapes that were sold off at auction from her unpaid storage bin warrant in so official Grateful Dead Vault somewhere.

But anyway, I really like the keyboard sound Brent uses on Feel Like a Stranger here. It's not too far from Dave's Picks 8 from 11/30/80, which is my favorite version; this may be my second fav.

The track list on here is superb. Hopefully they're on top of things throughout.

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I think the best music has already been played and the greatest musicians are dead and gone. That's not to say there is no new good music happening and no great musicians out there. I think for Blues , Country, Rock & Roll, Jazz and Blugrass the best music has been played. There are some exceptions of course as far as musicians go, but for the most part the legends are all gone.

The music and culture of the 20th century may have been unimaginable to the 19th century mind, so maybe the music of the 21st century will be similarly unimaginable to the 20th century mind. Which most of us still have. With new technologies, new instruments...new drugs...who knows what might happen?

baah humbug. These new kids and their (furry) tennie shoes, loud music with long jams and their long hair. Music hasn't improved since a bit since Glenn Miller, Bennie Goodman. ahh. the golden era.
Boy the old Lasalle ran great.. those were the days.

So turn it down, get a haircut and get off my grass, hippies.

:D (hopefully not to be confused with fact or any resemblance of an honest opinion)

Oh, RIP Brent. You are missed.

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I’m sure Beethoven fans said “All the best music has been created” after he died. One would hope that a Beatles, Grateful Dead, Miles Davis would come along at least every hundred years or so.
I must be crazy ‘cause I’m starting to get excited about Dave’s 35. It’ll be great to have another ‘80’s show to love(at least I hope so).
Even a ‘68-‘72 Head can revel in a fantastic show from ANY era.

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In reply to by Mr. Ones

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Imagine if Beethoven dosed. Deaf or not, we would have gotten another symphony. I bet it would have been real and spectacular.

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Rewatching and listening to Blow Away from 09/29/89 Shoreline as I read your post, VGuy.

RIP Indeed. Let it Blow Away.

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I don't know anything about Beethoven or Classical music, so has there been someone who is as famous or as influential in Classical Music as Beethoven was since he died, just speaking about Classical music. I'm curious.

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I'm going to say Rachmaninov, or Dvorak. Or Chopin, or Schumann or Liszt or Paganini. Or Stravinsky, Debussy or finally Copland. Although, I am partial to Sor (the Beethoven of the guitar), Giuliani, Carcassi, Brouwer and Villa-Lobos... :-)

Absolutely agree with you on the btp mac stuff. We're lucky to have a good amount of FM music from them at that point. It was a dump but they certainly had some great bands

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I've racked my brain but other than an old blues song involving women I can't think of a song about self gratification being so popular on radio. Any thoughts?

I know this will come off hasher than I mean but....some things are not funny, they way the CCP treat its people especially minorities is beyond the pale. I am not some woke sjw who needs a safe space at every turn, but sometimes people including myself need to be reminded of the evil out there.

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Go with the website. The bonus is another complete show. Got home from the hospital yesterday now that doc newsom decided my necessary op elective and there it was. Listened to both twice already. Very clean

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...about self gratification on the radio - the Divinyls song I Touch Myself got some airplay in the early '90s and was a catchy little tune, and let's not forget Pictures of Lily by the Who. Not sure who Maryanne With the Shaky Hand was using her shaky hand on, herself or another, but that might be another self gratification tune depending on your interpretation of the lyrics.

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Oh, that's a good one.

That chick brought the ol' shelehlee out of the closet...

But anyway...give a listen to 5 15 70 today, folks.

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Yeah, the Divinyls vocalist had a voice that really made the song.

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Snafu, I just said that I felt that the best music has already been played. I didn't say that there was no new music being played or that there was no really good music being played. I'll just keep that to Blues and Rock & Roll, I still believe that. There is
nobody out there that can come close to Jiimi Hendrix, or the Grateful Dead from 1969 - 1972. As far Blues music, I don't even need to give it a second thought, the best Blues music has been played. You've probably heard of the great harmonica player Rick Estrin, well he said , there are a lot of good harp players, a few great harp players, a couple of excellent harp players, but the best harmonica players are dead and gone.

I think everyone thinks that about everything at some point.

Think you could handle better than the best Dead ever Done?

I'll go with Frank -

Best is yet to come and babe won't that be fine
You think you've seen the sun but you ain't seen it shine

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Good picks I forgot about pictures

To each etc. but even though they're both dead SRV and Fz played years after Jimi and were at least as good if not better. Jimi was great of course but part of the greatness was showman ship which isn't playing.

Thinking about it, I would agree with you in the sense that we may have seen the best in blues...in its current form. What we don't know, is if someone will come up with a new form of expression within the idiom. Its quite believable that someone might have thought that in the 1920s that it was impossible to improve on the blues and jazz of Bessie Smith or Louis Armstrong. And in the way that they played, those people may have been right. What they wouldn't have accounted for would have been the different approaches of Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix...and many others. I like to think there are more twists and turns ahead. Blues musicians who are informed by the past, but are able to use new skills, instruments and technologies to advance the form. Would it still be blues? Could be! Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix were.

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47 years ago today the Dead did their famous sound check at Watkins Glen. Hendrix Freak, were you at this, or Strider were you there?

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Snafu, I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn play twice, once at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1979, and once at a Wavey Gravey event called.Cowboys for Indians, he played solo acoustic. . You're right he was absolutely fantastic.

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A friend asked me what I had been reading lately, so I thought I would share my latest reads:

Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues by David Dann-excellent read if you are into Bloomfield
California Dreaming by Michele Philips - OK with some insight into how fast the Mama's and Papa's took off and then broke up
Rod Serling: His Life, Work and Imagination by Nicolas Parisi - Excellent detailed look at behind the scenes of the Twilight Zone
Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt - a great read, very funny and honest, tells her story and the story of the beginnings of Country Rock
Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge by Sheila Weller - If you admire Carrie, this is a great book telling her story

The easiest, most fun read is Linda's.

I am now beginning to read the Beatles Anthology, a huge book, authorized by them and in their own words.

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A sentiment that has been shared by many (including The Greg Kihn Band and their Breakup Song). To put it another way, "It's good to be in something from the ground floor. I came to late for that and I know. But lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over." I suspect this is a generational thing, although I confess that the high point of this feeling came for me in the '80s when there just really wasn't a lot of new music that I dug. I dug some '80s stuff, but not a lot.

Lately, I'm finding a lot of new stuff to dig, although it is not the classic rock sound of yore, nor is it a Dead clone. Mostly, it's artists doing something I haven't really heard before, or doing something old with a new twist. Sturgill Simpson, Khruangbin, Leon Bridges, Flaming Lips, Tame Impala and St. Paul and the Broken Bones would be a few examples of newer artists that I dig. So nobody is gonna do what Hendrix or the Dead did better than the original, I agree with that, but there will be artists finding new forms and styles that will be just as cool in their own way. And honestly, if I only had one artist to listen to, or only one style of music available, it would get old no matter how good it is.

Edit: Or, since I've been on a little Who kick lately, "Rock is dead they say. Long live rock".

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My own latest music reads include Patti Smith's memoirs "Just Kids" and "M Train". And just yesterday I finished Holly George-Warren's excellent Janis Joplin biography "Janis: Her Life And Music".

The latter brought back bittersweet memories. I was fortunate enough to see her perform twice. The first was on the Cheap Thrills tour in '68 and the second time was at Woodstock.

Such a tragic loss to her fans along with Pigpen, Hendrix, and Jim Morrison.

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Richard Wagner died about 60 years after Beethoven who died around 1827 and wagner around 1887. Wagner was considered new age classical who said that "I am going to produce classical music that is much more interesting and new age than Beethoven's boring and sleep inducing symphonies." He said something like this back in the day.

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In reply to by carlo13

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I've been a huge Wagner fan all of my life thanks to my parents playing classical music in our home.

I've seen his operas performed any number of times and like the Grateful Dead, I'm happy to travel great distances to see one. Last summer we made a train journey from Seattle to see his epic four-opera cycle "Der Ring Des Niebelungen" at San Francisco Opera.

Wagner the man was quite unpleasant (anti-semite, philanderer, swindler, etc) but he was a brilliant composer and created the combination of music linked to on-stage action that we see applied today in musical scores for motion pictures.

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Carlo13, the Grateful Dead were huge fans of Wagner, and they even cancelled a couple of shows in 1985 so they could attend the performance of the Ring Opera in S.F. I saw the Dead shortly after at the Greek Theatre, it was a blast!

....I've started, over the waning weeks of the 'Summer of Sixtus'**, the newly released read: "Action Park - Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park", which is a MAJOR callback to my youth (yooot!) in the late '70's and early/mid-80's when spending time in NJ and at 'The Shore' - which always did its best to emulate the death-defying antics via water slides but never approached the true point-of-no-return that was Action Park. My assumption is that there are at least one or two peeps here that had experienced the unadultered chaos of Action Park. I still remember the commercials and visits, which made me buy this breezy, sarcastic, comical, adventurous, very fun book.

** 'Summer of Sixtus' has officially come to an end as today was my first day at my new Pharma gig. No complaints on this end, it's good to be back in the driver's seat.

Looking forward to DP 35 big time, gimme some Philly.

Be Well People.
Sixtus

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Right on, a blast from the past. I grew up across the border from Vernon, NJ in a then rural area of Orange County, NY and went to Accident Park when it was just the Alpine Slide, and maybe a couple of times later. Injuries abounded there, from the minor to the life alteringly tragic. Take a look at the water slide loop that these yahoos came up with, the Cannonball Loop, no engineering or water-ride experience appear to be involved, just the back of a napkin and an idea of what a loop looks like.

Love the fun random connections that come up on these threads.

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