Grateful Dead

You saw Genesis in '73? I was 9 when Abacab came out, and then came the Phil Collins tidal wave. I only ever heard two songs on FM radio from Gabriel Genesis in those days: Watcher of the Skies and Lamb Lies Down. In my early 20s I began buying up the Genesis back catalogue, as an extention of my taste for prog rock. I thought Supper's Ready was magnificent, and still play it regularly.

I've seen a lot of youtube footage from '71 - '73. There's a great show from the Rainbow. That must have been a transcending show. And to see Gabriel's on-stage persona in his prime. Wow wow wow wow wow.

Would love to hear about that experience. I may go see Steve Hackett - he's going on tour to play Seconds Out. I may see if that fits into my schedule.

The first song that made a big impression on me was "Apache" by The Shadows in 1960 when I was 7. After that it was the Beatles in 1962. I guess things really got serious around 1969 when the San Francisco sound became readily accessible in record shops and on the radio thanks to Radio Luxemburg (208m medium wave). BBC radio got in on the act with the John Peel show. Unfortunately by the mid 70s it was as good as finished with few new bands of any note coming to the fore. Disco, punk, new romantics etc. were never interesting to me and my circle of friends and British progressive music became so self-indulgent as to be virtually unlistenable. Of course there were still points of light in the darkness but the golden age of music had sadly passed into history.

PS: First time I saw Genesis was at the Reading Festival in 1972.

The first band I ever saw were Genesis at our local venue for 2nd string artists in autumn/fall ( take your pick 😀) 1972. I remember that I didn't much care for the music, still don't, and that the singer dressd up. I was 13 and these were warm up gigs for the next night at the Lyceum I believe, about 40 miles west of here. Alice Cooper, Bowie, Roxy Music, Stones, Zeppelin etc were much more my thing then. I met a friend in 1974 (he sold me my first acid on my 15th birthday) who turned me on to the Dead and I reciprocated by getting him into my stuff. Europe 72 was my first Dead album.

Anyone got any suggestions for quiet early morning music? Gorecki's 3rd, Labradford- Fixed Content, Mark Hollis -ST, Larmousse, that sort of thing. Stuff that won't wake anyone else up 🙂. I'm one of those appalling larks, up at 4.30, I love the early day.

Thanks.

The show I saw was the one that was recorded and released on a live album the following year. It had a dramatic start- Watcher of the Skies intro, and all you could see on the stage were Peter Gabriel's eyes, illuminated by florescent paint. Everything else was black. I remember thinking the gig had an Alice in Wonderland quality to it. It was a bit like the David Bowie show in a way- everyone sat rivetted watching the stage. It was my friends who really liked them - I tended more towards heavy rock, where everybody went nuts. Black Sabbath and Hawkwind were the ones for me. It was good - but not quite to my taste as much as the other bands I saw. I never saw Genesis again - although I carried on seeing Hawkwind up to 2019. God help me.

Simonrob - I got a very strong sense in the early - mid 70's that I had arrived just as the party was ending. Which proved to be the case, unfortunately. Most of the bands I liked had released their best records by 1973. In fact, I think they all had.
Although I really liked the punk records and gigs from summer 1976-1977, I really didn't like the emerging punk culture - everybody walking around with cropped hair, spitting at bands, looking for a fight with anyone who didn't conform to the new dictat. Bands that copied The Ramones - all a bit rubbish by the end of 1977.
What I really liked - although I didn't recognise it at the time - was rock n' roll. It was there, hidden in plain site in the music of both the heavy rock bands of the early 70s and the punk ones from 1976-77.

I have about 150, maybe more, that I picked up as a kid from age 5 - 15. Bought a few recently and they all seem to produced on the 180 Gram vinyl, which is much heavier and sturdier than the flimsy stuff we used to get. That's a plus. The pricing seems comparable when inflation is considered. The inflation calculator I looked at places 1 dollar in 1980 at $3.44 today. The last LP I bought back then was Rush - Hold Your Fire. It has a $7.99 sticker on it. So the 5 LP Dave's Picks Vol. 1 that I pre-ordered would have cost $27.52 for each LP, for a total of $137.60. Dead.net only sold it for $99, so I suppose we're doing alright if the inflation calculator is correct.

I don’t remember not listening to music. Mom was the music person I guess in our family. She owned records, she sang in the house and every morning the local AM station would be playing the top 40. Top 40 back then 60-62 ish would be a real mix of music. You would go from Johnny Horton to The Platters to Frank Sinatra to Peter, Paul and Mary. Radio didn’t/wasn’t so pigeon-holed then. Though when I moved to Texas a few years back I was surprised at the number of top 40 (regional?) songs I never heard and never made the playlist in the NYC market.
We were young when Mom got us record players for Christmas, I was maybe 7. For the youth, record players were wood boxes that you took the lid off and there be a turntable, the front had a 4 inch speakers, driven by maybe 1.6 watts that when turned to 11 you could hear in your bedroom!
My first records were “kids” records, they were the size of a 45, but had only a small hole in the middle and you played them at 78. The only one I remember was Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee from Pinocchio. All of these bit the dust when me and my brother threw them like Frisbees. Mom started getting up kid lps. Great songs, like on Top of Spaghetti and The Cat Came Back.
Mom had old 78’s that I listened the shit of out until I was maybe 11. Had a good Al Jolson collection and a slew of pop hits from her day. Songs like The Coffee Song by Sinatra. Silver Threads Among the Gold (Crosby), Red Silk Stocking and Green Perfume (can’t remember), The Woody Woodpecker Song. It was a golden age!!! Records spinning away at 78 RPM with the constant hiss,,,,,, ahhh.
When I turned 13 I got a REAL stereo for Christmas. TWO SEPARATE SPEAKERS!!! First two albums Mom gave were both live! Johnny Cash San Quintin and Ray Stevens Guitarzan – LIVE! First I bought Andy Williams greatest hits. I continued to buy, I like “greatest hits” albums because I generally knew most of the songs. Like Dylans greatest hits 1, the Peter, Paul and Mary one. I know I was a boring boy!
First show, maybe the first live show was in 8th grade, the school took us to the local amphitheater and we saw the New Seekers (I like to teach the world to sing). First show I paid for was Andy Williams at the same venue.
I was big into disco in the late 70’s, listened to the local “black” station out of NYC. WBLS (stereo in black),,,, night show hosted by Frankie Crocker. Opened his show with King Pleasure’s, Moody’s Mood for Love,,,, great cut!!!
In 78 met my wife and we moved in together. She was a deadhead and more of a rock person. Learned a ton of new music from her.
Now all these years later I have a collection that boost over 7,000 artist covering over 750,000 songs. All stuff I listen to, no. I really, really, really don’t like metal or punk. We won’t even talk about German metal! (my kid listened to that shit) ( I’m sorry was that judgemental?). I’m more like a Libarian,, I read all the books, but I keep them in order and make sure they’re complete and labled correctly. (I think that’s enough .) I have all my records (except for the yellow 78’s), I have all of Mom’s 78 (about 600 of them), I have about 20 feet of lps, about 16 banker boxes of cd’s. And yet my wife doesn’t believe the limited edition vinyl is a GREAT investment for our retirement! Oh what fools these mortals be.

Sorry about the length, sorry if I’ve I covered this before, thanks Oro for the first show shout out, don’t know how you could remember what show I”VE been too  I have no real memories of first show,,,, it was all way to new to me.

Extra sidebar,,, caught a tube vid of Billy and the Kids in Hawaii at Bill’s house. WOW, what a house, huh!!! Hard to believe any of the other guys have digs that nice!!!!

The vinyl talk reminds me of the early '70s during the Oil Embargo. RCA responded with "Dynaflex" LPs that were so thin you could literally bend them in half so that one edge touched the opposite edge. My first Dynaflex LPs were Airplane's Bark and Long John Silver which were released on their Grunt label (distributed by RCA) on the super-thin vinyl. I don't remember any problems, and that was back when I had a killer sound system and nubile ears.

First 45s played on the "kid record player" after "kid records":
Western Union by The Five Americans
Happy Together by The Turtles
something by Paul Revere and the Raiders
Can't remember what's on the B sides of these.
Parental influences include classical, show tunes from musicals, and a ton of Big Band era. Dad built a very powerful Heathkit amp from a kit and built a huge speaker also from a Heathkit with a 15" woofer. That setup with a Garrard record changer was a rocker. Dad couldn't hear the high notes anyway because of hearing loss from WWii. He was a radio man in a B-29 and had to listen to 12-16 hours of static on the long bombing runs to Japan. Must be his fault that I like to turn it up loud! Still have a huge collection of their 78s and LPs. Their favorite was Glenn Miller.
Didn't buy rock albums until I got my own lo-fi, a complete system on a rolling cart, for the whopping sum of $179 (waited for the sale to get it for $159) with money earned at my first job at 15 as a dishwasher. Had to get a job to pay my first traffic ticket for driving w/o a license. Still have those two albums; ABB Fillmore East and Deep Purple's Who Do We think We Are with the mega-hit My Woman From Tokyo. That trip to the record store with my older sister was also notable for smoking my first joint which she impressively rolled with one hand while driving.
Cautionary note to parents: Don't let your kids work nights in restaurants. All they'll learn is how to party hard.
Cheers all!

I still have some of those godawful RCA Dynaflex LPs. Certainly Bark and Long John Silver are amongst then and possibly some Hot Tuna as well. Certainly there was nothing wrong with the sound quality and they were indeed bendy as hell. The problem was that they were often horribly warped and their bendiness couldn't do anything about that. I can't remember how many I took back to the shop before I got a flat, playable copy.

Didn't we all work night shifts in a restaurant at some time in our misspent youth?

Yeah, you're right SimonRob. I'd forgotten about that. I now remember having trouble with a warped copy of the 1812 Overture/Wellington's Victory on RCA Dynaflex (maybe I should've played it more and played with it less, but it was fun to freak out the unsuspecting). Guess I was otherwise fortunate, and we all were glad to see the oil embargo and Dynaflex go away. Maybe I'll dig out those old LPs and see how they've aged. Maybe I won't .🤪 Whatever the thickness, vinyl LPs are probably a better use of petroleum than burning it in inefficient automobiles (sorry for the editorial digression).

Worked in a diner for 8 days as a dishwasher. Didn't mind the work, just wasn't enough hours to make real money.

Mostly worked in gas stations at night. Back in 71 minimum wage was 1.35 an hour. Gas station paid 1.75. Best thing about the station was you made cash in your pocket money every night. People needed tire repairs, tires swapped on rims, battery charges. All these were done for cash, so every night I could leave with 10 bucks in my pocket. I was also working 8 hours day, 6 days a week, so I had great money for a 15 year old kid rolling in. Nights were always the best because there was no "boss" there. Why I work night at the head shop, no management and I can burn all night long. (no cash though :-) )

Dennis and I must be about the same age. Min. was $1.40/hr. and we got a very tiny share of the house tips. Second paycheck I ask the boss, "Did I get a raise already? ". The check said $1.60/hr. He said, "No, it's the goddam federal law now!".
Didn't make the big money until I moved up to busboy, bar back, and parking valet. You could make $50 a night on weekends and big holidays like Mother's Day. And my favorite waitress could sell you a bag of Mexican for $17./oz. if you didn't have the budget for Columbian.

My first job was working in a factory producing machinery of some sort. I was told that the guy I replaced had been hit on the head from a great height by a piece of this machinery. It was being transported from one side of the factory to the other with a pulley that ran up the walls and across the ceiling. Apparently the pulley broke, and it fell on him. It didn't kill him luckily. Nothing was done about it, that I knew of - it was just told to me as an anecdote.

But that was the thing in 70's Britain - danger lurked round every corner...going to the football, going to the pub, going to a gig -even going to work ! Which could explain the success of bands like Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols.

....hey Nick1234. Try the Cowboy Junkies! 👌
My first job was a dishwasher at a Cajun seafood restaurant called The Hush Puppy. It's still there. All you can eat catfish was a definite bonus 😋

I saw Genesis in 1982 when the original band with Peter Gabriel reformed to help pay the debts incurred by Gabriel’s first Womad venture. It was held outdoors at the Milton Keynes Bowl and boy did it rain. By the end no one cared about the rain and mud pies and plastic bottles were thrown at those who had the temerity to raise their umbrellas and obscuring the view. It was typical British humour “brolly at 9 o’clock” followed by a volley of missiles. I think the first band on stage was Talk Talk who were abysmal. I got home to my then home in Highbury drenched and muddy but happy.

My first real job was a dishwasher at Woolworths, I made $2.00 an hr . I was cleaning up one night, I pushed down on a garbage bag, someone had put a broken coke glass in there, I sliced all 4 of my fingertips, bleeding all over the place. I worked there 6 months. In Sept of 1975 , just out of high school, I got a job as an oil field worker, making $4.00 an hr.,
from being covered in cooking oil to being covered in crude oil.

There were many older folks in my neighborhood, so for years, starting around 12? I cut grass and plowed driveways etc. Then, when in high school, I got my first “real job” at Kentucky Fried Chicken. First pay check comes and I meet with the manager to discuss the obvious error: “what’s all this fica and crap”? LOL, should have kept working for myself!
Other fun part was I’d take a shower after work and then try to make out with my GF, nope, 8 outta 10 she’d send me back to the showers again and then MAYBE…lol. Couldn’t fully get that greasy feel/smell completely off until I stopped working there, which was not long!

There are many great shows, but 7 shows seems about right and to keep repeats down etc.
Perhaps value oriented as no reels to purchase and/or restore.

9/6/91
9/8/91
9/16/91*
9/22/91
9/24/91
9/26/91*
10/31/91*

Favorite/must haves*
7 Shows
66 one time songs: really good selection!
16 Repeats
6 Threepeats
(Not including D&S)

The three peats are: Dar Star, Attics, Let It Grow, Saint, Stranger, and Good Lovin’

The repeats are: Spoonful, Dark Star Jam, Wang Dang, Candyman, Maggie’s, Standing on Moon, Last Time, Stella, Samson, Eyes, TOO, Bertha, All Over Now, Heaven’s Door, Minglewood, and A&A. Hey, no matter how you slice em, Bobs ALWAYS gonna have repeats!

9/17 and other Oakland and Richfield are probably worthy, but then you start getting into more repeats and perhaps too big a box?

....you should. Outstanding stuff. You can thank me later lol.

Colin Gould posted positively about her on march 21 so I checked her out on YouTube and was suitably impressed.

Molly Tuttle is a fantastic musician, I used to take banjo lessons from her dad.

Mcdonalds south pasadena ca

1980

For me, 91 has lots of good shows. For a box, how about 10/27, 10/28, 10/30, 10/31? Couple of out of this world classics with a couple of solid shows. Somewhere I saw a comment about it being the last great run??? Could include 11/03/91 and be dedicated to Bill Graham with lots of special goodies.
Boston '91?
Shoreline '91? 05/10, 05/11, 05/12, 08/16, 08/17, 08/18

"First Job
Mcdonalds south pasadena ca 1980"...

That was you??? Dang....

My first job was also my last job since I spent my working life doing a variety of legal things in labs.

Last 5
‘Rise’ - Molly Tuttle
‘When You’re Ready’ - Molly Tuttle
‘… but I’d rather be with you’ - Molly Tuttle
‘’Crooked Tree’ - Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
The last of these only came out over here on 1st April and it’s already my favourite album by her.
‘Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings’ - Clarence Ashley/Doc Watson

I agree with Vguy. I can’t see how you’d regret listening to Molly Tuttle and there is so much on YouTube.

Does Bruce play any of those shows? I enjoyed the '91 Giants Stadium show. I'm not familiar enough with how he and Vince played in the Dead, but one of them (I assume Bruce) plays some cool synthy stuff in there. Not a lot of notes, just good atmosphere.

Yes I believe Bruce is at all these shows.

I was the one with the cool paper hat and green shirt

If it's synthy, it's probably Vince. I think Bruce spent most of his energy on the Piano w/ some accordion for good measure. Then again, I could be wrong. It looks like he had a Korg stacked on top of his Piano for much of the year which can certainly synth with the best of em.

First real job was pumping gas on the night shift. It was one of the few jobs you could get in those days if you had long hair. It paid minimum wage, which I think was $1.65 an hour in California then. You had to wear a uniform, and in addition to pumping gas, you were supposed to clean windshields, check the oil, sometimes even check the tires. And be Nice to customers, which was often difficult for me, surly and stoned little shit that I was. But I really didn’t mind the job that much. The boss wasn’t around at night so I could sit there and listen to the radio if there were no cars. Sometimes pretty girls would come in.

Gas was about 50 cents a gallon then. I don’t remember what concerts usually cost, but I do remember going to see the Stones and being ticked off that tickets were $5, which seemed very high. A vinyl lp cost $3, and I remember how pissed off I was when they went up to $4. That would be about $25 adjusted for inflation, so maybe I shouldn’t so much about what records cost these days. I guess inflation is just a built-in feature of capitalism, but I’ll never get used to it. These days I just assume that whatever it is I need to buy—a pair of jeans, a tank of gas, a night in a hotel, whatever—it’s going to cost at least 2.5 times what I think it should. I'm running to stand still, it seems like.

Found a thing on the utube the group might find of interest,,,, i did. Search for

50s Stars Who Tried to Adapt to the Psychedelic 60s

what the hell - a ps

FIrst job was delivering milk off a milk truck, did this with my father from 10 to 17. The job after that and at same time (11-15) was shining shoes in bars. Every Saturday I take my box and hit every bar up and down the highway where I lived. Made damn good money,,, I go out and come home with 30 bucks. And yes I was humble and loveable!

My first job was 6/30/1984, at the Indianapolis Sports Center on the IUPUI campus........hold on a minute, are we discussing the first time we heard Day Job ?

6 shows from the Philadelphia Spectrum.

That was how much I was paid for my first job. Washing dishes in my Dad's restaurant. Plus dinner and I liked the food. Currently recovering from hip surgery. Treated myself to the second set of 5/8/77 this morning. I had forgotten how good that really is.

Last three:
5/8/77
Dawn of The New Riders Of The Purple Sage
Before the Dead (Jerry and Bluegrass)

R5Z - that '84 Indy show is awesome (nice first Job).

It was a killer show! An incredible, and still my favorite, version of "Deal". The band was on fire, and Jerry's voice had that wonderful road-weary raspiness to it. The complete show is on utoob. All should check it out. Eleven years after my first show, a 36 song smoker at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

R5Z - that 84 Indy Deal is the freaking goddamn bomb

teed up 6/30/84 as POTD on that thread - yes "all should check it out."

Meant to post this on Pick of the Day, but since you're talking mid 80's, there's a nice Charlie Miller upgrade to what used to circulate for 4/4/85. She Belongs to Me just makes me feel warm and gooey inside. A late era Garcia classic. I'd like to think Dylan would be proud of this one.

Thanks for that but still a little loud 😜

Dennis - yes, I liked the youtube clip. Those Del Shannon and Everly Brothers albums look worth checking out. Although Del Shannon's 1961 record " Runaway" now sounds like a psychedelic classic years ahead of the pack.

Another great psych single from a band that formed in the mid 50's is "Hallucinations" by Baker Knight and the Knightmares.

This show would make a great release.

You HAVE to love the name,,,,, am I right?

I checked my collection, I didn't have that cut (Hallucinations), but I did have a cut by Baker and the Boys,,,, "Bring My Cadillac Back". This is a rockabilly song lamenting the lost of his caddy to a long gone girlfriend.

Dennis - you are right. I am sure everybody will be fascinated to learn that Baker Knight also wrote "Lonesome Town", which became great record by Ricky Nelson. And a slightly less great one by The Cramps.

Harold McNair's album "Flute and Nut" takes some beating.

Bob Dylan performed it during his tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in '86. I wanted to learn to play the song, so I transcribed it from the recording I made of Bob at the Greek Theater.

In no particular order: 1) Promised Land, 2). Cold Rain and Snow, 3) Hard to Handle, 4)Morning Dew, 5)Baby Blue, 6) We bid You Goodnight, 7)Death don't have no Mercy, 8) King Bee. 9) Sing me Back Home, 10) Don't Ease me In. The way the Dead played it before Brent joined the band.

Non Dead:
Fleetwood Mac Live in Gothenburg 1969
Fleetwood Mac Live The Warehouse Tapes New Orleans 1970
Peter Green In the Skies
Traffic Santa Monica Shakedown

GOGD:
Dave's Picks 41
Spectrum 11/5,6/79
Red Rocks 9/6-8/1983

Anyone going to this Fest this Weekend in Ventura? I'll be there, looking forward to some sun, and cool tunes outdoors at the Fairgrounds. Four days of music!

This Friday 8pm/5pm on the GD YouTube channel.