Grateful Dead

No Dave, I wouldn't swap my 60 year old wife for a 30 year old. I've been training her for 41 years and I'm not giving up on all that work now . Let's wait until she's 80 😀. She's actually the most extraordinary person I've ever met.

Cornell and Veneta on the other hand I've always found drab and uninteresting. Slick yes, but dull, I've never understood their popularity.

Nick- I think if I was married it would be more a case of me being swopped for a younger model than the other way round !

Thanks for the pointer to the Issac Hayes album and walk on by. I have the album and didn't know it.

Can you go wrong with a 12 minute Walk on By!?!

I like the Sinatra quote I read about Burt,,,, He writes in hat sizes 7 and 3/4. (the article said his time signatures were unusual)

Great album to have..... Johnny Mathis sings the Best of Bacharach & Kaempfert. Sure go ahead and laugh, but it's one of my faves.

Nick, you talkin' crazy, man!

In my book, Veneta has a top five of each of these: Dark Star, China Rider, Playin, Bird Song and Sing Me Back Home. Great Jack Straw, Greatest Story, Sugaree, He's Gone and Deal as well.

Now, you could argue that they should have gone into Morning Dew from Dark Star like Jerry wanted and you'd have a point, but...I've always liked the insanely incongruous transition into El Paso. Kinda like flying along in deep space when your a.m. radio suddenly cuts in with an old cowboy song. To me, this is peak Dead. Tiger Woods in 2000. Even naked pole guy couldn't spoil it!

Is this a vital release for us to have? Probably not. Do I like having these two shows in this format. Absolutely. I had never heard these shows and I view them as a bridge between spring 77 and the later fall 77 shows and 78, with many having been released by Dave in the DaP series.

Wolf is back as Jerry's axe, which I prefer to the Bean guitars' tones of 75-77, and to me it sounds like the band still has the tight, clean arrangements/sound with appropriate jams of spring without the loose feel (in vocals especially) that they pick up later in October and through 1978. The 10/1 show is very good, but the 10/2 show is a bit better to my ears. The Casey Jones opener is a scorcher and the rest of set one is good GD. The Scarlet-Fire is excellent and all of disc 4 is right on point. Again, vital to have, no, but I like having these shows.

I don't even know what to say about dissing of Cornell and Veneta, but I agree with Lewbowski. For years I kind of downgraded Cornell, maybe to be a contrarian. The last five years I really gave it listens and it grew on me. Now, if you like some grease and imperfections in your GD, this is not going to be your show (and I definitely love me Pigpen era GD), but all the songs are expertly played with exquisite transitions. The Scarlet-Fire transition is a perfect one where you can't tell where Scarlet ends and Fire begins-- the interplay with Keith first nudging Fire along until Phil picks it up, to be followed a couple measures later by the guitars and drums. Perfection. And the Dew! But, everyone has an opinion and mine is no better than anyone else's.

Future Dave's, what I would like to see is some 1989 if he is delving into the 1980s. It has been a long time since 1989 shows have been released. Summer 89 is my favorite late era GD (Tiger still the guitar of choice and MIDI was not very involved) and we are due-- still waiting for the Alpine CD/DVD box set.

Holy shit Dennis, you did make me laugh. Never been a big Johnny Mathis fan, but my late Mother was a huge fan.

Arrived this morning in the northern part of Germany. Additional taxes and service fee of EUR 13,54.
Have the 10/02 show since years as sbd in my collection but never have thought about the day before.
Will listen to it later cause i'm still working on tranfering my ABB Roskilde 91 recording from tape to CDR.
Last five:
Years After (vinyl)
Late September Dogs - Burg Herzberg 2001
Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets - Live At The Roundhouse (vinyl)
Robert Randolph - New Orleans Jazz Fest 2006
Neal Casal - Fade Away Diamond Time (vinyl)

Peace & Love
JJ

MCCCLXXXVII has arrived.

Dennis - How is the job hunt? Your wife asked me to tell you to stop posting, and get searching out work! (Women, right?…)

.... I'll take "things I thought I'd never hear a deadhead say" for $500 Alex.

No, you cannot go wrong with a 12 minute Isaac Hayes version of Walk on By. At least not in my opinion. I gave a listen to ...To Be Continued after my post, and that Look of Love just cooks, such a big, lush sound. Heading over to put on Hot Buttered Soul now so I can hear that Walk on By again. Dionne Warwick does a cool cover of Walk on By with a totally different feel than the Isaac Hayes version. As far as Johnny Mathis, I've been close to picking up a Johnny Mathis greatest hits album a couple of times now, and seeing your post pushes me one step closer. Chances are...

Somebody had to mention "naked pole guy," which must be my karmic spanking (ooh) for commenting on Cornell in less than ecstatic words.

I had put NPG out of my mind for years! Now he writhes, rent-free, in the visual quadrant of my brain.

What else ya got?? Mentioning NPG is like going nuclear!

You could always try The Stranglers version. On second thoughts....maybe not.
Last 11
Chocolate Soup For Diabetics Volume 1-5 (82 UK Psych classics)
The Perfumed Garden Volumes 1-5 ( 82 Rare Flowerings From The British Underground 1965-1973)
We Want Billy! - Billy Fury

Never mind Dave's 45, that Billy Fury is a great live concert from 1963, complete with background vocals from screaming girls. I was only lucky enough to be part of such a crowd once, when I saw T.Rex in 1972. People may have screamed at Black Sabbath concerts - but if they did, you couldn't hear them.

Vguy, funny reference as my son has one of those Jeopardy daily calendars where you rip off each day, which has a question (answer in Jeopardy parlance) on it. He pits me against his mom every day and yesterday's question was in the category "Playing in the Band" for $400-- This band featuring Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir performed a version of "Playing in the Band" that clocked in at over 25 minutes in 1972. I obviously had the answer after JG, but was finishing the question off incorrectly as I figured the question should have been "45 minutes in 1974."

Sorry to rehash it, HF, but I was already planning on mentioning him, as I found it funny to be listening to Veneta the last two days of commutes, and during Bird Song today, Pole Guy was seared into my mind driving home down I-95. But my original thought was to come and give my own personal reasons for loving both Veneta and Cornell. To wit, Veneta just has some of the top versions of Dark Star, China Cat > Rider, Jack Straw, Bird Song, Greatest Story, Playing in the Band, and Sing Me Back Home. I'm sure this show was fueled by the finest Owsley had for special occasions, because they simply destroy that baked field of fried, naked hippies.

As to Cornell, I, as I supect many, got on the bus thanks to Cornell. As a high school senior, a fellow member of the quiz bowl team tried his darndest to get me into Phish. It wouldn't take. Until we left an Allman Brothers show in Charlotte and he put on the album Billy Breathes. I loved the title track, and gave them a fuller listen. He got me started on Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, and, more importantly String Cheese Incident, who have been the band I've caught the most at 69 Incidents (including a trip to Oregon when they also had 98 degree heat, until a thunderstorm cooled things off and muddied up our campsites in the woods), but among the tapes he got me started with was set 2 of Cornell. Unlike the Phish that took a while to hook me, that set of Dead left a smoking crater of my mind. 25 years later, I totally get why people who were seeing the Dead before 1977, or even from 1993 or 1995 only would have known the ever changing nature of the songs and the looser feel that the Dead were known for, not the far more precise Dead of May '77. And I very specifically say May, not Spring, or the rest of the year, because in that off day between New Haven and Boston, they had rehearsal with Keith Olsen, and they tightened up. That tight Dead (in amazing sound fidelity) is particularly appealing to newbies, whereas a Europe '72 Dark Star or The Other One would be likely to send some for the exits without much further exploration. It was the type of thing that people used to put down the Dead, calling it "noodling", which shouldn't be an insult since it was first used to describe young Mozart's piano playing. My dad couldn't stand the Dead. Or so he thought. I finally got him to listen to Cornell's second set, and he said after Fire On the Mountain concluded, "I wish I had heard that back then, I would have gone to see them when they came around!" He had never thought they rocked like his musical heroes The Who and The Ramones, and he admitted they did indeed rock when he heard 4/15/70's Soul Sacrifice Jam> The Other One> Dire Wolf, and loved the odd segue into Dire Wolf. Basically, that's all just to theorize that Cornell can both be overrated and still be a great show. I still go back to it, especially that Scarlet> Fire. From the unique intro, that I didn't know was unique upon first listenings, to Jerry's remarkable solo that peaks around the 4:20 mark that is still my favorite Jerry solo, to the raging ending of Fire that my best friend says has HIS favorite Jerry solo. Later I came to have and appreciate the first set as well. Olsen's dictatorial style apparently yielded results that lasted the last 3 weeks of the tour, and may have had shows that bettered it, but it's still pretty darn good.

Still have yet to get into DaP 45, will do so this weekend. Had a scare when ripping as the first disc wouldn't read at all for the first few times I inserted it, then had to use an old program I first got nearly 20 years ago to rip it. Luckily, it played right away in my Denon cd player, as did the other discs, which ripped easily in Windows Media Player.

This was a fine release. Really dug it. In terms of thoughts on other stuff:

Box for 2023: Gotta be '73, right? Wake 50th + a compete show would be fantastic. 2/9 or 2/15. The Kezar/RFK run in a box would be even better. Though I would point out that 4 of the last 5 boxes have been multi-year stuff (PNW '73-'74, Giant's '87/'89/'91, Listen to the River '71/'72/'73, and In and Out the Garden '81/'82'83). June '76 is the only single year box since Cornell & Co in 2017. Either way, I think '73 is involved. I'd love a great '69, Carousel '68, or a Summer '89 (Alpine!/Meetup at the Movies) box, but I don't think this is the year. Nor next. Gotta be a full Oct '74 box on the 50th of the first farewell, yes?

Red Rocks is awesome. Saw 3 of a 4 show run there in 2016 or so. Got a Branford appearance one night. Wonderful.

....imagine the look on my face during Bidens state of the union address when he called out junk fees regarding hotels, flights, sporting events and CONCERT TICKETS.
Hell yeah! Get their asses. Hear, Hear!!
Meanwhile, McCarthy sat back there just shaking his head and didn't even acknowledge it. Douche.

Junk fees = First World problems. POTUS is the douche. Selling America By The Dollar.

Its comming, hopefully sooner then later. The new release is great.

....am all against the hidden fee crap. It's good to see it being called out by the douche POTUS. First world problem? Yeah. Sure. No argument there. A problem nonetheless? You bet your ass.
F**k Ticketmaster.
And yes. A 1969 box would be awesome. A 1970 box would be even better. Unfortunately, good recordings are hard to find, as we all know. But one can dream.

I've never heard a Dark Star that didn't bore me to tears. With one exception that is, the Dark Star sandwich from 1970. I think it was Capital Theatre. I love that even though it's a pretty rough audience recording. A 1970 box would be beautiful but is there enough available for it to happen?

We all like what we like. I have a friend who's a big post DSOM Floyd fan whilst I can't listen to any of their stuff after Dark Side. I love Atom Heart Mother, he just doesn't get it. that's how things are and I'm glad they are.

Mornin', rockers!!

Here in the office, death awaits, birthday yesterday, pardon the rambles...............

There is enough 1970 in the vault for a box. Some stuff from January, the Fillmore West shows from February, a couple of March & April, the May Alfred College, MIT, and Kirkwood shows, the June Fillmore West run (although that's a bit uneven, and I'm not sure all deserves releasing). I'm hoping the complete FW runs from February and April are in those banana boxes!!!

There's also enough 69s for a box, maybe more than the 70s, although those may need a little more pre-release TLC than the 1970s. There's the two Philly shows from February, the April Ark shows, some late March shows (oh Vegas please!!!), the April Avalon shows, etc etc. Maybe more hidden treasures in those banana boxes???

Music is intended and designed for sentient beings that have hopes and purposes and emotions......

Rock on,

Doc
Newcastle 72

What do you suppose would transpire if 1 or 2 hundred of us got together at a hotel or some such place, for a long weekend??
I have no way of knowing of course, but I’m 99.9% sure it would be wild!!

I still vote for the 75 box,,,, I hold no affinity for the years, but,,, there are so few lets finish them off and mark that year DONE!

Oh lets get 1983-04-16 - Brendan Byrne Arena - Meadowlands, NJ. Greatest Looks Like Rain,,,,,EVER :-)

Like Southside Johnny sings,,,,, all I want is everything!

John McCutcheon speaks to real world problems

Caught in the Crossfire
Albums
Water From Another Time

Her voice never trembled, her look never waned
As she showed me the photos in the solemn black frames
A cousin, a sister, a daughter, a son
Lost in the night or in the sight of a gun
The Guarda left her father, Luis, on the track
And her son picking coffee just never came back
On the roadside the crosses look always the same
But each has a story and each has a name (They were...)

CHORUS:

Caught in the crossfire, lost in the fray
The battle broke out and they just got in the way
The story is always the same in the end
Caught in the crossfire again
Caught in the crossfire again

Juancito, her husband had visions and plans
Struggled his whole life to work his own lands
His faith was a mountain, but her world would explode
When the wheel of his truck found a mine in the road (And he was...) CHORUS

So many stories, so many lives
The parents, the children, the husbands, the wives
A whole population just pawns in the game
For the East and the West the rest is only terrain (Where they're...) CHORUS

Now I lie in the night and I just try to resist
But a hand that is empty soon curls to a fist
The cry in the cradle, the knock on the door
The blood in the speeches we've all heard before (We are...)
CHORUS (2x)

I thought that was a refreshing post from Nick about not liking Dark Star. That's another of the sacred cows of Deadhead culture - a bit like Veneta and Cornell have become. It is curious how it is often held up to be their definitive piece of music, and yet it sounds like literally nothing else they ever did.
The first time I heard it was an extract of about 23 minutes of the one played at Wembley on 4/8/72. It was donated to be one of the sides of the legendary "Glastonbury Fayre" triple album that came out about 1973, commemorating the festival of two years earlier. Nestled between heavy duty acid rock from the likes of Gong, Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, Mighty Baby et al it sounded quite weak to me . A bit fussy.
The next time I heard it was a few years later on "Live Dead". That I really liked. It seemed almost like a concept album to me, with each track enhancing the others. "Dark Star" seemed really well positioned at the beginning, something I would imagine never happened at real time live concert.

I also prefer Pink Floyd in the pre Dark Side of The Moon era. Although, to me, their peak was in the 1960's. I wasn't, and am not now, as keen on "Atom Heart Mother" as the ones that went before it. "Piper" and "Saucerful of Secrets" - together with the singles cut with Syd Barrett are my favourite Pink Floyd records. Horses for courses as they say.

A 1969 or a 1970 box set would be fantastic! Also, a 1967,68, & 69 combination box set would be a knockout! If I had a choice, 1970 would also be my first choice , 9/19 & 20/70 would be included. If they had to use some audience patches to tie it all together, I'm cool with that.

just weighing in briefly to say that there was quite a lot of this during the Fare Thee Well days, and it worked out pretty well from what I hear...

Magnificent

Thank you Dave n palz

…”live” at the Grammys Art award. Bravo!
Excellent artwork from the Grateful Dead 2022 Boxset!!! And I’m also a Big Fan of the Dave’s Picks series #45 artwork/packaging’!!! Love that train! Always loved songs about trains since an early age! ‘Johnny cash’ ect. I live near the railroad tracks in my hometown!
2023 boxsets, I would love An ‘ Oakland, CA’
Mega Boxset!!! So many possibilities hmmmm
Also LOVE 1979 !!! One of my favorite eras from the Grateful Dead. 79’ into 80’ -81’, is just jaw dropping for me. 78’ is a grateful year too, very heavy if you know what I mean ,man, I just can’t not love the whole 70’s decade as it evolved into one form into another over the course of that time in history. From the song writing to the sound system & equipment & touring! “There’s nothing like a dead concert!”
Rock on my brother and sisters, have a grateful weekend! Peace be with you all! Be safe be kind & Smile Smile Smile! 🙏❤️💀🌹

We're going to have to find one of those cannabis friendly hotels, LOL.
Cheers

....it just so happens there is only opening up in Vegas aptly called Elevation. Hmmm.
Tonight is my first concert of 2023. Three Dog Night. And no, I've never been to Spain.
Going with my babysitter from back in the day. She's pretty cool. Ended up becoming life long friends regarding our families. She loves music. Tried to get us into classic rock back in the day. 10 year old me didn't get it back then, but I do now.
Edit. Had to go get my wedding ring cut off this morning. I hadn't removed it in years and my finger had swelled over time and started hurting.
Feels weird.

Nick, if you're gonna like one Dark Star, the one from 6/24/70 at Porchester is a damn good choice. Provoked me to go and listen to the show again. Shame that only an audience exists but I don't care; I still love it. Remarkable separation of instruments that makes you feel you're right there, even if right there sounds like a metallic bathtub.

1970 is when Weir really started to shine and when the 2 drummers didn't play all over each other.

:)))

08/04--TIGER
02/11/70 ABB

First show at the Oakland Auditorium, I was there.

I always thought the single was underrated, myself.

Dave's 45 went down very well - both shows. It always strikes me how good first sets were around this timespan. In fact, in some cases, I prefer them to second sets. A major turn around from the Feb. 1973 shows I had been listening to prior to this latest arrival in my home.

I would be great with a HUGE '69 - '70 box set. Ark, Boston Tea Party, the shows Forensic Doc mentioned, and of course the September Fillmore shows, maybe as pre-order bonus shows or fragments, since I assume the audio wouldn't be much better than what circulates. That's the era I'm craving, although Fall '72 is always welcome.

Dark Stars are the reason I keep coming back to the well. There are still many to release from '72 - '73.

Mr. Ones, I could barely handle an hour and a half with Oroborous in Eagle, Colo., one random day last fall! We were gibbering away in a parking lot for way longer than I imagined. Think if there had been refreshments...

KIDDING! Actually, Oro is a great cat and my too-brief hang with Vguy and Nappyrags at Red Rocks last summer was a total blast.

As for liking or not liking Dark Star, to each his own. But I will say that the Dark Stars on the Euro 72 box blew our minds. No other band can take it apart and put it back together in such an interesting way, and generate such thoughts in my mind. So, um, I guess I'm one of those folks who love Dark Stars.

But here's an interesting point (in my mind) about first and second sets: no first set, no second set. These guys enjoyed playing their music and a first set can be real tight, it can be jammy, but it is essential to prepare for launching the second set. No humans could possibly just step out and crank a second set as captured on tape.

Having said that, the FW69 sets came close to a major launch on the first notes of each set, but that was a deliberate launch-from-the-get-go strategy. Still, it does show that I have no idea what I'm talking about.

So where's this hotel that is going to tolerate us for an entire weekend? And whose shows will get us out in the evenings?

That's cool. back in the day, 3 Dog Night was BIG everyone played their songs, One, Liar, Joy to the World there are so many hits from these guys. There was a song on their Naturally lp called Heavy Church...Light my way with incensed candles...Heavy guitar, hits on that lp were Liar, Joy to the World and One-man Band from 1970. Have fun mate, I bet you and your babysitter will know most of the words to the tunes.

....and they played all the songs you mentioned PT. Including Shambala, Mama Told Me Not To Come, Black And White and Never Been To Spain (personal favorite). Three Dog Night covers quite of few different musical styles, which is what I like about them.
Short show. 1 hr 40 minutes, but they sounded pretty good. The keyboardist was especially impressive. At least to me. Small room. Capacity 850 but sold out and drinks were reasonable.
Spoiled by jam bands I am regarding longer shows.
Next up. Umphreys McGee in a couple of weeks. Never seen them, but I've been getting familiar with their catalog.
Off to the sports book to place a few prop bets on the Super Bowl.
I used to bet sports a lot, but now I just toss money at this game. Makes it more interesting to me.
Go Eagles!

Now there's a seventies band! Great name and great songwriting and don't sound like anyone else. Seems to me a lot of music these days sounds the same... back in the day, no one sounded like the Doors or Pink Floyd or many others. Seems some of that unique creativity in bands achieving broad commercial success has gone by the wayside unless I'm looking in the wrong places.

I'm taking the CHIEFS today for a variety of reasons, even with a hobbled Mahomes, but the main one is experience. The Chiefs have been on the big stage before and so has Andy Reid (the old lady calls him Wilford Brimley). How ironic he is facing his old Eagles team.

There is usually an arc with NFL teams where they get close and closer and finally get there. This is only the 2nd year for this Eagles coaching staff and I haven't bothered to research it but I don't believe too many key players have Super Bowl appearances.

The moment could be a little too big for them. They might come out tight and make mistakes. I also am amazed at the way Mahomes plays the game... a little like the riverboat gambler, Brett Favre, without the interceptions.

Everyone who is watching the game today good luck and I hope you get what you want.

Last five:

R.E.M. - Monster
Aerosmith - Honkin' on Bobo
The Alan Parsons Project - The Essential Alan Parsons Project
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs

\m/

I might be wrong, but I get the impression that having a first set with short songs, followed by a second set with longer jams started about half way through 1969, when they started to break out the "Working Man's" and more country based material. They played the newer songs to kick the show off, and then, in the second half reverted to music they had been playing for over a year - all the Live Dead/Anthem material. Not only were they more familiar with the older songs, they also lent themselves more to jamming - a winning combination.
Although they played 2 sets at FW69, the split between the two sets doesn't then seem as pronounced to me. Good Morning Little School always sounds like a bit of warm up tune, but it didn't seem to take them as long then before they were ready to jump of the high diving board.
Whatever - it was an unusual approach. I can't remember seeing any bands in the 1970's who played two sets apart from Tangerine Dream. The first of which I missed, it being so unexpected . The normal routine was one support band who played for about 45 minutes, followed by the main band who played for about an hour and a half. And that was your lot. Home on the last bus. Deaf for the rest of the week.

....and check out the new Yo La Tengo record. There is a I'll steal your face lyric on the second track Tonight's Episode.
Solid from front to back.

have played at the Super Bowl? Maybe 3 or 4 songs at the most. Chinacat/ I know you Rider, Greatest Story, Bertha, Promised Lannd. Probably not Death Don't Have no Mercy.

H
O
T

If the Dark Star from this show doesn't give you psychedelic wood, then...uh...

Three Feet High and Rising

A treasure to me

I listened to that on tape in a hotel room after "a very special" GD show at Cal Expo in '90. Lots of fun, knowwhutimean :)))

A raise of the glass to you, Trugoy

It was on this fall tour that the regular format came into being. After Englishtown the "into drums/space" really took hold. Setlists were not as open-ended as before. Which is....uh....oh well.

Just felt like sharing that. GD scholar and Professor of GDology Ellis D. Trails at your service.

53 years ago

A mighty fine Dark Star

....back when this was released (1996?!), I played it over. And over. And over.
It's like a warm blanket my dear boy. Time to tuck myself in. 1970 rocks.
1968 has a choice Valentines show as well. I was too busy kicking my mom from inside to notice though.

Hey Vguy I would love to hear your thoughts/review of your upcoming Umphrey's Mcgee show. I don't comment much here but do follow and each time I comment on Umphrey's there's usually little or no response. In my humble opinion they are the best band around right now and their shows are second to none. There's always one cover that's spot on and their improvisation is off the charts. And they rock! If you can, listen to 10/20/17 from the Capitol, my favorite Umphrey's show of all time. Hope you enjoy it!