Grateful Dead

....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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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!

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...

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

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?…)

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