Dave's Picks Vol. 47: Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO 12/9/79

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July 18, 2023 - 9:35am

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Who's ready to boogie with a little Brent-era Grateful Dead from the Gateway to the West? DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 47 features the complete unreleased show from Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO, 12/9/79 and you're going to need stamina because this one is high energy from start to finish.

By the time December 1979 rolled around, Brent Mydland had fully cemented his place in the Grateful Dead canon with his twinkling keys, harmonic tenor, and songwriting skills. No more is that evident than at this show boasting 25 songs including soon-to-be classics from GO TO HEAVEN like "Alabama Getaway," "Don't Ease Me In," "Lost Sailor," and the Brent-penned "Easy To Love You." It's also packed with whirling takes on fan-favorites like "Brown-Eyed Women," "Shakedown Street," and "Terrapin Station." And you've never heard a 2nd set quite like this with eight songs before "Drums" including an improvised "Jam" launching from the end of "Saint Of Circumstance." It doesn't stop there though, with a blazing finale of "Bertha>Good Lovin'" and perhaps one of the best versions of "Don't Ease Me In" the band ever did play. We've rounded out Disc Three with an extra nugget from '79.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, this release was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

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September 13, 2023 - 9:28am

#491

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

Re:

I'm with Oro on the snow, no bueno.. it's a terrible drug that ruined many a life of the people I grew up with. It seemed my high school friends that didn't go to college all got 'high paying' jobs (for our age) in contruction, landscaping, cable companies, UPS, whatever.. and all started doing blow... and all experienced serious problems. Going to school, we couldn't afford it that much. A friend in 87 or so turned me on to the idea that the stuff was no good.. stay away.. Danger Will Robinson. And pretty quickly I heeded his advice.

As to Chucks comments.. well said. I saw a few shows where I walked away wondering what could have been or what happened. One was that last show at RFK in 86. Well.. they got much better after that, then they got worse but still had their moments.

In the end we got what we got.. if I have one regret it's that I wish I would have gone to a few more shows. In hindsight, I probably went to as many as I could afford. A very positive experience on my life, I am grateful for that.. and grateful that I got to meet many of you here, and for those I have not met yet.. I at least get to read about your excellent stories, views on life and takes on music and all good things.

Oh, I really liked that interview with Whiz on recording Europe 72 and the most excellent 5/26/72, which they played on SiriusXM last night at 9. Serendipitous it comes up on these threads today. I will listen to it in its entirety very soon...

Be well people.. rock on. or as Mr. Burns said after his first dead show:
Excellent!
September 13, 2023 - 8:00am

#492

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Wiz

My memory fails as to his direct relationship. He was a technical type within the Organization. Now where placed I am not sure. Under Bear directly, maybe under Betty. In the documentary, he talks about the very last show of E72 and maybe some other things. He was the last tech in the recording truck, that is, recording switching tapes etc. This last show was pulling him in, blowing his mind. When Morning Dew came, he left and locked up the recording truck and went to go watch. He gives a deeply passionate discussion of that Morning Dew, that it was so incredibly emotive. That Jerry was crying, he began crying and was absolutely blown away with that version. He never went back to the truck and felt fortunate the remaining tape was able to record the whole show. That is my understanding, and from memory 4-5 years old, and my memory is not that great. May have to go back and watch Long Strange Trip, think it is still on Amazon. Might need to re-listen to that show as I became overwhelmed by the last years offerings and didn't make it through the whole E72 box this year. But can renew the listen as I am still digesting HCS and #47, and a lot of other stuff also. I also went thru the From the Vault 1-2.

Here is a direct write up over at rick turner. Anyone want reference website, DM me or look up Grateful Dead's Wiz.

May 12, 2020
Dennis “Wiz” Leonard’s Notes on Europe ’72

Here are my old friend, Dennis “Wiz” Leonard’s tech notes on the recording of the Grateful Dead’s great live album, “Europe ’72”. Most of my blog is my own writing, but I asked Wiz if I could share this, and he graciously said, “yes”. This is the clearest explanation of how Alembic did live recordings that I’ve ever seen. Wiz now works at Skywalker Sound…he went way big league!

Dennis Wiz Leonard Europe ’72 Technical Liner Notes By Dennis Leonard
“Less is more!” This was the motto of Alembic and many of the sound artists in the S.F. Bay Area’s growing community of folks trying to advance the state of the art in both “live” and “recorded” sound for rock ’n’ roll. One can hardly mention this philosophy to recording without touching on the Alembic PA system and its unique qualities.
The new paradigm for live sound: the Alembic PA. In 1964 The Beatles played at Shea Stadium using a circular array of Vox Grenadier Column speakers, a box quite similar to the Shure Vocal Master Column. This approach to sound for a stadium was doomed even if all the girls did not scream. Fast-forward to ’67-70 and things were not much better.
The Alembic PA was the first really hi-fi approach to a live system. It had direct radiator low-frequency elements rather than horn-loaded boxes, which were the standard. It was an electronically crossed-over three-way system using McIntosh MC-75, MC-275, and MC-3500 vacuum-tube amplifiers and Ampex MX-10 vacuum-tube mixers as the front-of- house console. It eventually evolved into the famous Wall of Sound. This was a philosophic approach, brainchild of The Bear, put together by some of the most talented engineers in the Bay Area, and the same philosophy was applied to the task of recording bands.
Alembic Recording did not have a truck to pull up to a venue. We had gear, and we often built a studio at the venue in a room somewhere backstage. Sometimes we would haul the gear to the gig in a rental truck, then unpack and build the studio for the gig in the truck, take it apart when we were done, and take it back home.
Recording Europe ’72 was a monumental task, and we came up with a great solution to building a truck which we could fly airfreight to and from Europe. A video-production company was letting go of a pair of cargo containers built for them to ship a portable video-production remote unit by airfreight. This was perfect—when set back-to-back, these two rode in the top of a 747 airfreighter. Each container was built around a reinforced floor, the sides and top latched on and off.
We moved all of the components of our Ampex MM1000 16-track into a video chassis that put all 16 sets of AG-440 electronics down below the transport which was then on a 45 degree angle. This was not only more robust, but it was also going to allow us to run 14-inch reels. This took place in an all-night marathon. When we started, Ron Wickersham was not sure all of the original cabling would work. We were lucky it did! At around 5 am, the new machine was rolling; no cables needed to be cut or spliced from the original wiring loom!

Another obstacle was that the capstan speed in an MM1000 was derived from line frequency. Ours was a 60-Hz machine and we were going to 50-Hz land. Ron came up with a solution which would also solve another problem down the road: He built a precision 60-Hz crystal oscillator; we drove a McIntosh 275 vacuum-tube amplifier and picked off a tap on the output transformer, which would give us 120 volts with enough current to run the capstan motor at our precise 60 Hz/15ips, also now immune to line-frequency fluctuation. The other problem arose when we tried to get Ampex to give us their 207 tape on 14-inch reels. Ampex 207 had a thinner backing; instead of the traditional 30 minutes one got out of a 10.5-inch roll, 207 would give us 45 minutes, so a 14-inch reel was going to run 90 minutes—very desirable when recording a band with long sets, like the Dead. Ampex would not build the reels; we had to do those ourselves. Remember, we were running the recorder’s capstan on an oscillator, so for building the reels we hooked up a variable-frequency oscillator. We would ramp the machine up to 60ips to pack the tape. Each of the 14-inch reels had a splice in it. Ron and Sue Wickersham and I spent a few nights at Alembic having a 14-inch- reel-building party.
The recording rig was quite simple: “less is more.” We recorded the Dead quite often, so a lot of what we did for Europe ’72 had been tested and proven.
We built the rig at Alembic. One of the newly procured containers had the 16-track and an outboard equipment rack, the other . . . a custom built cabinet which was our tape library, and this cabinet also had our monitor console, Revox two-track, cassette machine, and Orban reverb units mounted on top of it. A carpenter met us at Heathrow airfreight in London. When the gear arrived, we took the sides and tops off of the two containers (which were left there in storage for the tour) and had them forklifted into our rental truck for the tour. The container floors were about ten inches high, so after the two were in the truck, the carpenter secured them and built us a filler floor so that the recording truck would not have a split- level floor.
We wired the truck up and hung drapes and the 4310 JBL monitors, as well as many other things at the first show venue, Wembley Arena.
The flow of the rig, starting inside the venue, consisted of the following:
Two nine-pair snakes plugged into a custom Alembic split. AC from the stage ran to the truck with the two nine-pairs. Once inside the truck, the AC power was conditioned in an automatic, motor-driven variac made by General Radio. This was to, hopefully, prevent severe voltage fluctuation. The split plugged into the rack, which held a patch bay and minimal gear. We had a couple of Ampex MX-10 tube mixers and some limiters. The limiters, by the way, were used only on vocals for our monitor mix; we did not want to do anything to the vocals on the 16-track record master.

One of the big “less is more” philosophic bits of Alembic magic was the use of transformers in the input section of the MM1000. Ampex offered modules which plugged into an octal socket on the back of each 440 record amplifier. We used these sockets for the transformers, which would allow us to take microphone level right into the tape recorder, totally passive—no electronic noise added and no record console electronics to fail.
The MM1000 fed a very small, 16-track Alembic monitoring console built by Ron. Janet Furman was our technical engineer and not only fixed things, but also set up the 16-track to the custom equalization we were using with the thinner-backed Ampex 207 tape. We could monitor, solo, and build a two-track mix on this. We recorded to a Revox B77 and a Sony cassette machine, and we also had some pretty simple spring reverbs for our two-track mixes.
Shows seemed to generally fit on two 14-inch reels and a ten-inch reel or two. Tape changes were quite interesting: We did not have a lot of room and had practiced this quite a bit, and it took three of us to do this at high speed. In an effort to not run out of tape during a performance, we had an indicator-light system of communication. Under Jerry’s monitor wedge there were three small lamps mounted on a piece of wood. The lights could be lit from the truck. A green, yellow, and red light: Green = we are rolling and in record; yellow = if you can wind it down and stop, we need to change tape; red (if, in fact, the band did stop for us) = changing tape, not in record.
This, of course, did not fit in with the way the Grateful Dead worked. There were not going to be any rules. Early in the tour, I tried a “yellow,” asking for a possible wind-down of the jam so that we could change tape. Even though this had been an idea we had discussed Stateside, Jerry was having no part of it! As I switched on the yellow light, I looked at Garcia on our 13-inch B&W TV monitor. He looked up at the camera, knowing I was watching, and simply smiled and nodded no in a very friendly way. Don’t fuck with the music!
We did some tape changes while the band was playing. We really did not want to interfere with the flow of the music.
I was in the truck for the tour, parked in front of the Ampex 16-track. Since we had no record console in the path to tape, the 16-track itself was actually the only place to make any level adjustments, so with our custom MM1000, all 16 of the AG440 record amplifiers were clustered together in two stacks of eight, easy to keep an eye on. Betty Cantor did our live two-track mix in the truck; she was around eight feet away. The band really had no set lists in those days, so as the show went down, I would write one on each of the tape boxes. Bob Matthews was at front of house. We would chat on our intercom after songs, and he, Betty, and I would decide how many stars to give a song: Three stars meant it was a really good performance! The star system was used when we got back home in order to focus on candidates for the Europe ’72 album.
Twenty-two shows in two months (57 days) is a vacation tour. The current tour-booking standard is to average 4.5 shows a week, and the Grateful Dead Europe ’72 tour was booked at around 2.5 shows per week. It does not get much better! Although it was an amazing time, with many days off, we took recording this tour very seriously and there was no relaxation on a show day at all.
It was a high time for everyone. The music was just amazing and for me not seeing any of it except on a small B&W TV was OK. I did, however, get inside on the last night. Due to circumstance, I was alone in the truck. We had, only minutes before, put a fresh 14-inch reel up and had 1.5 hours before the next tape change. A microphone onstage needed attention and I had to go inside. I did this with a bit of trepidation; I really did not want to simply leave the truck, but no one else was available and the mic needed to be fixed. The band was in a spacey jam and was very unlikely to produce levels which would be a problem on tape.
I locked the truck, went inside, and quickly fixed the bad mic, which was just a bit loose on its stand. As I went for the stairs to leave, the band dropped into “Morning Dew,” which has always been a favorite tune of mine. I decided to stay. Dynamically, the levels in the truck—which was now “running itself”—were going to be fine, and I had to stay! I parked myself behind Jerry’s rig for the song, a time I will absolutely never forget.
Fast-forward to Alembic Studios, 60 Brady Street, San Francisco. The band is choosing the final songs for the album. I am walking down the hall towards the control room. Jerry bursts out, very animated as he catches me, “Hey, Wiz. Guess what? ‘Morning Dew’ from the Lyceum is for sure going on the album.” (Big smile from Jerry.) He says, very emphatically, “And no one was in the truck!” (Bigger smile.) The Grateful Dead’s music was built on taking chances, embracing the unknown, letting serendipity have its hand. So the fact that, while no one was in the truck, a true pearl was recorded was not unusual at all! It was just an affirmation that we were letting the muse guide us in an invisible and mysterious way.
The tour was a truly magical time. It changed my life forever! If I were to be marooned on an island with only one piece of music I could ever listen to, “Morning Dew” from Europe ’72 would be it. Jerry’s solo says it all!

Oh… One more anecdote, I got back to SF after a quick trip to Vermont to get my dog Zach… Got back to Alembic in time to meet the gear, we were now at 60 Brady street… Big M (Bob Matthews) grabs me and says, “Hey remember we had to fast wind some tapes off, so I want you to play the tour, the whole tour, so all the reels are playback packed at “Tails out” the control room is yours” So I said, “hey I’ll just live here till it’s done, ok?” Big smile from Big M… What a drag, I had to play the whole tour, update thoughts (Star System) on quality and I put another pair of 4310’s in the back of the control room and played the room miss through them… (Surround sound) sat and did a live mix for I am not sure how long, I would play and sleep, sleep and play… But it was pretty constant… Stop every show to clean the heads….. Then I moved up to Fairfax and really slept..
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September 13, 2023 - 7:51am

#493

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Sixtus

I have been dabbling in Goose's pool this year. Definitely very enjoyable stuff!
September 13, 2023 - 7:44am

#494

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Wow

In the mid 80's we a had massive gak parties. Some lasting several days and going thru massive amounts of cocaine. My last dalliance was summer 1986, sort of lines up with other events of 1986. I was born with a heart condition, thought I should stop as the heart palpitations might lead to an arrhythmia. Just before that, Crack started to come out. Remember being in a friend's friends house that had turned into a Crack lab. Man were they a factory. Started to change my views about Coke. Trying to put puzzle together on 86. Only time I smoked crack was in Manhattan, August 86. My brother and I had just left the Blue Note watching Dizzy Gillespie. We were already high on white lightning (name for blotter - and yes there is that deeper connection to Bear and The Human Be-In). We were walking the streets around 2am and we come across a cat hanging out on the front of a brownstone. He was smoking and we started talking. We ended up buying bag of pot from him. He also pulled out another joint and fired it up and then passed to us. After smoking it he told us it was laced with crack. There was only one other time that I was that high and that is the show I wrote yesterday saying I would write about it next year on anniversary of show. We were so incredibly high, that at 3am on a packed subway, New Yorkers were freaking out watching us. It was a ball. I have posted about that night a couple of times here with a lot more detail. So somewhere summer/fall 86 was my last ride. Not sure of timing, remember the party but not the time. Know it was shorty after NYC August 86, but then when was the crack house event...timing of Jerry getting sick. It is all a big blur now. But dang, that feeling of doing two quarter gram lines up each nostril was absolutely amazing. That is, a buddy of mine took a gram divided into four lines and each took two.

Hmmm, I do remember an ear nose and throat doctor soaking my throat with cocaine before she sent a camera up my nose and down my throat. That was 2004, so I guess that counts too.

Everything has its purpose but all things in moderation. Guess that is why I never crossed the line and became an addict to anything.
September 13, 2023 - 7:43am

#495

Sixtus_

Joined:
November 8, 2014

Goose at the Boston Pavilion

...headed to Goose the next two nights at the seaside pavilion in Boston; looks iffy with thunder expected for most of this afternoon/evening, but tomorrow looks good. Will be the start of their Fall tour here before they head to Europe in November for the first time. I've been on this ride for the past 18 months or so, and I have to admit it's been amazing so far with no limits in sight. Each show is literally the best show you've seen, until the next one. Where have we heard that one before?? They are on a true roll. For any who may be skeptical, this is a full-hearted prompt to go and dip that toe into the waters to see what its all about. A lot of stuff on The Tube with a U, and Bandcamp has all of their shows and albums to listen for free (it's all also on Nugs).

Also saw that Phish announced their first festival in many years, holding a spot for next summer already.
In Delaware of all places!
Hey Garth, we're in Delaware....

Be Well People!
Sixtus
September 13, 2023 - 7:20am

#496

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Proudfoot

check DM.
September 13, 2023 - 7:05am

#497

Oroborous

Joined:
June 19, 2007

Toot toot totsie

No Bueno!

It was around, luckily we were too poor for that. (It was expensive then)
Occasionally, maybe for special occasions, or weddings or NYE etc, but fortunately only rarely.
If you’ve never, don’t bother.
September 13, 2023 - 6:58am

#498

Oroborous

Joined:
June 19, 2007

Sheik

My understanding is the Fillmore 71 tapes were chopped up to use for Skull Fuck and other things.
Supposedly that’s why they did Ladies and Gentlemen: to use the best of what was available…
September 13, 2023 - 2:25am

#499

daverock

Joined:
September 1, 2014

When your day is done..

Cocaine never appeared in my orbit when I was young, so I never took it either. I'm sure if it had appeared during my teens I would have had a dabble - I believed in living adventurously. I suppose I could have had a go later in life, but I never felt it was worth it, all things considered. I am not sure what the characteristics of a coke inspired jam would be.

I would watch a biopic of Jerry if it was on the telly. But I would have very, very low expectations.
September 13, 2023 - 2:02am

#500

sheik yerbones

Joined:
February 5, 2008

multitracks recordings

Recently listening to Three from the vault, St Louis 71, and Europe 72, I am just asking about the multitracks recordings if there is anything about Fillmore East 71 (a full show 27 or 29) or the final run at winterland in 74 (full show) - St louis is a good show but the sound is not as shining as the others. I return to the capitol 71 shows, they are so good, great shows as a quintet.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

Who's ready to boogie with a little Brent-era Grateful Dead from the Gateway to the West? DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 47 features the complete unreleased show from Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO, 12/9/79 and you're going to need stamina because this one is high energy from start to finish.

By the time December 1979 rolled around, Brent Mydland had fully cemented his place in the Grateful Dead canon with his twinkling keys, harmonic tenor, and songwriting skills. No more is that evident than at this show boasting 25 songs including soon-to-be classics from GO TO HEAVEN like "Alabama Getaway," "Don't Ease Me In," "Lost Sailor," and the Brent-penned "Easy To Love You." It's also packed with whirling takes on fan-favorites like "Brown-Eyed Women," "Shakedown Street," and "Terrapin Station." And you've never heard a 2nd set quite like this with eight songs before "Drums" including an improvised "Jam" launching from the end of "Saint Of Circumstance." It doesn't stop there though, with a blazing finale of "Bertha>Good Lovin'" and perhaps one of the best versions of "Don't Ease Me In" the band ever did play. We've rounded out Disc Three with an extra nugget from '79.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, this release was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

Back in time

Charley Patton

Robert Johnson

Leadbelly

Beatles at Cavern

GRATEFUL DEAD AT MAGOO'S PIZZA PARLOR

Son House

It was decades past his peak - one of the last performances he ever gave, I think - but I would loved to have seen Son House at the 100 Club in London during the summer of 1970. He was joined on harmonica by Alan Wilson on a couple of songs. Mesmerising. a great cd of this called "Delta Blues and Spirituals" came out twenty odd years ago.

To me Robert Johnson had more sensitivity, and a more highly developed sense of rhythm than earlier country blues singer/ guitarists. But there are many, many wonderful musicians from the 1920's and 30's that are worth checking out.

The Must See Shows

It is hard to nail down just one must-see show, so:
- Dylan goes electric at Newport
- Gram Parsons’ era Flying Burrito Bros
- Garcia & Saunders at Keystone
- Hank Williams (sober)
- Dylan & The Band 1974 Tour

Some great suggestions have been previously listed.

Rolling Thunder

Nick's choice led me to look up my Hughes Stadium Ft. Collins, CO show.
Apparently I have been conflating my two shows seen a year apart at that venue for years. I thought I had seen The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan on the same day. Turns out that Chicago/Beach Boys show at Hughes was 7-6-75 and Bob's Rolling Thunder (aptly named as it rained for that show) was 5-23-76. How in the world I ever thought Bob and the Beach Boys were on the same bill is laughable. But I have read that Bob claimed to be able to sing any Beach Boys song from memory and was a fan of Brian Wilson so maybe not that far fetched.
The Rolling Thunder Review was panned by some for the different arrangements but that's just "Judas" talk. He was always mixing it up and admired the GD for never playing a song the exact same way twice. My memory of the show is obviously a little mixed up but at the time I thought it was very cool and hip. Very long show with a helluva set list. I had just turned 19 and caught a ride with a neighborhood classmate from high school who was a cute little cheerleader and way above my pay grade and social group but she had a friend we could stay with in Ft. Collins and was willing to drive so away we went with three others. We camped in a side yard and were harassed at midnight by cops who said there was no camping allowed on city right of way (which we were not on) so we all packed back into the party house on the floor. It rained later so it worked out OK. I guess I can check out the show on video as it was filmed for the Hard Rain thing. Not sure I've ever watched it so thanks Nick for the reminder. Highlight for me at 19 was that little cheerleader riding on my shoulders so she could see as we were back around the 50 yard line. The rain had stopped, sun came out and a girl is riding my neck. Not bad!
Cheers

More Thunder

1st Show - The Rolling Thunder tour would have been great to see. A high school pal got to go and said it was awesome, for all the reasons you listed. I know film of the show you saw exists, but I’ve never seen it, and I’m not sure it is commercially available, save the Hard Rain soundtrack.

too many to name

I am quite pleased with all the shows I have seen. Still an acid test would be great, especially the one at Big Nig's house. Reading about that one over at (jerrygarcia's brokedown palaces) makes me wish I could have been there. Stones the same night, city on fire, (although Stones near San Jose?)!

OB

Great article on Panther, she is quite the work of art! Thanks! I am also on email list for Meyer Sound.

Quote from Article: Company founders John and Helen Meyer, who attended the final shows in San Francisco, celebrated their past relationships but also looked forward to new possibilities. “This final tour closes an important chapter in the story of the Dead in its many forms,” says Executive Vice President Helen Meyer. “But it’s not the end of the book. There’s still more to come, with the people and the music"

I am also on Meyer Sound's mailing list, need to see if Ultrasound has a mailing list.

My rocknroll fantasy: Work for Meyer or Ultrasound. Both engineering Monsters!

Thanks Mike

I'll look for that soundtrack.
Better check my collection first, lol.
Cheers
Just ordered newly reissued vinyl from RGM: Aereo-Plain by John Hartford.
Considered the first "newgrass" album by none other than Sam Bush.
"Without Aereo-Plain there would be no newgrass."
Has Vassar, Tut Taylor, Norman Blake, and Randy Scruggs on it.

Happy Birtbday Donna!....

....don't listen to the haters.

Donna

Love..."When a Man Loves a Woman." I very much enjoy her discussions on the documentary "Muscle Shoals." "From the Heart of Me" lyrics sound so close to what she described in the documentary. So a huge "Happy Birthday" to you this day. Been a while since I went to Muscle Shoals, wonder if you still live around there or hang around there...also loved her on "In the Ghetto" "Kentucky Rain" and "Suspicious Minds."

Saw the Swampers a few years back (like spring 2016, maybe 17) back when they played kind of ending show for/with Cowboy at a local watering hole. It was really good!

Happy Birthday, Donna!

Y'all be cool

Phish just announced....

....that their flood benefit shows this weekend at SPAC will be streamed for free.
Those nerds from Vermont are pretty cool.

Wie es geht...

Heading out to LA to see Metallica at SoFi Friday night. I'm not crazy about Pantera but I'm down to see Ed's kid again. He's a special one. Doing dumb tourist shit like hiking up to the Hollywood sign, hanging out at Capitol Records and getting loaded at the Rainbow. Hitting Norm's Rare Guitars. Say what you will, Hollywood is never boring.

Speaking as a dirty old man, Taylor Swift has really nice thighs. I'm not woke and I will not apologize for that, ever. Go ahead and cancel me I never cared about anyone who does anyway. About the highest backhanded compliment I can pay her. Actually, she seems like a decent human but the disconnect between my reality and her product is ocean-sized. The Swiftie phenomenon is just like Trumpism - there's nothing there but mass hypnosis and needy people needing to belong. That being said, I'd vote for her and her thighs to be President over Dump every time.

There's a "desert island top 5" going around another site I peruse. My biggest hang-up is, can one include box sets? Because if one was a) on a desert island, where does the electricity and playback apparatus come from? and b) I guess this assumes "name only 5 albums you can listen to for the rest of your life."

I think this puts box sets out... I mean, a 17 disc Dead box is kind of cheating, isn't it?

I'm going to cheat anyway, sort of, with my first pick which, by the way, would be the one Dead album I'd choose over all others ever if I could only have one. But it fits in a double wide cd case which is the limit for this exercise.

Desert island top 5:

Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead - Grateful Dead
Best of the Doors - The Doors
Aerosmith's Greatest Hits - Aerosmith
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

I think there's enough rock, enough jazz and enough space to get me through... hopefully I'll find a Wilson volleyball and learn to like eating fish before it's all said and done.

Peace.

\m/

Woke is a made up definition of the real meaning....

...."awake to social injustice and
racial persecution". I guess I'm woke. Poor me. How will I survive.
The GOP is too busy butting heads to even care.
Good for them I guess.
Anywho. Walking the dogs on a very nice evening here.
Ledded. I went and saw Metallica streamed live from a Dallas concert at a movie theater this past weekend. They are actually mixing up sets! And they've been practicing. Ignore Lars's tongue. Thank God it wasn't in 3D.
They played Leper Messiah and Orion. Always welcome. Enjoy Hollywood. Buy a flower from the street vendors. I did.

I "woke" today

Nyuk nyuk

labels

Labels, to me, always seem to devalue the people they are designed to describe.

Labels/ podcast geek fest

Yeah, so lame/limiting…
Over 60 years upon my head, and I’ve come to the conclusion there’s basically only two kinds of people in this world: aholes and folks who give a shit. Race, sex/gender, socio economic status, culture, all boils down to empathy and caring! All that hippie dippy cool GD cultural stuff.
I went to school, even a year of grad school, for Social research etc, and even with all their classifications and stratifications etc, that seems to be it, are you kind? Ole Hunter yet again!
Used to seem like most folks were more of the latter, nowadays, unfortunately, it seems like there’s more of the former?

GARY et el, calling all geeks!
You probably caught these, but I just checked out GOGD podcast fir first time yesterday, specifically the cool Long Strange Tech, parts 1 and 2 I think it was called? Holy guacamole Batman, good sheet Mon!
The Acid test Hug a cop episode was pretty fun too!

EDIT: Our very own Mary E talking with Jer on episode 2 of Long Strange Tech!

Metallica

Also uses a huge Meyer Sound sound system. Not sure why...It's not like they are trying to project halographic or as OB called them, I think, psycho-accoustics. Are they becoming a metal jam band?

When I hear or read the word "label"

I think of an old commercial jingle from childhood

"When it says Libby's Libby's Libby's
On the label label label
You will like it like it like it
On the table table table"

Advertising is a sinister business, I tell ya

At this moment in time

I wish each and every one of you a wonderful, fulfilling day.

And, as always, I say:

God bless the Grateful Dead

I live by the mantra....

....that if everyone listened to the Grateful Dead, it would be a nicer world in general. Remember. You will never regret being kind.

I am with VGUY

I am with Vguy. 100% sure my maker wants me to be a decent and kind human being. So yah I am going with that. Thx.

Oro and two people

Sweeney Todd says it best

Because in all of the whole human race
Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two
There's the one staying put in his proper place
And the one with his foot in the other one's face

Truth can be dark.

Luckily we're a cheery bunch :-)

Today’s Persistent Earworm

“Time Of The Season” by the Zombies.
Playing it twice in a row didn’t help. A somewhat spacey tune in just over 3 minutes.

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
– Winston Churchill
There is always two sides to a story, both worth hearing.

?/ ear worms

I always thought there was three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth somewhere in the middle ; )

RIPPLE, in still water, when there is no pebble tossed.
I’ve always felt like folks would go to a dead show or two or six, and then take that loving, peaceful easy feeling and spread it round out in the world, like that ripple in still water. Consciously or not, it always felt like that group consciousness we’d get at shows would be integrated into the world at large. Might be real subtle but it felt real…
Now I know this will sound goofy to some, but it seemed like after JG passed, and those big waves stopped going out into the world, the world seemed to step up its pace down the road that has proceeded and increased into much of the darkness that is prevalent today. It’s not like black or white, but subtle. I mean how many million? people a year (in the nineties anyway) per year, times 30 years experienced the Dead. Obviously not all we’re changed/influenced, but I’m sure the percentage was very high. So it’s not crazy to think that all those folks taking that “it” with them back out into the world, could have helped balance some of that negativity/darkness, even if just a little, then…..poof
Like what Mickey spoke of at the last Fare Thee Well show…

Speaking of ear worms, thanks for putting that in our head all day PF, lol

Mike that is Weird

That song has been in my head today. Did someone post a few days back about it? Did I see some music documentary, like on AXS TV, that talked about the Zombies? I am pretty sure on the second question but will have to go backwards to go forwards on the first question. Meaning, I am pretty sure I saw something on AXS TV.

Dennis

This place always makes me feel better. Thanks to all (Or almost 100% all)!
Making me Smile right now!

Gary, That is Very Weird

I can only think I heard a snippet on the radio or something, or read something. That’s the thing about earworms - they come and go in their own time.
But very weird we get the same one at the same time. Now, about those winning lottery numbers…

Sweeny Todd....

....what an incredible movie. Big Burton/Depp fan here. I need to revisit that one.

1995 praise

5 28 95

good stuff so far:

Jack Straw
Let It Grow
Crazy Fingers -> Corinna (yes, Corinna) -> Drums -> Space -> (time will tell)

I busted out my Spring '90 box....

....going with 3.19.90 Hartford Civic Center.
Did not peak at the set list.
Hell In A Bucket raging right out of the gate. Coincidence??
Oh, and the bottom of the box tore on the edges on both sides. First world problems lol. Got glue?
I am a Corinna fan yes. And I was at that Portland Meadows show Stoltz. Chuck Berry bitches! That was the first one. It was the better of the two and the fraying of the edges of the Persian rug was becoming apparent at that point in time. But goddamn if I didn't enjoy the ride.
Damn. They were on 🔥 in 1990. ❤️ the second set Cumberlands. Kudos to whoevers idea that was.
33 years later, Brent's We Can Run....still applies.

Box Of Rain opened the second set of Hartford....

....happy happy, joy joy.

Can of earworms

Little willy willy won't
Go home
Cause you can't push willy 'round
Willy won't go
Try telling everybody but
Oh no
Little willy willy won't
Go home

How Sweet

It seemed to me at the time - 1975-1995 roughly, that listening to The Dead had a very positive effect on my life, and did influence the way I worked in my own very different sphere. But that influence came from listening to their records - on my own. Specifically, Anthem and Live Dead for the emphasis on improvisation, mind expansion etc, and American Beauty - for obvious reasons. I don't think seeing them live influenced me a jot though.

Oh Vguy :-(

Hate to disagree, but the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version of Sweeney Todd sucked big moose dick!!!

I don't and never will understand why you make a musical with people who can't sing!!! My Fair Lady anyone?

Just for arguement sake I saw the original cast twice on Broadway. Johnny who?

And the very worst part, the unforgiveable part, is that they cut the first act ending song, A Little Priest!!! Arguably the BEST song of the show.

Now take this Burton/Depp abortion of a movie and never darken my doorway again with this kind of talk!

:-)

Dennis

Rex Reed has got nothing on you, Dennis!

Sweetness

Ha, I knew Dennis was gonna say that lol
Don’t be messin with D trains musicals ; )

DR: I think it was more about the group consciousness obtained from being with all those like minded people, especially when so many were in a “heightened” state of consciousness, all extremely focused on the same thing, and the emotional influences of the music, and how it was taking place in that particular time and space…
It’s a sociological phenomena that can be experienced in similar ways among any large, like minded crowd.
A football stadium full of rapid fans for instance, though their group consciousness is probably not expanded in the same positive way exactly. From what you’ve described of your limited show experiences I fear you missed some of that? Getting snockered on depressants in the balcony and passing out probably didn’t facilitate this experience, but I’m sure many people go just to listen to music, not experience it on another level.
Like, it doesn’t matter what you ware, just as long as you are there …it’s a about tge overall experience as much as tge music, if that makes sense?
OK, this isn’t coming out right, it’s too early to think this much lol, somebody who “knows”, please help us out here, or DR is gonna take this all wrong and we don’t want that…

How bout,

My baloney has a first name
It’s O S C A R
My baloney has a second name it’s
M E Y E R …
Ha take that PF! ; )

Group conciousness

Oro - yes, I think I know what you mean. I have experienced being in large crowds of people at celebratory events, although the 5 Dead shows I saw didn't quite affect me like that. When I was very young, still a child, seeing Manchester United, when George Best and Denis Law were still playing was amazing. I had never been amongst such a large crowd, and had only seen football on a tiny little black and white television-so the colours and sound of the crowd, even before the players came, out was amazing.
In my mid teens, the early rock concerts I saw had an energy about them - again incredible volume, power, songs I liked, and a sense of having found "my people". Of all bands, Black Sabbath were maybe the most like that -a truly joyous occasions. You'd never guess it, just listening to the albums. Seeing The Stones had that vibe for me, too.

It can also go badly wrong, of course, this group mind thing, as I am thinking about it. Gangs of people have committed all sorts of crimes and atrocities that individually they would never have done otherwise.
I also often have a tendency to stand outside things I am a part of - and maybe that happened when I was on my own at the Dead shows. When I wasn't on my own, I was falling out with my girlfriend or some damn thing. I really enjoyed the shows - but the most pleasure I have had listening to the Dead wasn't actually at live shows, but has been at home. Long may it continue !

Well Done DR!

Yes that’s it. And I didn’t mean to insult you or sound elitist, it’s just your descriptions of your live Dead experiences, compared to as you say other concerts etc, made me think you unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy the full Monty.
Again, no offense but I imagine seeing them under less than ideal circumstances in England, probably was not the same as tripping in the dust with several tens of thousands of dancing freaks all peaking simultaneously with the band and song, at say Hampton, or Philly, oye all that positive energy…
The example that immediately pops into me noggin is the Shakedown from 6/30/85.
I can still see and feel the multiple peaks that rolled through the dust stomping crowd completely being driven by the music. Basically, like 30k people having a simultaneous orgasm!
But you understand the point, and it’s awesome that you get some of that from just the music, but I’m bummed for you that you may not have gotten the full Dead experience.

EDIT: I guess what I’m saying is, take what you felt at those other powerful large group experiences, and multiply it logarithmically….tripping on the floor at a smoking GA Dead show back in the day was like a playoff football stadium all tripping, at tge peak of the game…. times 11! And even Nigel can’t go above 11 ; )

Sweeney Todd

Answer is? Jersey Girl

Dammit

Little Willy, go home now...

Group consciousness

It depends a lot on the group. Audiences in England are far more reserved than their American counterparts. As a result there is far less of a sense of being part of a group. That doesn't mean that English audiences don't appreciate the music, rather there is less of a vibe from the audience to pick up on.

Group consciousness

I would definitely agree that American audiences are more expressive than British ones, going off those 3 Dead concerts at Wembley in 1990. It was quite surprising to me how vocal many of them were in there appreciation of the music. Nothing wrong with that at all, either - just different.

There are also, of course, exercises in group consciousness that have nothing to do with sport or music. Group meditation sessions can give you a feeling of being at one with the other participants. Whether that is imaginary or not, I couldn't say. One of my friends recently told me he once went on a Buddhist Retreat, in which all the residents were completely silent for the week they spent together. He reckoned that after a few days, he could tell what people were thinking without talking. Again, I don't know how true that was.

Oro - no offence at all in what you say. Always good to chew the fat, as they say.

Agreed, both of you

Yeah, that was my guess as I’ve unfortunately never been to England.
Just thought from all I’ve heard/read that it’s definitely more outwardly reserved there, but of course jumping around like an idiot doesn’t mean yer getting “it” lol In the old days it was definitely more inward. As the crowds grew, that wasn’t necessarily the case. More doesn’t mean better lol.
I guess I mean that as our friends across the pound didn’t get to see as many shows, or travel around with the touring city, (we are everywhere is probably something folks here understand) and deal with redneck ahole cops who wipe their arse with the constitution, or experience days or weeks at a time camping/partying etc, massive Shakedown streets etc, the WHOLE GD experience, experienced from the ground up, versus “going to a concert”, you might not have been able to fully “understand”.
Now I’m not suggesting you HAD to experience all that to understand, just think there’s a socialization that perhaps was different and not as prevalent over there? Just a band/music, and not as much a way of life , and so all the years, milage, adventures, good and bad, perhaps might foster a different kind of knowing?
An Experiential knowledge perhaps, more than just a interested fan, or someone with only unbridled enthusiasm!
Perhaps more like the knowledge obtained from being in a war on the front lines, versus just studying it, or being on the periphery?

Oro and Jingles

The current Burger King commerical.... don't know how they get away with it....

BJ have it your way....

Dennis

Brilliant, never put that 2gether!!! Except its BK isnt it??? "You rule!"

haha got me.

Ooohhh that Dennis….

He’s a rascally rascal ; ) one might even say a menace yuck yuck. Get it? ; )
My gutter mind didn’t catch it at first either lol
See what you started PF!

Corinaaaaaaaaa Cori Sha Sha

Like a wart, it grew on me. My fav is 5-26-93, but admittedly I rarely dive deep and compare.

Going in to check out 5-28-95; you always steer me right Stoltzie!

How about your fav? Any recommendations?

Corrina

I always dug the version on The Other Ones’ release “The Strange Remain”. Like a pot simmering and boiling up…

That Mike and Zombies

I am pretty sure in the last 2 weeks I saw a documentary on psychedelic music on AXS tv. I think they may have said that Time of the Season was the first psychedelic hit. To me that doesn't sound right, I mean Magical Mystery Tour was already out. This show is done by a group out of England. They are interesting to listen to, but I question them some. On their show about psychedelia, they followed ELP, the Moody Blues, and one other, maybe Zombies. But yet, no mention of the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and for me the Allman Brothers Band. But it is odd, that we had the same song going thru our heads at the same time. According to my Chinese take-out the lotto numbers should be 07-11-67-64-69.

Edit: Sgt. Peppers brain fog

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