Grateful Dead

It might not be true, but was there once a suggestion that Paul McCartney got the idea for the Magic Mystery Tour after hearing about the pranksters bus trip of 1964 ? I seem to remember reading that he got the idea after visiting the Dead's house early 1967 - but again, I'm not sure where I read it, or if there is any truth in it. Not influenced by The Dead as such, but edging into the territory. Briefly.

That S.F. Blues festival sounds alright! When did that take place? I only ever went to one blues festival, at a place called Bishopstock round about the year 2000. It was the last one of a series of festivals held there. This one had a bit of conflict, unfortunately. Henry Townsend and David "Honeyboy" Edwards - both in their 90's - were supposed to be appearing, but couldn't make it. Courtney Pine played instead, filling in for them, and got booed off ! Johnny Winter was supposed to be headlining, but he couldn't play through illness, although he had the grace to come out on stage and explain. He shouldn't have bothered - he go booed off too ! Bastards. Still - I did see Booker T. and the MGs, Taj Mahal and the discovery of the whole event, the great Michael Messer. It was the last festival I ever went to.

The S.F. Blues Festival was the best! I went to a lot of them saw some great musicians. It was a fantastic party! I really miss it.

SF Blues Festival.

Saw a few mentions of it, and this time of year would have been when.

A raise of the glass to it. Talking to a fellow music lover one time about Blues Festivals and he described the SF Blues Festival as the "real one".

I made many, many years in a row; can't remember the number. Another great tradition fading into memory. These things move on and change. So many greats and the wonderful opportunity to learn about new bands that were around but you never quite caught up with. Sometimes bands you heard of but did not see. So often, you would come away with new music to follow. All part of the journey.

Always a great day in the City during a great time of year....warm, sunny days, cool nights to sleep well. Like going to Shoreline, getting sunburnt and reaching for your sweatshirt by the end of the night.

Lennon attended a Legion of Mary show at the Bottom Line NYC 11/5/74 and hung out with Garcia and band backstage. There was a photo of Lennon outside the venue published in Cash Box. And as it turns out there is literally an audience tape of the show where Lennon can be heard commenting on the music. Search for - fate music: between the bottom lines - for a recent (2023) fascinating deep history post on this at the former JGMF blog. It's been recounted elsewhere with varying memories as to what went down and vague/incorrect dating (e.g. Blair Jackson's Garcia: An American Life.) A piece in jam base has some further insights.

This Mike - McCartney had done a very short documentary called “Grateful Dead” in 1995, which was a feature of all Linda McCartney’s pics of the band, from her Linda Easton - Photojournalist days. I’ve never seen it, and I believe it was likely released for copyright purposes on the pics, because I’ve never read one word by him talking about the Dead. Doesn’t mean he didn’t like them, but never a shout out or a pic in Rolling Stone or Creem I ever saw of him with any of them.

Pardon my ignorance, but is there any evidence (pictures, audio, film footage) of any of the Dead meeting any of the Beatles? My memory fails me. I assume someone will show me a picture, and I will say, "Of course, I knew that!"

Lets hope they had back up cassettes so we might one day get a box set. We saw Bill Graham at the S.F. Blues Festival right before this run started, we thought about asking him for some tickets, but we chickened out.

Wish I coulda been there

10/14/80....whaddya say, Dave?

Dave sez, "Not bloody likely!"

(Conjecture, yes.)

A less than prescient lyric from The Clash ‘no Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1977’! No need to identify the track since it’s in the extract.
First heard of The Beatles from my brother who saw them many times in Liverpool and I read about them in Merseybeat. Then they signed with EMI and put out ‘Love Me Do’ and I realised a new era had begun. I heard a lot of the early rock and roll as a child because my brother and his friends had lots of singles.

Beating Billy The Kid to the punch with this one!
I remember walking in the theater, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the acoustic set up on stage. Ushers handed everyone a sheet of paper with the lyrics to Ripple. I was in the perfect "mood".
I think it was the first extended Deal by the Dead. A very exciting night, and a great show.
Had balcony row M seats for that show, and the next 10 I attended.