Grateful Dead

Ja, gerne!!!

I just wanna bang on the drum(s) all day"

Billy and the Kids are playing at the Santa Barbara Bowl on November 2nd. I'm in.

For me greatest sound they got was with the two drummer from late1967 - 1970, and then with just Bill up to the end of 1974. I don't think it worked so well with two drummers after Mickey returned, unfortunately.
Ironically, just as Mickeys arrival helped them to become more adventurous in 1967, so his return in 1976 seemed in part to lead them to becoming more pedestrian.
The only time it made sense to me, having two drummers post 1976, was during the drum solo section late in the second set, which did seem to improve as years went by. That and space was the highlight of 11/1/90 at Wembley - you could feel it in your bones.

Cap Center: Landover, MD.

Beginning of 2nd set - Happy Birthday tuning, then Phil "Happy Birthday Mick!"

Nice - had a long visit that night with Bozo the Clown - tasty!

So Happy Birthday Mick!

Buddy Guy - have seen 3 times. Twice in late 1990's as my friends were opening for him. And then last year. He put on a great show last year but was way more ferocious in the 1990's. He buggied and funked more. I assume he may still drink like he used to. In the 1990's 2 bottles of Crown heading into and thru show.

BTW, old friends are touring again, writing new material, maybe a phoenix rising! May go see them here locally in October in local music hall. Should sell out...1,250 folks@ $40 a ticket...nice!

....no excuse to forget it.

I've become quite partial to the one drummer years myself, 74 being a high water mark to me. Like I said, grew to appreciate Billy over time. I really like what they were able to do from 71 through 74.

In a way, we are privileged to have all the different versions of the Grateful Dead we had. They all had their mystic powers and they created their own groove.

to me, Mickey is to drums what Jerry was to music, totally Intune with the cosmos. Love ya Mickey, get that Mickey Hart Band back together from 2012, Happy B day.

I knew that, I was just teasing ; )
But congrates to you both, happy anniversary!
Sounds like you didn’t forget either, always a plus lol

Yeah Mickey made a huge impact early on.
But I probably dig the Mickless years best?
No offense to him, just 4 or 5 piece has always been my preferred musical line up, though of course exceptions to every rule etc.
But for a long time, I didn’t like the first post hiatus years partially because it felt like they were trying to outdo each other more than gel? Eventually they worked it all out again and perhaps with age mellowed a bit so that in the 80s onward they were more like one big beast again instead of 2 young males trying to have a contest.
Funny, Billy discusses all this in his book…
I think the technology helped too. I know not everyone agrees, but I felt like everything, but especially the drums and bass sounded much better later because of the tech and mics etc.
In the last years, and post JG years, Mick and the drums/space were often the highlight of the show. Totally felt that way sometimes with D&C, though this year everyone was killing it!
Sometimes I even feel that I like Micks solo albums the best too. Definitely an interesting, informative guy who I hope can keep busy and keep going furthur!

Jim: wow, that’s pretty cool story. Can’t imagine being some young Beavis and Butthead like dude and having Mickey coming by to hang with your old man! I love this shit, this is the stuff that makes being a DH so fun.

I've been listening to my records mainly in the last week or so - 3/1/69 and Dicks 26 - featuring 4/26 and 4/28/ 69 got a spin over the weekend. Incredible power Mickey added to the band. There were a few other factors involved, but to me they improved beyond recognition once he joined.