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    Anyone who has ever seen the Dead can testify that one of its shows will add quite a bit of color to the environment here at Stanford. Anyone who has not seen one of these spectacles should have the opportunity to do so. The Grateful Dead are an important part of the Bay Area's cultural history. Those of us who saw them last week can testify that the Dead are alive and well. The Concert Network would be hard-pressed to find an act which would bring Frost Amphitheatre to life as the Dead would. - The Stanford Daily

    As you know by now, we'd certainly have voted aye on this motion, so much so, that we've loaded up DAVE'S PICKS 49 with not one, but two complete Grateful Dead shows from the Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 4/27/85 and 4/28/85. The first shows from '85 in the series, these back-to-back hometown performances couldn't be more different while delivering the same level of passion and precision, five hours of it, in fact.

    In 1985, the band were celebrating "20 Years So Far," a feat that found them on these particular nights confident with invention in terms of both setlists and playing. There are old songs renewed, rare covers revived, undeniably nuanced Jerry moments, and a few surprises from Brent Mydland too. While it's impossible to select highlights, we can say with certainty that the overall clarity of these shows is unparalleled, courtesy of Dan Healy's recordings.

    Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 49: FROST AMPHITHEATRE, STANFORD U, PALO ALTO, CA 4/27/85 & 4/28/85 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering.

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  • daverock
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    Bluesman

    HF - absolutely. None of us were there at the time, and it's curious why we believe what we do. Apart from the Buddy Guy documentary, I read a great biography of Howlin' Wolf last year by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman. "Moanin' at Midnight" it's called. The references to Willie Dixon suggest he was quite astute in his business dealings and approach. Drummer Francis Clay says that Willie was basically a lyricist and the music was constructed by the bands who made the records.
    "Spoonful" is a case in point. Is he credited with that one? It was based on a Charley Patton song, and the incredible power of the original Howlin Wolf record is down to Wolf and his amazing band. Jimmy Rodgers also states that Willie took ownership of many songs that were actually band compositions.
    But this is only what I have read - and those people mentioned above may be wrong. But the more you read, the more a picture builds that all wasn't quite what we have been led to believe.

  • Jambry
    Joined:
    First time disappointed…

    First time disappointed. Weak sounding sonically. Can't really get into it.

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    Good Context HF

    Mine was a generalization based on comments read elsewhere and was wrong. I think the key is that this was a common practice in the era and I sure can't judge the man. His writing stands up to the scrutiny and is a brilliant style all its own. Jump on in, the water's fine!
    I do like Eternity, which is likely not everyone's favorite 90s GD cover but I never really cared for The Same Thing for some reason. Spoonful is a classic no doubt.
    Cheers

  • hendrixfreak
    Joined:
    Honestly, maybe I stand corrected...

    I base my (possibly half-assed) view of Willie Dixon on the turns of phrase in "his" songs. That and I guess I just flat-out revere the man. The turns of phrase in the tight glove of chord progressions and turnarounds sure seems to me like a unique signature belonging to the man.

    But others here say otherwise. I therefore propose that all differences of opinion get a fair hearing, a little mutual head-nodding, and then progress to the bar after the pause that refreshes in the parking lot.

    1stShow, I will henceforth listen first, do a cannonball into the pool second.

  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    Angry Jack, hitch hiking to music

    It's all good, just wanted to comment about changing cultural demographics and highway system as relating to hitchhiking. Transition to Vermont from Maine in late 1980, soon after the Lewiston Dead show, had a car then, but did hitch hike late 60s and through the mid 1970s up and down the east coast from Virginia to Maine. Some great rides, some sketchy. Hitch hiked around Maine locally from Portland to Augusta and along the coast in the 70s, easy with significant population. Long a music lover, saw an incredible range of music in Maine in the 70s, after moving to Vermont, Burlington was big beacon, the only urban city in the state, though Rutland, Montpelier, Brattleboro came close. We went up to Burl for much music, mostly at Hunts but did see Miles at The Flynn in 1986. What continues to impress me is the amazing amount of hyperlocal high level performance thats out there, I had written more detail but got the hey now, so...

  • uncle_tripel
    Joined:
    classic blues...

    songwriters, and well, those musicians, guitarists, vocalists and arrangers from the 1930's thru the 1960's, man, oh man they greased the skids for the future of rock n roll! thanks everyone for talkin' about the artists willie dixon and chester burnett, gonna have to cue -up some of those classics!

    Rhythm and Blues had a child, and it's name was Rock n Roll!

    peace all!
    uncle_tripel

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    I have a grand-daughter....

    ....who loves Alice In Chains.
    She rocks.

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    Decided to...

    have virgin listen of 49 on road trip later this month

    I feel like Newman with his jambalaya

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    And now....

    A song JGB should have covered

    Rock and Roll with Me - David Bowie

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    BOC....

    ....Imaginos.
    I have it on CD. Worth a little bit apparently.
    Then again, peeps are selling Dead tapes on Instagram.
    Not. For. Sale.

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3 years 6 months

Anyone who has ever seen the Dead can testify that one of its shows will add quite a bit of color to the environment here at Stanford. Anyone who has not seen one of these spectacles should have the opportunity to do so. The Grateful Dead are an important part of the Bay Area's cultural history. Those of us who saw them last week can testify that the Dead are alive and well. The Concert Network would be hard-pressed to find an act which would bring Frost Amphitheatre to life as the Dead would. - The Stanford Daily

As you know by now, we'd certainly have voted aye on this motion, so much so, that we've loaded up DAVE'S PICKS 49 with not one, but two complete Grateful Dead shows from the Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 4/27/85 and 4/28/85. The first shows from '85 in the series, these back-to-back hometown performances couldn't be more different while delivering the same level of passion and precision, five hours of it, in fact.

In 1985, the band were celebrating "20 Years So Far," a feat that found them on these particular nights confident with invention in terms of both setlists and playing. There are old songs renewed, rare covers revived, undeniably nuanced Jerry moments, and a few surprises from Brent Mydland too. While it's impossible to select highlights, we can say with certainty that the overall clarity of these shows is unparalleled, courtesy of Dan Healy's recordings.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 49: FROST AMPHITHEATRE, STANFORD U, PALO ALTO, CA 4/27/85 & 4/28/85 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering.

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8 years 5 months
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One of These Days>Other One

Thanks for the reminder. A lot of the time I miss the dates of anniversaries. So this is a huge one!

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9 years 3 months

In reply to by nitecat

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Seem to recall Dan may have switched over to recording to Digital video tape. Wonder because the sound is excellent!

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5 years 7 months
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That is a fantastic GD cover idea!! I can hear the band going to town on that

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by jonathan918@GD

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....they did cover The Clash's I Fought The Law. IMO, not one of their best songs.
I can see Brent singing that one though. Hell yeah.
I was on Tickmaster ten minutes prior to Dead & Co tix going on sale.
After thirty minutes of stupid futility, my blood pressure told me, "Log off. Move on." Bastards.
Back in my day, the fans that wanted good seats camped out at Tower Records at 6 AM. Simpler times for sure.

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3 years
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51 years ago today I wasn't at Maples Pavillion, but my brother sure was, and he had a blast. Its not if this show gets released , but when will it be released.

Last time I lined up for tickets was November 1982 for the Who? Like seeing Rolling Stones on their first final tour in 1981, this was the Who?s first final tour. They played the same cities as their 1967 debut tour. And yes, it was an exceptional concert. You can look it up, but they only played about 36 or dates.

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10 years 2 months
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UPS answer to being too busy for small packages. UPS claims 49 was handed off to USPS, but USPS is not acknowledging that. It has helped the USPS bottom line but worse for us unfortunately. Been getting slower and slower after the handoffs the last two years. Gets rerouted 5 hours drive away to the Denver hub when it was only 1 hour away on day 3. On day 15 now.
Cheers

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The Dead shoulda covered Blitzkrieg Bop. You know Weir would've been up for it. Probably Mickey too.

But seriously now. I've often thought the Dead did too many covers, not too few. Especially in the later years. Especially since we're talking about a band with one of the all time great songwriting teams in Garcia-Hunter. (And Weir Barlow being non-slouches, too.) There were many Dead-penned tunes that never got played enough. Mountains of the Moon, Mason's Children, Till the Morning Comes, to name just a couple. Why yall playing Louie Louie, fer chrissake, when you coulda pulled out Mission in the Rain?

Pigpen's blues tunes don't count as covers cuz Pig owned 'em.

I'm not a robot!

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11 years 7 months

In reply to by Crow Told Me

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Hey Ho, Mr. Crow. THANKS for saying something I have struggled to stifle. Bout the latter period songs. One of the things that made the Dead so special were their own songs, lyrics and music like no one else. Sure, I like Chuck and Bobby songs, little red roosters, but hey now.

....Little Bunny Foo Foo.
Frost Amphitheater. 5.3.87.
I mean, it's not Iron Butterfly, but what is?
It's a full blown cover. Not a finiculi finicula or Mexican hat dance tune up.

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10 years 2 months
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My favorite tuning ditty. Followed by:
Finiculi Finicula (fully developed one on this week's Taper's Uptown '78)
Hideaway
Beer Barrel Polka
I'm sure there are rarities as well.
Cheers

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7 years 8 months
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I don't think it's really "censorship," as I too have had posts rejected that contained nothing profane or even controversial... it's just some weird filter they've employed that's 'orribly inefficient and damnable.

We'll see if that last word makes it through.

I got the Chefs on Sunday... the Niners are the better team on paper, but the game ain't played there. They haven't been for four years and most of the players have never been on a stage this big. The Chefs on the other hand are used to the limelight. Add the Swiftie factor... I sense a happy Hollywood ending for all but the most ardent San Fans.

Got our tickets to see D&C at the big black ping pong ball... I see some fool just scaled the outside of it and did like $100k in damage breaking off lights for footholds. It won't be long now before they dig a moat around it.

Enjoy the "big game" everyone! We're having HoneyBaked ham (weird, I know, but a guest insists on bringing it for some reason), tons of chips and dips and just total crap food... I'll be pouring Basil Hayden smoked old fashioneds for anyone who wishes to thusly slake their thirst.

Last five:

Eric Clapton - Forever Man (listen in progress!)
Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 50 (advance copy!)
AC/DC - '74 Jailbreak
Meat Puppets - Too High to Die
The Police - Certifiable (live)

Peace

\m/

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10 years 2 months

In reply to by daverock

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Has just been delivered. And very handsome it looks too. Immediately noticeable is the bold claim on the sticker that it "Includes Previously Unreleased Material". How exciting ! Looking closer, and getting my old cd out, it seems that the jam going into "The Other One" labelled "Jam" on both editions has been expanded from 8 mins 11 secs to 13 mins 8 secs and "Weather Report Suite" has been expanded from 15 mins 56 secs to 17 mins 26 secs. How about that?
The red on the cover is a bit smudgy - ask me if I'm bothered.

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1 year 2 months
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Hello all - going through all my stuff - I found disc 2 and 3 of Dicks 17. No cover, but if someone wants this - send me a few words.. BW

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3 years
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Death dont have no mercy, Sitting on top of the world , Sing me back home, I wish those 3 songs would have stayed in the Dead's lineup.

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7 years 10 months
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Hello 1stshow, oh man, I had a sinking feeling last week when you were posting about how your delivery of 49 kept being pushed back by one day. Because what you described is exactly what happened to me with my Vol 46. In short, UPS said it was handing the package to USPS, but USPS said they never got it. So the tracking went into a sort of idle/default mode, pushing the delivery date out each evening, and I sat there for a week thinking, "welp, tomorrow..."

But tomorrow never came. That package never arrived. I even went down to my local post office at UPS' suggestion. Then began lots of back-n-forth with dead dot net reps - I think Monique was one of them, and these folks are SLOW; getting a reply took a week typically. But I waited patiently, expecting they'd finally do right by me, and a few weeks later I finally got them to ship me a replacement package.

And then *the same thing happened again!* It got to the same UPS depot, in roughly the same time, and it vanished. At that point I concluded that someone was stealing these packages; I don't think it's possible for lightning to strike the same way twice.

Getting it fixed took a deus ex machina. I tried and tried but customer service just basically abandoned me (edit: or at least, that is what it felt like after 6-7 weeks of this.) Finally I managed to reach the good Mr. Lemieux, who made a call to Rhino. By this point what had begun in May had now reached the 4th of July weekend. But despite the holiday, later that same day I got an email from "Mac" at Warner Brothers. I don't recall his exact title but iirc he was basically head of customer support. He placed a copy into a brown bubble mailer and sent it to me personally. That's how this got resolved. He also refunded me. And someone at dead net comp'd me - I think they said "pick an item of similar value" so I picked a Bear's Choice t-shirt and gave it away as a gift.

It all worked out but I don't think I've ever had to send that many emails and DMs to get something delivered. I was on the verge of canceling my sub. But then Dave stated that #49 was to be from 1985, and he roped me right back in...

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Despite your incredible trials and tribulations I am encouraged.
Cheers

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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As great as they are, You play the same songs 60-100 nights a year for thirty years, your gonna need something fun and different sometimes…
I know I needed em and I only saw them like 10 times a year!

EFFIN USPS! I hear ya guys, it’s complete BS. I bet they don’t do the handoff scan on purpose, for many reasons, paramount being that if they loose it, they don’t have to be accountable!

Due to the limited numbered BS, I bet somewhere, some POS is stealing…

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15 years 2 months
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An unforgettable vocalist with Can.

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by Colin Gould

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Same MO guys last couple years.
Gets to Denver lickety split via UPS, hands off, but USPS doesn’t scan to receive, probably on purpose, then instead of usually arriving in a few days per tracking, it disappears with no way to track? Fortunately, it’s alway showed up eventually. But why should loyal customers have to be stressed out about this?

I’d gladly pay extra for full UPS straight to our door…
EDIT: the Other One said they told her it’s because of contracts, Booooo!

I would not be surprised if people are stealing DaP’s as they pass through distribution centers.
Little white boxes that say Grateful Dead on them.
Box Sets are even easier to identify due to the artwork on the package. But harder to steal due to the size.

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14 years 11 months
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I think that was an original by The Bobby Fuller Four, Jerry was a big fan, check him out, one of those rock mysteries that might never be solved.

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by PT Barnum

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Unfortunately, I think your right about the game….

I fought the Law. Originally by the Crikets with Sonny Curtis after Buddy Holly died. The Bobby Fuller cover of the song became the first biggest hit of it.
I only know cause I’ve been looking it up and listening to different versions since it came up here lol.

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by Oroborous

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FYI, playing 3/4&6 with the Q, and 13, 15&16 with others?
At the Capitol of course.

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7 years 9 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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I am glad you saw the overall tone as hopeful... I know it could be seen as just complaining, and admittedly at the time it felt kinda rough bc everyone else was enjoying their Hollywood Palladium '72. But gradually I began to use the delays as an excuse to play other Sept '72 stuff that I had slept on. And everything worked out in the end.

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by Obeah

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....gonna store that tidbit of information in one of my memory holes.
Saw one of the teams bus convoys yesterday while running errands. Police escorted even. The teams are staying literally four miles away from where I'm typing this.
I don't like either team. However, I have two granddaughters that like Taylor Swift like I like The Dead.
So......go Swifties!
They even understand the basic rules of football because of her.
Something I failed at teaching them lol.

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10 years 2 months
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It'll be even sweeter for the waiting. I wrote a lot more but got HEY'D. And if worse comes to worst I'll bet someone will burn it for me, lol. This community is the best!
Cheers

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14 years
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New Dead Head TV video today on dreamswedreamed dot com:

Led principally by Bill Graham, this 22 minute press conference announced three simultaneous benefit concerts in Watsonville, Daly City and Oakland featuring Santana, Los Lobos, Paul Kantner, Steve Miller, Niel Young, Bonnie Raitt and more. Bill also announced that the Grateful Dead, unable to make that date, will hold their own Quake Relief Benefit Concert later in December.

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10 years 8 months
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When I "returned from the dead" I got three (admittedly) lengthy posts in with no problem. Then the Hey Now beast reared its head.

Let's see if this one makes it.

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11 years 3 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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Worse comes to worse, I got your back.
Peace

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10 years 2 months

In reply to by Colin Gould

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I was sorry to read of his recent passing on here. He was a great, and very original vocalist - one of a band rather than someone who was backed by one. All their 70's albums are worth checking out - "Tago Mago" still sounds otherworldly. "Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days" are also great ones which Damo participated on.

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14 years 11 months
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Yes, I remember when BFF had that hit, used to sing it on the way to school on the school bus, the bus driver reminded me of otto, kinda long haired and liked to play music, actually, it did help soothe the savage beasts who frequented the school bus. not me, of course....well, maybe a little bit

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by Oroborous

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Has postulated a theory: the whole TnT thing is all just a ploy to get Tay Tay the one feather in her cap she is thus missing…playing the Super Bowl! (with benefits of course ; )

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5 years 7 months
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Feels like spring here lately. Very nice, Indeed!

After some quality spins of #49, I broke out 4/7/72, at random.

The Boyz certainly came to play that April NIght!! Wozers!

rock on, gang!

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by jonathan918@GD

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....started going that rabbit hole yesterday.
Outstanding stuff.

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12 years 1 month
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Thoughts appreciated from anyone who’s been.

So at a Super Bowl gathering tonight a bunch of longtime friends, who have recently become Dead & Co. fans, want to go to a show at the sphere. Yes, the same friends who made fun of me for decades, now are converts. Naturally, I’ve been put in charge of getting tickets.

Ticket prices for the 200 level are twice that of the 300 level. Is it worth getting the lower level seats? Doesn’t seem like it to me. Thanks in advance.

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10 years 2 months
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Thank you buddy! Still think 49 is coming my way since my friend nearby in C.B. hasn't gotten his either.
Cheers

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4 years 1 month
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Otto is every school bus driver I ever had, I think. That's one great thing Simpsons characters: you always feel like "I know that guy!"

Like, when I lived in Missoula in the '80s, I knew Comic Book Store Guy. He was a cool guy to hang with, because he liked to get high and he had an amazing collection of records. Took up most of his two room apartment! He turned me on to a lot of jazz, including Monk and Dolphy, that I didn't know about at that time. But mostly he was cool (yea, "was," he's passed on) because of his wickedly ironic sense of humor.

One time we drove from Missoula to Bosie, for some reason. Shortly after leaving, we realized that one of the stereo speakers in the back of my Buick Riviera wasn't working. He decided we should listen to nothing but recordings from the '60s that had super wide stereo panning (you know, stuff with all the vocals on one channel, the other channel just guitar and drums etc). So we did. And hearing the one channel versions of stuff like the Byrds' Fifth Dimension or Rubber Soul was like hearing a completely new album.

At some point we were driving down a steep mountain grade and there was sign after sign that said "Watch for Runaway Trucks." So I said, "I wonder if runaway trucks are a problem here?" And he replied, in a voice that sounded EXACTLY like Comic Book Store Guy: "I believe runaway trucks are a problem wherever they occur."

Damn, I miss that dude.

Anyway ... yeah, it's amazing how many people who ragged me about loving the Dead way back when are now willing to pay major $$$$$$$ to see D&C. And meanwhile, I'm not all that interested! I mean, those guys are OK, but they are not the Dead. Not close, either.

Should I even try and post this? Seems certain to get Hey Now'd.

Last five:
Little Feat: Late Night Truck Stop
P-Funk: Detroit '77
Miles: Workin'
GOGD: Veneta
Sonny Rollins: Newk's Time

I am still not a robot.

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10 years 8 months
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Why do I keep denying it? The machines don't give one a chance to confess. I am a ROBOT. Let's be honest. "U.S. Blues" was way ahead of its time.

Nothing substantive to add. Just wanted to play with Hey Now!

HF

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