Grateful Dead

STRIDER: 2/18/71 is one of my all time favorite tapes.

Sorry for the double post.

Starting to have a hard time figuring out which show I should be posting about, but I saw two clear references to this one, so here's my 2 cents.

Sampled the GEMS, and the newest full length (?) master, but sticking with the powell-ladner shn. Even this, despite the constant hiss, sounds like there is some sort of filter compression of some kind. Still, I’ll take a bit a hiss to the muffled fluctuations of the noise-reduced alternatives. I’ve spent enough time listening to Nth generation tapes and incredible shows in horrendous sound quality, that this is no problem.

First impressions, very crisp. This impression may be enhanced by the compression of the tape source. Playin’ (not the song) is nice and crisp, too. Tight and professional as I’d expect from this era. Being an old soundboard it also feels kind of sparse without the air filling in the gaps, and the frequencies bouncing around off one another and blending in the venue. The isolation kind of feels lonely.

Ah, Box of Rain from back in the day. This is a treat.

Love that long, mellow Playin’ in the Band.

Been listening while doing work, so I’ll spare you the song by song impressions. Some of this is colored by the fact that I just listened to the raging Feb 6, ’69 Kiel show right before this.

Overall, low key, but solid, as I feel like I should expect from this period. Some interesting lyric alterations in a number of songs by both Jerry and Bobby. Early days in some cases, I think. Donna Jean seems to be fitting in nicely at this show, getting a bit more manic as the evening progresses, but seemingly in control of her voice. Fantastic set list. Casey Jones seems really early in the show. Love that little Jerry fill, Ga-get-get Ga-get-get, between vocal lines.

Right now checkin’ out this Greatest Story jam, which is something I’m not used to hearing. I was amazed when Jerry took a couple extra spacey choruses in the ’79 Goodbye to Keith and Donna show I wrote about most recently, but this is almost a certified jam, with Donna even piping in with some improvised vocal parts. Not sure I’ve ever heard a GSET get this far out… I mean, it’s not a Playin’ jam, but considering the song, this is pretty radical. Maybe I just haven’t heard enough of these early ones.

Good night to chill out and melt into your seat. Folding chairs and bleachers really would not cut it for the level of mellow they’re oozing out onto the crowd this lovely evening, though. I keep hearing some warm phaser-colored tones, but that may just be the condition of the tape. No, Bobby’s got some coloring effects on his guitar, I think.

My show, however, is interrupted before the He’s Gone jam gets going. Peeking at the set list now, mmmm… looking forward to continuation after a brief, but too long to post later because it seems like the topic will have changed, intermission.

Today would have been the 95th birthday of Neal Cassady. Yesterday was three years since John Perry Barlow checked out. Barlow died 50 years and three days after Cassady checked out. (2/4/68)
But all those cars Neal stole as a youth I can’t help but think, Neal Cassady didn’t die , he stole another body.
I’m giving Grateful Dead music a rest until February 18th, going to throw in my bid for 2/18/71 on its 50th anniversary. Excellent music should never be abused and relegated to background music. Smoking Ganga nonstop will send a person into the netherworld. Not stoned, not clear minded. Maybe dulled senses. Coastal fog. I try to keep my wits honed to a fine edge. CBD salve for pain is a different story.

Taaaaaasty

I think this one could end up in a May 1973 Box.... I haven't looked at the time length on all 3 of the shows but Kezar would have a tough time fitting on 3 Discs... So I don't see how it gets a Dave's release. But it you join them with 5/13/73 Des Moines and 5/20/73 . The sound clarity of the Betty Kezar show in my opinion is right there with 6/14 &15 1976 Beacons... Oh well.. Lots of snow here today in Rhode Island... Bob t

The weirder the better.

Decent sounding Miller....
Was @, but never heard, so why not.

AFTERWORD:
Glad I finally checked this one out. Kinda typical for the era; overall good, but, not, quite, iiiiitttt!
Set 2A seemed a bit subdued? Decent first set if not a tad brief...Awesome midi/space weirdness if your into that kinda thing. Decent set 2B with the BP being the highlight...
Remember really diggin space at these shows and Candace had what to us (me and the “20” year old), to be a giant amoeba, slowing inching across the ?upper seats behind the stage. We had great vantage being opposite, direct center from stage, in the lower section of upper , I think?
But both nights I believe she gave us that ole warm fuzzy glow during these big weirdness jams.
Like trippin without lol. 3/20/92 is definitely way better, but this one like many for us the last couple years, could be a bit subdued, with great moments, and awesome drumzspace....

Gary Snyder is 90 years old. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is 101. City Lights Bookstore in North Beach,San Francisco is such an awesome landmark and legacy. My last trip to the Bay Area was to attend the 50th anniversary of the occupation of Alcatraz. After being out on “the Rock” all day with my old friend Jeff we walked from the waterfront up through North Beach and stopped at City Lights and lo and behold a poetry reading was going to happen that night with the great beat poet and translator of Native American languages, Jerome Rothenberg. It was a wonderful reading. They also asked the audience to turn off cellphones.
Gary Snyder has always been a role model for me since first meeting him in Missoula in 1978. Really it was a few months earlier reading his book “The Old Ways” 1977. I once brought his oldest best friend Nanao to a Dead show in Oakland 2/14/86.
There used to be an amazing literary group that met in San Francisco in the 80s at a place called Cloud House run by Kush. Kush was a great recordist of poetry readings in the Bay Area. His video work is priceless and should be preserved. Really the same is true for the old Merry Prankster/ Acid Test film that seems to fade from view and availability. A shame really. But alas as the old Prankster saying goes , “nothing lasts”. Really the same is true with our grandparents and elders who may have amazing stories to share. Seek them out. Maybe interview them with audio or video. The beats are checking out fast with the original hippies not far behind. And fewer everyday.
I like the tall tale connection to mythology in regards to the Paul Bunyon story. Some of the “jacks” at the Oregon Pavilion in 64/65 were from northern Michigan, Jim Ogle and family. I became friends with his kids. But the stories I share really happened. My sister worked at the Simmons Pavilion across from the Oregon Pavilion. She had a lot of class but not always a lot of money. Hard working and creative.
So when I followed up my first Bay Area visit with my sister in Sausalito and first west coast Dead shows 8/14,15/71 I hitch-hiked up to Oregon to visit my brother. It was that first experience of visiting Oregon that summer that I was determined to leave the confines of a Connecticut and New York upbringing to pursue a western reality and life.
Read Lew Welsh “The Song That Mount Tamalpais Sings”. It describes the post World War 2 San Francisco Poetry Renaissance and the western movement of youth into the 60s.
Now what the hell does all this have to do with Pick of the Day.
Looking forward to to the 50th anniversaries of the famed Capitol Theater February 1971 concerts.
“There were days
And there were days
And there were days between
Summer flies and August dies....”

I like strawberry-rhubarb pie for breakfast, Ken Kesey & Jack Kerouac novels, collecting lossless Grateful Dead bootlegs and long strolls in the moonlight.

Sounds like a good dating profile :)

Whatever those are.

I think I've been in isolation too long.

Dig the raps you all.

Sounds like some peeps are in the polar vortex today.

Our winter has been non-existent.

Listening to 5/13/73 this AM. This Monster sure could use some love from the powers that be.
Set 1 & 2 have some major hiss factor (2 sources have tried to address this, but I'll stick with the hiss)
Set 3 partial is pretty crispy and what a trip it is! Not sure how strange, but it's long.
14 minute He's Gone > 13 minute Truckin' > 19 minute Other One > 16 minute Eyes = 62 minutes of Good Stuff

Check it out Yo's!

I just wanted to say hi ya and to tell you to all to keep up the good work.

Strider - that's not a tall tale your telling? located a ways off from the rest of the states along the river so they could demonstrate log rolling, among the many logging feats/competition. giant Paul Bunyan at the entrance. Funny but as a Midwesterner I always associated Paul Bunyan with the woods of Minnesota. I can't help but think of pole climbing competition and certain Puebloan feast days where a pole is featured.

yes all those guys influenced me deeply, but in the end it was Snyder that had the most profound affect and the one that I still turn too on a regular basis. certainly an integral part of my ending up in love and drawn to the West while growing up in the Chi-town suburbs. feel real lucky to end up where I have.

I'll go back to Cold Mountain several times a year. And by chance just yesterday noticed Axe Handles by the couch and discovered anew some of Little Songs for Gaia - "bodies of water tuned to the sky." Smokey the Bear Sutra read aloud at least once a year.

Looks like nobody else was up for strawberry-rhubarb pie for breakfast. I had a fun listen and it set the tone for a pretty out there relaxed day. beautiful day here again. headed out now to the wide open with my sweetie and my doggle woggle.

be safe and enjoy the day everyone.

onward!