Grateful Dead

Mornin’, rockers!

Pick Of The Day: Woodstock, August 16, 1969

Is this the elephant in the room? LOL I think there may have been many elephants in the many rooms of the Grateful Dead…………….

It may be more insightful to ask, what were the expectations? By this time, the Dead had released only three albums. Yes, they had played the Boston-New York-Philly corridor, and yes they already had a “reputation”, but how many in attendance had actually seen or heard the band? And truth be told, sometimes what is astounding before 3,000 people at the Fillmore West has less impact upon 300,000 people in a field in New York.

Chaos reigns. Late night, muddy field, misbehaving electricity, equipment issues, long delays, “tripped out jabber”, bad acid, hordes of people. Truncated St Stephen, decent Star, raucous Lovelight. Judging by the reaction at the close of their set, it sounds like those who were awake and paying attention enjoyed it. Did anybody there expect anything different?

It is true that the Dead didn’t always “play up” to historic occasions. For the Dead, the Summer of 1969 was an uneven time, so this fits right in, and in its own uneven way it is “historic”. Certainly not classic, but not the piece of elephant poo it was rumored to be back in the day. Decide for yourself, there are excellent recordings out there……………..

If you've never seen an elephant ski, you've never been on acid.

Rock on,

Doc
Nature's great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.

Phishers beware.

Enjoyed 8/4/82, these recordings are good. Really good FOD, yes, that Stagger Lee is great BC. I think rare at the time. Good extended LLR. Never Trust a Women, nice Terrapin. You can hear Jerry's voice not being what it once was, but, the song still moves me. Solid finish, NFA, BP, Around and Around, Good Lovin and close it out with US Blues. Great show.

Charles Lloyd is playing the saxophone, and David Laflamme( Its a Beautiful Day), is playing the Violin.

...but what I really wanted was that number for cheap loans. I planned to visit VGuy and double my money and then pay it off.

Yeah, that was weird?

But luckily McBluCrow to the rescue!

5/24/70: aw-ight?? Sounded a tad thin. H2H, Attics!, Cryptical, sweet Dark Star!
Lol, like how you can hear someone say “watch where your going motherfucker” in DS just before the shimmering cymbals.
Not so familiar with 70 to rank, but compared to the official releases on Good, Better, Best scale I’d call it a good.
But maybe I forgot some things after the next one!

8/3/69: I sure hope this one’s in that Banana Box!!
The precision, tuning etc might not be as top shelf as the legends, but holy crap Batman this could be my favorite show from 69? Sax and violin and jazzy jams etc: Dark Star, are you kidding me! Who was that playing sax, dude either to prep a little, or he got it. Like when to play versus not etc. High Time, sloppy but funHi Heeled Sneakers, H2H, BIODTL, and no Me & My Uncle! Yep, this one needs more exploration!
Once again the good doctor has taken us where we might not have gone otherwise , which is why I’m here!

7/25/82: I hit that not too long ago BC. Seem to recall started a little slow, eventually built up. Outta Good, Better, Best I’d call it a good? Hope to find the right time to hit the Rain Rocks shows, but might need to wait a bit…

I always thought the outside of Cali part of summer '82 tour started with the 3 shows in "Rain Rocks". Damn - there's a show in the low desert of AZ. Set list looks fat. No SBD circulating but a very recent Miller upgrade to a Jim Vita audience, a Jim Wise source also, plus others.

8/4 is fun. Yeah DV, it was a great tour.

bounty of whitewater riches out there Jim. another beautiful deep river valley.

for whatever reason, I always seem to forget about the St Louis show (8/4) in the summer '82 tour. The Stagger Lee was one of 2 songs of filler on my audience of Set I - 8/8., and partially for that reason, and also since its hot, its a favorite Stagger Lee. Can't help but think that Set II predrumz is "missing" a song or 2. I forgot that there was a Set II Brent opener this show just like Set II 8/8.

a wide net they cast. following is what was inadvertently caught up and "lost" and now restored (bluecrow the archivist).

1) JiminMD - Bad Timing
I find it in poor taste and bad timing that we get this incredible offer for cheap loans AFTER the box set announcement. Where were you when Boxzilla came out? On the other hand.. this might come in handy for those that could not afford The Grateful Dead in NYC Box, so now's your chance. Might as well get a little extra so you can get that ivory back scratcher you always wanted.
I realize as soon as go through the Crapatcha and hit send they will remove the cheap loans spam post and I will look like a bigger raging lunatic than I actually am.
Out and about today.. Today's show is a drummer choice... grabbing a waterproof shuffle and we will see where it brings me. Venturing into another state, a grand adventure in wild and wonderful West Virginia. I loaded up my devices with killer music in the spring as I do each year. What I grab is pure chance, they are unlabeled. Have a good weekend rest of the weekend all. Play Dead.

2) bluecrow - hey - he loaned me 20 bills
can't be all bad
Jim - I always thought of you as a thoughtful and deliberate lunatic. If you're down on the Gauley please say hello to the spirit of John Dragan for me.
I saw the May '91 Cal Expo shows the week before those Shoreline shows. Jerry was in fine form. Had a lot of fun. No Bruce, and given these were the only shows I saw in the Bruce/Vince era never did get to see him full on with Jerry. Funny thing was I saw Bruce as a guest with the Dead twice - 1st Buckeye Lake 6/88 and second GW Forum 12/89. Could have hung out for a week and hit Shoreline but headed back up the coast. Oh well, couldn't believe I missed It takes a lot to laugh (plus 3 sweet shows). Remember really good post-space ballads nights 1 and 2. When Blair Jackson reviewed the shows he evidently felt same as me and dubbed the first night Stella Blue "Stella Dew" and 2nd night Standing on the Moon "Standing on the Dew". 2nd night was really buzzy - found myself with a bunch of coyote howling crazies out in front of the stacks to right. Weir looked our way at some point Set II maybe during Space and seemed to say What's up with you wacky folks?" 3rd show was afternoon I think and had a fine Trucking > short Spanish Jam > Terrapin leading into Drumz. Ganz broadcast it on DeadHour and you can find it paired with material from 1st night Seattle '95 (Want To Tell). It's on relisten/archive.
The only 1/2 way focused listening I did yesterday was Set I and Scarlet > Fire from 12/3/79 DaP 31(I'll say it again, an awesome release.)
Take care everybody. Onward is the only way right now.

3) Oroborous -8/4/82
Keeping with our group enjoyment of August 82 etc, I figured I back up 8/1 with this one.
Another status quo 8/82 show (in a good way, this tour is solid!).
Decent Stranger Friend O openers, nice upbeat Row Jimmy. Never Trust/Good Times unusual second set opener, nice Terrapin and what is it with these 82 Black Pete’s! Perhaps not a tour topper but a fine show non the less!

4) JiminMD - 8/4/82 & Assorted Snacks
Classic fall '82 Oro. Nice recording, a little thin at times, but fuller than most from this period, plus very clean.
Good performance too. What the heck happened to Healy after '82? I guess I was not a fan of the ultramix.
Thanks BlueCrow. We did the mighty Cheat today with decent water. It's only 20 miles or so away so a local run, but it's a decent sized canyon so between the river and shuttle it's an all-day affair. The dam on the river I live on is broken.., they cannot release enough water for a run meaning we are completely dependent on rainfall this year (well for another three weeks). The Yough is dry, but the Cheat (the next river West) is flowing strong. It must have rained a lot somewhere the last couple days.
Sweet Brown Eyed Women from 8/4 just kicked in. Love that song.. a Hunter/Garcia classic. It reeks Americana, the song is rich in symbolism and covers such a broad tapestry it almost feels like it was written about people I know (or their parents, but they made their kids cut hickory just to fire the still). There's plenty of moonshine to be had in the mountains out here and people still fire their stills. Delilah Jones went to meet her God, and the old man's never been the same again. Goodness.. goosebumps.
Looks like this old man's gettin' on. I've got about one beer to go before I am in horizontal happiness. Man.. Cutting hickory for firewood. That's an arduous affair, Hickory is no fun to cut and split.

5) DeadVikes - 8/4/82
Will get this rolling today, Kiel Auditorium. This is a great tour.

It looks like the blew away a bunch of our posts..

Jer bear sounded strong outta the gate with a spirited Jack Straw. But then he seemed to step back into the mix for awhile? Solid first set but it seemed a bit rushed to me. Rushed compared to fast if that makes sense?
But solid versions especially Bob with a nice Desolation.
The second set things settle in nicely and the pre drumz half is especially good! I’ve really increasingly appreciating these 91 and especially 92 CrazyFingers! No matter what era or what was going on it seems like JG always had at least one song that he consistently owned!
The back side is fine too, perhaps just a tad more formulaic? Though nice touch ending with the Baby Blue!
Sweet energetic jam outta Pete too.
Audio was good throughout, perhaps the highs were a tad dull? The mix was decent once he got it dialed in etc.
overall another good outing from 91, and part of another Solid WE at the Heap!

Onto 8/1/82: good start but audio (keys too hot in TLEO?) it’s early…

EDIT: 8/1/82 fully dug!
Fun at the zoo with Bob ready to let all the animals loose!
Another solid 82 outing! Sound got dialed in nicely, mix was decent cept took awhile to get Brent’s keyboard dialed up (too hot), organ didn’t seem to suffer same? Good start and status quo continual morphing as she goes!
Personal highlight perhaps the Black Pete? Was watering plants etc so, did I miss a happy biffday for Jer, don’t recall hearing anything?
Good show, yes MR DV 82 is surely growing on me while fostering lament: wish I had caught a few more shows back then, but being a roadie was not able : ( Yin/yang.
Not sure how I compare this? Decent, to say 5/23, 8/6, 8/7&8, but not not like biggest thrill/surprise so far: the second Veneta, 8/28/82. Must listen 82 if your exploring 82!
Don’t forget the Florida shows PT turned us onto, and 9/24/82 merits consideration, looking forward to tge MSG box shows I’m not familiar with, but perhaps the “king of the hill, top of the heap”, Frost not NY ; ), 10/9& 10/82!! Have waited to hear 10/9 for years, but have had a awesome tape from 10/10 since BITD! Best LL Rain? ; )
Yeah, “don’t let the glasses fool ya” 82 baby! Boo-yah! Ha, and that’s not even considering the shows from earlier in the year!