Grateful Dead

Best part of the contest is it put a whole bunch of great content on YouTube. I love looking for great covers of all my favorite tunes and now I have a ton of them of my favorite band. Will be watching them regularly and decide on my own Favorites. Thanks for thinking this concept up. Can't wait for next year.

Thank you Harp-Unstrung for articulating a point of view that I’m willing to bet represents the perspective of the MAJORITY of participants in this project. This project came out of left field, was not particularly thought through prior to launch, was over before anyone even understood the ground rules, and in dead.net’s own words had an overwhelming response. If the likes of Mickey Hart are to be believed, the current mission of dead.net is to tap into the massive consumer market that the grateful dead brand has inspired. I’m sure there are many in the organization who are stung by that statement but I say more power to you. Why? Because if wealth and power must be concentrated somewhere I would rather it be held by organizations like the Grateful Dead. I don’t know Blairj’s connection to dead.net but since he responded in defense of the status quo his statements are a good place to begin. Harp-Unstrung already addressed some of Blairj’s comments as well as elucidating some key practical issues so I’m just gonna expand on a few things and try to frame out the fundamental difference between this project and every other facet of dead.net. Blairj admonishes that I not take things too seriously because this project was meant to be a “fun exercise”. I researched some of Blairj’s posts and nowhere on this forum have I read anything more passionate than his outrage over Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranking of Garcia as #47 guitarist of all time and I couldn’t agree more. I was actually pissed off when I saw that issue and anyone who knows me will tell you I don’t do anger. But it was a ratings contest for the entertainment of its readers, nothing was at stake, no effort required by the participants who were all highly recognized musicians. When Blairj espouses on how successful this was as a fun exercise he is spot on in that this has got to be a ratings bonanza for dead.net which is in the business of tapping the consumers of the Dead Brand. Honestly, while everything dead is new to that next generation of teens being introduced to the long strange trip, this project represents the only truly fresh and new content on dead.net. So yes it was a success, the deadheads love it but Harp-Unstrung nailed it when he points out how many very talented musicians, technicians, artists, and promoters jumped through hoops for what frankly turned into a joke. Not to take away from the five winners who are all deserving and were obviously picked thoughtfully by an individual or small committee, nor the ten featured above who are an interesting cross-sectional representation of the hundreds of entries but Harp-Unstrung is correct; they are all reaping huge benefit just by virtue of their seat on this page. And what about the Canadian band that sat at #1 with 2700 likes for most of the month. I’m dying to hear your explanation just by virtue of what delicious gossip it will be – although in court, that story would get your whole event thrown out the window. I think my point is that with power comes responsibility and the deadcoversproject has so far been a fairly reckless exercise of power. This project ought to be about the performers, musicians, artists, technicians who among other things are struggling to make a living with their skills. A living totally dependent on being recognized for what they are. The dead are to be commended for their sense of responsibility toward their fans over the years and no one can blame them turning a buck off of the sheer numbers of deadicated deadheads that thrive off of being a part of the clan but I would argue that this band has far greater responsibility to their fellow entertainers who, in many cases, were inspired by the dead to become what they are. I think somebody over there at dead.net had a great idea here but I they seem clueless regarding what it takes to make a video. Sure, a solo performer need do little more than tape themselves singing in the shower but to do what the dead did takes a coordinated organization (which is yet a whole nother topic) This project became a mandatory assignment once announced. You don’t pass up this kind of opportunity if you are a musician. Don’t underestimate the resentment the execution of this “project” will generate if you continue to handle the artists involved like so many trained monkeys. While your fans are eating this up, your peers in the music business are like WTF? Unlike the multitude of fans out there your fellow musicians aren’t asking for a miracle, just a fair shake and equal opportunity. The dead know it is a great leap from society’s comfort zone to choose music as a career, and rarely does it pay back what it has for the dead but . . . there but by the grace of Jerry they go. There’s an easy fix. You named it a project, make it a project. Recognize that this is the resource side of your business, not sales. Make it ongoing, you’ve got the infrastructure already (see my earlier post), use it to bring all this talent together, don’t pit them against each other and for God’s sake DON’T MAKE THEM WEAR WATCHES! And no Semper Fire, a contest is exactly what this whiner for one does NOT want. ziph

that mid-'80s NFA coming on...