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    Grateful Dead Hour no. 261

    Week of September 20, 1993

    OREGON TRAIL MIX

    Grateful Dead 8/21/93 Autzen Stadium, Eugene OR
    BIRD SONG->
    PROMISED LAND

    Grateful Dead 8/21/93 Autzen Stadium, Eugene OR
    w/ Huey Lewis, harmonica
    TRUCKIN'->
    GOOD MORNING LITTLE SCHOOLGIRL->
    SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING

    "Oregon Trail Mix" is a radio play written by Jack Ellis and featuring the voices of Jack Ellis, Mary Weatherly, Sue Ellis, Ken Nordine, and me. We went to Eugene to broadcast the August 21 and 22 shows live on KLCC (with tons of help from KLCC's "Dead Air" hostess Deb Trist and other KLCC staffers), and Dan Healy thought it would be fun to create a piece of radio drama for the occasion. Dan played it over the PA at Autzen Stadium, too!

    Huey Lewis was in town to appear as Elvis Presley (!) in Ken Kesey's play "Twister," which was presented at the Armory not far from Autzen Stadium. The play was a weird twist on "The Wizard of Oz"; I wish I remembered anything about the play.

    You can browse and/or search the Grateful Dead Hour program logs on the GD Hour web site. Let me know if there's a particular program you'd like to hear, and feel free to post requests and comments here or by email to gdhour [at] dead.net

    Thanks for listening! David Gans
    gdhour [at] dead.net

    Listen Now

    11595

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    olzen
    16 years 7 months ago
    who is jack ellis question mark
    that radio play was great. makes me want to write one too.so many hilarious puns. thanks david.now were truckin.
  • Default Avatar
    olzen
    16 years 7 months ago
    otm
    oh to be on the oregon trail mix again. nice bird song. peace man.
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    budz4ticketz
    16 years 8 months ago
    What Are Those Funny Lookin' Shirts?!
    Thanks for getting this up on the site. I thought Oregon Trail Mix was hysterical then and still do! My friends and I had a tape of this circulating and laughed for years at some of the parts of this sketch. The music from the show is great too! "Ken tell them what they didn't win!..." I'm whacked out!
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Submitted by ccasal on

Week of September 20, 1993

OREGON TRAIL MIX

Grateful Dead 8/21/93 Autzen Stadium, Eugene OR
BIRD SONG->
PROMISED LAND

Grateful Dead 8/21/93 Autzen Stadium, Eugene OR
w/ Huey Lewis, harmonica
TRUCKIN'->
GOOD MORNING LITTLE SCHOOLGIRL->
SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING

"Oregon Trail Mix" is a radio play written by Jack Ellis and featuring the voices of Jack Ellis, Mary Weatherly, Sue Ellis, Ken Nordine, and me. We went to Eugene to broadcast the August 21 and 22 shows live on KLCC (with tons of help from KLCC's "Dead Air" hostess Deb Trist and other KLCC staffers), and Dan Healy thought it would be fun to create a piece of radio drama for the occasion. Dan played it over the PA at Autzen Stadium, too!

Huey Lewis was in town to appear as Elvis Presley (!) in Ken Kesey's play "Twister," which was presented at the Armory not far from Autzen Stadium. The play was a weird twist on "The Wizard of Oz"; I wish I remembered anything about the play.

You can browse and/or search the Grateful Dead Hour program logs on the GD Hour web site. Let me know if there's a particular program you'd like to hear, and feel free to post requests and comments here or by email to gdhour [at] dead.net

Thanks for listening! David Gans
gdhour [at] dead.net

Listen Now

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Submitted by hey_bob on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 09:03

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from DB Cooper no less?!?! Prairie Home Companion got nothin' on this ensemble...non-commercial non-commercial radio - Gotta love that Oregon Trail Mix!!! ...and the music's pretty darn tasty, too - thanks gdhour, thanks dead.net & thanks DG
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Submitted by stuman on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 09:34

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way too funny , lol .. absoloutly love this weeks show !! : ) Thank you for making me smile this morning ...and DB Cooper , i remember him ,, he was my hero for a while , he he ,,. Thankx David Have a Grate day everyone !! Peace ....
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Submitted by dgans on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 10:42

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Today's newspaper has a short item stating that "a parachute found buried in southwestern Washington is not connected to famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper." Some kids found it last month and the FBI investigated, but after consulting with parachute experts it was determined to be unrelated to the famous caper. The timing of this GD Hour post was entirely coincidental. I swear!

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Submitted by budz4ticketz on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 18:35

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Thanks for getting this up on the site. I thought Oregon Trail Mix was hysterical then and still do! My friends and I had a tape of this circulating and laughed for years at some of the parts of this sketch. The music from the show is great too! "Ken tell them what they didn't win!..." I'm whacked out!
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17 years 4 months

Submitted by olzen on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 16:05

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oh to be on the oregon trail mix again. nice bird song. peace man.
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Submitted by olzen on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 16:11

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that radio play was great. makes me want to write one too.so many hilarious puns. thanks david.now were truckin.
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17 years 3 months

Submitted by SamGlen on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 11:15

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Out on the road to West Marin... Radio Play's are something that should have never gone away. I have been living in Europe (Sweden) for the past six years. One of the things that I miss is great radio. Yes, I can listen, and do, on the internet. At the sametime it is not the same as tuning in with the faint touch of the hand, driving further to get that perfect reception, or even better, sitting in your backyard on a Sunday listening to what comes up next. Just a thought. The Eugene shows in 93 were great, though. Sam
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Submitted by dgans on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 12:47

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Jack Ellis is a pal of Dan Healy's who worked with us on the Eugene broadcasts. I think he worked with Dan on his radio station, KERG, up in Redway back in the day. Fun guy! Gans/GD Hour blog
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Submitted by woodyinthebasement on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 08:05

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Thanks for the memories... Those Eugene shows andthe parking lot camping in my 1972 Winnibego was a great time.... I just remember taping the shows then going back to the RV and listening to the shows again.... Then, we ran the battery dead listening to music after the show and had to get a jump to get back on the road... What a hoot... Cheers Woody www.myspace.com/woodyinthebasement
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Submitted by GRTUD on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 20:05

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One of the first news feeds about the discovery of (possibly) DB Cooper's parachute commented on the fact that the color of the parachute found was white, the same as DB Cooper's... *rolls eyes and imagines a similar scene* "Y'all got any leads?" "Leads, yeah, sure. I'll just check with the boys down at the crime lab, they've got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts! Leads..." Great show, Gans! I never got enough of Bob doing "Smokestack Lightning" over the years I followed the band. Also, I think that the Dead were so cool to play with other artists, whenever they had the chance. I usually found there to be a special energy at those shows. Also, one of the voices of the "Trail mix" segment sounded familiar. Were either Jack Ellis or Ken Nordine (I think Ken's is the voice I'm recognizing) involved in other radio themed skits of similar genre? Thanks again!
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Submitted by Golden Road on Mon, 04/07/2008 - 16:57

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is Nirvana's workshop!" Great web site (for Ken Nordine)! I really enjoyed "The Mind Reader". Thanks again, David... you've been a most gracious host (as well a good sport). "See" you around (and around). "All energy flows according to the whims of the Great Magnet. What a fool I was to defy him."
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Submitted by grdaed73 on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 09:01

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reminds me of the ol' fireside theatre skits, puns n'puns o fun, where ever u go there u r
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Submitted by Upstate NY on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 10:02

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I didn't go to this Eugene run but I am diggin the Truckin, Schoolgirl, Smokestack. And the Oregon Trail Mix was a cool addition to this show. Thanks for posting this show. later
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Submitted by docks of the city on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 22:34

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If this is the same Jack & Sue Ellis, he worked on KMPX-FM in San Francisco in probably '69 thru '71. In about '74, he was part of a station, KSML-FM (Secret Mountain Lab) on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. I ran into once in Forestville, California in the early '80s and he was taping the Dead around the bay area and living up there in Sonoma County, about 50miles north of the city. Good man with a really warm smile. I just typed his name in seach here, and this came up. Peace, Love & Happiness to Jack Ellis & family
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Submitted by DoubleT on Wed, 06/08/2016 - 19:03

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Epic weekend, Oregon Trail Mix was too damn funny. Remember last week...the TrailBlazers were freaked?