Grateful Dead

Good morning my friends!!

Happy New Year to all, make it a safe, happy, fruitful year. And don’t forget to love……..

I draw from the absurd three consequences: my revolt, my liberty, my passion…..

Well, been going at it for a year with POTD posts, doing my best to highlight lesser known Dead shows, 40+ posts with varying results and reception. As the man said, my job is to shed light, not to master. And as I myself sometime say, despite my best efforts I can’t give it away………..

I shall carry on, I shall continue with this absurd endeavor. Needless to say I have many ideas already brewing for the coming year. Can’t promise that I’ll always avoid the Classics, and yes I’ll probably relapse into occasional 1971 worship, but you my fans and occasional readers must take the bad with the good. I’ll try to go a little more primal this year, see you on the mountain, try not to slip and fall…………..

The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor…..

Rock on!!!!

Doc
Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object….

You are grately esteemed and valued here! Love is patient, love is kind, does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth.

The only new year show where midnight came at 12:30. Bill Graham was at the Cow Palace with Santana at midnight, and rushed back to Winterland for the Dead.
A great rocking show, Jerry's guitar was loud and in overdrive. Check it out on the Archive!

Lifelong Elvis fan, hard to pick a favorite song, I like everything even the crappy soundtracks. Today I'll pick Follow That Dream, True Love Travels on a Gravel Road, Guitar Man.

Happy New Year to all the wonderful heads on here! It's always a pleasure reading all the stories, thoughts and comments. This is my happy place!

We had an epic rainstorm here in the Bay Area yesterday. Freeways flooded and all kinds of stuff. Looking out at the downpour and being really glad I wasn't out in it, remembered how sometimes when the weather was this bad, Bill Graham would take pity on us and let us in early.

Here’s to uncle Bobo, and hopefully a better new year!
Checked out 12/31/80 last night. Never saw that one, dug it, hot Estimated!

Never really got into him growing up, but I’ve come to appreciate him as I’ve aged.

I’ll go with “suspicious minds” followed by “a little less conversation” as my back up.

Happy new year to all. Go Bills.

Great fun movie! Love Bruce Campbell.

One of my resolutions is to go through and listen again to all of the box sets that I’ve purchased over the years. FW69 and E72 already get plenty of playing time, so I’m going to skip those.

I started today with the Winterland 1973 complete recordings. All I can say is, “Good Lord.” What an amazing release. The sound quality is unbelievable, especially for a two track recording.

All the best to all of you in the New Year! Stay healthy and enjoy the music...

Happy New Year deadheads. Be excellent to each other.

Duhfuq

....hopes he's ok.
Time to take a step back as they say.
It's just a game and I'm curious how the NFL will handle it. No way they make this game up later.
Actions speak louder than words.

has been through a LOT over the past 9 months.

so I will stir up the hornet's nest and say

there are two songs in the GD repertoire that I love to hate:

Lovelight
Looks Like Rain

I put in disc two of Thelma 12/12/69 this morning in the climate change mobile. I haven't memorized the track list. what starts up? LOVELIGHT. ugh.

how could they play that thing at every show and not want to vomit after the first 300 times?

on another note of w.g.a.s.: I have my own version of Fat Freddie's cat. She has decided to piss on the new couch almost daily. it doesn't look like rain, though. it looks like piss.

GRUMBLE BUMBLE.

phkin feline...

Try Natures Miracle, it worked twice for me. If she keeps it up it can be tough to manage a stubborn cat. Keep the litter exceptionally clean too. I had that problem once and it was the cat's way of saying Hey, FU.. I'm not going to do my business in that s#@thole you call a litter box, I'm looking at you, couch.

Lovelight comes and goes for me. Sometimes they settle into a groove and forget to take an exit before song boredom creeps in. Sometimes it's pretty cool. I especially like the 5/7 and 5/26/72 versions where they dance with GDTRFB.

Looks like rain isn't for everyone, but there are versions that do it for me. I'm a Row Jimmy fan too, which is sometimes received with exacerbated sighs and a mad dash to the rest room.. but there are songs I skip that some people really love which balances it out.

I've read that Row Jimmy was one of Jerry's favorite songs to play; he even acknowledged it wasn't for everyone but I always gravitated toward the Jimmy's in the 90ish range, with full midi and those scorching rapid runs he'd take in there. Love the reverb on those fast runs too.

Row on, Row on people.
Sixtus

in the Bay Area, and we need it badly. Hope it doesn't do much damage.

always sounded great, even in the Dead songs I didn't like, and there were a number of them.

Songs I skip: Corrina, Easy Answers, Looks Like Rain(though sometimes I do fast fwd to Jerry's solo), Easy To Love You.
I also apply a Slide Filter whenever necessary.

You don’t have enough urine or fecal material in your house and you want more.

You really dig randomly finding cat puke all over the house in a variety of unusual and unexpected places.

You don’t like to sleep through the night and want something to wake you up every couple of hours, but you don’t want to have a baby.

You feel like it would be cool to have a greater potential exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, because it sounds like such an interesting parasite, and Toxoplasmosis sounds so fascinating. (See e.g., the wolves of Yellowstone and toxoplasmosis, google it, you’ll find the articles and it is interesting).

You enjoy finding the back half of mice outside your door on a regular basis. They always eat the head, never the back end, go figure.

You enjoy watching them slowly destroy a wooden post on your stairway railing by using it as a scratching post. It’s a long-term project for them, but you can see the steady progress, just another way to measure the passage of time.

Your wife and children left you out of the decision and you’re not quite enough of a cold-hearted bastard to get rid of them. The cats that is, not the family members, none of them have peed all over the house.

We have two cats. They are indoors and outdoors cats, and in theory they are using the great outdoors as a latrine, but that is not always the case, especially if it is too far below freezing outside. One cat peed on the living room couch on 4th of July a couple of years ago late in the night. Everyone else was asleep so I took the opportunity to take the giant couch outside for disposal. It was a large couch, and I am not large, but I picked up that cat pee contaminated couch and got it down the stairs and through the front door, barely, and outside without waking anyone up. Wife woke up in the morning like, wtf, where’d the couch go? The couch did not come back inside. Now I try to keep the cats in a travel carrier or outside on 4th of July to avoid a repeat.

Edit: Don't get me wrong, I like the cats, but they don't make it easy sometimes.

Happy New Year again!!!

BTK yall be safe now ya hear. This storm is a beast. I know rain is needed but not that much that quick. All in California and the desert areas prepare. It cost so little to have a manual can opener and $20 of canned goods to make it a few days.

Any way, have to go back and read last couple of days to catch up, but here are some quick answers.

DeadVikes thanks for the warm return. It is appreciated greatly. Unfortunately, my own health which is pretty good, is clashing with folks health which is not so good. Won't get into details, but I refer to them as my progenitors, as the love has always been cold as ice. Yet now I have to eat up my own time watching after them (although with a lot of others help also). I will try to post more often.

Question of why 12/30/86 and 7/16/88 are important to me. AJS had the correct answer, because of the guest drummers during drumz. But it was the whom, in who were the guests. On 12/30/86 it was Hamza El-Din (&Jose Lorenzo) and on 7/16/88 it was Baba Olatunji. Both such huge influences bringing depth to Billy and Mickey's poly-rythmic structures during drumz.

So roughly here was weekend schedule. On 12/30/22 I watched 12/30/86 on the me-tube. Very nice video (probably band created) and soundboard synced up. I had watched once previously but this time it really hit me. That one show, along with 12/27/86 represents one of those closures and new beginnings. Both of those shows have the more heroin induced jams of the late Keith/Donna era shows. I did not get into 12/28/86 as we were shut-out. Maybe someone here, like BTK, can remember when they put the speakers outside for any stragglers and the Shakedown Street crew, which was small. The 12/31/86 sounds like more of the changing sound coming in 1987. Intense upgrades in computers and technology, less in the slow methodical heroin induced jam (I love both). But this time watching 12/30/86 was way more meaningful, to really see and focus on Hamza, and tie him back to Egypt and the tar and talking drum. I do love from "From Egypt with Love" and Ollin Arageed, that rhythm is intense and right up my alley as a former want-to-be drummer. So for me to realize 25 years later that I saw both Hamza and Baba creates a warm feeling all over. I do recommend if you have not seen the 12/30/86 on me tube it is worth a watch, although I think in is labeled 12/31/86, which it is not.

BTK - thanks for the kind words of friendship and comradery, they do mean much.

I have several days worth of reading to catch up. I just wanted to make sure I remember to finish previous thoughts, as that is getting harder and harder to do.

Ok, will post and read to edit. I know I need an editor, kind of like young reporters today whose story telling/reporting is not good.

G

So weekend was Friday watching 12/30/86. Saturday was listening to MaryE's first show which I enjoyed immensely, and then later in the evening I watched 12/31/85 which was a national tv broadcast that started at midnight Oakland time and 2am here locally when it was on. I still really enjoy that video, wish they would release that whole show video, "I'd buy that for a dollar." Then Sunday the 1st, I watched "Ticket to New Years," which I also attended that 4 day run. Then Monday, I watched most of "The Closing of Winterland." So lots of Dead watching, and I enjoyed all of it. I also went thru a couple of shows from the MSG box, nice!

G

That and Charlie's description of responsible cat ownership cracked me up.

Thanks for that.

I, too, reserve the right to Slide Filter whenever necessary.

I generally do not have problem with the cat, and living in a 120 year old rodent-free Victorian, I have a few things to be thankful for. I keep the litter fresh and clean and they keep the mice (and river rats) away.

I'm really in the mood for 1/2/1970. What a great and often overlooked release.

....while I was getting a glass of water.
My bad. I forgot to let them out before I went to bed.
Rain is welcome in Cali, but what the southwest REALLY needs is snowpack on the western slopes of the Colorado rockies. For several winters in a row.

Lovelight. Not my favorite, but I’ll take it over the typical throwing stones>not fade to end the show if for nothing more than a change of pace. I never really got into the 30 minute versions either.

I can tolerate LLR. I’ll admit I have a soft spot because my inaugural show ended the first set with that right into a China>Rider. It grew on me over the years and I much prefer the latter day, more amped up versions. The early iterations sound like something Engelbert Humperdinck should be singing.

Definitely skippable are most, OK all, of Vince. Corrina, Victim, Easy Answers, Eternity. . . You see the pattern here.

I actually liked a lot of Brent songs when I saw them live. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ve aged well. In fairness I probably haven’t either.

Passenger and Miracle are two older songs I never enjoyed.

As others have said, 12/30/1986 was an awesome show. Easily in the top five of all the shows I ever saw. Yes, they did have speakers outside for those who were not fortunate enough to get tickets. I thought it was a West Coast thing, but evidently not.

But I cant stop laughing.

Dog poop at 3 am

Isnt that a simon and garfunkel album title?

One search later:
Wednesday Morning 3 a.m. is the album title

Your mishap happened at...wednesday morning 3 a.m.

Too funny

Can one train a dog to poop on the floor (or sofa) each morning at exactly 3am?

I thought it was just me that got borderline PTSD when a show ended with Throwing Stones>NFA encore: US Blues. Miracle and Mexicali are on my list with many of the late era new songs mentioned.

Fortunately, there are so many great songs they either wrote or covered that really made it difficult to have a bad time at a Dead show. There was almost always something special. So time your bathroom breaks with skip tunes, stay away from the brown acid and let the good times roll.

Before shows some of the folks I would travel with would voice out what they thought we were going to hear mixed with dream setlists and the occasional song that they best not play that night or else (in the spirit of that Sideways quote, "I am NOT drinking any f***king Merlot"). We are a spirited bunch aren't we?

To me there is very little that connects seeing the band live to sitting at home listening to a live recording. To recap I saw them 5 times in 1981 and 1990. Loved all 5 shows, and they didn't play any songs that I didn't like. Some songs, that I hadn't been so keen on -Row Jimmy comes to mind - made much more sense in real time than it did on live recordings, or on Wake of the Flood. Drums and Space in 1990 blew my head off. It doesn't do that now, unfortunately. More interesting than mind blowing
On 10/30/90 I thought it was great when they broke into "Lovelight" - an actual song off "Live Dead". Sadly, I don't have this response now - in fact I have no interest whatsoever in hearing a Bob sung Lovelight now. Or a show from 1990, for that matter. But that doesn't mean for a second that it wasn't great at the time, being there.

Like everyone on here, I guess, there are some songs I have heard way to often, simply because they are played at shows which are brilliant overall. To skip them feels a bit like skipping a dull chapter in a novel - you want to, but it makes you feel a bit guilty if you do.

....by jove. You are correct sir! 🤯

At the Capital building this morning, a leading moderate Republican Congressman, David Joyce (OH-14), was seen entering McCarthy's office wearing a "make America grateful" shirt with a Stealie (per Jake Sherman, Punchbowl News). Pushing back against the demands of the clown show crazy caucus it would appear. Turns out Jake's a deadhead and really dug it.

Happy New Years to everyone! Here's to 2023 being a year with much happiness, health, and prosperity for all of you and your loved ones, including all the fuzzy, furry 4-leggeds out there. Prosperity for the doggies? Why an extra meatball treat on a regular basis. Let there be songs to fill the air.

hopefully he won't meet up with the loon Vguy met at the sooperdooper market

it could be a little slow at times, but whatevs

BACK TO WORK, PROUDFOOT!

yessir

Years ago we took a vacation and the "smart" cat peed on the computer, which luckily was covered with a vinyl cover BITD. She certainly let her feelings be known about being left alone. Never had that issue again or since with many other cats. Did clean the house thoroughly to get rid of the smells of the previous girl cat before getting our two new boys and no stray pees so far, knock on wooden head.
The dog was always good indoors but she would get so excited about going somewhere in the truck bed that a poop was inevitable by the time we got anywhere. Had to carry poop bags in the truck as it was almost guaranteed even if she was pre-pooped. Could excite her easily with either, "Go to the park?" or "Squirrel!". Border Collies are way too smart for their own good.
DaP 42 bonus disc (2-22-74) on deck. I get to crank it up today while the wife is at her craft group at the library. It's got that Slipknot jam in the PITB. Noice!
Cheers
Edit: Love Jake Sherman's reporting even more now that I know he's on the bus. Sen. Pat Leahy of VT still the highest ranking Deadhead in congressional history.

my mantra for the future is

NO
MORE
PETS

fuzzy loveable money pit$

veterinarian$
food$
boarding$
anchor$ to home
clean-up$
grooming$

NO MORE PETS for me.

now I just have to convince my beloved

wish me luck, y'all

Did realize there were people who didn't like Grateful Dead songs. This is a new experience for me.
Hmmm . . . .

Everyone knows the best way to bribe your wife besides jewelry is with a cat or a dog, which means our good friend Proudfoot is how do we say it ...SOL.

I'm on the road to less pets also for the same reasons. The ones I have were the result of relationships past and I was the only one to feed, clean up and $$$. Plus, they are gone and the pets remain.

But they do provide lots of stress-relieving affection. I'm a softy.

Jake Sherman does have a training wheels version of a Jerry Beard, more like a Jerry Beard in diapers. More Dead makes for a more better world.

I think in many cases it’s not so much folks don’t like some songs as we’re burned out on some.
Though I know there’s plenty of folks that have aversions to some.
I like big Lovelights but have to really be in the mood. And like AJS, Lovelight in later years was at least not yet another Stones/NFA…so it had that going for it.
Me & My Uncle is my biggest skipper mostly cause I played it in bands too much. The Vinnie songs are still tough, but not as bad as BITD where every song that wasn’t Dark Star etc was one less chance that night to hear it/them. Not up on all of Phil’s 90s stuff, but recall some being underwhelming?
I get folks aversion to Row Jimmy and LLR. At first they might nudge the grumpy (like some of these picks) but once I get into them they often are fully enjoyed, though I agree about the 80s LLR are preferable to the earlier ones..
But like DR said, often big difference live versus years later on tape etc…
I love Victim and most of Bobs stuff up until some of the 90s stuff, though those have softened a bit probably as it’s something different then the same songs he played to death? I guess biggest complaint some could kinda plod on.
But hey, what other band beyond description has some many songs to be picky about ; )

Still reelin from that game Monday.,please keep Damar in your thoughts.
Real curious how the leagues gonna handle the incomplete game?

Let there be songs to Phil the air!

EDIT: Pets, love em but Pedro don’t do poop, so between our unreliable schedule, the outrageous costs (I can’t even afford my own HI), and all the rest, at this stage of life I love em enough to know I can’t love properly.
Perhaps someday if we ever get some land that’ll change…
Luckily we have 2 beautiful crazy Husky pups next door so we can enjoy them without the responsibility lol

The smell is coming from INSIDE the house!

I generally prefer faster songs to slower ones as the years have gone by. Maybe a bit contradictory -as you get older you might think slower ones would appeal more, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Not just with The Dead - its the same with The Stones, who I have also been listening to since the 70's. Songs "Wild Horses", or "You Can't Always Get What You Want" haven't really stood the test of time for me. Rockers like like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Brown Sugar", on the other hand, still sound great .
Ditto with The Dead - only in there case it's more the interaction of the musicians in jams that appeal (or not), rather than specific songs. If you listen to the same bands for a long time, it may be inevitable that you like and dislike different things about them as the years pass.

Hey there Icecreamkid, would you recommend this doc? Is it a rip off or a worth while investment of 2.5 hours?

I'm not completely up to date on reading here, so forgive me if there has already been a detailed discussion of the doc's merits.

Yeah, me too…what gives Conekid, dont think I’ve ever heard of it?

HA! Captcha was wrong! Asked for taxis, showed a picture of a Stanley Steamer van but thought it was a taxi!

You can watch it on your favorite streaming service; just did a quick spot check, and it looks legit with video clips and interviews(Tom Constanten is there, for one.) Might check it out later tonight.

I got it on DVD years ago (I’ve even posted about it in past years), and I think it’s pretty good.
In fact, I had watched it many times before Long Strange Trip came out, and I didn’t really think that LST was significantly better.

It has good old footage, including stuff that isn’t on LST.

Edit:
Yes, TC is there, and it focuses more on everyone’s early music roots than LST does.

Oh, and why is Cutler being interviewed from his van in LST?

Since most of my show going was after Brent (saw him 4 times), I used Vince songs as a Set 2 pee break so that I wouldn’t have to miss any Drums/Space.

Sometimes I skip LLR, sometimes I listen to it. I like LLR’s with Donna, and yet skipped one a while ago when driving.
It may actually be the fact that I’m driving and don’t really want to hear a certain song at that particular time, and that ⏭️ button makes it so easy.
Sometimes I skip FOTD, and other times I listen to it and think it’s really good.
I don’t skip Row Jimmy ever.
Will skip Vince songs except Baba>TNK. It’s not Vince himself, it’s that Hunter wrote cheezy lyrics. Musically the songs aren’t bad.
Sleazy Answers is a pee break.
Wave To The Wind…… well, I’m sorry for Phil with that one.

Nobody.
The last dozen or so comments have brought up a combination of memories & intrigue.

When I found a band that I liked, I would purchase EVERY release by that band, without thought. It never occurred to me that I might not like every song on the album. But I eventually became aware of the inevitability that the longer (most) bands continue on, it’s less likely that the music will continue to have the same quality as in the early days. It’s almost illogical to think musicians will continue ad infinitum forever. While there are certainly exceptions to this thinking (most of whom, to my ears, are bands whose sound is constantly evolving and changing), by and large, most bands fall into this inevitability. I had to chuckle when I read STILLWATERS’ comment. As much as I WANTED to like every song by a beloved band, as I got older, I realized it was OK to not like every song!!
Regarding the Dead, it wasn’t until Mars Hotel that I was taken aback by my distaste for a couple of those songs. And starting again with Shakedown Street, every album had multiple songs that I did not like.
As far as Me & My Uncle, it’s the most played song in the Dead’s canon, so while I truly like the song (a cover no less), I’ve simply heard it too many times.
Regarding my 3 all-time favorite musicians: John Lennon, Miles Davis and Bill Frisell, there are definitely songs by all 3 that I’m not fond of (although with Frisell, it’s pretty much only 1 album). Not going to list any, too boring, takes too much time.

Regarding our beloved critters, I suppose it’s always going to come down to time, expense or both. I just get SO MUCH from them that I’m more than happy to pay those two costs. As I age even more, I imagine I may change, but I find now that cats are less costly, and need me less than any dog would.
Sorry about being wordy, I just felt inspired to add my 9 cents worth.

Music is the Best!!

I always skip LLR. It's a bummer song. I don't know if D&C or Wolf Bros. ever covered it but I think even Bob mostly shades it now. Also hard to listen to Weather Report Suite until it picks up and Jer starts ripping toward the end.

Skip any song Brent sings lead on and for some reason, I usually do let the Vince songs play. I don't know why. There aren't that many, for one. He isn't a good singer but no one in this band was, ever... they grow on you. Brent is just too over emotive even singing background some times.

Always fast forward or skip Donna's horrible, atonal, unbearable screeching on "PITB," as well. It's embarrassing.

No band with any significant output was ever on 100% all the time. It's not important or honest to claim reverence for every second of recorded output of any musical entity, even the GOGD.

\m/

....well. That was unexpected. LLR? I enjoy the MIDI thunder versions a lot.
Like the one in the Dave's 44 Eugene release. Which I am listening to now.
But what was expected, is the fact that the republicans got the house yet have yet to decide on a speaker. The infighting is....embarrassing. If they can't lead their own party, how can America feel regarding them leading the country? Thanks trump. He is the dog poop on the foot of this country.
Make America Grateful Again!!
My political post for the month.

VP Gore - President of the Senate 1992-2000