Grateful Dead

dead.net the official site

A term first coined by William Burroughs, I think.

Keithfan -9/17/72 ahead of 9/21/72? Maybe I should check the earlier show out again soon.

I don't even know if it was a Cream magazine, but I got on board with The Who in 1982 as a ten-year-old kid, shortly after seeing The Kids Are Alright movie. In 1982 they didn't look anywhere near as cool as they did when Moonie was around. Townshend had shaved the beard, cut the hair short, parted on the side, and wore atrocious 80s clothes with sleeveless shirts and geriatric sneakers. There was a photograph of him looking like this on stage, doing one of his trademark guitar leaps; the caption read: "Who ever thought Pete Townshend could look like such a dink?" And that caption and photo just always stuck with me.

It's funny the Rushmore thing is going on. I was thinking of suggesting everyone's three favorites from each year, but realized that would be a monumental task that would never get off the ground. Oh. Get it monumental? Rushmore. Total coincidence.

Before I get to my batardized version of Rushmore, I must announce: I completely underestimated the Dark Star from 4/26/69 DP 26. There aren't too many 1969 Dark Stars that sound all that much different to me, but this one sounds excexceptional lately.

Rushmore. Jeesh 4. shows + a bonus. I don't think I can do it. Well first I will say, I'm on board with the notion that there are many shows as good as Cornell now available from '77, and I can think of preferable versions of most songs.

Veneta I like a lot. Most of the songs are in my top one or two favorite versions. The jamming on it features some of the best interplay I can recall between Jerry and Keith. They used to jam with this co-lead dynamic in '72 that would emerge for some shows with more energy, creativity, and synergy. Veneta I think is one of those days. Feels like the whole band is having an A plus performance. I'm listening to it now. I'm a dozen songs in, already, have heard Playing in the Band, Bird Song's just begun, and Dark Star still lays ahead. I think part of this musical intuition that came out between Keith and Jerry was largely enabled by Keith's use of the Grand Piano. He could play that thing loud and boisterous without washing Jerry out. I think that changed a bit the more he integrated other types of keyboards, as something like a Fender Rhodes didn't lend itself to that kind of playing, and by post-hiatus it didn't matter what he played, as the two drummer setup altered the jamming dynamic in such a way that the two periods were almost incomparable. And while Europe '72 is a goldmine of greatness, the songs developed a lot more with Keith come 2nd half of '72 (I can hear it when I compare something at Veneta to an E72 version where Keith is actually up in the mix). Maybe the quality of Veneta would even out like Cornell if many more shows from that era are released. One can hope.

I also just recently listened to February 14th 1970, and I walked away thinking Lovelight was better on the 14th than the13th, where it's considered 1/3 of that 90-minute triad. I'm not a big fan of the Pigpen dialogue moments, but my recollection is that the 14th was heavy-duty jamming mostly, with a very on-fire Garcia. It may literally have been only the second time I've listened to that version. I immediately went to Dick's Picks 4 to do the comparison and at this writing I'm sticking with the 14th performance of Lovelight.

I guess for Rushmore there's the problem of "release" vs show. I'm going with a release as long as it doesn't span more than four CDs. For example Jai-Alai 6/23/74 plus Bonus Disc, or Dave's Picks 29 with Bonus Tracks. I would not count something like the Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, or a 3 show box set like Winterland 1973 Complete; but I'm letting Ladies and Gentlemen The Grateful Dead slide in there. I think Dick's Picks 18 is fair game too.

2/14/68 "And now for our next morbid selection..." * Road Trips '68
8/24/68 * Two From The Vault
2/22/69 * 30 Trips Around The Sun
11/8/69 * Dick's Picks 16
5/2/70 * Dick's Picks 8
9/19/70 * Unreleased
4/28/71 * Ladies & Gentlemen Complete
11/15/71 * Road Trips Autumn '71
4/26/72 * E72
8/27/72 * Sunshine Daydream
9/17/72 * Dick's Picks 23
10/19/73 * Dick's Picks 19
11/11/73 * Winterland Box Set
2/24/74 * Dave's Picks 13
6/23/74 * Dave's Picks 34
3/23/75 * Blues For Allah Live
7/17/76 * Dave's Picks 18
12/31/76 * Live at the Cow Palace
2/26/77 * Dave's Picks 29
5/25/77 * Dave's Picks 1
2/3/78 * Dick's Picks 18
12/31/78 * Closing of Winterland

And Fuggit - I love this DaP 38 + Bonus. I'm often at odds with Dick's commentary about a lot of shows, but I think he was on target here. Even if Dick hadn't introduced these shows to Dave, I think Dave would have discovered it himself.

The creator of Heavy Metal lives nearby. Proximity to luminaries does not usually translate to becoming illuminated. The animated films of Ralph Bakshi are genius. Seeing Fritz the Cat in my hometown movie theater back when it was released in 1972 in a very altered state of consciousness is permanently etched into my gray matter. American Pop is also a fantastic film from Ralph. Many notorious and highly accomplished artists are best left alone. 34 years ago I asked Laird Grant if he ever met Jack Kerouac. If my memory serves me well Laird ran into him in Vesuvios Bar in North Beach next to City Lights Bookstore . The story goes something like Laird asking Kerouac some question and an extremely intoxicated Jack replying “What the fuck you want .....”. Some folks are best left alone.
Fame is a double edged sword.
Enjoy the new moon of July.

Gary-great stuff, thanks for letting me know. As Morrissey from the Smiths wrote, "There's more to life than books, you know. But not much more."
As for being old fashioned, I would probably qualify, in the eyes of the world. In the last month I have read books from different centuries. Some of them were written before I was born.

Recommended

Also...12 9 71

I remember seeing that in theater 1981 or 82

....yup. I remember those. Good times. Heavy Metal still rules in my home from time to time to time.
Had my bedroom walls covered with the gatefolds from those magazines and also tapestries back then. Mom & Dad got a little worried, but not too worried. I was a good kid. Ignore that shoplifting thing on my rap sheet though. I stand by my statute of limitations.
Music Is The Best. No matter what category.
Been on a Judas Priest thing lately.
My musical tastes are like the cycles of the moon. But when it comes to the GD, it's always always a full one. I will never be not in the mood to listen to the boyz.

And I was never in the dog house, she left the stadium with a smile on her face.

didnt like Space.

You are a hero, Ice Cream. :)))

Leave. Chix. @. Home.

26 years ago today.

Definitely not a Mount/Desert/Rush/Island/More show, but I’m glad that I was there.
About this time that day I was between the stadium and the big parking lot listening to The Band. Once they finished I got in line to enter the stadium. I was on the floor in front of the soundboard and to the left.
I made it to all 9 Soldier Field shows and was on the floor for 7 of them.
Had a good time at all of them, even the first night in 93 when it was cold and raining during Space. My girlfriend (her 2nd show) was wet, cold, and not enjoying Space. I refused to leave. :)

Was in the bowl that night. The other time in the bowl was 7-8-95 (Visions was the highlight that night).