Grateful Dead

.... little Dennis dancing around Grandma's kitchen.....

Gray skies are gonna clear up, Put on a happy face;
Brush off the clouds and cheer up, Put on a happy face.
Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy, It's not your style
You'll look so good that you'll be glad Ya' decide to smile!

Pick out a pleasant outlook, Stick out that noble chin;
Wipe off that "full of doubt" look, Slap on a happy grin!
And spread sunshine all over the place, Just put on a happy face!
And if you're feeling cross and bitterish Don't sit and whine
Think of banana split and licorice And you'll feel fine

I knew a girl so glooming She'd never laugh or sing
She wouldn't listen to me Now she's a mean old thing
So spread sunshine all over the place
Just put on a happy face

.... I think I understood you perfect Strider,,,, Ramble on! :-)

PS - Did your brother become a New Seeker?

You did a great job, DHBrewer.. no wrong or right answers here, just individual streams of consciousness.

12" Pianist.. Ha.. didn't see that coming.

PF - There are so many variations on the “guy walks into a bar” jokes, that no matter if you’ve invited the Church choir over for a barbecue, or you are with your buddies, you have a good one or two!

Gary - I’m glad you found the book. Her story is more - shall we say, nuanced - than what we may publicly know about Cassady, and the Beats, in general. She was a saint to put up with the guy.

Strider - That is a very cool Kruschev story! That tops my most “I’ve met” or “I once saw” stories!

Jack - Wise to cover all the bases as far as Dead eras goes, but with a band that has their legacy, as others have rightly mentioned, picking only four for Mt Rushmore is subjective, and challenging. Maybe instead of Mt Rushmore, we have a white board Menu board, where the Daily Special is constantly changing. “Today, serving 7/8/78, with one choice of side. Drinks extra!”

The version I know involves a guy with a golfball sized noggin. He had asked a magical mermaid for

a
little
head

(uproarious laughter)

Thanks for the tidbit about Carolyn!. Book on the way.

More later,

G

Forrest Gump moment . My grandmother on my moms side of the family had a farm in Briarcliff Manor, New York State. In 1959 Khrushchev was visiting the United States. On September 18, 1959 he drove in a motorcade from New York City to Hyde Park to visit Elenor Roosevelt. My grandmothers farm was right next to whatever the name of that parkway was. So I and my family all gathered less than 100’ from the entrance to the farm and saw the motorcade drive by. Being the five year old wag I was I asked, “was that Khrushchev on one of the motorcycles?”
Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin in “The Wild Ones” was still looming large in the collective psyche of America.
Jack Kerouac lived in Northport, New York on Long Island from August 1959 to April 1961. As my family moved over to Con-etiquette in 1960 I lived less than 10 miles from Jack, his mum and his cat. Well I was a pint sized hep cat for six. And by the end of the 6-tees I was a regular aficionado of muggles (the mean green, not Harry Potter) or boo. I hadn’t got hip to the Mezz yet but had done a Stan Laurel impersonation on the Chuck McCann Show while still in the 4th grade.
The succession of tea down the pike was Rabbit turned on one of the Poet Laureates from West Virginia to his first THC , who in turn turned on my brother to his first time who at the very least influenced me to become a seeker (not the Australian pop / folk group -1962) but it was Nantucket surfer Murphy who ignited that first spark and flash and majestic buzz that echoed from then and there all the way to this here and now and on into eternity (quien sabe?).My first buzz with big Ben was while listening to the first Led Zeppelin album (the band not the Hindenburg) for my first time, Presidents Holiday 1969.
Dear readers , if you’ve made it this far with my east coast upbringing literate ramble , you are probably wondering “what the fuck does this have to do with the Grateful Dead.” As Jerry said,” I identify more with the Beats than with the ....” Phil in the blanks however you’re moved.

“I went into a restaurant lookin’ for the cook
I told them I was an editor of a famous etiquette book
The waitress he was handsome, he wore a powder blue cape
I ordered some suzette, I said , “could you please make that crepe?”
Just the then the whole kitchen exploded from boilin’ fat.
Food was flyin’ everywhere, I left without my hat

Bob Dylan’s 115th dream

Maybe Nikitas ( the Communist , not the hockey player) shoe moment was what initiated the shoe phone for Maxwell , the Smart guy. 99 was an 11.
I can say I know Jack now but 60 plus years ago I only knew motorcycles, huge American cars and my favorite, trains. Read “October in the Railroad Earth” , the short story, not the band.

My initial post never made it, so a few quick comments.

The problem with Rushmore is that unlike Dead shows, we still get new presidents. We will likely have a transformational president in the future worthy of inclusion, but he/she will never make it. The project began in 1927 and was completed in 1941. Teddy Roosevelt is up there whereas FDR is a far more worthy president, in my opinion. He simply became president after the fact. To me Teddy is like Cornell. Yeah, he is up there but there are likely better choices.

I look at it this way. One show from FW69 needs to be there as does one from E72. You can pick your own, but I favor 2/27/69 and 5/3/72. Any from FW69 are fine as are 4/8/72 and 5/26/72.

Not to sound like a homer, but I am with Doc on 74. It needs to be there and Providence would be my choice.

That leaves one. 77 will get the nod from most. Cornell gets lots of love, but I would go with either 5/22/77 or 5/25/77.

My fourth choice would be 6/24/70.

Gary - If you are delving into the writings of the Beats, especially Kerouac and Cassady, I highly recommend Carolyn Cassady’s “Off The Road”, if you can find it (not sure it’s still in print). It is a peak behind the curtain, so to speak. Another great read is Neal Cassady’s “The First Third”. I thought Cassady merely this cartoonish character of lore through the Beats, the Pranksters, and the Dead, but he actually was a pretty decent writer. I personally couldn’t get into Burroughs, never fan of the heroin scene and the gray shade it put on his writing, but Kerouac is something else!

Angry Jack, VGuy - Agreed, that final series was poor entertainment. It was pre-ordained who was getting the Cup, pretty anti climatic.

PPS - For all who have weighed in, this new Garcia release is one of the better recent ones! I am not a vinyl guy, but sorry for those that are. I know I collect music through Neil Young’s site, and he is constantly beating the drum about vinyl pressing problems, tons of delays.

So let me fill it with a joke, as it’s been a long week for all:

A man walks into a bar and sees his friend sitting beside a 12-inch pianist. He says to his friend, “That’s amazing. Where did he come from?”
The friend pulls out an old lamp and tells him the genie inside will grant him one wish. The man rubs the bottle, and to his amazement, a puff of purple smoke spews out and slowly collects in the form of a genie. In a booming voice the genie tells the man he has but one wish.
The man thinks and says, “I wish I had a million bucks.” All of a sudden the bar is filled with ducks, bursting from the door and the windows, standing on top of the bar, dunking their heads into people’s drinks.
“What just happened?!” the guy asks. His friend replies, “I know. Did you really think I wanted a 12-inch pianist?”

Okay maybe not in line with this forum but it is about Jerry music
JGB vinyl No longer coming out on RSD july17th.. Garcia family announced
According to a statement posted on the official Jerry Garcia social media pages, the first pressings that arrived from the vinyl manufacturer were not in line with the quality presented on test pressings. The Jerry Garcia Family noted that the pressing’s fidelity was “a clear deviation from the standards we’ve set for our releases.” So instead of the originally planned limited pressing of 7,500 copies, the JGF has decided that “A full repressing is our only acceptable path forward.”

“While we’re disappointed we won’t have this collection to share on Record Store Day, we’re committed to taking the time to ensure the music sounds just right (as Bobby would say),” the statement read.
As a result of this unexpected delay, Jerry Garcia Band will not be ready in time for July 17th. The Jerry Garcia Family noted that it does not have a timeline for the release, but intends to complete the repressing in time for the end of the year. So even though the delay in arrival is not ideal for fans, the decision to go with a full repressing for the album will ultimately result in more copies made available to more fans.
Bad news it is not coming out on 17 July. Everyone who has the CD will agree this is a monster show. Good news when it does come out it may not be limited so the greedy ebayers will lose out. Let the music play for everyone
Drp out