Grateful Dead

Carlo13, CSN opened for the Dead on 7/16/90 in Buffalo. I had a good time at that show, recall being stoked for Loose Lucy as I hadn't seen it at a show before that one and it just seemed like they were having a good time playing it. Good times.

Oroborous...I can remember reading somewhere that that was why The Eleven got dropped. They apparently practised for hours at a time playing in that time signature. To such an extent that they became so familiar with it that they could improvise within it on an almost nightly basis-a stunning high wire achievement that ultimately proved unsustainable. So by 1970 it was goodbye "The Eleven", hello "Not Fade Away".

1972 JGB DEBUT ALBUM ANNIVERSARY TODAY.

I've been listening to CSNY since 1978 and still love them. Seen CSN a few times and once with the dead in buffalo (I think it was buffalo.) Its to bad this kind of music went extinct. They were like the dinosaurs. Big and badass.

Music, books, movies....what else is there? Ok, you need some “green” and beer, but that’s it!......well, maybe this chair, but that’s it.....and this paddle ball, but that’s it....
I don’t buy so many movies anymore, but you are correct, the Criterion collection is good shit. If my memory is correct they are the ones who go the extra mile on refurbishing/scans etc

[Thanks, CaseyJanes for the link to the brewery site. I am not an expert on beer, so I always wonder whether I use the correct translations of the German types into English - that helps a lot.]

I can perfectly understand that post about "Eyes": The opening line of a song sometimes gets you right into the perfect mood for what's to follow. And Hunter gave us so many of those. "Well, the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry any more." Love that, too.

Last 5:
Stephen Stills - "First Album"
Stephen Still's Manassas - "Manassas"
McGuinn, Clark and Hillman - "Three Byrds Land In London"
Jerry Garcia & Merle Saunders - "GarciaLive Vol. 12: Boarding House 1975"
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: "CSNY 1974" (box set)

Bought a copy of Uncut's "The Ultimate Music Guide: CSN&Y" - how I love these compendiums. A bit pricey as imports but always worth the money. Always make me want to revisit tons of albums.

You nailed it on the NOD cd. I see you are a movie buff. Have you tried the criterion movie collection? It's a collection of the best domestic and foreign movies on a high def and remastered quality disks. Most come with booklets and quality dvd/blu-ray holders. They also have some concerts like Monterey pop fest. and the stones gimme shelter at altamont speedway with the best remastered version found anywhere. Check out criterion.com. they are more pricey than other dvd/blu-ray movies but well worth it. They have 1/2 price criterion a few times a year on the site and at barnes and noble too.

First I will say that of course nothing compares to those early psychedelic years, especially the 69 versions, but like anything else, when played well, I felt like they stood the test of time at least. But like Jim touched on, made a big difference if you were fortunate to see any of the big dogs live. Saw the 10/15/83 Stephen, probably a half dozen Dark Stars (some were only the jam/partials). Saw many one offs, 1st or Second versions, or first or second reintroductions etc; Attics, Death Don’t, Box o Rain....but unfortunately, close but no cigar for Casey Jones, Ripple, or the perhaps the biggest regret, no Here Comes Sunshine, Dooooo! Cant complain though, had uncanny luck over the years as far as that goes, from my first show, 1/20/79 (Dark Star)....hey, that’s today! Today’s my 41st anniversary....I was fortunate to rack up some good stats as far as seeing obscurities.
EYES; I agree that generally I don’t like the faster ones, but that they did play some awesome mid eighties versions. Imho nothing is like those 73/74 monsters with the awesome jazz jam in the middle. To me, those Eyes are in my top handful of elite songs/versions...
TOO; similar feelings about The Other one....early big ones, especially the Cryptical's, were awesome, then they just seemed to drone on, then say mid eighties they got a little psychedelic again...I usually liked the Healy weirdness effects on the vocals, though sometimes it was a bit much. I know many folks didn’t dig that, and I believe I read somewhere not all the band was into it? But that’s another that seemed to go through phases...
POST PIG; also not a big fan of the Pig stuff after he passed, except years later I thought Warren did a great job on all that old stuff. Still think they should of had multiple guitars for Fare Thee Well, even if they cycled through and took turns. Always loved Wareen doing the old blues stuff, and some of the Brent tunes too!
But like all the songs, on the right night, or even sometimes today listening, if they stars align and their ripping it up, any song is awesome! Surely saw some great Good Lovin’s and Lovelights, and if nothing else, many a night we felt like at least it wasn’t yet another Stones/NFA, but generally speaking, perhaps they should have let sleeping dogs lie...

PRACTICE; I think the biggest reason/factor with them not keeping up on the St Steves etc was practice, or lack there of. I know they all commented that in the good old days they still rehearsed enough that they could keep their chops up on the more challenging material....you can’t fake your way through Steve’s, The 11, Help, Cosmic Charlie etc.
So another unfortunate side effect of Jerry’s addiction problems was they basically didn’t rehearse much. They all have mentioned that over the years, and it’s clearly evident by all the great tunes that came back in more recent years of Phil, Furthur, and D&C shows, which to me is the highlight of these later incarnations; getting to see the great old psychedelic stuff we didn’t get in the later years of the Dead.

EDIT; well said Daverock!

Jiminmd….100% agree. It is totally different experiencing the songs live to listening to a live recording. You wouldn't have heard me complaining if they had played St. Stephen at Wembley in 1990. How well it would have stood the test of time is another matter. But maybe that's beside the point...the magic was to be in the moment, not consider how it would be perceived 30( (!) years later on a cd.

Envy

Especially 7 13 76

Long time love for that show

One "special" night, hearing that on tape...