Grateful Dead live, Dick's Picks etc - S&D

Well, if you believe Bob Weir, Donna was fired because she wasn't hitting the notes.

^thank god Jerry could play guitar then. I mean the guy couldnt remember the lyrics half the time. Singing with the Dead was beside the point.

The best rhythm & blues band in the world!

AHAHAHA, thank you for my morning laugh! They did about the worst Chuck Berry covers I've ever heard.

Yeah, some of the '50s rock and roll covers they did were just awful. Country tunes, on the other hand....

re: Donna, I think the problem was she was the only on-pitch singer in a band with four other off-pitch singers. By comparison, she sounded like the one who was off.

And yeah, their rock 'n' roll covers rarely, if ever, worked.

I was listening to 11/9/79 Buffalo last night and the second set clicked with me in a really, really big way. The run of "Prophet", "He's Gone" > "Drums" > "Space" > "Wharf Rat" was gorgeous.

And yeah, their rock 'n' roll covers rarely, if ever, worked.
Well...they kinda made "Not Fade Away" their own. And the set with Bo Diddley guesting is pretty solid!

It' weird, because one of the things that got me into the Dead at all was the JGB's version of "Don't Let Go." Jerry actually could effectively sing (his own take on) R&B when he was on.

Pigpen too, but I'm not a big fan of his vocals or that era.

lol at etta, i'll have to hear that one.

There's a review in I think Mojo Navigator, Greg Shaw's mid 60s zine saying that the 1st s/t lp is the most authentic r'n'b lp since the Stones' debut. Definitely in one of the 2 Bomp compilation books.

Jerry always identified himself as a guitar player. Even songwriting was a distant 2nd job in his mind, what he really did was play guitar. Through the 70s and a little into the early 80s I think he often sang quite well, he had a sweet voice if a little thin. He forgot a lot of lyrics but was mostly on-key. He sang even better with Jerry Band it seems like, maybe he knew he had to carry it.

I never really liked Bob's voice very much, though I do like a good number of his songs. They gave him too many gruff rocker covers.

Donna often sounded really bad, people mention the monitor thing, but she really just had a big issue with pitch, period. I never really minded her presence but I can't say she ever improved a song for me.

Phil was a different thing entirely. Everyone on this thread can sing better than Phil. Meaning we all have a "Box of Rain" in us.

Interesting piece on the history (and current restoration) of the Betty Boards:
http://www.relix.com/articles/detail/whats_become_of_the_bettys

yeah kind of cool, though jesus christ, if there's one band that could probably take it easy with the archival digs...

looks like this explains why no official release of Cornell?

yeah kind of cool, though jesus christ, if there's one band that could probably take it easy with the archival digs...

I will have been dead for fifty years and Weir will have been dead for seventy and they'll still be releasing live albums from the mid-seventies

it's kind of awesome

Yeah I will admit to being pretty deep in the hole as far as live dead goes. Seems like I can't go a couple days without firing up something from archive .org. And as everyone knows there is no better driving music than live shows from 72.

And as everyone knows there is no better driving music than live shows from 72.

ha, i know, why is that?

perfect ratio of choogle to jam?

^^^ new screen name! I kinda never listen to the Dead until this thread reactivates and prompts me. 3-21-90 this morning (Ontario). They segued Crazy Fingers into Cumberland Blues, not altogether successfully, but A for effort.

And as everyone knows there is no better driving music than live shows from 72.

truthbomb of all truthbombs. like I have specific drivetime connections to specific '72 shows

yeah i don't even really like long drives, but putting on europe 72 in the car makes me want to go until it's over.

I got in the car the other day and Europe 72 was cranked from when my wife had been driving the day before, she was adamant that it was best possible driving music

I have logged many miles listening to Europe 72.

do ppl have a fave date on the Europe 72 tour? i like the final night at the lyceum - smokin 'morning dew' - tho' they didn't do dark star

Out of the four releases I have from that tour I prefer the Hundred Year Hall collection from Germany. That is one of the better "The Other Ones" I think out there. The Europe '72 Vol.2 has a really good "Dark Star".

I don't have a copy of Europe 72 in my truck, but I do have a CDR of Live Dead that has gotten quite a few plays on the road.

Great 'Loser' on Europe '72 Vol. 2, as well. One for the repeat button for me.

Dusseldorf (aka Rockin' The Rhein) is my go-to '72 date. Shows that start with "Truckin'" tend to rule, and Godchaux is at his most Cecil Taylor-esque in "Dark Star."

was just listening to Hundred Year Hall (in the car, of course) -- it is extremely solid throughout.

I like their early rock and r&b covers. So this is pretty 70s electric jazz-vibey like it says, right? Appealing. Hermes' Rolling Stone review invokes Miles Davis:
http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/daves-picks-volume-9-harry-adams-field-house-u-montana-51474-cd
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/daves-picks-volume-9-20140307

74 is def the peak of their jazz fusion flirtation, especially on things like 'weather report suite' and 'eyes of the world'

Yeah I will admit to being pretty deep in the hole as far as live dead goes. Seems like I can't go a couple days without firing up something from archive .org. And as everyone knows there is no better driving music than live shows from 72.

― tylerw, Friday, March 14, 2014 9:33 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I got in the car the other day and Europe 72 was cranked from when my wife had been driving the day before, she was adamant that it was best possible driving music

― joygoat, Friday, March 14, 2014 2:36 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have logged many miles listening to Europe 72.

― Mark, Friday, March 14, 2014 9:21 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

looooooool this is funny, running joke in circle of friends that '72 1st sets are perfect sunny daytime interstate driving / '73 2nd sets for the nighttime.

In retrospect it's a bummer that they didn't release more live albums w/ overdubs like Europe '72. No mistake that a lot of the best cuts from it -- Cumberland Blues, He's Gone, Brown-Eyed Woman, Jack Straw, Ramble on Rose -- all have significant vocal overdubbing.

(for reference: http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-europe-72-overdubs-guest-post.html)

yeah does seem like it was a successful formula for them

Hearing non-overdubbed "Jack Straw"s from that tour, it's obvious they made the right choice in overdubbing.

25 yrs of obsessive fandom and I've arrived at the following conclusions, let me know where I'm wrong:

Jack Straw is their most concise mix of folky lyric and The Big Jam as the years went on.

Help>Slipknot takes the cake for the jazz fusion thing.

Dark Star is it's own (great) thing and I love it but...

China>Rider is the essential, so solid through the years. The signature item.

Discus

I dont think they played Dark Star as often as they played China. You may want to put a category in for Scarlet Fire, that was a big piece of the show from '74 on

Dark Star is it's own (great) thing and I love it but...

China>Rider is the essential, so solid through the years. The signature item.

you may be right. dark star '68-'69 is easily my favorite dead thing ever, but imo the dark stars after this period fell off immensely.

Jack Straw is their most concise mix of folky lyric and The Big Jam as the years went on.

i agree with this!

Yeah I will admit to being pretty deep in the hole as far as live dead goes. Seems like I can't go a couple days without firing up something from archive .org. And as everyone knows there is no better driving music than live shows from 72.

― tylerw, Friday, March 14, 2014 9:33 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I got in the car the other day and Europe 72 was cranked from when my wife had been driving the day before, she was adamant that it was best possible driving music

― joygoat, Friday, March 14, 2014 2:36 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have logged many miles listening to Europe 72.

― Mark, Friday, March 14, 2014 9:21 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha, yea, europe 72 for me means driving to some hiking spot on gorgeous sunny days in late may and june

Jack Straw is their most concise mix of folky lyric and The Big Jam as the years went on.

I was listening to Veneta second set this morning and thinking about "Jack Straw" a lot - kind of the quintessential Weir tune for me in that it ramps from languor to a sort of agitated celebratory vibe that's got a weird (and in this case awesome) edge to it. I also wonder whether Hunter would have fed an opening line as gross and cringe-inducing as "we can share the women, we can share the wine" to Jerry Garcia although I also think it does a neat job of encapsulating, in one line, the nasty "sure, my old lady'll fix us dinner, she's mellow" sexist vibe of NoCal hippieism-in-practice

China>Rider is the essential, so solid through the years. The signature item.

"Bird Song" holds this spot for me though China>Rider when it's peaking, right at the segue, beats Help>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower for sheer lost-in-the-seamless-moment awesomeness

I always interpreted "Jack Straw" as a study of their fans -- "we can share what we got of yours, 'cause we done shared all of mine" = the perpetually moochy Deadhead -- while also addressing them -- "You keep us on the run," we have no alternative but to keep touring, and we love you guys, but at the same time, you have these expectations that dammit we're trying to meet, but you're kind of hassling us (also cf. Jerry's reluctance as a public figure).

For the analogy to Jack Straw, wouldnt a member of the band have to kill another member, or at least a fan?

ha, it is a cringey opening line if you play it as an anthem (which is what it became live), but in the context of Hunter's "country noir" kinda tunes from that period, I think it's clear that the characters are basically losers.

That's a great interpretation, Tarfumes - and it chimes with the fact that in later years, Weir was known to sing "used to play for acid/now we play for Clive" (a reference to the Dead signing up with Clive Davis' Arista)

Thanks, and lol @ Weir's line.

I think it's clear that the characters are basically losers.

^whoever "Shannon" is is clearly an idiot

we have no alternative but to keep touring, and yall made us spend all our money, so we'd have to keep touring.

For the analogy to Jack Straw, wouldnt a member of the band have to kill another member, or at least a fan?

― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Monday, March 17, 2014 11:55 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I dunno...I tend to think of those lines as Hunter imagining the lives/backstories of one of the more sketchier subsets of Deadheads (or the dealers who weren't Deadheads, but Deadheads were their customers, so they followed the band as much, or more, than Deadheads).

ha, it is a cringey opening line if you play it as an anthem (which is what it became live), but in the context of Hunter's "country noir" kinda tunes from that period, I think it's clear that the characters are basically losers

yeah I mean this is doubtless the right reading but in context it always comes off like Uncle Bob's ickville vision of paradise

ha, it is a cringey opening line if you play it as an anthem (which is what it became live), but in the context of Hunter's "country noir" kinda tunes from that period, I think it's clear that the characters are basically losers.

― tylerw, Monday, March 17, 2014 11:56 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^^^^ country noir OTM, although more just the pall of melancholy over a lot of those Hunter-penned early '70s songs-- Loser, Brown-eyed Women, Deal, Wharf Rat, Broke-down Palace, Looks Like Rain, Attics of My Life, etc.