should i give the grateful dead a chance?

"Operator" was written by Pigpen!

Indeed, but Pigpen was still playing in the band for almost two years after "Operator" debuted--plenty of opportunities to play it. Apparently they really did only play it four times, the last on 11/8/70. Similar trajectory to "Till the Morning Comes" (played five times from September to December 1970). I get why the latter was dropped so quickly (imo the weakest track on American Beauty and solidly "of its era" vs. the timeless cosmic Americana of the rest of the album). But "Operator" was a fun/funky lil Pigpen feature. Not sure what the issue was...

these mixes are fantastic, especially if you're a little wary of the Dead's vocals, haha:

https://saveyourface.posthaven.com/grateful-dead-improvisation-1972-1974

I am in the middle of the biggest Dead dive in my life, so that sounds great, but this is laughable:

To me, this is where the Grateful Dead planted a flag that no one in the rock and jazz categories can dispute or directly compete with.

Dude needs to listen to some more jazz.

haha well, what's grateful dead fandom without a little hyperbole

(xxxp I didn't mean to imply that Pig's writing "Operator" had something to do with their not playing it that much, just noting it as one of his rare contributions in that department, after reading the little xpost article about him as writer, which I found after being made curious by mention of the almost-posthumous tape in the Rolling Stone piece: both of those linked upthread)
There's something to that Deadhead take, or at least I sometimes think of them as folk art, with so many genres and subgenres of 60s American music as parts of a big ol' quilting project, incl. job, still in progress, as they go ramblin' 'round, boys, as they go ramblin' round. (So not really rock or jazz per se, or entirely. The quilt is their flag.)

Just walked past an In This House We Believe sign that’s just a series of Dead lyrics.

was it this one?
https://i.imgur.com/Wa4mYxO.jpg

That’s the one!

is buckingham/nicks era fleetwood mac this rad?

I've been thinking about kate's question for a couple weeks now but in the context of mid-period FM and at moments I would say Fm made a better Pink Floyd album than Pink Floyd in 1971 and a better Grateful Dead album than the Grateful Dead in 1973.

1. yeah but that's bob welch-era fm, i was asking about buckingham/nicks, who i've never really heard outside the radio hits and some stuff from "tusk"
2. _future games_ RULES but pink floyd made _meddle_ in 1971. i can't take the idea that _future games_ is a better pink floyd album than the album with "echoes" on it seriously, sorry. i will grant that christine mcvie > rick wright, tho.
3. not too familiar with the studio _wake of the flood_ or _mystery to me_. are we talking welch as bob weir here?

can someone throw up a list of all of christine mcvie's fleetwood mac songs pre-1975? i want to make a playlist out of them, i should give her work a good proper listen

that sounds excellent, brb

FG:
Morning Rain
Show Me A Smile

BT:
Homeward Bound
Spare Me A Little Of Your Love

Penguin:
Remember Me
Dissatisfied

MTM:
Believe Me
Just Crazy Love
The Way I Feel
Why

Heroes:
Heroes Are Hard To Find
Come A Little Bit Closer
Bad Loser
Prove Your Love

there are two co-writes as well but those are the ones w/sole credit

14 tracks, would make a damn good album

sry to derail from the Dead but Christine rules

in other GD news, it's the 50th anniversary (more or less) of Sunshine Daydream/Nancy's Benefit/Veneta OR gig

still legendary around these parts and I still eat Nancys yogurt on a daily basis

_future games_ RULES but pink floyd made _meddle_ in 1971. i can't take the idea that _future games_ is a better pink floyd album than the album with "echoes" on it seriously, sorry. i will grant that christine mcvie > rick wright, tho.

I am probably irrational here, but FM has a better rhythm section, a better guitarist (or two), and better singers than PF. I would take Sands of Time over any PF song - it is the best.

Christine does rule.

More to the point of the thread, Veneta, OR was the second Dead show I ever downloaded from archive.org and I am totally going to listen to that Saturday.

I’m no student of this band, but have dipped into this set and am really enjoying the float.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Theatre,_St._Louis,_MO_12-10-71

That's a great show, one of my favorites of the latter of '71. The official release does a great job of emphasizing Keith's work.

🙂

The stage banter is so gentle.

Speaking of Keith, way upthread here (or maybe it's the one about Dick's Picks etc.), somebody mentions a good show incl. him *and* Pigpen---yall know which one that is---?

Dunno what was referenced, but the 5/26/72 show that was recently given a standalone official release is a good one that has both of them pretty clear in the mix.

12/4/71 is a good one for both of them too, iirc.

They’re both on all of the Europe ‘72 shows.

(they’re not all great, but some are absolutely all-time. My personal fave is Düsseldorf 4/24/72.)

Glad to know it wasn't just the one, thanks yall!

there are two co-writes as well but those are the ones w/sole credit

― sleeve

super rad, thanks sleeve :)

https://www.dead.net/playingintheband cool idea even if you don't play along.

The highly-anticipated 2023 summer tour, produced by Live Nation, will be the band’s final tour since forming in 2015.

lol

there is a very absurd irony to the fact that that sentence makes more sense the more you believe that previous "final" tours and shows have indeed been final, and that each new band is truly a new band. otherwise, i don't know which is more ridiculous, the idea that this band formed in 2015 or that everyone should be shitting their pants about this being the final tour

I mean, John Mayer has made rumblings of bailing for a few years now and Billy K sat out much of their last tour, so I'd imagine he's ready to be done.

My guess is Bob Weir is going to focus on his Wolf Bros thing with Don Was and Jay Lane, Mickey Hart is going to fuck around with Planet Drum stuff. Wouldn't mind seeing Oteil and Jeff Chimenti team up with Billy Strings and JRAD for some jam supergroup thing.

https://store.dead.net/dw/image/v2/BHCC_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-warner-master/default/dwf6ae6197/grateful-dead/ACE/BobWeir_Ace_Cover.jpg?sw=550&sh=550&sm=fit

Ace (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)[2CD]
$24.98
Availability:
Pre-Order, released on: 01/13/2023

Bundle includes:

• Ace (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)[2CD] (Out of stock)

• Cassidy (2023 Remaster) - Releases 10/5 - ALAC

• Black-Throated Wind (Live At Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY, April 3, 2022) - Releases 10/20 - ALAC

• Playing In The Band (2023 Remaster) - Releases 11/10 - ALAC (Pre-order)

• Greatest Story Ever Told (Live At Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY, April 3, 2022) [Feat. Tyler Childers] - Releases 1/5 - ALAC (Pre-order)

Qty:

Original album Remixed by Derek Featherstone and mastered by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer David Glasser
Live performances by Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack
Produced for Release by Bobby Weir and Derek Featherstone
New Liner Notes by Jesse Jarnow

ACE:50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION pairs a remastered new mix of Bobby’s solo debut with new versions Bob Bobby recorded earlier this year at Radio City Music Hall with the Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack and special guests Tyler Childers and Brittney Spencer.

When Bobby started working on ACE at Wally Heider’s Studio in San Francisco in early 1972, he wasn’t planning for the Grateful Dead to be his backing band. It just happened. “I pretty much knew in the back of my mind what would happen,” Weir told Crawdaddy a few months after the sessions. “I go and get the time booked and start putting the material together. Everybody gets wind of the fact I got the time booked and I may be going into the studio. So, one by one, they start coming around…”

It made sense, the band was already familiar with most of the music, having road-tested six of the album’s eight songs, including “Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Mexicali Blues,” and “Playing In The Band,” destined to become one of Weir’s signature tunes. ACE also marked the beginning of Weir’s long-running collaboration with lyricist John Perry Barlow and includes early standouts “Cassidy” and “Looks Like Rain.”

yuck, why are the bonus tracks modern recordings of the songs, rather than studio outtakes of the time? That shit on Workingman's and Am.Beauty was revelatory

https://open.spotify.com/album/3KxT9J6KTuKeXox9BUikZ4?si=wqrgOmiGRMqo20irLavhoQ

This DP (3) seems pretty inspired. 1977. I love that on “Dancing in the streets” both Jerry AND kieth are playing though wah filters. Funky and bizarre in that late 70s way

I think that “Help/Slipknot/Franklin” section is my most played of any Dead selection. I’m generally ambivalent with the Kreutzmann/Hart pairing but they groove hard on that one. Would’ve thought some DFA act would do a double A-side of that sequence in a similar vein.

Anyone have any Recs for reconstruction (79) shows ?

I’ve only really heard a few Reconstruction shows, I believe the 4/8/79 was my favorite iirc. The list below are all Betty Boards, I believe, so if you find any of these in your torrent of choice they probably all sound great:

03.07.79 Rancho Nicasio, San Rafael, California

03.08.79 Cotati Cabaret, Cotati, California

03.09.79 Cotati Cabaret, Cotati, California

04.08.79 Cotati Cabaret, Cotati, California

06.16.79 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California

06.22.79 The Keystone, Berkeley, California

07.08.79 The Keystone, Berkeley, California

This stuff is fantastic , why is it not more well known?

https://store.dead.net/en/cosmic-puffy-blanket/081227859626.html
I need this

Half step
Mississippi uptown
Toode loo

I actually had that as my ring tone for awhile but then realized, nope, this is too good to be signaling life's interruptions. Also I'd prefer to let it keep playing rather than answer the phone.

Vinyl Me Please is putting out the O.G. mix of Anthem of The Sun in January: https://www.vinylmeplease.com/products/the-grateful-dead-anthem-of-the-sun

listening to the Nashville West record with Clarence White and Gene Parsons… weird how much it sounds like a dead live recording (between jerry-ish guitar moves and the thin undermixed vocals)

DP III is pretty much all I could ask for, may 77, has a help >, the only2 bob songs I like, terrapin, and a wharf rat

What’s with Bob yelling some of the words during Samson and Delilah?

He is on cocaine.

I've been giving The Grateful Dead Movie a chance for the past two hours and I'm still not getting this band tbh. Jerry Garcia is a good guitar player though.

prob not a good place to start, Sunshine Daydream is much better in terms of Dead movies

The ‘72 Veneta show in Sunshine Daydream is A+ and the mix sounds great. Difficult to argue with the vibes
https://i.redd.it/7lseuddg57zz.jpg" class="noborder">

https://i.redd.it/7lseuddg57zz.jpg

Just celebrated 50 years of this gem the other day:

https://archive.org/details/gd73-05-26.sbd.cribbs.17076.sbeok.shnf/gd73-05-26d1t01.shn