should i give the grateful dead a chance?

I like this "degree of difficulty" multiplier angle!

Maybe we'd all cut Michael Bolton a little more slack if more people knew he had been speaking - and singing - through a voice box since age 14 due to an unfortunate accident involving pop rocks, coca cola, several bottle rockets and a live badger.

Something like what? Listening to their records?

Huh, the only "Drums" that I like are from the mid 80s -> 90s, when they began incorporating dif. technologies and instruments into the drums. The drumming line-up has been either one or two drummers, depending on the era. It was Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann from '77 onwards, Bill Kreutzmann alone from '72-'74 (I think), and Hart and Kreutzmann together from like '68-'72. I believe Hart left the band in the early 70s out of personal shame - his father was involved in the management of GD and apparently stole a lot of money from them. I always preferred the one-drummer line-up b/c it allowed the jams to meander a lot more - that's why Playing in the Bands and Dark Stars from '72-'74 are so spectacular.

I like this "degree of difficulty" multiplier angle!

-- rogermexico (tenthreaso...), August 8th, 2005.

That's a bit of a jump from what I said Roger, which had nothing to do with "degree of difficulty" so much as degree of interest/boredom.

Dark Star can be annoying. Find a show with a good 20-minute "Not Fade Away" or "Scarlet Begonia's/Fire on the Mountain"

I think 1977 was the best year, the Cornell U. Show (May 8th) is certainly their most famous. Geneally speaking you should avoid the studio albums and Explore the "Dick's Picks" series of live shows available on the GD website. And, know the difference between first set playing (Good Old Grateful Dead) and their second set music (Hardcore shit).

You know, a lot of those May '77 shows match that Cornell show, although the Morning Dew and Scarlet->Fire from that show are exemplary.

i'm listening to these from the cornell 77 show mentioned above, and yeah, this band was on fire that night.

You know what I always forget to mention when I'm talking about GD is the astonishing use of dynamic in their volume. I'm listening to a Morning Dew from '71, with 6 musicians on stage, and they get so fucking quite at moments, even while each member is playing, so fucking delicate.

I actively dislike the proper albums though

Man, I didn't even know about that. Nor did I know a new Dick's Picks was out .... from '71! Man it's so crazy how they crank those suckers out; if you don't check back often you wouldn't even know that like 5 Dicks Picks had come out since you last browsed the site.

And one Broke-Down Palace I don't like is Will Oldham's cover of it. I was excited to hear that he was doing it, but I wasn't a big fan of the execution, esp. the second half. Oh well.

http://s57.yousendit.com/d.php?id=1H1UAEBDB90GCBSMTALVHSLK4

that would be great, thanks suzy.

OK, the list forthcoming.

02/14/68
02/28/69
02/18/71
04/29/71
08/06/71
08/27/72
09/21/72
02/09/73
02/15/73
06/10/73
11/11/73
11/17/73
02/24/74
06/18/74
06/28/74
10/19/74
10/20/74
02/26/77
05/07/77
05/08/77
05/09/77
06/09/77
07/08/78
06/30/85
09/18/87
07/17/89
10/09/89
03/29/90
09/10/90
09/10/91