Grateful Dead General Thread

[Hate 20,247]

I still listen to the disc often.  It's what turned me into a Deadhead.  It wasn't until the internet and archive.org came around that I was able to explore the other eras through the shows.  For a long time, that disc framed how I thought each song should sound.  I wasn't fortunate enough to know anyone with a bunch of tapes to listen to. 

[elguapo 4,620]

I didn't even realize it was from One from the Vault until I did some more digging. I then found One from the Vault on apple music. The intro where each band member starts playing as Bill Graham is doing the intro is fucking awesome!

[dcbc 14,644]

2 hours ago, elguapo said:

The intro where each band member starts playing as Bill Graham is doing the intro is fucking awesome!

Oh, yeah!  Just killer.  When I saw that intro track, I knew.  But I listened to Help-Slip-Franklins first.  So it was a foregone conclusion.  That show was my first exposure to any of those songs.  So it's the one I judge all others by.

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

17 hours ago, elguapo said:

This help > slip > frank is fuckin 🔥

https://archive.org/details/gd75-08-13.fm.vernon.23661.sbeok.shnf/gd75-08-13d1t02.shn#

Yeah, that whole show is awesome. It says something that it was their first choice when they started releasing shows from the vault. That Blues for Allah is a monster too. It’s too bad that song didn’t get more play. It’s an epic psychedelic jam. That was the third and final time they played it.

Here’s a good story. I used to have a great tape of that show in my young collection. I guess since it had been broadcast on FM radio, good quality recordings were in wide circulation. Wide enough, anyway. I suppose it’s possible that I recorded it off of the Grateful Dead Hour. It was one of the jewels in my collection and one of the first that I could use in trades with other young collectors whose collections were built around the same Betty Board staples that mine was.

This is a little more story than you need, but in the summer of ‘90, a couple friends and I were looking for an apartment. We found a landlord who told us he didn’t have a 3-bedroom available but he made us an offer on two adjacent 2-bedrooms with only one working shower between them. He’d let us have those at a discounted rate if we agreed to be resident managers for that building and two others nearby. We took the offer. As part of our job he gave us additional work painting apartments. I forget what that paid, maybe $75-$80 per unit, but I was a go-getter and painted some apartments on my own so I could collect those payments for myself.

One night I was alone painting one of our future apartments. It was on the ground floor which was semi-sunken. You had to go down a short flight of stairs to get to the front door and the bedroom windows in the back were just above ground level. The apartment was unfurnished and had no drapes. I brought my boom box with me and was listening to that GAMH show while I worked. It got late so I quit for the night and came back to finish the next day. I set my boom box on the floor below the bedroom window so no one could see it from the outside. Well, someone must have been watching me because they broke in overnight and stole my boom box.  &@%#$@!!!

That sucked, but fortunately whoever stole my box obviously wasn’t a Deadhead because they removed the tape and left it behind! That was a relief. The boom box was a lot easier to replace than that tape. 

Cool story, huh? It kind of figured that that show would be the first of my tapes made obsolete when they opened up the vaults. But what a huge deal that was.

Back to Blues for Allah. They released the first one they played live, from Kezar Stadium on 3/23/75 with Stronger than Dirt sandwiched inside, on the bonus disc that came with the Beyond Description box set of remastered official albums. It kicks ass too.

 

[YGIFS 19,458]

Sake of my baby, I'd die for love.  

rip/Robert Hunter

It's settling in this week with the on-sale of Weir/Wolf Bros and then Dead & Co. shortly thereafter.  The songs will live on as long as my grandchildren have air in their lungs and blood moving through their ears .  But so much of what so many of us grew up with...will come to an end.  And perhaps it's for a reason.  I was at least there for the middle of it, and hopefully here at the end.  Nothing like it will ever come again.  That's not arrogance, that's just the nature of recorded music and live touring.  

We all got to see the Grateful Dead in some form or fashion, likely more than once.  And we listen for changes in the songs and keys and vocals across epochs and meridians. Because our bones were drawn to it.  Not my favorite band, but the band that lives in most in me.  Glad I stumbled upon them 35 years ago.  See y'all on the Golden Road to Unlimited Condescension.  

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

5 hours ago, elguapo said:

I didn't even realize it was from One from the Vault until I did some more digging. I then found One from the Vault on apple music. The intro where each band member starts playing as Bill Graham is doing the intro is fucking awesome!

Have you listened to Two and Three from the Vault? They’re both stellar too.

Two from the Vault is a real treasure taken from two nights at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. on 8/23-24/68. Apparently there was so much bleed-through of one track to the next on the original tape recording that it was unlistenable. But with new digital technology they were able to clean up the mix and produce a stellar recording. My favorite part is the New Potato Caboose which has an awesome Phil jam. I love that song.

Three from the Vault is from 2/19/71, the second of a six-show run at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. That was their first show without Mickey until his return on NYE ‘74 at Winterland, captured in the Grateful Dead Movie. I’m not sure why they elected to go with 2/19 instead of 2/18. They’re both classic shows but 2/18 had debuts of Bertha, Greatest Story, Loser, Playin’, and Wharf Rat, not to mention that epic jam out of Wharf Rat and back into Dark Star that was dubbed the “Beautiful Jam.” 2/19 had debuts of Bird Song and Deal and it’s a great show too, I’m just not sure why they went the way they did. But it didn’t matter since I already had good quality CD boots of both shows. (Used to have them both on tape before that.)

Back to Two from the Vault, here are the liner notes from Dan Healy:

Quote

Technical Information:

When we originally recorded this back on August 23-24, 1968, our record company then was Warner Bros. Records. 1" - 8 track was the very rage and State-of-the-Art of the recording industry. Because our approach to recording was then considered controversial (years ahead of our time), Warner Bros. would not entrust this new equipment to us without their engineers chaperoning. The engineers they sent to us were accustomed to recording Big Band style and were not familiar with Rock & Roll close microphone techniques. This together with the fact that Mickey and Billy's drums were premixed one to a track and the vocal and audience microphones were also combined, gave an immense amount of leakage.

When we first began making rough mixes of these tracks, we noticed the combined leakage of every instrument onto every track. This caused severe phase cancellation and time smear that reduced the time image to nothing. So, the challenge to bring back these tapes wasn't reviving the sound of the instruments, but, rather correcting and restoring the immense time smear disparity.

Enter Don Pearson, now Dr. Don the Time Master, and B&K 2032 F.F.T. analyzer. We used Phil's bass track for the time center, and compared this track to the others. Thus we were able to measure the distance in time between the various microphones. Using this information, we then transferred the delay time measured by the analyzer, to TC1280 delay units. This along with careful mixing achieved a nearly perfect stereo image. In headphones, you will be standing on the front center of the stage and you'll be able to tell where everyone is.

This show was recorded on two consecutive nights. The band's equipment had been taken down at the end of one night and set up again the next. We were able to measure that the equipment was set up approximately one foot different than it was the night before. Because of the magic of today's technology, we are able to appreciate a tape that was unusable before. HOORAY!

From Maestro Healy and Dr. Don the Time Master

 

[Hate 20,247]

Here is another show that includes a "Without A Net" song...The Bird song is outstanding.

 

[Hate 20,247]

The jam out of Space and into Dear Mr Fantasy is fantastic.  This is not the best Fantasy>Hey Jude, but it is good.  The best was 7/2/89, but this one is worth it just for the jam out of Space!

[Prepuce of Doom 21,285]

On 12/9/2022 at 4:50 PM, YGIFS said:

Sake of my baby, I'd die for love.  

rip/Robert Hunter

It's settling in this week with the on-sale of Weir/Wolf Bros and then Dead & Co. shortly thereafter.  The songs will live on as long as my grandchildren have air in their lungs and blood moving through their ears .  But so much of what so many of us grew up with...will come to an end.  And perhaps it's for a reason.  I was at least there for the middle of it, and hopefully here at the end.  Nothing like it will ever come again.  That's not arrogance, that's just the nature of recorded music and live touring.  

We all got to see the Grateful Dead in some form or fashion, likely more than once.  And we listen for changes in the songs and keys and vocals across epochs and meridians. Because our bones were drawn to it.  Not my favorite band, but the band that lives in most in me.  Glad I stumbled upon them 35 years ago.  See y'all on the Golden Road to Unlimited Condescension.  

The music never stops..... 

~~~~~

 

 

[YGIFS 19,458]

Well now you know where his daughter got the under-butt trend from...................and I'm enjoying it. 

Shaking that ass, I'd die for love............

[stc 1,500]

speaking of bob weir side projects, what is the general consensus on ratdog amongst GD fans?

[Prepuce of Doom 21,285]

"We Wish you a Jerry Briefcase" made me laugh. 

I'd make an effort to remember that if I knew more than a handful people who would get the joke. 

[Hate 20,247]

speaking of bob weir side projects, what is the general consensus on ratdog amongst GD fans?

I only saw Rat Dog once. It was on a stormy night at the old Austin Music Hall somewhere around 95 or 96. I had a great time and enjoyed them very much. The highlight, of course, was Looks Like Rain!

[YGIFS 19,458]

1 hour ago, Hate said:

I only saw Rat Dog once. It was on a stormy night at the old Austin Music Hall somewhere around 95 or 96. I had a great time and enjoyed them very much. The highlight, of course, was Looks Like Rain!

It was later than that, more like '97/98 IIRC.  Great set.  I always liked Ratdog from the little that I saw live (I think maybe 3 shows total from living in NoCal for awhile).  I've never really attended a shitty set of any band incarnation.  closest was Mickey's Planet Drum near Yosemite in 1999.  Beautiful backdrop, we had eaten something, Ben Harper had opened.  And Mickey was into it, but rest of his band just fell so damn flat.  We got into car early to avoid the crowds on the long drive back to Sacramento.  Glad we made it safely.  I guess if include that set, one with Bill & Phil, handful of Ratdogs and Wolf Bros, Other Ones, Furthur, Dead & Co, And the full Suite.  30+ good times.  As Bob stated, the music will live on in 700 incarnations for another 300 years.  Just like Mozart.  But we lucky few...saw the original concerto in the royal hall of legends.  There is no such thing as a bad Dead Set.  No bad Dead version or lineup.  The whole trick, the mechanism...is find that one version of the tune you love.  The one that gleans.  That's why this band is different.  Live concerts of bands I love online for 25 years, never even occurred to me to look up myriad sets of theirs because I know what awaits.  Bobby & The Dead?  I'll spend an hour tonight just listening to versions of "Liberty" and I'll enjoy every moment of discovery, if even in frustration.  It's why they came to visit us....................................

[MajorTexas 69]

Anyone headed to the Dead & Co show July 3rd at Folsom Field Boulder, CO ?

[Hate 20,247]

Tonight kicks off a kind of Christmas Break for me.  I work through Thursday next week, but it will be pretty quiet and I will only have one 7 am call this week.  I've been on a Lost Sailor/Saint of Circumstance kick lately.  I've always enjoyed them but never really gotten into them.  Maybe it's because I've been checking out so many early 80's shows lately, but I'm really

 

[Hate 20,247]

Y'all may or may not know that I am a huge fan of Black Peter (no homo) and this show has an outstanding one!

[Hate 20,247]

And here is a fine 12/16/78 show.  The Other One>Wharf Rat is really good.  It's not 7/7/89 good but it is good....and then into Around and Around?? GODDAMN!

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Hate

[Hate 20,247]

I was checking out 12/17/78 earlier, but the recording was just ok.  I then found 12/17/86 and it's much better.  I've said it before, Alabama Getaway is a great way to start a show!

 

[Hate 20,247]

 

[MajorTexas 69]

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

On 12/14/2022 at 3:40 PM, stc said:

speaking of bob weir side projects, what is the general consensus on ratdog amongst GD fans?

I’ve seen some great Ratdog shows and Evening Moods is a great album. I wasn’t the biggest Mark Karan fan in the world, I felt Bobby could’ve done better. But he didn’t bring me down or anything. He was just okay. I was already familiar with Rob Wasserman since I’d seen him and Bobby touring as an acoustic duo, and I was familiar with Jay Lane from his work with Charlie Hunter. I like Jeff Chimenti. It’s been interesting watching him grow, still playing in the band after all these years.

After Jerry died, Bobby was the first one to put a band together and get back on the road keeping the music alive. I really liked the way he adapted Jerry’s songs to fit his new band. I’m a big Bobby fan so more Bobby isn’t a bad thing. The Dead were getting tired and I had stopped seeing them after Buckeye Lake ‘94 and I was happy to get out to see Bobby in his new band. The example he set for the other remaining members can’t be overstated.

 

[Hate 20,247]

Tonight is the last night I have to set an alarm for the year, so I'm celebrating a bit.

 

[MajorTexas 69]

Merry Christmas dead heads 😎

[Hate 20,247]

Yes!  Merry Christmas to all of the Surly Deadheads.  I can't find a show that was played on Christmas, so I may just do a little pot luck tonight and listen to a bunch of different stuff.

 

[Hate 20,247]

I hope all of the Surly Deadheads had a great Christmas.  I'm checking this one out tonight.

 

Edit:  I changed the link because this show has video of it but also there was a bass drum that was way to high in the mix...well this one has it to so I'll just stick it out and see how it goes.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Hate

[Hate 20,247]

Solid show.  The highlights for me were the Althea, Might As Well, He's Gone, and Black Peter.  Everything else was pretty damn solid though. 

[Hate 20,247]

Tonight is 12/28/82 from the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California.  The sound for this show is really good. 

 

[elguapo 4,620]

Been listening to Wake Up to Find Out tonight. It’s one of my favorite shows, Branford Marsalis on the sax is an awesome complement to the Dead. I really love the Estimated Prophet from this show.

 

[Hate 20,247]

Happy New Year fellow Deadhead!.

 

[Hate 20,247]

This show has a fantastic Cold Rain & Snow FWIW.  Just awesome!

[YGIFS 19,458]

Before a lot of their catalogue was available online, even just slightly pre-dating iTunes.  I was at home, flipping channels on New Year's Eve.  I guess we had been out, overserved, and decided to call it quits.  And I happened upon PBS and they were playing a Dead show from Wonderland in the 70's, maybe early 80's.  This was literally 20 years ago.  So the show, at the time, was 20+ years old, now 40+ years old.  And I called "Hate" to tell him to turn it on.  I'll look up the setlist later today.  

Anyway, it's strange how you not only remember shows...but even broadcasts, downloads, exchanged tapes, etc.  

I remember Peter Lake.  I hosted a community radio show from 1991-1993.  And we only had a handful of Dead albums on the stacks.  So I invited Peter in because he was the one guy I knew that had a lot of concert tapes.  So I called the one-off show "Requests and Deadications"   And we queued up "Scarlet Begonias" on the pots.  And it was a gorgeous version (not sure the year/venue).  But I got like a dozen calls telling me that it sounded like shit over the air.  Turns out it was a copy of a copy of a copy on shitty maxell cassette.  

Not sure the point of my story, but Happy New Year deadheads.  

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

On 12/30/2022 at 10:18 PM, elguapo said:

Been listening to Wake Up to Find Out tonight. It’s one of my favorite shows, Branford Marsalis on the sax is an awesome complement to the Dead. I really love the Estimated Prophet from this show.

 

The jam out of Estimated might be my favorite musical space in all the world.

That’s a great show. A couple months ago I came across my old bootleg discs still in a box since I upgraded to the official release. They’re now in my car, just waiting until I come across some Deadhead who wants to take them off my hands. I don’t come across cars with Dead stickers on them that often anymore.

Same with Phish stickers. I pared my collection of Phish boots down by about 75 discs and have those on a couple spindles in my car. They’ve been there for over a year but I think it was back in 2020 the last time I saw a Phish sticker on someone’s car. It was a white pickup and it was during the lockdown. I was just running to the grocery. Still, I can’t bring myself to throw them in the trash. Sooner or later I’ll run into someone who can use them and I’ll make their day.

Perhaps I need to get out more.  

[Hate 20,247]

[Hate 20,247]

 

[Hate 20,247]

I'm back on a Wharf Rat kick tonight.  I just think it is the perfect song.  I can't say it's my favorite as that is like picking your favorite child...how do you do that?  But the song is just perfect across every era.  The other night I checked out 2/18/71 which was the first time they played it.  I was in the spa drinking bourbon and high as a goat.  It's sandwiched by an epic Dark Star and it was a perfect night with not a cloud in the sky and a beautiful full moon. My favorite version is 7/7/89...I just love the Hammond B3 on that song and Bobby's weird sounds.  The one from 5/28/77 coming out of NFA is pretty goddamn good as well.  Right now I'm checking out 7/8/78 which I've heard before, but I really enjoy the long lead in to the song...the longer the better (twss).  It's probably the one song that I wanted to hear most that I didn't get to hear. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Hate

[Hate 20,247]

And then again, there is 5/7/77 coming out of The Wheel.  It's just the perfect song.  "I got no dime but I got some time to hear his story" is the perfect line.

 

[Axle Hongsnort 210]

Alright Hate, I love your optimism…not a jam vehicle , but give me the best ‘when i paint my masterpiece’ cover?

[Hate 20,247]

7/4/89 and it isn't even close.  It's the best Masterpiece they ever did! Start at 37:43...or don't because the whole show it out fucking standing!

Edit to add this show also has a fantastic Bertha opener, a kick ass Cold Rain & Snow, and beautiful Row jimmy, a solid LL rain, epic Deal, the best ever Women are Smarter, and mind blowing Watchtower>Morning Dew>Not Fade Away.  I would highly recommend this show to anyone.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Hate

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

Not even close he says. Not even close? Really? I beg to differ. You were just commenting on 3/29/90 recently. I think that Masterpiece is better. I suppose that’s a matter of taste, but at the very least it’s close. I don’t even think that’s the best version.

First, I’ve got to chide you a bit for embedding a whole show, telling us where Masterpiece starts, but posting it cued up to Not Fade Away. That’s made worse since there’s already a stand alone copy of that Masterpiece on YouTube.

I think that version is too slow. It starts out like a dirge. And Brent isn’t heavily involved. It’s not bad. None of them are bad. It’s a great song. But I wouldn’t call that the best and certainly not unquestionably so.

The first time the Dead played Masterpiece was 6/13/87, just a few weeks before my first show (where they played Desolation Row). 

Those early versions of Masterpiece were much more up tempo. The copy of 6/23/87 on YouTube is sped up and that makes it tough to listen to. You can hear the first Masterpiece here:

https://archive.org/details/gd1987-06-13.sbd.walker-scotton.miller.83752.sbeok.flac16

That’s got a sort of honky-tonk feel to it. Here’s another relatively early rockin’, dancy version:

That’s very different from what it would evolve into over the next couple years and a far cry from 7/4/89. Not saying it’s better, just posting it for the historical record.

Incidentally, I checked my Dick’s ‘Dex last night only to find that there isn’t a single Dick’s Picks release that contains Masterpiece. What’s up with that? Weird.

I got to thinking about when I first heard them play it. The first thing I did after my first show was to start buying all their albums and it’s not on any of those. I first heard it played on NYE ‘87. That was broadcast on PPV and my girlfriend and I paid a woman I worked with to let us watch it at her place (on shrooms) while she went out to a party. I don’t know if it made an impression on me other than it was just a song I didn’t know. You can hear that the song was already slowing down and starting to sound more like later versions:

I don’t know if I ever got a tape of that show. Shows that were simulcast on FM radio were a lot easier to come by but I still hadn’t been gifted my first tape yet (5/8/77, of course). By the following year I did have a fledgling collection and I had a copy of NYE ‘88. I think that’s a very strong version that could compete for best ever. Here it is all cued up for your convenience:

Probably the next one I heard was on Summer Solstice ‘89 which was also broadcast on PPV. By then I was working for the cable company and had free cable with free everything including PPV. I don’t even recall who I watched it with in my apartment but I had the audio running through my stereo and a vial of really good, clean liquid LSD that I bought in Cincinnati on 4/8/89 (couldn’t find a ticket for the show, though, that’s a whole other story I’ll have to share sometime, but that’s a killer show). I think the Masterpiece from 6/21/89 is another strong candidate for best ever:

That whole show was awesome. Clarence Clemons sat in during the 2nd set.

The first Masterpiece I caught live in person was at Alpine Valley on 7/17/89. Most of that show appears on the Downhill From Here DVD but for some reason they replaced Masterpiece, Push, Music from that first set with the West L.A., Desolation Row, Deal from 7/19/89. I don’t know why. Anyway, you’ll hear Brent was a lot more involved than he was in Buffalo two weeks earlier:

This one from Meadowlands Arena on 10/11/89 was probably better. I really love the sound of Bobby’s guitar at the start:

I was talking about the version from Nassau Coliseum on 3/29/90 being better than Buffalo ‘89. I think the version from Albany four days earlier is better than that one:

I’ve got some various other versions to post but I’ll post what I’ve got here now and add those in a second post. Sort of like an appendix to this one.

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

Okay, here are some more Masterpieces. None of these qualify for best versions because they’re not the whole band. But they’re interesting. The above is one of the fun things about the Dead, that you can compare a bunch of different versions of a song. I was talking on the Rush thread about the differences between the two bands. Rush fans can’t do that. They can’t debate which version of Tom Sawyer is best because they all sound alike (and it gets played at every show). Masterpiece isn’t even a jam vehicle but there’s a lot of variation there. Of course I don’t need to point that out.

Oh shit! NYE ‘87 wasn’t the first time I heard Masterpiece. 9/17/87 on Letterman was. I watched this when it was on. I wonder if I remembered it on New Year’s Eve. I don’t recall. But that was over 35 years ago so I think I’ve got some excuse. Anyway, as a newly minted Deadhead, and a Letterman fan since high school, I was pretty psyched when Bob and Jerry were going to be guests. They played Masterpiece with Paul Shaffer and his band.

I’ll post the longer video that includes the interview portion in a spoiler. But I vividly remember the show opening with this bit. I thought it was hilarious:

 

Spoiler

 

Here’s one by Bob & Rob at Nassau Coliseum on 9/6/89:

Here’s an old one by Jerry with John Kahn at The Ritz in NYC on 1/27/86:

You know how Brent’s keyboard part in the song sometimes sounds like a violin? Here’s one by Bobby with Jason Crosby on violin at TRI Studios on 2/20/13:

 

Okay, I think that will about do for now. 

[Hate 20,247]

So I listened to each of those you posted and I stand by my assessment...7/4/89 is the GOAT Masterpiece IMO.  But that's the great thing about this band, we could argue all day about versions of songs and which one was better depending on era or lineup.  I used to think that the Althea from 3/15/90 was the best one, but then I heard some early 80's versions and 3/14/81 is now my favorite.  It's all a matter of opinion.

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

It’s like I just got a new show! I moved a little over a year ago and most of my boots are still in boxes. All the official stuff is on shelves. That’s how it always goes but usually my place will become cluttered with boots that I’ve been playing and periodically I’ll have to collect them, order them, and put them back in their proper place in their boxes.

There was a set of three discs sitting out with a rubber band around them. 8/21/72 in Berkeley, CA. I have no recollection of this show. I looked it up in Deadbase and I can only assume this is a late one I downloaded and burned when the sites where you could still find SBD recordings were all disappearing. I probably burned them, wrapped the cases in a rubber band, and never got around to listening to them or putting them with the rest of my collection.

I’ve fallen way behind on my labeling so I decided to label these and put them in a double wide jewel case. I still have a big box of empty 2- and 4-disc jewel cases waiting to fulfill that task. I haven’t listened to the whole show but I had to listen to enough to get the track listings right and I listened to sections here and there. Killer show.

The centerpiece is Dark Star > El Paso > Space > Deal in the second set. Way cool. They hadn’t played Space since 10/8/68. You know, back in those days when it would just happen and didn’t have a fixed spot in the show. It’s not very long but just going from El Paso to Deal via Space is pretty cool. And the segue into Deal is nice.

The Dark Star is really cool. I wasn’t paying real close attention until they went into a big Morning Dew tease. If you’d been at the show you would’ve assumed they were playing it. I don’t know what happened but they didn’t. The jam got really interesting after that. They went into a section dominated by some jazzy playing by Keith. Jerry disappeared for a while and Bobby laid fairly low. It was mostly Keith, Phil, and Billy. Then Jerry came back. I’ll post that whole suite below. There are multiple copies of the whole show up there.

A couple other things I noticed. They introduced the audience to Donna and Keith. They explained that Pig was taking time off to get well. (His last show was 6/17/72.) During the tuning before Me & My Uncle, Bobby says, “If you’re busy pickin’ up out there then you already know what song this is because it’s the only song we know that’s in the key of E minor.” Good stuff.

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

Oh btw, here’s something I came across the other day when I was checking to see if the Deadbase website is still up. (It’s not.) Deadbase XI is available for download as a pdf at archive.org. I’ve got Deadbase X which came out after Jerry died so I don’t know what XI has that X doesn’t but I downloaded it anyway. Now I’ll always have it with me.

https://archive.org/details/DeadbaseXIGDSetlists19591995/Deadbase XI (GD Setlists 1959-1995)/mode/1up

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

Finally got 4/27/71 labeled last night. That’s one I always put off because it’s a long setlist, for one. It starts out with some of the NRPS opener and I had to look up the names of some of those songs. And The Beach Boys are guests in the second set so there are some very short songs in there that add to the song count. The Dead even take a short break while The Beach Boys take over, playing Good Vibrations (theramin and all), I Get Around, and Help Me Rhonda.

This was from the Dead’s last run at the Fillmore East before Bill Graham closed her down. Excerpts from that run are compiled on the official vault release Ladies and Gentlemen...The Grateful Dead.

Here’s a sample of the NRPS opener, although this was recorded the next night:

And when the Dead came back from their break and rejoined The Beach Boys, they dropped this little nugget:

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

To Cleveland 12/6/73. Oh, baby. This Dark Star has to rank among the top few most spacey versions. They get OUT THERE. It’s 25 minutes before Jerry sings the first verse. It’s almost that long before we even hear the Dark Star theme. Then it’s right back into the nebula. Phil was feeling extra cantankerous that night. Then right when it sounds like they’re going to go to verse 2, nearly 45 minutes in, they instead transition into Eyes. I love this kind of stuff. It’s why ‘73-‘74 was my favorite era.

Heres the Dark Star > Eyes > Stella Blue. Not included is the Sugar Magnolia closer. I thought that made for a great capper but whoever uploaded this apparently didn’t. I understand that this Dark Star at least was included on a Road Trips bonus disc. One of the reasons I have t been fully invested in all the official releases from the band is that I have all these bootlegs and I’m not completely familiar with all of them yet. It was different in the tape trading days when you’d get a few tapes then would have weeks to listen to nothing else and you’d get to know them intimately. Once we could download shows digitally and burn them to disc, you could acquire recordings faster than you could listen to them. So I still have a lot of discs I’ve only ever listened to once or twice.

Even though I have no desire to own every show, I still kind of regret not downloading every soundboard and archiving them when they were available at archive.org. I never stopped to think that they might not always be there. At the very least I should’ve downloaded every show where they played Dark Star. I would like to hear every one of those they ever played.

Hate, you probably don’t need to bother. You’ll hate this.

“Dark Star is going on all the time. It’s going on right now. You don’t begin it so much as enter it. You don't end it so much as leave it.”  - Tom Constanten

[WhatTheBuck 28,928]

RIP David Crosby.

 

[Hate 20,247]

That's very sad to see him go.  I know he had a big influence on the band in the very early 70's.  The fact he lived as long as he did is pretty amazing.  Just imagine if Jerry and Brent had been able to defeat their demons...holy shit what could they have done??

[Hate 20,247]

I'm celebrating tonight with some bourbon and the Grateful Dead.