A Thread for Premium Dead (whatcha Grateful for?)

[mellowgerman]

 

[sailingshoes72]

I saw the Grateful Dead in concert 10 or 12 times between 1970 and 1974. Pirates World (Miami, FL ), Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, NY), Music Hall (Boston), Civic Center (Providence, RI), Red Rocks (Colorado Springs), Jai Alai Fronton(Miami, FL), International Raceway (Watkins Glen, NY) and several other venues.

When I listen to tapes of old GD shows, I prefer recordings from this era. My favorite is Sunshine Daydream from Veneta, OR (1972). I'm also a big fan of Hundred Year Hall from Frankfurt, Germany (1972). The jam on The Other One is absolutely smoking! Phil Lesh is quoted as saying that it some of the best music the band ever played.

 

[mellowgerman]

I saw the Grateful Dead in concert 10 or 12 times between 1970 and 1974. Pirates World (Miami, FL ), Capitol Theatre (Port Chester, NY), Music Hall (Boston), Civic Center (Providence, RI), Red Rocks (Colorado Springs), Jai Alai Fronton(Miami, FL), International Raceway (Watkins Glen, NY) and several other venues.

When I listen to tapes of old GD shows, I prefer recordings from this era. My favorite is Sunshine Daydream from Veneta, OR (1972). I'm also a big fan of Hundred Year Hall from Frankfurt, Germany (1972). The jam on The Other One is absolutely smoking! Phil Lesh is quoted as saying that it some of the best music the band ever played.

Wow. I wish I could have caught some Dead shows in 1972! I think '72-'74 was my favorite chunk of their timeline, though of course there was plenty of good stuff before and after too. The one that Beatrice and I were watching in the video above was this one:

 

[sailingshoes72]

Wow. I wish I could have caught some Dead shows in 1972! I think '72-'74 was my favorite chunk of their timeline, though of course there was plenty of good stuff before and after too. The one that Beatrice and I were watching in the video above was this one:

That is a really cool video of the GD from their 1972 European Tour. I didn't realize that any video existed of that tour other than the footage from the "Beat Club" TV show in Bremen, Germany. Thanks for posting!

The Sunshine Daydream box set also has a DVD of about 45:00 minutes of the show. It, too, has a quality soundtrack.

 

[mellowgerman]

That is a really cool video of the GD from their 1972 European Tour. I didn't realize that any video existed of that tour other than the footage from the "Beat Club" TV show in Bremen, Germany. Thanks for posting!

The Sunshine Daydream box set also has a DVD of about 45:00 minutes of the show. It, too, has a quality soundtrack.

Yes! Sunshine Daydream is fantastic. Wish it was the full concert like the corresponding live album, but I suppose we have to appreciate whatever we can get!

 

[Midnight Toker]

Jerry would have been 80 today!!

Here's something you rarely ever see...Garcia solo acoustic!!

 

[mellowgerman]

Yes! Happy 80th, Jerry!

 

[Westerly Wood]

Never really got into the Dead. Not to be an iconoclast in this thread. But one of my fave songs regardless of artist or genre, of all time, is Ripple. It is a perfectly written and played song. IMHO of course.

 

[chazmo]

Mello, thanks for posting those youtube links. I dig the "Promised Land" one too!

 

[mellowgerman]

Never really got into the Dead. Not to be an iconoclast in this thread. But one of my fave songs regardless of artist or genre, of all time, is Ripple. It is a perfectly written and played song. IMHO of course.

Their catalog as a whole certainly will not be everyone's cup of tea. In fact, even though they're definitely one of my favorite bands, I have a hard time with anything later than 1979... I feel like they gradually started losing steam in the late 70s (understandably!) and then the actual tones of the individual instruments became less appealing to my ears, especially with the implementation of synth and midi.

As you point out with Ripple though, I do think that there's probably something for everyone in there SSOMEWHERE... though finding it can literally take days, maybe weeks of continuous listening

 

[Curlington]

I was at the Civic Center shows in Philly in 74. At one of those Civic Center shows, I learned about Jerry's Old and in the Way album. I was given a small postcard-like picture of the album cover. That Album changed my life, leading me to every Norman Blake and Doc Watson show in the Triangle area of North Carolina from 75 though 80. Same, I was at every Jerry solo show in the Triangle area of North Carolina from 75 though 80, and there were a lot of them. I would even go to Duke for them.

My best Dead show was in June 1976, Tower Theatre just outside Philly, assigned seating, a few rows back and right in front of Jerry. I was, of course, watching his fingers intently. Jerry mind melded with me (and my striking 20 year old girlfriend). He was clearly amused at, or interested in, us. Just a dream to me now.

Those were the days!

 

[Midnight Toker]

Their catalog as a whole certainly will not be everyone's cup of tea. In fact, even though they're definitely one of my favorite bands, I have a hard time with anything later than 1979... I feel like they gradually started losing steam in the late 70s (understandably!) and then the actual tones of the individual instruments became less appealing to my ears, especially with the implementation of synth and midi.

As you point out with Ripple though, I do think that there's probably something for everyone in there SSOMEWHERE... though finding it can literally take days, maybe weeks of continuous listening

Just like my alltime fav band (Zep), the Dead imo have two separate cetelogs....two completely different entities. Studio, and live. Folks way into the live stuff will differentiate the beginning of a single year's leg of a tour with the end of that same 15 show leg the same way other folks would differentiate studio albums separated by 3 years time! There are hundreds and hundreds of great sounding live recordings out there, unofficial and commercially released. (Thank God for Betty Cantner, who was the band's official archivist who had a split patch from the soundboard to her own multichannel recording desk and mixed direct to 2 track in real time. Her recordings are legendary! Just about all the live stuff coming out officially nowadays are "Betty boards". )

I'm more into their live recordings. Studio, I consider Mars Hotel and Terrapin Station to be sonic masterpieces worthy of any audiophile's collection. Love them both. Live, I like certain stuff from many eras. I first started seeing them in the very early 80's...spent a few summers going everywhere from Alpine Valley to Hampton Coliseum. They were a bit hit or miss then, but I did like the Brent years. He provided some great backing vocals. (Never been a fan of Pigpen's singing.....or Donna's (especially when she did her occasional vocal flailing!) Europe 72 and Spring 77 are serious live career peaks. And all from those eras are tops. There are too many individual shows that stand from other eras to even start mentioning them. Just do a quick search for "50 best Greatful Dead shows ever", no $$ need be spent. They can all be easily found on YouTube, or on various sites w/ links to directs downloads of the highest quality files in lossless compression format.

 

[crank]

Was reading a bunch of old Rolling Stone articles about the Dead and JG.

In one interview he was talking about the Jerry Garcia Band and how great the vibe was and saying that they just played everything how he likes and there was total harmony and no tension. Listening, the tension of the Dead made it a lot more interesting and IMO better than JGB.

My favorite side projects of his were Old and In The Way, which I learned was already over by the time they put out a record. And I loved the Garcia Grisman collaborations.

 

[mellowgerman]

Just like my alltime fav band (Zep), the Dead imo have two separate cetelogs....two completely different entities. Studio, and live. Folks way into the live stuff will differentiate the beginning of a single year's leg of a tour with the end of that same 15 show leg the same way other folks would differentiate studio albums separated by 3 years time! There are hundreds and hundreds of great sounding live recordings out there, unofficial and commercially released. (Thank God for Betty Cantner, who was the band's official archivist who had a split patch from the soundboard to her own multichannel recording desk and mixed direct to 2 track in real time. Her recordings are legendary! Just about all the live stuff coming out officially nowadays are "Betty boards". )

I'm more into their live recordings. Studio, I consider Mars Hotel and Terrapin Station to be sonic masterpieces worthy of any audiophile's collection. Love them both. Live, I like certain stuff from many eras. I first started seeing them in the very early 80's...spent a few summers going everywhere from Alpine Valley to Hampton Coliseum. They were a bit hit or miss then, but I did like the Brent years. He provided some great backing vocals. (Never been a fan of Pigpen's singing.....or Donna's (especially when she did her occasional vocal flailing!) Europe 72 and Spring 77 are serious live career peaks. And all from those eras are tops. There are too many individual shows that stand from other eras to even start mentioning them. Just do a quick search for "50 best Greatful Dead shows ever", no $$ need be spent. They can all be easily found on YouTube, or on various sites w/ links to directs downloads of the highest quality files in lossless compression format.

As far as studio albums go, my favorites are Anthem of the Sun (specifically the '71[?] remaster) and Aoxomoxoa (original '69 mixes). That said, I often dip into all the others that came before Made In Heaven... Made In Heaven and what came after just aren't my cup of tea.

I definitely agree that they had ups and downs throughout their live catalog. I'm sure it would have been a blast to attend ANY Grateful Dead show (at least ones where nothing major went wrong logistically), but as far as live recordings go, I just can't seem to get past the synth/midi sounds. My family moved to America on July 11, 1995... we still could have caught the Grateful Dead live! Geeze, mom and dad!

In one interview he was talking about the Jerry Garcia Band and how great the vibe was and saying that they just played everything how he likes and there was total harmony and no tension. Listening, the tension of the Dead made it a lot more interesting and IMO better than JGB.

Agreed! Though I enjoy listening to JGB, I think music tends to be more interesting when you have a group comprised of multiple, strong creative forces whose unique voice comes through in the end product. Part of why I love the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane so much. As I believe you were pointing out, you can hear the tension, the push and pull, and it just makes it all the more complex and interesting.

 

[Midnight Toker]

My family moved to America on July 11, 1995... we still could have caught the Grateful Dead live! Geeze, mom and dad!

My family came to the US in August of 72. Inch war in Heidelberg geboren. My relatives are in Bad Hersfeld, Bad Wildungen, Heppenheim, Hannover, and all over upper Bavaria.

I'm just glad I caught a bunch of shows before Touch Of Grey came out and they became super trendy in the late 80's. I remember a lots of the older heads wondering what the hell all these yuppies and jocks were doing at Dead shows.

 

[mellowgerman]

My family came to the US in August of 72. Inch war in Heidelberg geboren. My relatives are in Bad Hersfeld, Bad Wildungen, Heppenheim, Hannover, and all over upper Bavaria.

I'm just glad I caught a bunch of shows before Touch Of Grey came out and they became super trendy in the late 80's. I remember a lots of the older heads wondering what the hell all these yuppies and jocks were doing at Dead shows.

So you could have attended any of those legendary April/May 72 Germany shows then! Ich bin aus Steinau, ein bisschen nordöstlich von Frankfurt

 

[Midnight Toker]

So you could have attended any of those legendary April/May 72 Germany shows then! Ich bin aus Steinau, ein bisschen nordöstlich von Frankfurt

No...I was only 7 yrs old then. I was likely at home reading Asterix and Obelix, Max und Moritz, and Struwwelpeter!!

 

[mellowgerman]

My family came to the US in August of 72.

Speaking of August 72! Check out what was shared in a Jefferson Airplane group on Facebook yesterday!

 

[crank]

I signed up for Grateful Dead Fan Club at a show back then and used to get those letters and an occasional thin floppy single or EP. WIsh I had saved some of that stuff.

Speaking of JEfferson Airplane - We were at a Dead show at our local theatre in '71 and stopped at the box offices on the way in to enquire about upcoming shows. JA tickets had just gone on sale and we snagged front row center! I was 14 or 15 watching the Airplane with my feet propped up on the stage. Getting tix for Hot TUna at same theatre coming up in December!

Alos seeing Phil & Friends there the Friday before Halloween.

 

[mellowgerman]

Recently I've been blown away by Englishtown, NJ 9/3/77 (Dick's Picks vol 15). They were really on fire in this one, so much so that Phil breaks a string on the first song!
Listened to the whole 3 hours on Saturday while doing post-hurricane rebuilding work in our downstairs. Really got a good flow going.