Sorry, Ladies...He's Take (Well, Actually Dead)

It's been a little while since I've posted some homegrown videos/slideshows of the bootlegs, so tonight is as good a time as any.

This is from New Years Eve, 1969 at the Boston Tea Party. It's the Good Old Grateful Dead doing Big Boy Pete.

They only did it a few times (including at my dear Loyola's Rambler Room) and this is one of the times with Pigpen...enjoy!

Simple Pleasures for Simple Minds

Wow, just by chance, I threw a good-looking show I'd never heard on the iPod this morning...a matrix recording of 4-19-78 at Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Columbus.

Overall, it was just a pretty good show from a year I've always had an affinity for and the recording is nice and crispy.

Then came the encore....I hadn't studied the setlist before, preferring to enjoy things as a surprise. I thought I heard Garcia noodling with Zevon's Werewolves of London, so had to look it up in Deadbase and it was the breakout show for this cover.

What a treat! They go on for a good 10 minutes!

Whack Fol the Daddy O

It's been a little while since I've posted some good tunes, so now is as good a time as any.

This is from the Grateful Dead's commercially-released box set, So Many Roads.

It's a compilation of live and other cool cuts from their full history, 1965-1995. It's got one of the prettiest Scarlet Begonias I've ever heard. The guitar solo in the middle, one of my favorite solos of their catalog, makes the hair on my neck stand up.

This cut is of the boys in the studio where Jerry starts picking at Whiskey in the Jar. Jerry's probably fibbing about just remembering it at that moment for the first time in 30 years, but who knows. Either way, we get to witness the wonderful powers of induction possessed by Robert Weir when he pounces all over its Irish origins.

Way to go, brainiac.

Either way, this is some really cool stuff and I love hearing them horse around in the studio. Would be great to get more of this goodness from the vault!

Today's Music

I realized that I have not posted a link to the Archive's treasures lately, so decided today that I must share what I'm listening to because it's really put a spring in my step...

This is from the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, February 9. 1973. In the 1980s, the boys would play some monster shows outside at the Frost, but this is inside Maples Pavillion. This was their first show of the year and a little warmup before heading out to tour the midwest.

I'm up to Truckin' now and have not heard anything not worth my time yet. Pop it on if you'd like!

Jerry Garcia...Country Boy

As I'm sitting here getting blown away by the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, I wanted to post another tribute to Senor Garcia.

I listened to this show on the way home this evening and it made the trip all that much more enjoyable.

This is from April 17, 1971 at Princeton University's Dillon Gym.

Here's the Grateful Dead doing Merle Haggard's Sing Me Back Home.

A Little Europe Seventy-Two-Fer

I'll continue Holy Week here with two cuts from the epic Europe '72 tour and subsequent live triple album.

This was Pigpen's last active tour with the band.

While I'm not as big a fan of his as others are, his contribution to the early years of the band cannot be denied by the serious or casual fan.

Enjoy two cool tunes, Ramble On Rose and Big Railroad Blues from Copenhagen on April 17, 1972, the latter of which is prefaced by some horsing around with masks, which is explained in the above-linked wiki entry.

As I've posted here before, Europe '72 was probably the recording that turned me on to these guys and if you want a really good primer, I highly recommend picking this up. It's from a very creative period, the songs are well-played and it's just a hell of a good time.

Ramble On Rose

Big Railroad Blues

Grateful Dead Music...Whatever That Is!

Here's a nice interview of Bobby and Jerry by the late Tom Snyder from May of 1981.

The drummers join up later...


Now, here they are from the same performance, doing On The Road Again

Brent Mydland, RIP

My favorite of the Grateful Dead keyboardists, Brent Mydland, died 18 years ago today.

After summer tour ended, Brent had to pay the piper for some of his addiction-fueled misdeeds and wanted to go out with one last bang, instead. He overdosed and died.

(While the fate of the dead Dead keyboardists is tragic, it is almost humorous how much their stories resemble those of the drummers in Spinal Tap.)

In my mind, this really was the end of the Grateful Dead. While the Vince years had a few highlights, the band just never seemed to get its footing after Brent checked out.

His case is a sad one because he was so damned gifted, but always seemed plagued by personal problems and feelings of inferiority...the latter of which were completely unfounded. He had more talent and soul in his pinkie than the rhythm guitarist will ever have.

I'm posting two versions of one of his more popular songs, Far From Me.

The first is from the second of two shows they played in Alaska in June, 1980. The next one is from Brent's second-from-last show, at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park, IL, on July 22, 1990.

You can hear the degradation in his voice and spirits over the years, with the latter version being downright spooky. His voice is filled with pain and the insertion of profanity into the song speaks to something one just doesn't want to know about...

(As a little side note, this last show is interesting because I'm pretty sure my family was stuck in a traffic jam from this same show. We were on the way back from a vacation up around the Great Lakes and the World was very close to where I grew up.)

So long.

Far From Me, 1980-6-21, West High Auditorium, Anchorage, Alaska


Far From Me, 1990-7-22, World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois

The Poll I'm Running on the Side

Take a sec, if you want, and vote over on the sidebar.

The truth is that I post stuff up here that amuses me, so I don't anticipate dropping the Dead off the roster here or altering much based on response...I'm just asking out of curiosity if anyone listens and enjoys the tunes at all.

Thanks!

La Fiesta de Brent Continues

I was out and about today and was in one of those 1982 moods.

I'm sure you experience this regularly yourself, so I don't have to explain.

So on the way out, I threw the Grateful Dead's first stop at the Garden during fall tour that year onto the iPod...for those keeping score at home, that would be September 20th.

Track 7 in the first set was a wonderfully-bluesy Never Trust a Woman, another one of Brent Mydland's tunes.

Since we're celebrating his stuff here in mid/late July, I figured I'd throw that up for all to enjoy.

That's your cue.

The Grateful Dead...With The Beach Boys!

In the last week, I've been listening to the last shows at Bill Graham's Fillmore East in New York City in April 1971.

These are some classic shows not only for their historical significance but also because they have some downright scorching long sets.

On April 27, 1971, The Beach Boys joined The Boys for some solo numbers as well as sitting in with them.

I put together the joint renditions of Help Me, Rhonda and Merle Haggard's Okie From Muskogee. There's a little dead air for tuning in these, but stick around and don't leave before the miracle happens! It's really beautiful to hear Jerry's playing behind their pretty vocals.

Some of the Promised Brent...And a Rare Studio Cut

With the wealth of live Dead material out there, it's a sin to post any kind of studio stuff here, but I'm in the mood to act like a heathen tonight.

Here's pretty funny video, set to some old Tom and Jerry cartoons, of the boys performing Far From Me...my favorite Brent work and an A #1 F-U song, as well...

It appeared on the Go To Heaven album and was a staple for all of Brent's time in the band.

Enjoy!


You say you want to try again, wear it down between the lines
Well, I have a better end in mind it doesn't seem to really have you
Close your eyes to see though I know you don't mean to be
You are so far from me

There was something I had caught inside screaming hard to make it go
And tied me down low, it doesn't seem you really have to
Close you eyes to see, you've been all you'll be to me
Though I know you don't mean to be, it's just too late
And we can't relate at all

This is the last time I wanna say so long
This song is my last song for you
There's just nothing here to hold on to
Baby, nothing to hold on to

This Guy is Running for the Senate in Minnesota

Funny little clip of US Senate candidate, Alan Franken...backstage at a Grateful Dead show on Halloween, 1980 at Radio City Music Hall, interviewing Brent Mydland...a dude I'll be posting more of in the coming weeks as we approach the anniversary of his untimely death.

BTW>> Far From Me and Easy to Love You are the songs Brent wants to play. Those are solo compositions of his...but Franken would rather hear the perennial Grateful Dead favorite, St. Stephen.

Bob Weir...One Funny Cat

Kind of hard to hear, but they were asked if success has spoiled the Grateful Dead.

More Great Deadhead Commentary

In reference to an Oade Brothers recording of the classic 6-30-85 show at the Merriweather-Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD...Looking back over this one, I think I will have to dust it off tomorrow!

Will also try to get up a cut of their Keep on Growing cover from that night.

Let the critics have their Keith & Donna, I'll take this serving of tasty, wild 1985 summer glory anytime.

Some Tunage Before I Turn In

Here's the show I was listening to on the way home this evening. I had not heard it in a few years, but immediately remembered why October 29, 1977 at the Evans Fieldhouse at DeKalb's Northern Illinois University is one of my all-time faves.

1977 is a top year for some people...the band's sound was just in a really nice groove and it was one of the last years before bad habits started to take their toll on certain band members with Hispanic surnames.

While I'm not in full agreement with all folks on 77, this show really shines in my book. The scorching Mighty Swell surprises as an opener, but the real highlight for me is the Estimated->Eyes in the second set. If you listen to nothing else, check those out and let the music wrap around your head.

Fill My Hole, Jerry

I don't know if Deadheads have always been this funny and I've just been missing it, but here's another gem from etree...

(I did not have this show, btw, so am grabbing it)


A perfect show and one of the top 25 shows. Top three of the Brent Era. If you don't have this show you got a big hole that now can be filled...

Grateful Dead - July 4, 1981
Manor Downs - Austin, Texas

Those Deadheads Sure Are Funny

Since The Archive cracked down a few years ago and stopped hosting downloadable soundboard tapes of Grateful Dead shows (they are there streaming only, but the AUD tapes are still able to be downloaded), bit torrent has really ramped up as the trading method of choice in the bootleg world.

While you can often just trade one show at a time, some folks will occasionally put together 'collections' usually bound by a particular year.

Over at etree, someone's starting up a 1977 project that they will have to break up into chunks (when you combine all known sources for all shows, the compressed size of the year is a whopping 130G!).

This comment someone posted on the first installment tickled me.

I think I am one of my mother's favorite (of 2) sons...

dnick926	2008-05-29 20:27:14
Thank you very much to all that have worked to put this up. It gives me a chance to fill in all the missing shows from one of my favorite late 70's years.

The Shoe is on the Hand it Fits

Sorry for the slow posting lately...it's been a really busy past week or so at work, so today I decided to work at home and kind of catch up on a few nagging projects (which can be best accomplished by removing myself from certain nagging people ;-)).

So, the pitter-patter of the rain outside and the plan for a nice homemade breakfast in an hour or so have me in a good mood.

Yesterday on the way home, I listened to a promo CD put out by the Grateful Dead before their 1987 studio release, In the Dark. It was just kind of a playful 20 minute interview session led by then-keyboardist, the late Brent Mydland.

This morning, I'm going back to that album and starting to re-appreciate it. I'm just as guilty as anyone of preaching the line that the Dead's studio albums weren't where it's at and the only way to truly get what they were doing was from going to (or listening to) a live show.

This album, though, introduced a lot of people to the band. Yours truly is included in that mix.

Here's the video of their only Billboard hit, Touch of Grey. It was filmed after a regular show down at the Laguna Seca Raceway in beautiful Monterey, California.

Enjoy!

Any Excuse to Post Some Grateful Dead

Frankly, I'm just looking for a loose theme or tie-in to justify posting more consecutive Grateful Dead stuff around here, but what the hell. For the next few days, I'll be putting up highlights I can find from some of the Dead's classic New Years Eve shows.

From what I can tell, only 1982 and 1985 (approximate bookeneds to probably my favorite period of the band's) are the best documented shows on Youtube, so that's what we're going with.

Some of these guys have blocked embedding, so I've had to DL the videos and post them thru Blogger's interface.

Keep Your Day Job was an oft-played song during this period then mysteriously disappeared. Rumours have gone around that Jerry got rid of it 'cause fans didn't like it, but I have a little trouble with that argument.

Enjoy this ditty to kick off New Year Week!

BTW>> Make sure you stick around to the bitter end...this is the set closer before the midnight countdown, so you're treated to more deep thoughts from Bobby.