I never really enthusiastically enjoyed punk rock. I mean I like some of it, though they seem to me quite the opposites. Punk was always catharsis to me wherein the Grateful Dead is more cerebral (even before you introduce drugs). Perhaps those cathartic punk fans grow cerebral in their 40s…

The Dead were always just a few degrees removed from stuff I really enjoyed anyway (Dylan, Neil Young, etc.), and I always had a fondness for their folksier, song-based stuff; once I developed a taste for jazz and extended improvisation, their jammy, psychedelic side really clicked for me. I just really enjoy listening to all of them play; they are all singular instrumentalists who can adapt to a variety of contexts without losing their individual voices or melodic instincts, and I love the songbook.

depends on the kind of punk, i guess. for me it was wire, the fall, pere ubu, minutemen. they all strike me as deeply cerebral.

maybe i should have written post-punk?

emphatically yes

There really is no better way to put it. I always likened them to being superb jazz musicians who just played whatever felt right in the moment and it was just almost always spot on.

I was running today to Without a Net - this is even better than I remember. Granted, it was no marathon so I only got through half of it but every version is pretty killer. Never noticed how crazy the Bird Song was from this.

I love Bird Song so much.

Althea came on for my run today unexpectedly. At first I was afraid it was going to slow me down but it kept me going nicely. I should throw more dead on the headphones for my routes.

You should make it where your run has to last thru a certain number of tunes.

Then of course, that 37-minute version of Franklin’s Tower comes up..

I could probably stretch out far beyond my current (low) mileage threshold with a long mix full of drums/space

The Dead are surprisingly great to run to. You are all spaced out and running to the music, the song ends and bam! You are something like halfway through the run without even realizing it. And he’ll, running for 4 songs just sounds more digestible than for 15 songs.

That and/or techno.

Row Jimmy gets me today.

Not yet.

There’s this slowed tempo reggae thing happening in that song that just hooks me in for as long as the song can go. That whole album is really something that’s stuck with me.

I feel like the right mix of Dead stuff would pull you right in (i.e. deep space improvisation; extended, psychedelic instrumental interplay from unique, compelling soloists; etc.), but the wrong mix would probably put you off of them forever (i.e. folk music with vocal harmonies).

I could see this shapeshifting 37-minute "Dark Star" doing the trick. Maybe.

KD, maybe put out Playing in the Band from that same show and you really might snag yourself a spenno. The guitar interplay on that one is an unraveling spool of pure sonic energy.

Yep. That song is exactly the right tempo to lock into for a stretch.

this tracks

Jerry's fav dead song