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.
washing machine wrote: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.
I'll give these both a listen soon.
It's difficult to pin down what will and won't turn me off, it's something I think about too.
There are definitely certain melodic structures and performance quirks that act as an irritant to my ear, and I can equally be immediately attracted by others, like anything relying on vaguely 'Middle Eastern'-sounding melodies, e.g. harmonic minor, phrygian etc.
I hope you enjoy it, Spenno -- I do think there is a raw, natural quality to their live recordings (from the early '70's especially) that I think will really please your ear, based on what I know of your tastes, especially given their jazz/improv leanings. And despite the crowd they keep and the general perception surrounding them, there is a fair bit of grit to their rootsier stuff that really sets it apart to these ears (not unlike Neil Young in that way, even though the aesthetic is ultimately different).
One thing about their music (that’s probably an unfair analysis) that always kept me from really getting into them was pretty much all their music that I’ve heard seemed to be in a major key. And for the longest time major key stuff was, by and large, a turn off for me. I’ve come around on some stuff, but I’ve never done a proper dive into their catalogue.
I am guessing that was just the stuff you happened to come into contact with; they have a lot of tunes in minor keys -- "Loser," "Help on the Way," "Brown-Eyed Women," "China Doll," "Shakedown Street," "The Other One," "Wharf Rat," "Estimated Prophet," "Lost Sailor," etc. But lots of major key ones too, and some that really hit you in the face with their sunniness ("Sugar Magnolia," "Bertha," etc.).
Kevin Davis wrote:I am guessing that was just the stuff you happened to come into contact with; they have a lot of tunes in minor keys -- "Loser," "Help on the Way," "Brown-Eyed Women," "China Doll," "Shakedown Street," "The Other One," "Wharf Rat," "Estimated Prophet," "Lost Sailor," etc. But lots of major key ones too, and some that really hit you in the face with their sunniness ("Sugar Magnolia," "Bertha," etc.).
My less than technical addition to this is just that one thing that keeps me coming back is it just seems like they can do anything and do it well. When you listen back to those ‘70-‘72 shows, there’s these 3 lead singers that get 3 totally different things out of the band, and it’s all done organically - nothing feels forced or out of place even though one minute they are a straight away rock band, the next a bar blues band, the next a jazz band, and then can circle around to psychedelic soundscapes - and sometimes they can do that without even stopping and transition incredibly naturally.
100% agree that the scene around them in many ways cheapened their contributions. I spoke about Terrapin Station Medley above (granted that’s at a later point, ‘77), but that song, in its 16+ minutes or pure excess, could have easily made the Beatles, Black Sabbath, and Pink Floyd incredibly jealous all at the same time. Yet their sound is just so singular, and on a different wavelength than all these other jam bands that were spawned from that scene.
Kevin Davis wrote:I am guessing that was just the stuff you happened to come into contact with; they have a lot of tunes in minor keys -- "Loser," "Help on the Way," "Brown-Eyed Women," "China Doll," "Shakedown Street," "The Other One," "Wharf Rat," "Estimated Prophet," "Lost Sailor," etc. But lots of major key ones too, and some that really hit you in the face with their sunniness ("Sugar Magnolia," "Bertha," etc.).
Just looking at the names of those, and none are familiar. So, looks like our theory may be correct. And as I said, unfair.
Another thing I just thought of was that, typically, I’m not into tunes that are super overly long. There has to be a lot of stuff going on to interest me and keep me from getting bored listening to a song that’s 25 minutes long. Sure, the Allmans did it some but even with my love for them, I can’t do a Mountain Jam that goes that long. At least with Whipping Post you’d get the meat of the song finished before they would ramble on for ten minutes and end it.
Finished GarciaLive Vol. 16 (Madison Square Garden, NYC ‘91). Both Jerry Garcia and Melvin Seals had great nights. Struggling Man, Deal, and Bright Side of the Road were my favorites from this show.
Okay, I promised a list of my favorite versions of songs (not all of them), so here’s a start. I can try to share a link to the playlist but lord it’s over 6 hours long:
Sugaree - Hartford, CT 5/28/77 (To Terrapin) Bertha - Fillmore East 1971 (Skull & Roses) Mr. Charlie - Europe ‘72 China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider - Oklahoma City, OK 10/19/73 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 19) Tennessee Jed - Europe ‘72 He’s Gone - Lakeland, FL 5/21/77 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 29) Friend of the Devil - Binghamton, NY 5/2/70 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 8) Dire Wolf - Binghamton, NY 5/2/70 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 8) Ripple - Reckoning Scarlet Begonias > Fire On the Mountain - Ithaca, NY 5/8/77 (Cornell ‘77) Truckin’ - Port Chester, NY 2/21/71 (Workingman’s Dead 50th Anniversary) Good Lovin’ - Port Chester, NY 2/21/71 (Workingman’s Dead 50th Anniversary) Shakedown Street - Cairo, Egypt 9/16/78 (Egypt ‘78) Deal (Jerry Garcia Band) - Hartford, CT 9/5/89 (Fall 1989: the Long Island Sound) Days Between - Ready or Not Playing in the Band - Veneta, OR 8/27/72 (the Complete Sunshine Daydream Concert) Franklin’s Tower - Pembrook Pines, FL 5/22/77 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 3) Eyes of the World > Estimated Prophet > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Dark Star - Uniondale, NY 3/29/90 (Wake Up to Find Out) Morning Dew - New York, NY 9/18/87 (30 Trips Around the Sun) Wharf Rat - Fillmore East 1971 (Skull & Roses) Not Fade Away > Going Down the Road Feeling Bad - Skull & Roses Sugar Magnolia - Veneta, OR 8/27/72 (the Complete Sunshine Daydream Concert) Bird Song - Without a Net Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Jerry Garcia Band) - 9/16/89 (GarciaLive Vol. 13) One More Saturday Night - Ithaca, NY 5/8/77 (Cornell ‘77) Turn On Your Lovelight - Fillmore East 1971 (Ladies and Gentlemen…) So Many Roads - Chicago, IL 7/9/95 (So Many Roads)
I am going to change the Estimated Prophet that is currently on there. My notes here were wrong. The jam is intense but I prefer to go with the straight string from Nassau. So it will be updated the next time I play around with it.
I know I've posted mixes before and shit....but I recently settled on this list of songs from 1968-1973 as being my favorite versions of my favorite songs in terms of performance, mix and sound quality - and I plan to bust the balls of aquaintances with CDR's and so forth. So try this playlist on for size. I haven't arranged them yet but it's 3 discs worth.
Bertha (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) Big River (1972-11-17 Wichita) Bird Song (1972-09-27 Jersey City) Black-Throated Wind (1972-04-26 Frankfurt) Box Of Rain (1973-03-24 Philadelphia) Casey Jones (1972-08-27 Veneta) China Cat>Rider (1972-03-27 Academy Of Music) Cumberland Blues (1971-04-28 Fillmore East) Dark Star (1970-02-13 Fillmore East) Deal (1971-11-17 Albuquerque) Eyes Of The World (1973-02-28 Salt Lake City) Good Lovin' (1970-01-23 Honolulu) Here Comes Sunshine (1973-11-17 UCLA) He's Gone (1972-09-17 Baltimore) Jack Straw (1971-12-07 Felt Forum) Loser (1972-04-24 Dusseldorf) Me And My Uncle (1972-05-11 Rotterdam) Mississippi Half-Step (1972-09-21 Philadelphia) Morning Dew (1968-08-24 Shrine Auditorium) Mr. Charlie (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) Ramble On Rose (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) Saint Steven>Eleven (1968-08-24 Shrine Auditorium) Sugaree (1972-05-03 Paris) Tennessee Jed (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) The Other One (1969-02-27 Fillmore West)
I am going to change the Estimated Prophet that is currently on there. My notes here were wrong. The jam is intense but I prefer to go with the straight string from Nassau. So it will be updated the next time I play around with it.
Have a couple hours of driving on my own on Friday. Thinking this will make a good companion.
liebzz wrote:Okay, I promised a list of my favorite versions of songs (not all of them), so here’s a start. I can try to share a link to the playlist but lord it’s over 6 hours long:
Sugaree - Hartford, CT 5/28/77 (To Terrapin) Bertha - Fillmore East 1971 (Skull & Roses) Mr. Charlie - Europe ‘72 China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider - Oklahoma City, OK 10/19/73 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 19) Tennessee Jed - Europe ‘72 He’s Gone - Lakeland, FL 5/21/77 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 29) Friend of the Devil - Binghamton, NY 5/2/70 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 8) Dire Wolf - Binghamton, NY 5/2/70 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 8) Ripple - Reckoning Scarlet Begonias > Fire On the Mountain - Ithaca, NY 5/8/77 (Cornell ‘77) Truckin’ - Port Chester, NY 2/21/71 (Workingman’s Dead 50th Anniversary) Good Lovin’ - Port Chester, NY 2/21/71 (Workingman’s Dead 50th Anniversary) Shakedown Street - Cairo, Egypt 9/16/78 (Egypt ‘78) Deal (Jerry Garcia Band) - Hartford, CT 9/5/89 (Fall 1989: the Long Island Sound) Days Between - Ready or Not Playing in the Band - Veneta, OR 8/27/72 (the Complete Sunshine Daydream Concert) Franklin’s Tower - Pembrook Pines, FL 5/22/77 (Dick’s Picks Vol. 3) Eyes of the World > Estimated Prophet > Dark Star > Drums > Space > Dark Star - Uniondale, NY 3/29/90 (Wake Up to Find Out) Morning Dew - New York, NY 9/18/87 (30 Trips Around the Sun) Wharf Rat - Fillmore East 1971 (Skull & Roses) Not Fade Away > Going Down the Road Feeling Bad - Skull & Roses Sugar Magnolia - Veneta, OR 8/27/72 (the Complete Sunshine Daydream Concert) Bird Song - Without a Net Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Jerry Garcia Band) - 9/16/89 (GarciaLive Vol. 13) One More Saturday Night - Ithaca, NY 5/8/77 (Cornell ‘77) Turn On Your Lovelight - Fillmore East 1971 (Ladies and Gentlemen…) So Many Roads - Chicago, IL 7/9/95 (So Many Roads)
Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:I know I've posted mixes before and shit....but I recently settled on this list of songs from 1968-1973 as being my favorite versions of my favorite songs in terms of performance, mix and sound quality - and I plan to bust the balls of aquaintances with CDR's and so forth. So try this playlist on for size. I haven't arranged them yet but it's 3 discs worth.
Bertha (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) Big River (1972-11-17 Wichita) Bird Song (1972-09-27 Jersey City) Black-Throated Wind (1972-04-26 Frankfurt) Box Of Rain (1973-03-24 Philadelphia) Casey Jones (1972-08-27 Veneta) China Cat>Rider (1972-03-27 Academy Of Music) Cumberland Blues (1971-04-28 Fillmore East) Dark Star (1970-02-13 Fillmore East) Deal (1971-11-17 Albuquerque) Eyes Of The World (1973-02-28 Salt Lake City) Good Lovin' (1970-01-23 Honolulu) Here Comes Sunshine (1973-11-17 UCLA) He's Gone (1972-09-17 Baltimore) Jack Straw (1971-12-07 Felt Forum) Loser (1972-04-24 Dusseldorf) Me And My Uncle (1972-05-11 Rotterdam) Mississippi Half-Step (1972-09-21 Philadelphia) Morning Dew (1968-08-24 Shrine Auditorium) Mr. Charlie (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) Ramble On Rose (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) Saint Steven>Eleven (1968-08-24 Shrine Auditorium) Sugaree (1972-05-03 Paris) Tennessee Jed (1972-04-14 Copenhagen) The Other One (1969-02-27 Fillmore West)
Love both of these lists. That "Eyes of the World" from SLC is tremendous!
Thanks. I was listening through this week to confirm it all. I got emotional during that damn version of Morning Dew. It’s really one of the most overwhelming music moments for me.
Hershey show was good last night.. set wise it wasn't as good as the couple before.. but whatever, still a good set.. mainly the 2nd set
I never saw so many people at that stadium.. I thought gnr brought in the biggest crowd there until last night..
Place is the worst venue on planet earth tho. Every time they try their best to inconvenience everyone in every way possible.. I always swear I'll never return but it's so close to me