Grateful Dead

[liebzz]

I did some highway driving this past weekend and listened to (most of) a couple of random shows, one from '73 and one from '77. I don't know if it was these particular shows, but Bob Weir singing bugged me more than normal. Songs like Dancing in the Streets and Playin in the Band went to some interesting places and had some nice improvs attached, but the actual verse-and-chorus parts were abysmal.

I think there is a desensitizing effect that happens with Weir's voice over time -- I found it so grating when I first started listening to the Dead. Then one day I just...didn't anymore. It's weird how many people report being specifically irritated by Weir's voice, which is so ordinary and unremarkable it seems like it should be incapable of provoking any kind of strong reaction. There's just something about the timbre and delivery of it. But I've softened on it a lot, and now feel like I couldn't imagine the Dead's music without it.

I have mixed feelings about Donna. I feel like, from '72-'74, she generally sounded pretty bad -- her voice was rarely mixed properly, and her harmony parts were undisciplined even by Dead standards. Her screams during "Playin' in the Band" and "Scarlet Begonias" could shatter glass. I feel like you either accept this as a kind of ridiculous artifact of the band's sound at the time (not unlike Brent's plinky keys in the early '80's, or Jerry's MIDI guitar solos in the early '90's), or it drives you crazy. I go back and forth depending on the day, on all of those things really.

But post-hiatus ('76-'78), she sounds way, way better. Perhaps with a leaner sound setup they were able to mix her in a little more naturally, and maybe she just got more confident in her technical ability as she got more grounded in the band's music. Whatever it is, it's a night and day difference for me. I definitely find myself missing Donna's backing vocals by the time Brent with his overwrought Bryan Adams-isms takes her place.

Brent’s voice to me is synonymous with chest hair.

[super nintendo chalmers]

Had some September 87 on this afternoon. So good. Might be one of my favorite years come to think about it.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Only took two years from this post, but I'm listening to this 11/8/69 Pick for the first time today. So far, nothing resembling a complaint.

The problem with that release is that the source reels are in rough shape, so there are constant dropouts...one every single time the reel rotates around actually...and it's very aggravating. Through speakers it's probably not nearly as bad, but if you're planning on listening with headphones you can forget it because you'll think your headphone cable is loose. And the fact that it's such an excellent performance makes that problem even more lamentable IMO. (I'm a glass half empty kind of a guy.)

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

(not unlike Brent's plinky keys in the early '80's, or Jerry's MIDI guitar solos in the early '90's)

I haven't delved into later Dead yet, and I don't know if I want to now.

But being a Frank Zappa fan, I can certainly relate to that kind of frustration. In the 60's and early 70's he was a pioneer in stage gear and recording technology. Then as soon as the digital age came, he went full moron. He ran all of his LP masters through a bad digital compressor and smothered them with cavernous digital reverb when he released them on CD. On stage, he switched to gawdy sounding keyboards and eventually settled on Yamaha DX-7's which were pretty much invented by Satan, plus Simmons electronic drums and MIDI samplers. Then on his last tour, the nasty snarling guitar tone he had previously been known for (even with the digital crap) was inexplicably changed entirely to sound like a crystal waterfall. A complete 180 turn into the depths of hell.

[liebzz]

‘87-‘89 is pretty magical.

[Kevin Davis]

Only took two years from this post, but I'm listening to this 11/8/69 Pick for the first time today. So far, nothing resembling a complaint.

The problem with that release is that the source reels are in rough shape, so there are constant dropouts...one every single time the reel rotates around actually...and it's very aggravating. Through speakers it's probably not nearly as bad, but if you're planning on listening with headphones you can forget it because you'll think your headphone cable is loose. And the fact that it's such an excellent performance makes that problem even more lamentable IMO. (I'm a glass half empty kind of a guy.)

You are 100% right about the dropouts -- it is really unpleasant on headphones, which was where I started listening. But afterwards I played it in my car and later on my home system and it made a big difference.

[super nintendo chalmers]

Love that UJB jam from DP16

[super nintendo chalmers]

Can't believe this hasn't been shared yet.

https://saveyourface.posthaven.com/

This dude makes excellent mixtapes that focus on the cream of the crop. One of the reasons I love this band so much is having to separate the wheat from the chaff, wading through the crap to find the gold. But this guy does it for you and makes some really nice compilations from all different eras. If you needed to get your feet wet in certain time this would be a great spot to start.

[Kevin Davis]

Love that UJB jam from DP16

Oh man, me too! I had seen it on the tracklist for years but I hadn't realized what it was -- Jerry basically plays a full instrumental version of a full verse/chorus, playing out the vocal melody on guitar, which feels pretty unusual for them. Wonder if this a one-of-a-kind thing?

[Kevin Davis]

Can't believe this hasn't been shared yet.

https://saveyourface.posthaven.com/

This dude makes excellent mixtapes that focus on the cream of the crop. One of the reasons I love this band so much is having to separate the wheat from the chaff, wading through the crap to find the gold. But this guy does it for you and makes some really nice compilations from all different eras. If you needed to get your feet wet in certain time this would be a great spot to start.

Along with Hunter's Trix, this dude's blog opened my ears to the virtues of '80's Dead. Dig the "Help > Slip > Frank" from Hampton '83!

[Kevin Davis]

(not unlike Brent's plinky keys in the early '80's, or Jerry's MIDI guitar solos in the early '90's)

I haven't delved into later Dead yet, and I don't know if I want to now.

But being a Frank Zappa fan, I can certainly relate to that kind of frustration. In the 60's and early 70's he was a pioneer in stage gear and recording technology. Then as soon as the digital age came, he went full moron. He ran all of his LP masters through a bad digital compressor and smothered them with cavernous digital reverb when he released them on CD. On stage, he switched to gawdy sounding keyboards and eventually settled on Yamaha DX-7's which were pretty much invented by Satan, plus Simmons electronic drums and MIDI samplers. Then on his last tour, the nasty snarling guitar tone he had previously been known for (even with the digital crap) was inexplicably changed entirely to sound like a crystal waterfall. A complete 180 turn into the depths of hell.

Ha -- love these descriptions. Those MIDI solos are pretty rare -- they tend to appear most frequently in the "Space" segments, or in the extended sections of songs like "Playin' in the Band," "Estimated Prophet," etc. And to be completely honest I don't really think that those passages are where late-era Dead really excels anyway. At best the post-Godchaux Dead are a highly responsive, well-oiled, but somewhat artistically stalled legacy band -- which is to say that creatively, in the context of their career, this ain't where the magic happens. But some of the shows are really, really pleasurable, and the evolving sound palate -- for better or for worse -- does bring something different to the songs.

[super nintendo chalmers]

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Ha -- love these descriptions. Those MIDI solos are pretty rare -- they tend to appear most frequently in the "Space" segments, or in the extended sections of songs like "Playin' in the Band," "Estimated Prophet," etc. And to be completely honest I don't really think that those passages are where late-era Dead really excels anyway. At best the post-Godchaux Dead are a highly responsive, well-oiled, but somewhat artistically stalled legacy band -- which is to say that creatively, in the context of their career, this ain't where the magic happens. But some of the shows are really, really pleasurable, and the evolving sound palate -- for better or for worse -- does bring something different to the songs.

Yes. I learned to appreciate those Zappa bands...especially the plastic-sounding 1984 band for being his most accomplished band vocally and also very prone to "secret word" abuse - where they would change the lyrics of the songs to be about something going on at the moment (news, something they saw backstage....). So the shows are not only different every night in terms of the setlist a'la GD...but the lyrics to the songs themselves would be different from night to night in a contest to make each other laugh. So it makes for a very fun "what's gonna happen tonight?" vibe from show to show. Even though they sound like fucking Duran Duran.

[liebzz]

Taking a quick break from Phish, so what else but a Dead show. 4/26/72 Frankfurt, Germany - this show is pretty killer. Coming up on the end of the first set. This thing is 4 hours long so I may not be done with this for another day or so.

For those who haven’t heard this yet, the setlist:

Bertha, Me & My Uncle, Mr. Charlie, He’s Gone, Black-Throated Wind, Next Time You See Me, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Jack Straw, Big Railroad Blues, Playing in the Band, Chinatown Shuffle, Loser, Beat It On Down the Line, You Win Again, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Greatest Story Ever Told, The Stranger, Casey Jones

Set Two: Good Lovin’, Dire Wolf, Truckin’ > drums > The Other One > Comes a Time, Sugar Magnolia, Turn on Your Lovelight > Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, One More Saturday Night

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Taking a quick break from Phish, so what else but a Dead show. 4/26/72 Frankfurt, Germany - this show is pretty killer. Coming up on the end of the first set. This thing is 4 hours long so I may not be done with this for another day or so.

That's a good one, but my favorite Europe '72 show is 4/14 Copenhagen. Very, very solid show.

[liebzz]

Finished the Frankfurt show and will eventually get to the other suggestion. Great show - though at 36 minutes, The Other One was a little tough.

[Kevin Davis]

Speaking of Europe '72, this fine piece of improvisational music -- often singled out (with as much consensus as you're ever going to get on these things) as the greatest iteration of the Dead's most significant improvisational vehicle -- was performed 50 years ago today. About 7 minutes in right now and rolling right along.

[washing machine]

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you all tackle the week with the confidence of Donna screaming over an especially groovy PiTB pre-chorus.

[liebzz]

Someone really has a good amount of free time on them.

As a note, I believe during my journey, maybe somewhere in the late 70s, during a review of a Jerry Garcia Band show she played on, I mentioned that the restraint she utilized in that show was surprising in light of her contribution to Playing in the Band.

[washing machine]

Took me a few days but at the end of the St. Louis show they just released from 12/10/71. This is one of those shows where they were consistently very good from front to back, but there’s not a moment where you think you are hearing the best version of any particular song - but absolutely nothing drags - they were on the whole show. Plus I am always happy to hear them play in that ‘70-‘73 timeframe. The perfect mix of them playing Americans, blues, and jazz all together seamlessly.

I've got the box set en route! Looking forward to it -- '71-'73 is the sweet spot!

The 3-disc CD version of the 12/10/71 show has been in heavyyy rotation in my car since early July. Pigpen is the star of this set, no?