Red Mosquito

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCgZxrf8nrU

background music my astroturf

About time.

I didn't want to put this in the who are you into now thread, but the talk in there about the dead made me want to ask for advice on trying to get into them. I've got a few of their studio albums, but have never really been able to get into them more then likeing a few songs on each album, but at the times i was trying to get into them in the past i was usually listening to heavier music so the dead didn't really fit, so these days with me listening to stuff closer to the dead, maybe i will finally be able to get into them. So if there were suggestions for someone just trying to get into them, what would they be? If studio albums are the best place to start, what are the best ones to start with? And if live is the better way then what shows should i look for.

if i had to pick a top 15 at this particular moment:

help on the way/slipknot
franklins tower
loser
bird song
fire on the mountain
black muddy river
west la fadeaway
lost sailor/saint of circumstance
standing on the moon
uncle johns band
dire wolf
deal
touch of grey
china cat sunflower/i know you rider
althea

US blues
Dark star
Shakedown street

i always tell people to start with Mars Hotel when it comes to studio albums. then Blues For Allah. if you're not into these two collections of studio takes, you'll probably not like much else than the radio-friendly stuff i'm sure you've heard and/or liked.

fun fact time:

Spoiler: show

yes, it says Ugly Rumors upside down and backwards. apparently, "This inspired the name of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's band, Ugly Rumours." Thanks Wikipedia!

live stuff there is endless bootleg's on archive.org (I prefer after 82 b/c then you get Go To Heaven tracks): http://archive.org/browse.php?collectio ... field=year

for the more easily available CDs there's Reckoning which is a collection of acoustic live takes. Without A Net is popular CD, but I'd recommend Dick's Picks Volume 4 which you can find or listen to this audience recording of here: http://archive.org/details/gd1970-02-13 ... per.flac16

oh shit, and shakedown street.. how the hell did i forget that

What studio albums do you already have, Doc? I think most fans would probably agree that "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty" would be the two to start with, studio-wise, though "Wake of the Flood" is great too. Honestly those are the only three of their true studio albums that hold up for me as totalities--there are dozens of great songs scattered throughout the other ones, and even some great studio versions, but generally speaking creating cohesive, well-developed studio albums was not the Dead's forte. Truth be told, if you have a few studio albums and can't get into more than a few songs off each, that's probably not all that dissimilar to a lot of Deadheads.

If you want a good hybrid of the two (studio and live), I would check out the original "Europe '72," a live album at heart but with some studio touch-ups on the vocals. It contains definitive versions of some of their best-crafted songs ("Jack Straw," "He's Gone," "Tennessee Jed," "Ramble On Rose," "Brown-Eyed Women") but also showcases some great extended improvisation. A second recommendation would be "Live/Dead," the Dead's first live album from 1969. Robert Christgau said it contained "the finest rock improvisation ever recorded" when it came out. They hadn't come into their own really as songwriters yet, but the instrumental interplay borders on telepathic in places. There are hundreds of live albums to get but both of those are well-known and revered canonical works, readily available at a good price, and in excellent sound quality.

As far as an all-time favorite from left field, I would nominate "Dicks Picks Volume 12," which I'm pretty sure is out of print but is well-worth eBaying if you find your interest stretching a little further.

at my local bar, the jukebox has without a net

when people are playin shitty music, for 2 credits ($1), it has help on the way/slipknot/franklins tower all as one track

its like a half hour of dead awesomeness but it pisses off 95% of the bar

I don't really care much for "Mars Hotel." The Garcia songs are great ("Ship of Fools" is one of the best things in their whole songbook), but the Weir and Lesh numbers are just dreadful, and all the Garcia ones are way better on live albums.

like bugs said, it's really all about Jerry. so if you want to find Jerry Garcia Band (studio & live) albums, The Pizza Tapes album and the Old and In The Way (S/T) album, you'll hear a side of him that doesn't (necessarily) come thru when he played with The Dead.

yea the pizza tapes is really good

i usually would always skip non jerry tracks but lost sailor got me listenin to weir a little more

My rankings of their (studio) albums (my highlight tracks noted):

American Beauty (Ripple, Brokedown Palace, Box of Rain, Sugar Magnolia, Friend of the Devil, Truckin')
The Mars Hotel (Ship of Fools, Unbroken Chain, Loose Lucy, U.S. Blues, Scarlet Begonias)
Blues For Allah (Crazy Fingers, Help On The Way/Slipknot/Franklin's Tower, The Music Never Stopped)
Go To Heaven (Don't Ease Me In, Althea, Feel Like A Stranger, Lost Sailor)
Workingman's Dead (Black Peter, Dire Wolf, Casey Jones, Uncle John's Band)
Aoxomoxoa (China Cat Sunflower, St. Stephen)
Grateful Dead (Wharf Rat, The Other One, Not Fade Away/ Goin' Down the Road..., Playing in the Band, Me and My Uncle)
Shakedown Street (Fire on the Mountain, Stagger Lee, All New Minglewood Blues)
Wake of the Flood (Eyes of the World, Row Jimmy, Mississippi Half-Step)
The Grateful Deal (Morning Dew, New Minglewood Blues)
In the Dark (Black Muddy River, Throwing Stones, Hell in a Bucket, Touch of Grey)
Terrapin Station (Estimated Prophet, Samson and Delilah)
Anthem of the Sun (That's It for the Other One)
Built to Last (?)

elliseamos wrote:like bugs said, it's really all about Jerry. so if you want to find Jerry Garcia Band (studio & live) albums, The Pizza Tapes album and the Old and In The Way (S/T) album, you'll hear a side of him that doesn't (necessarily) come thru when he played with The Dead.

woah, only reading that album's title takes me back in a major way...

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:I didn't want to put this in the who are you into now thread, but the talk in there about the dead made me want to ask for advice on trying to get into them. I've got a few of their studio albums, but have never really been able to get into them more then likeing a few songs on each album, but at the times i was trying to get into them in the past i was usually listening to heavier music so the dead didn't really fit, so these days with me listening to stuff closer to the dead, maybe i will finally be able to get into them. So if there were suggestions for someone just trying to get into them, what would they be? If studio albums are the best place to start, what are the best ones to start with? And if live is the better way then what shows should i look for.

American Beauty.

But really, the s u b s t a n c e of them is in the live performance.

And not necessarily the "live albums" either, including the "Dick's Pick's" collection.

Do you like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCgZxrf8nrU

Jesus Christ I do. Well, maybe Europe 72 wouldn't be a bad place afterall

mastaflatch wrote:

elliseamos wrote:like bugs said, it's really all about Jerry. so if you want to find Jerry Garcia Band (studio & live) albums, The Pizza Tapes album and the Old and In The Way (S/T) album, you'll hear a side of him that doesn't (necessarily) come thru when he played with The Dead.

woah, only reading that album's title takes me back in a major way...

i got bugs wrote:yea the pizza tapes is really good

i usually would always skip non jerry tracks but lost sailor got me listenin to weir a little more

Bugs, do you have a white car by chance?

I was walking through F-ville the other day, by the pool, and I walked passed a white car with a PJ sticker.

elliseamos wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:

elliseamos wrote:like bugs said, it's really all about Jerry. so if you want to find Jerry Garcia Band (studio & live) albums, The Pizza Tapes album and the Old and In The Way (S/T) album, you'll hear a side of him that doesn't (necessarily) come thru when he played with The Dead.

woah, only reading that album's title takes me back in a major way...

I didn't know elliseamos liked the dead.

What a day this has been!

knee tunes wrote:

elliseamos wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:

elliseamos wrote:like bugs said, it's really all about Jerry. so if you want to find Jerry Garcia Band (studio & live) albums, The Pizza Tapes album and the Old and In The Way (S/T) album, you'll hear a side of him that doesn't (necessarily) come thru when he played with The Dead.

woah, only reading that album's title takes me back in a major way...

I didn't know elliseamos liked the dead.

What a day this has been!

AL...

elliseamos wrote:

knee tunes wrote:

elliseamos wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:

elliseamos wrote:like bugs said, it's really all about Jerry. so if you want to find Jerry Garcia Band (studio & live) albums, The Pizza Tapes album and the Old and In The Way (S/T) album, you'll hear a side of him that doesn't (necessarily) come thru when he played with The Dead.

woah, only reading that album's title takes me back in a major way...

I didn't know elliseamos liked the dead.

What a day this has been!

AL...

annie laid her head down
in the roses

knee tunes wrote:

i got bugs wrote:yea the pizza tapes is really good

i usually would always skip non jerry tracks but lost sailor got me listenin to weir a little more

Bugs, do you have a white car by chance?

I was walking through F-ville the other day, by the pool, and I walked passed a white car with a PJ sticker.

nah i moved outta fville like a year ago.. plus i have the oppo, a black jeep.. used to live a block from the pool tho

wonder who it was, good chance i kno em