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Dead Head Thread

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CelticGal
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« on: July 12, 2010, 03:46:59 pm »

You all knew I was going to start it!

Since the Grateful Dead had so many different influences and played in so many different styles, I'm putting them in this area. Who else likes the Dead? What are your favorite Dead songs? Any good tour and/or show memories? Can you all believe it's been 15 years since Jerry died? Who just doesn't get them? (It's OK; they don't appeal to everyone).
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Becky
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Charlie
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« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2010, 04:08:51 pm »

Becky, you may start throwing things at me!  Europe '72 maybe the most boring live album ever made.
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KATH
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« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2010, 04:22:09 pm »

...yeah, and I couldn't tell ya a dozen songs if you had a gun to my head. 

LOL...and I can REALLY only think of one.  Casey Jones.  Sorry!

But, I'm willing to learn if it's worth my while...tell me your TOP 5.  I'll AT LEAST listen to 5 songs...before I tell ya you're nuts.  heh.  just kiddin'!! 
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CelticGal
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« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2010, 05:18:07 pm »

Becky, you may start throwing things at me!  Europe '72 maybe the most boring live album ever made.

The key with that one is to cherry-pick the songs; I love "Cumberland Blues" and "Tennessee Jed" and "Sugar Magnolia" and "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider" and there's a pretty good "He's Gone" on the first disc; but I could go without ever hearing "Morning Dew" again, not to mention Drumz and Space.

"Hundred Year Hall" was recorded on the same tour, and has some pretty good songs again, but watch out for Space!
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Becky
"If you get confused, listen to the music play."  - Robert Hunter
CelticGal
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« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2010, 05:20:13 pm »

...yeah, and I couldn't tell ya a dozen songs if you had a gun to my head. 

LOL...and I can REALLY only think of one.  Casey Jones.  Sorry!

But, I'm willing to learn if it's worth my while...tell me your TOP 5.  I'll AT LEAST listen to 5 songs...before I tell ya you're nuts.  heh.  just kiddin'!! 

No problem! My top five Dead songs are:

Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream
China Cat Sunflower
Scarlet Begonias (notice a pattern here?)
The Music Never Stopped
Playin' in the Band

I would advise starting with the album versions first so you don't get all the noodling around. If you like those, and if you like certain kinds of music like folk, bluegrass, etc., I can tell you some more.
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Becky
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« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2010, 11:32:08 am »

The only Grateful Dead I ever owned on CD/cassette/LP/whatever was the 2 CD Last Days of the Fillmore set.  The Dead had 3 songs on that.  I actually bought that set for the Sons of Champlin's Poppa Can Play but came away from it being blown away by the music of the Quicksilver Messenger Service, Tower of Power, and a rather young Boz Scaggs.  The one song Scaggs recorded, Baby's Callin' Me Home was absofreakinlutely brilliant... much more blues oriented than his much more famous material on Silk Degrees.

The Dead performed Casey Jones and a couple of other songs.  They had the first 3 songs on the 2nd CD of that set.  And I could be wrong but I believe Jerry played on at least 1 other track (on the song Henry by the New Riders of the Purple Sage[/i]).  The last 2 or 3 tracks on disc 2 were a huge jam session with just about everyone just kind of jamming.  It's kind of fun, but lacks any and all semblance of cohesiveness.  I normally would just skip those tracks and stick to the actual songs.

If you can find it, I highly recommend it as it's an excellent snapshot of the late 60s/early 70s SF Bay area music scene...

I could be wrong, but didn't promoter Bill Graham (the guy largely responsible for booking these bands at the Fillmore) die in the same helicopter crash as Stevie Ray Vaughn?
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Charlie
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« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2010, 11:38:45 am »

I could be wrong, but didn't promoter Bill Graham (the guy largely responsible for booking these bands at the Fillmore) die in the same helicopter crash as Stevie Ray Vaughn?

Both quotes below are copied and pasted from Wikipedia.

Graham was killed in a helicopter crash near Vallejo, California on October 25, 1991 while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert.

On August 26, 1990, a sold out concert of 30,000 in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin featured an encore jam with Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray. On August 27, shortly before 1 a.m., a helicopter carrying Vaughan en route to Chicago crashed within seconds after takeoff.
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« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2010, 12:03:49 pm »

I could be wrong, but didn't promoter Bill Graham (the guy largely responsible for booking these bands at the Fillmore) die in the same helicopter crash as Stevie Ray Vaughn?

Both quotes below are copied and pasted from Wikipedia.

Graham was killed in a helicopter crash near Vallejo, California on October 25, 1991 while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert.

On August 26, 1990, a sold out concert of 30,000 in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin featured an encore jam with Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray. On August 27, shortly before 1 a.m., a helicopter carrying Vaughan en route to Chicago crashed within seconds after takeoff.

Thanks for the correction/clarification, Charlie.  I knew they'd both died in helicopter crashes. 

Before The News, Huey Lewis was the lead singer of the Clover from 1971 until which had a bit of a following in the Bay area back in the day.  After Lewis left, Clover acted as the back-up band on Elvis Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True.  They released a couple albums in the mid-70s produced Robert John "Mutt" Lange who later came to greater fame producing Def Leppard and then marrying and producing Shania Twain.  On those albums Huey Lewis is listed as "Hughie Louis."
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« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2010, 04:41:05 pm »

I believe Bill Champlin once stated in an interview he was invited to join the Grateful Dead as a keyboardist back in the 70s after the death of their previous keyboardist (CelticGal, you'd know better than I which keyboard player that would have been).  He mentioned that given the Dead's history with keyboard players he didn't want to take any chances and politely declined the offer. 
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CelticGal
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« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2010, 05:22:02 pm »

I believe Bill Champlin once stated in an interview he was invited to join the Grateful Dead as a keyboardist back in the 70s after the death of their previous keyboardist (CelticGal, you'd know better than I which keyboard player that would have been).  He mentioned that given the Dead's history with keyboard players he didn't want to take any chances and politely declined the offer. 

It was either Pigpen, the original keyboard player, who died in 1973, or Keith Godchaux, who was killed in a car accident in 1980. Champlin and the Dead would have been an interesting pairing!
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Becky
"If you get confused, listen to the music play."  - Robert Hunter
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« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2010, 08:31:53 am »

I will never get the Dead and I've tried.  But then again, I think Harrison's All Things Must Pass is a snore (ducks) after a recent listen, so doesn't say much for my taste!  But I will give them this: they are one of the first bands (along with The Duane-era Allman Brothers and the Woodstock era Santana) to bring jazz-influenced improvisation to rock and roll and for that, they must at least be respected.  I really mean that.
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CelticGal
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« Reply #11 on: July 17, 2010, 08:22:10 am »

I will never get the Dead and I've tried.  But then again, I think Harrison's All Things Must Pass is a snore (ducks) after a recent listen, so doesn't say much for my taste!  But I will give them this: they are one of the first bands (along with The Duane-era Allman Brothers and the Woodstock era Santana) to bring jazz-influenced improvisation to rock and roll and for that, they must at least be respected.  I really mean that.

That's OK. Not everyone gets the Dead and not everyone needs to! I love them, but a lot of people don't like them at all.
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Becky
"If you get confused, listen to the music play."  - Robert Hunter
KATH
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« Reply #12 on: July 17, 2010, 02:56:39 pm »

...yeah, and I couldn't tell ya a dozen songs if you had a gun to my head. 

LOL...and I can REALLY only think of one.  Casey Jones.  Sorry!

But, I'm willing to learn if it's worth my while...tell me your TOP 5.  I'll AT LEAST listen to 5 songs...before I tell ya you're nuts.  heh.  just kiddin'!! 

No problem! My top five Dead songs are:

Sugar Magnolia/Sunshine Daydream
China Cat Sunflower
Scarlet Begonias (notice a pattern here?)
The Music Never Stopped
Playin' in the Band

I would advise starting with the album versions first so you don't get all the noodling around. If you like those, and if you like certain kinds of music like folk, bluegrass, etc., I can tell you some more.

...and I haven't listened to ANY...But really, I'll get to it.   Cheesy
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Pegs
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« Reply #13 on: July 25, 2010, 07:45:41 pm »

HOW can there be a discussion about the Dead, without a mention of Truckin' ? A perfect life philosophy in 5 minutes (and it's got a good beat & you can dance to it  Wink ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE&feature=related
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Life is too serious to be taken seriously.
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