My second-favorite band is whoever’s playing UNC.
My second-favorite band is whoever’s playing UNC.
Or pick up “One From The Vault” where they play most of the album live. It’s a pretty legendary show (8/13/75 from the Great American Music Hall in S.F.) and the sound is pristine.
(ETA: I should say that they play versions of the songs — they never played anything the same way twice really and there’s lots of room for improv in those songs).
The only way to truly hear The Grateful Dead was to attend their concerts. There’s no way to fully replicate the sound and experience at home. And, it’s also impossible to completely replace a critical member of their band (at home), their audience.
The Grateful Dead albums I’ve listened to at least five times are: Anthem of the Sun, In the Dark, Shakedown Street, Live Dead, Workingman’s Dead, and American Beauty (probably heard it 35-plus times).
On your recommendation I’ve listened to Allah’s Blues 4 times since late last night, and I’ll probably listen to it a couple more times tomorrow. I liked it from the first listen, and It’s growing on me more and more.
And that intro to King Solomon’s Marbles……how cool is that?? 😎 I’ll bet it sounds great with your ‘67 McIntosh 240 amp and ‘61 McIntosh C-20 preamp!
Thank you for taking so much of your time and energy honoring my request! Blues for Allah is the best LP to capture jazzy GD. Garcia and Lesh (my favorite GD members) shine bright and the music creates endless discovery paths.
Shakedown Street (disco GD) makes an excellent frisbee. The title track was usually great to hear in concert but the LP version is extremely lacking.
Wish I lived near you (I’m far from NC) and could invite you over. We would have a blast listening to tunes all day and night!
Hey, I’m the one who is benefiting from your recommendations, so thank YOU. 😊
Yeah, that would be very cool if you lived over here (Durham/Chapel Hill). Few things I enjoy more than listening to great music on a killer sound system with someone who LOVES music. And I can tell you love music. 🎵
And keep the recs coming, because I honestly welcome them. 🙏
What is, to my opinionated ears, the best “Grateful Dead album” has gotten a 50th anniversary remaster and reissue that vastly improves the SQ. All deadheads should check out the reissue of “Ace.”
It’s labeled Bob Weir’s first solo album but it’s actually The Grateful Dead. Weir caught a lot of crap, from band mates, for his lame play from ‘65 to ‘69. He (and Pigpen) was even thrown out of the band, for a short time, in ‘68. Ace was basically payback to Bobby and a full admission that he had become their equal. Bobby was largely lost in the mix until Mickey Hart left the band in early ‘71 and his band mates didn’t recognize his true growth until Hart’s departure.
Last edited by Jeffrey; 01-22-2023 at 02:17 AM.
Exactly, the GD live sets were frequently alternating Garcia and Weir tunes. “Ace” has many of Bobby’s best tunes.
Robert Hunter (GD songwriter) was an incredibly gifted genius. Weir very foolishly decided he was in Hunter’s league and heavily modified a song Hunter wrote for him. Hunter told Weir he wanted to keep the song title (US Blues) and to take his name off the credits. Weir renamed the tune One More Saturday Night and that’s why only Weir’s name is credited to the tune on “Ace”.
Weir then started writing tunes with his childhood friend (John Barlow). Those tunes are less sophisticated than Hunter’s.
Aerosmith would put up a better fight than the Giants did vs the Eagles yesterday.
Love Tony Rice (RIP). Did a great Gordon Lightfoot cover album (esp. “Shadows”). Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot https://g.co/kgs/8gXryP
Shadows: https://youtu.be/a9rR1bPgKOA
Also collaborated with Alison Krauss on it.
https://youtu.be/6KeHE9Yvx28
If you want to hear Tony at his best as a singer, go all the way back to the 1975 J.D. Crowe album, “The New South” or his album of duets with Ricky Skaggs, 1980’s “Skaggs & Rice.” If you want to hear him at his best as a guitarist, start with the 1980s trilogy of Tony Rice Unit albums, “Mar West,” “Still Inside,” and “Backwaters.”
And of course there is the album that started it all, “The David Grisman Quintet.”
I was unfamiliar with the Pizza Tapes, but Ripple may be my favorite Dead studio recording so I gave the Pizza Tapes a listen this morning. Really good stuff overall. Very nice versions of Long Dark Veil and Little Sadie and I really like what the did with Knockin' on Heaven's Door. But, to me the standout is the phenomenal version of Shady Grove. Wow.
What's the story behind the recording? Based on the banter, it seems that all three guys just got together in a studio and played the songs "live" (as opposed to the typical studio process where each player records multiple separate tracks which is later mixed together).
I also listened to a couple tracks from the "extra large" version of the Pizza Tapes which includes alternate takes and run throughs of a few of the songs. I wonder if this captures pretty much the entire session? In one of the out-takes, it appears that they are just noodling around and someone says "we outta play Long Dark Veil". Ther proceed to spend a minute or so working out how they are going to play it and then launch right in. Very impressive if the version which ended up on the final recording resulted from a couple quick run-throughs and wasn't planned in advance!
Not a Dead fan, so I love this joke: What's the first thing Jerry Garcia said when he got out of rehab? "Wow, this band sucks!"