Too hot for craft beers up here. Rum, tonic, lime in the right combination here this evening. Still 95F right now, so more summer Dead; back to July 78 for 7/3 this evening.
I see what you mean - the Standells, the Outsiders, and the Amboy Dukes are psychedelic, but the Dead are a 'country jam band.'
I didn't mean it as an insult that it didn't change my life. I was mostly trying to be playful with that line. But I can grasp from whence you come!
Tell that to the 18 min "Playin" from 6/18/83 - that has more in common with the little free jazz I have heard than "country".
I remember the first issue I ever got of a GD related magazine was right after that, because they talked about it. I don't think it was Relix, but I can't remember the name. Was there another mid-90s Grateful Dead focused magazine? IIRC it was like half in color and half in newsprint.
Oh, I certainly didn't take it as any type of insult; I just wanted to share how important that show was to me. I woke up on 6/18/83 with no idea that I'd be seeing the GoGD, let alone focusing my musical aspirations in such a positive way. It all just unfolded in a perfect way. We didn't get back to Worcester until about 4 or 5 AM, but we had no trouble staying awake. The vibe from that show lasted for a long time. Well, the GoGD are a country jam band. That and about 20 other important things that most bands couldn't tackle. When I define what style of music they played, the only accurate explanation I can come up with is "Grateful Dead music." They simultaneously define and exist within their own genre. The folks who print up placards for music stores must view my response as being akin to asking for thick air.
3 words I thought I'd never read? I still remember a conversation with my buddy Mike, who first got me into the GD in middle school, and he said 'I hate Phil's singing, he ruins every Box of Rain.' I said 'yeah, he's got such a honking voice, he sounds like a goose.' and we both cracked up. It's a shame, I liked Phil's backup singing in the early days. (most of it, anyway.) And those 73 Box of Rains are not too bad. 6-22-73, an audience recording, sounds more like the 'real' version to me than the studio version.
I think 'rock' is a large enough tent to encompass most of what they do, but as I discovered in a thread about my other favorite group, that opinion is not universal.
Sorry if I'm slow on the uptake, but what's you other favorite band, and what are your thoughts about proclaiming that "rock" defines most of what they do? I argue that rock defines about 50% of what they did over 30 years. No confrontation here; just an observation.
This thread is refreshingly free of The Beatles but here goes My first real love for the bass guitar was when I got Dr Ebbetts vinyl rips of the fabs catalogue. I remember that "something" caught my attention pretty quickly. Sure, I knew the music before but I was one of those guys who couldn't pick out a bass line or just didn't care
No ale for me since I'm at work. The weather forecast says 28C. I have the fridge stocked up and I'm going for this when I get home American plae ale 5.9%. Swedish micro brewery gone nation wide. Love it
Well, it is in my avatar, but my bad for not just saying it in the post. It's Funkadelic. (I like Parliament too, but Funkadelic is what time it is.) Also, I appreciate that you said 'no confrontation here,' but you didn't have to. This is the most civil thread on the internet - 'we agree to disagree' is a worst-case outcome around here. To answer your question, my definition of rock is basically 'popular music drawing from a variety of American roots music such as Blues, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Country & Western, Folk etc. typically (but not always) featuring the electric guitar and other electric instruments. ' So under this definition stuff like Funk, Reggae, Soul, Metal, etc. are all subgenres of rock alongside country rock, prog rock, psychedelic rock etc. Briefly, there was a thread here about the proposition that Funkadelic is the best rock band, and many of the replies were along the lines of 'they're not even a rock band.' More on that here if you have any interest: Why the Heck Aren't Funkadelic Considered Classic Rock? » I would argue that the Dead draw on a wider variety of influences and genres than many rock artists, but that most of those elements are presented within the rock milieu of drums, bass, and electric guitar. On the other hand you could certainly look at it from the reverse angle, and say at times the Dead have been a Garage Rock band, a Psychedelic rock band, a country rock jam band, a jazz quintet with rock instrumentation, etc.
Actually it was Dupree's Diamond News - There was an interview with Phil and IIRC Blair Jackson referenced it as a segue to ask him about the old songs. I definitely remember Phil said Jerry doesn't like the bridge on St. Stephen
I believe The Golden Road stopped around 1992 and Blair Jackson wrote for Dupree's for the remaining GD years.
