Embarking on a Grateful Dead journey (all purpose thread, second set)

Mine too...

 

39 years ago today I was at the great american music hall. it was really something seeing the dead in such a small place.

 

I saw so many shows there, Doc & Merle, Hot Rize, Hot Tuna, Van Morrison, The Seldom Scene, JJ. Cale and on and on. Not one time in all those shows did I enter and not think of this SHOW. I was at many GD shows with 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 people but I would guess TGAMH holds a couple hundred, plus it was one of the first tapes many of us where hip too. Listening right now with you in mind!!!

 

I have been following this thread because I started my journey around the same time.
I was already a Jerry fan back to the Old And In The Way album.
I had a Best of Dead album and had purchased the Rhino vinyl box set.
Loved Workingmans Dead and American Beauty.
My first live Dead album was Reckonings and was blown away by that.
I picked up some other live stuff, Live Dead, Three From The Vault.
Then had a chance to pick up four of the Europe 72 CD, Volumes 2 to 6.
From there I got a used copy of Dick's Picks.
Okay, so now I am getting addicted to the live stuff.
I found a guy who was selling off a lot of his library.
I bought Dick's Picks 1, 3, 8, 12, 14, 20 and 24.
Now have made a deal on 15 more Dick's Picks.
What a journey.....
Glen

 

Saw some box set speculation elsewhere but this seems like the more appropriate spot. Please forward directly to GD mgmt, thanks in advance. I'd enjoy several-disc sets for:

- Last week of October '73 box (thinking of the Madison and St. Louis shows, but haven't heard the ones in between)
- Uptown Theater run - 2/26-28/81
- a good Hornsby-era box. Only 3 official shows so far (4 if you count the Download Series show) seems light.

Then again, an Empire State / March '73 collection could be really good, too. How much '73 would *not* be a good choice?

 

I'd love to see a complete October '74 Winterland box set.

It's time.

 

I'd buy a complete October 74' release but most of the 2nd sets were released on the Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack (except for 10/16 which circulates in great quality)

I'd go for a complete February 74' Winterland boxset first!

 

great thread - my first Dead show was Yale Bowl july 31 (i think based on looking up the exact date ) 1971 - senior in high school.............geez that was a long time ago...........as i now look at the set list and listen on archive.org i wish i remember it better..........not that bad of a taping.......

 

I love the Yale Bowl Dark Star. It might be my favourite of the year.

 

Jerry jammin' on "Eight Miles High"?!



Had no idea this existed! Thanks to user Tim Wilson on the CSNY '74 thread for mentioning it.

 

Anyone else get tears in their eyes when listening to "Ripple"?

Don't have time for a whole album right now, so I am bouncing around a bit. Figured I would try a live version of a couple of songs I love from AB ("Ripple" and "Box"). Found "Ripple" on Reckoning. That intro and first verse get me every time.

Incidentally, it doesn't seem to show up on too many live albums.

 

I love Ripple and have noticed that I don't see it in too many live sets either. Anyone have any insight into that?

 

There is a great version on the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band CD Live Acoustic.

 

They just didn't play it much, except for a short time around 1970-71 and the acoustic sets of 1980. The final version with Jerry 1988 was reportedly at the request of the Make A Wish Foundation.

 

Just got my Spring 90 TOO box and will be delving into it this weekend if I can

 

Yes, the '88 version was for a kid in the DC area who had cancer, the young fellow was at the show that night.

 

Here's one dated 2/2/91. *sniff*

 

Just browsing the movie times at one of the local arthouses located by the indie bookstore and the record shop because I am thinking of getting out of the house this afternoon.

Anyone seen the documentary: The Other One - The Long, Strange Trip Of Bob Weir?

 

I think the Dead decided that "Ripple" didn't really work too well with electric instrumentation, which I kind of agree with. When they did the acoustic sets in fall 1980 it was the standard set closer and an audience favorite.

 

I just don't think it worked very well with electric instruments, and acoustic sets were extremely few and far between.

 

Something I was curious about: How do you guys usually listen?

Do you take one album and play it over and over for a few days or a week or more? Or do you play one album and then another?

I have listened to Live/Dead at least 4 times in the last few days.

 

If its a show I have to listen to show from start to finish, even if it takes me two or three days to do so.

 

That's generally how I've been listening. One show at a time.

 

Ok, so this is Jerry Garcia's final interview, and it's a great one. Taped for the History of Rock and Roll television documentary, it sees Jerry expound on his musical background and influence onwards to The Warlocks and the eventual formation of the Dead - all the way until the present time and his thoughts on contemporary music. It's well worth watching: I especially love how things start out a little tentatively, but once Jerry gets into, he has so many stories and anecdotes to share - always articulate and often witty too.



Now, here's the million-dollar question for me... How can Jerry be so animated, sharp, and enthustiastic here, while being so subdued, lethargic and somber while performing with the Dead in the same time period? I mean, it's a real contradiction, since in the interview, what's he's happy and excited about is the music. You can hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes how much music means to him. But then, when he's actually up there on stage, doing what he loves, his demeanor is the exact opposite. How do you account for that?

Of course, Jerry was never overly animated on-stage, but I still think the difference in mood comes through. Like, in some of those '95 performance, there is a sense of premonition... You can almost tell that Jerry is not long for this world. If I'm not mistaken, people would even comment on that before his death: there were concerns about his health based on his on-stage appearance. But in the interview, there is no sense of that at all. You wouldn't guess from watching it that his passing was imminent.

Of course, I know all about the '95 tour: the gate crashing, the death threat... The touring was becoming increasingly strenuous, taking a lot of the fun out of it. And then the pressure on top of that, to keep the whole organization rolling. It was a bad situation. But I'm just struck by the sad contradiction: that Jerry, in those final years of his life, seemed so happy talking about music, but appeared almost the complete opposite while actually playing it.