Ready Or Not, Grateful Dead's unfinished studio album

I own every Dead release. I won't be buying this one. It's the combination of the fact that I don't want a compilation of this material, and I'm still waiting for the delivery of things I ordered and paid for months ago.

 

Worst 9 nights of my life.

 

Following the lead of some other folks I'm listening to the track list in order via ReListen.

I think I have a more open mind towards the later era stuff than your average DeadHead, but hey, "Samba in the Rain" ...

 

I converted the Miller SBDs to MP3 here

 

I saw a few Grateful Dead shows with Vince Welnick on keyboards, I preferred seeing him at Winterland playing with the Tubes.

 

Gracias. I was having trouble find the best sources for this material.

Nice keys in Eternity. Cool jam starting around the 4 minute mark. Vince goes off for about two minutes before Jerry finds his minor key(?) off beat guitar solo at around 6:10 Vince's tone is spot on, no tinkles. WOW!!! Really shocked how much I'm enjoying this tune.

 

I should be sleeping but I’m listening to mid-90s GD. An unexpected turn of events.

 

No "Believe It Or Not'? Slightly outside the timeframe, but still evoked by the title...

 

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64 in CDs & Vinyl

 

Also, anyone saying Bruce was a bull in a china shop....well, maybe he was but he certainly yanked the boys to where they needed to be!

From around Europe 90 through the end of the year, the guys hit some big rough spots. By the start of 1991 they are back in action for the entirety of the year, often peaking higher than in 1990. I've always felt the boys "ran out of rocket fuel", but then Bruce came along and forced them onwards for another year and a half or so of greatness until he left again.

Now I will say - and I've said it many times - that 1991 does have a more...artificial kind of feel, which I would contribute to Bruce being that bull in the china shop, but dang it if it wasn't needed, that's for sure

1991 feels like it definitely would've turned out differently without Bruce is all I mean. His impact is THAT noticeable.

Now, I can't speak to being there, but having heard all the shows multiple times, as a listener that's how it comes off.

 

Wow, that's dumb. Mostly because I created this same thing for my blog four months ago, and I just never got around to uploading it.

Believe me when I say I listened to like twenty different performances of every one of those songs, looking for the best one. Now I feel like I went though all that for nothing. :/

 

No you didnt, cuz now I'm gonna go check it out

 

Definitely seeing an uptick on CD prices on Amazon. Chicago III $19.98?

 

I'm only been into the Grateful Dead for a couple years now and have never listened to any of their 90s shows. For me, this seemed like a cool way to hear songs I am not familiar with. It's just a shame that according to Dave they put "years" of planning into this release and then used that cover. It's so bad that it actually had me hesitate when I purchased this record. It's almost as if their graphic designer had heard that he was being fired at the end of the day and created the absolute worst cover he/she could come up with. You really have to try hard and put effort into coming up with something that bad.

 

ninety run was six nights ninety one was nine. Saw four out of six in ninety. 9/20 probably one of the best shows of the nineties, 9/19 wasn’t shabby either 9/18 good also they had a massive Hendrix memorial on the radio all weekend too. The scene was starting to get really messed up though

 

I spoke to Vince Welnick a couple times about this (obviously before he died) and also with Mickey Hart & Dennis McNally. Vince made it clear that there was nothing usable to fix and release, no Jerry vocals or finished guitar tracks. Mickey & Dennis made it sound that really the only attempts at recording were just live rehearsals that were not usable.

 

CD prices have been spiking for a while now. Zëss by Magma cost me twenty euros (plus shipping). I'm not convinced that boycotting this particular release would do much good. However: when the physical item is as ugly as this, I certainly find it easy to put off any purchase until well after I have the opportunity to hear the album on streaming, however long that takes.

 

The title is from Corrina

 

Well, both average $10 a CD then.

It’s definitely overpriced, to late 80s/early 90s levels, but it is consistent.

 

I confess I’m a Garcia/Hunter fanboy. But when looking at their later output...it is just crazy how far superior those songs are over the rest. I enjoyed Corrina live...good Jerry outro solo... but compare that, Samba, Long Way, Eternity etc to So Many Roads? The gulf is enormous.

 

Or wait for a gently-used copy. And, yes, an ugly item that kind of diminishes the value of physical vs a digital copy.

 

From the Rhino email...

"By the mid-90s, they set out recording with the wisdom of Willie Dixon's blues, Neil Young's fuzzed-out guitar"

I'm unfamiliar with this period of the Dead. Which of these songs channels Neil Young's guitar sound?

 

I think this corroborates what we were hearing around the time the SMR set was released, that there was not much usable material available, and that the set scrapped together what it could.

 

I wish they included a mash-up of "Long Way To Go Home" with "Corrina". Think of the grooooooves!

 

I would be all for this except for people smarter than me saying these aren't even the best versions. I found this comment online so may need to make my alternative version!

Also, do we know if these are 24 track recordings? That would get my money too if so.

"Not the definitive or best versions. Did he even listen? The So Many Roads has Jerry mumbling half the verses! Man, I am appalled at the shows that he picked as the best versions. I am all for these songs, but this is just wrong. So Many Roads 10-1-94. Way To Go Home 5-21-93, Easy Answers and Days Between 12-19-94, Liberty and Corrina 8-22-93, Samba and Lazy are fine I guess."