1972-09-28 Truckin’ opener, hot but bad aud source; China>Rider extended intro mostly Weir, superior version; PiTB is meandering at times but very good; then things kick into another gear: GSET (best ever? With St. Stephen middle), Bertha is hot!, Brokedown Palace fantastic, as is Other One>Bobby McGee>Other One>Wharf Rat; Sugar Mag is one of the best ever; NFA>GDTRFB>NFA may be the best one since Europe.
The first Dave's you get, #33, will compare to Ready or Not in the same way that clean hits compare to distilled water.
So in listening to some prime '70 Dead, I've noticed that at times (Turn on Your Lovelight DP 4 solo), Jerry sounds kind of similar to Dicky Betts on the jazzier and also pentatonic major runs. Like I would have loved to hear Jerry's take on the Allman Brothers In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.
So this brings the question to everyone: What was the first live and studio album, cd,etc.. you purchased by the Dead? For me: Studio: American Beauty Live: Dead Set
I was snowed in yesterday and watched So Many Roads on Amazon which of course featured lots of cuts from Joe. Lots of great stories. RIP.
Studio: Workingman's/Beauty two-fer cassette Live: The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack--which came much later. Decades. Back in the early '90s, I saw a few shows, a friend dubbed some of Without a Net for me, and I heard some tape selections on his radio show, but nobody ever told me about Primal Dead. Nobody ever said, "You really should buy Live/Dead or Two From the Vault. It's like a different band." That really would've changed the game for me, then.
Yeah a friend recommended to me in my teens Skeletons From the Closet and I kind of figured it had all I need-it has the hits. Listening to live Dead was listening to another dimension from their studio recordings (which were quite good too). Admittedly I didnt get the album Live Dead but once I was ready for it the rewards were aplenty.
The absolutely ridiculously awesome thing about this thread is people can reccomend stuff and I can immediately listen to it on the archives in real time. Not sure this is an option for any other band. For better or worse I've become obsessed with listening to various shows
Live: Dead Set (actually stole the cassette from my bro) Studio: MFSL Mars Hotel CD. Buy it for U.S. Blues, keep it for Unbroken Chain.
I think Mars Hotel MFSL (cassette!) was probably my second studio purchase due to being a fan of Scarlet Begonias.
Studio: Do not remember Live: Lewistone Maine 1980. 1 cd...who knows set. Better question to ask: How unique was your first experience listening to the boys sing on The Eleven. Glorious.
It would have been cool to hear Dickey and Jerry play more together than they did. RFK '73 and the Allman Brothers NYE show also in '73 gives you a good idea. Dickey Betts was a fantastic player with great feel and tone. Great composer/songwriter/singer too.
R.I.P. Joe Smith. His part in A Long Strange Trip was one of the many highlights for me. He is also in the Anthem to Beauty Classic records docu
As a relative newcomer compared to most of you guys here I started with: Studio — Workingman's Dead / American Beauty (bought together). Live — Europe '72 / Reckoning (bought together). As a starter kit for the GD it's pretty damn good! Since then, oh man, the collection has gone crazy!!!
I missed the ‘89 and ‘90 shows there, but was at the rest. That show and the ‘92 Casey Jones show were my two favorites, but other rjan ‘95 which was more weird than as bad as some other shows that tour, they always played well there.
I like this album more than most (and might even venture that it is as good as any studios album they made after Blues for Allah). I also think the cover is intentionally pretty darn funny. The only thing that puzzles me: I am still not sure whether I ever heard Antwerp’s Placebo live or not.
It was a mistake to decide that after a summer of West Coast shows and a mellow scene yet amazing start to the East Coast tour in Hampton, one night (10/11) of the harshnessnof New Jersey security was a reason not to go back. But then again, the yellowjackets killed a guy later in that run and maybe it couldnotherwise have been me... Probably not, and I retrospect I should have known a Weir birthday show in the tri-state area in 1989 was not one to miss, but I was 18 and stupid.
