Now listening to 12/10/71[St Louis Mo]on TIGDH on SiriusXM's Grateful Dead channel via the webstream now playing Truckin'.
Russell quoted something he attributed to Sam Cutler, calling the Dead's hasty retreat "the worst act of moral cowardice" or something like that. It's curious in light of the years that Cutler subsequently spent working for the Dead but that's show biz, I guess. I suppose I can empathize with the Dead if they were, in fact, tripping, in that they were unable to make a rational decision, and I can't say that I would have done anything differently in their position. I certainly did a lot of stupid crap when I was tripping in my 20s. That said, it certainly does seem like they might have had a chance to cool things down with the Angels (being a local band with deep ties to the SF and Oakland Angels) if they had stuck around, and that if they had played their set before the Stones, that might have improved the general vibes.
Donna Jean is on record about the band dosing in Europe, but microdosing long before it became a thing.
I think it's fairly clear that Garcia always would have preferred something other than the conventional touring situation, with its tight scheduling, venue changes, and the increasing burdens and obligations connected with mass popularity. He loved playing live, but on his own terms. I think a lot of musicians and bands have the same problems with feeling like a touring schedule puts them in harness, sooner or later. One of the burdens of professionalism.The only bands I know of that aren't bothered by that are the bands that have a low bar of expectations to meet, or those who tour infrequently, or both. The Dead, by contrast, always set a higher bar for their live performances than other rock bands. I've always thought that it was laughable to criticize their shows for being "lazy" or "self-indulgent", given that the standard touring schedule for most arena-level rock bands has typically consisted of 20-30 shows, rarely more than twice in a given year, often with years off in between; one 50 to 80 minute set and an encore; playing the same songs in the same order every night for the entire tour (one extra song or substitution is considered to be a big deal); with everything from the spoken-word introductions to the instrumental breaks (if any) largely scripted, sometimes note for note. And the people in those bands still complain about the grind of that! But a lot of that tedium is their own fault. After a while, repeating a set of three and four chord three-minute songs more or less note for note for an entire tour must be about as much fun as spending an hour watching the take-up reel of a tape recorder, with no way to press "fast forward." The only challenge in that format is seeing how trashed you can get and still make it through the set without the audience noticing.
30 years ago today, I saw my first show. Jack Straw and China/Rider were excellent, and I got a Baby Blue, too.
Some people like it, and some don't. Garcia loved to play live. But, as he once said, "there are times in the course of human events when you'd rather be anywhere else than onstage", and professional musicians contractually committed to a booked tour have almost no choice about that. They can't call their nights off. And packing it in early is considered poor form all around. The Show Must Go On.
Definitely. I'm pretty sure that the cake icing show was 11-8-69. Unless that was the show where hitmen were in the audience and we're going to come kill him if he didn't play his best show ever. I'm on the Spy Phone again so I can't really look up whether those are one and the same. There's a 74 show, in Springfield I think, where there are a lot of clues that they might be on something that makes everything seem very amusing to them, and of course there's the 5-11-78 where something is obviously up.
A special kind of job, where you're subject to scrutiny by customers who have purchased the privilege to second-guess everything you do. "You'll do fine, you've got that ****-you attitude." Jerry Garcia c.1963, providing advice about someone's first open-mic performance.
Mine too, but it comes with the territory. I knew what I was getting into. Then again, I have the benefit of doing a double-check of my work and then sending it through official QA/QC channels before I once again have the opportunity to refine things. You don't really have that luxury when belting out a guitar solo.
Jerry said a lot of stuff over a bunch of years, he may not be the most reliable source for information to delve into his psychology. Big Steve has been talking a lot and his accounts are remarkably uncomplicated. Jerry’s day was all about getting high and playing guitar. Jerry wasn’t into doing a thing that wasn’t his idea or anything he didn’t want to do. He was deeply anti authoritarian and a bit of a Narcissist. Just ask any doctor or any female that was ever in his life. As he said, “I’ve opted for fun in this lifetime.” I’m not saying his choices didn’t get called into question by himself from time to time or he didn’t complains about the outcomes but he was doing as he wanted. He wasn’t making grand sacrifices for the fans, his band, business partners or even his family. It was wake up, get high and play guitar. I don’t thing these ladies would disagree with that.
Great post. There is something to be said for a good audience tape for the"you are there" experience. The ultimate souvenir.
I think he was, actually. I think Jerry wanted to quit touring with the Dead by the early 1990s, but the Grateful Dead had its own momentum as a band that was expected to hit the bandstand for three tours and 80 dates a year, and the organization was carrying too many people for him to quit. Garcia was clearly happier with his side projects- or anyway not feeling nearly as much of the pressures and burdens of megastardom and mass adulation from his JGB and acoustic band projects- and he implied that much in his interviews. Although the JGB was getting pretty daggone huge in its own right. By 1990, he really should have taken a break. He could afford it. But he couldn't bring himself to cop out on everyone else who wanted- needed- that traveling circus, the Grateful Dead Cadillac of Anarchy, to stay on the road. Even with signs of trouble ahead. I think that bringing new musicians into the band onstage in various roles- as understudies, so to speak- was a course that should have been considered. There was entirely too much Jerrycentricity in the audience- which is why I think it would have been a good thing to do, and also why it probably/almost certainly would have failed. I don't think the cult of personality thing is ever healthy, for either the cultists or the object of their adoration. And maybe having that experiment fail would have trimmed the audience down to a manageable level. Most importantly, it might have de-stressed Jerry enough to help him get his life on track and extended his life, including more years of active performance in the long run. But that's just more of that counterfactual nonsense that I have so little use for. An exercise in futility, at this point. I'm also wary of throwing around the term "narcisstic" too casually. Garcia was a self-possessed guy. He was not much of a narcissist, especially as performers go. Narcissism is betokened by insecure diva behavior and obsession with surface appearances. Narcissism is also basically incompatible with a good sense of humor, which inherently includes the capacity for self-mockery. Garcia's ego was of an entirely different order than that of a narcissist; I'd say that underneath it all, he had a sanguine personality. A sanguine personality is the healthiest one out there, and a rare score. That said, I'm of the opinion that opioid addiction does often alter the personality of the addict, and not in a good way (unless they were king-hell a-holes to begin with, in which case the experience can possibly humble them enough to mellow them out. Not that it's worth it for them; there are better ways to get to that place.) The opioid high has such an interior focus that it leads people to disregard others. But it also leads the addict to disregard themselves. The opioid experience poses some terrible, grave challenges to the ego, and does so very deviously and seductively. And the usual course is destructive. They're nothing to play with. Nicotine addiction isn't so great, either. But I've never heard of anyone who gave up another addiction while on opioids. They encourage a path of least resistance in all aspects of life. And of the seven deadly sins, Jerry was most vulnerable to gluttony.
IWT. Jerry wielding the Wolf often produced high level results. Spencer Davis was a guest in Set 1, an All-Star night in LA.
Jerry was a Sun Sign Leo, there is a little bit of self-oriented behavior in the finest of that particular astrological pride.
Dick's Picks 22. Disc 1: Dark Star>China Cat Sunflower>The Eleven>Turn On Your Lovelight Dark Star is only 6 minutes but in hindsight you can hear Garcia ready to take it off-road, even at that early stage. That thick Gibson tone dominates the proceedings. And Pigpen does some very nice work on the 11, which is facemelting. It's been a while since my last listen to this and I have no reasonable explanation why. This Eleven exit jam is ridiculous. Disc 2 tomorrow night; that much is obvious.
