Grex Music2 Conference

Item 199: The Grateful Dead

Entered by krj on Sun Aug 8 02:02:15 1999:

I've been listening to the "American Roots" program on WUOM, and tonight
they are featuring a profile on Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.
This is awakening my interest in the Dead, which pops up every few years.

The radio show played the Dead's version of "Goin' Down The Road 
Feeling Bad," and a little searching of amazon.com revealed that this 
performance was on a LP I already owned, the one usually informally
named "Skull and Roses."  Time to clear the CDs off of the turntable...

An old friend said that the Grateful Dead is America's version of the 
British folk-rock band Fairport Convention, because of the Dead's 
roots in folk music.
3 responses total.
#1 of 3 by lumen on Tue Aug 10 18:51:56 1999:

And what of "The Others," the band created by the Dead's surviving 
members

#2 of 3 by krj on Sun Aug 29 15:53:33 1999:

It's been a while since I've gotten back here.
 
I bought a CD copy of the 1971 live album "The Grateful Dead."  
This has always been one of my two favorite Dead albums, and it 
just seemed easier to grab a fresh copy rather than try to deal 
with the vinyl.  The two best tracks are the opening and closing 
ones: "Bertha" and "Not Fade Away."  For a while I was under the 
impression that most of the Dead songs I liked were covers -- "Not Fade
Away" is of course the Buddy Holly song -- but it turns out that 
"Bertha" is Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter.  But the 1971 live 
album is loaded with covers, including a country classic "Mama Tried"
by Merle Haggard  ("I turned 21 in prison, doing life without parole"),
Kristofferson's "Me & Bobby McGee" (a current song when the album came out)
and a ragged "Johnny B. Goode."
 
What I don't like are the 20 minute "space " jams, such as "The Other One."

Borders has loaded up on the "Dick's Picks" series of Dead concert recordings.
The sign says these are available at retail for a limited time; usually
you order them from the Dead's web site.  I bought #5, a 1970 recording
which was highly reviewed on www.allmusic.com, and will write about it next.

#3 of 3 by raven on Fri Oct 29 00:56:55 1999:

I tend to like Garcia's and Mickey Hart's solo stuff better than the Dead.
I think they both did more interesting things on their own than with the band.

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