Today is Jerry Garcia's birthday -- probably the biggest holiday on the hippie calendar. I could inundate you all heady 40 minute jams, but I think a different tack is merited. Here, we have one...
Today is Jerry Garcia's birthday -- probably the biggest holiday on the hippie calendar. I could inundate you all heady 40 minute jams, but I think a different tack is merited.
Here, we have one of the most unique and wonderful tapes of Grateful Dead history. Jerry Garcia is on Pedal Steel which, good sourcing has it, he took up again after seeing Sneaky Pete & the Burritos & the Avalon (and not to get too off track, but that show right there is without a doubt the best live performance we have of Gram Parsons, thanks Bear!). Bob Weir sings the hell out of some cowboy songs, in what was the absolute peak of the Dead's country-psychedelic-electric blend. They're joined by John Cipollina (of Quicksilver Messenger fame), possibly Mario Cipollina on bass, and Pete Sears (pianist for Rod Stewart, Steve Kimock) on the keys.
The tape, though short, containing hisses and radio compression, never fails to blow me away, including what has to be the definitive "Dead" version of Let Me In, and a magical Dark Hallow (which, may only be second favorite personally to the legendary 02/14/70 acoustic set).
Give it a spin if you've ever enjoyed anything like Workingman's or American Beauty
Since you seem to be a bit of a Dead Head, let me ask you, as an aspiring Dead Head myself, what are two or three of the best live recordings that I can watch on YouTube as a newbie? I've been...
Since you seem to be a bit of a Dead Head, let me ask you, as an aspiring Dead Head myself, what are two or three of the best live recordings that I can watch on YouTube as a newbie?
I've been listening to some of the albums for years but I know they're the definitive "you have to listen to them live" band so looking to be pointed in the right direction.
Hmm. I could give a better answer if I knew specifically which sort of albums / eras of the Dead you liked best but, that starts to get into a chicken / egg situation, so I'll give you a range....
Hmm. I could give a better answer if I knew specifically which sort of albums / eras of the Dead you liked best but, that starts to get into a chicken / egg situation, so I'll give you a range.
So, starting we have the Acid Dead era -- a good choice here is the Fillmore West show from 02/28/69. This was officially released 5-10 years back, so it's only on YT as on the GD "artist channel" (which I only mention because they're often blocked outside the US). This is before Workingman's / American Beauty introduced the country / folk elements into their music: expect blazing guitar solos / general acid-fueled madness (e.g., The Eleven on this just rips) cut with Pigpen doing some cool blues numbers. Another good / really famous choice here includes the Carousel Ballroom show from '68 (02/14/68 if you wanna search it on YT, I wasn't able to find a full source except on archive.org).
Moving forward, we have what could (possibly) be billed as "the best Dead show ever", a.k.a. Dick's Picks 4, 02/13-14/70. This is somewhere between the era of Acid-Dead and Countrified Dead (leaning towards the latter). The DP version has the acoustic set cut which is a crime, so get your fill with DP 8 - 05/02/70 @ Harpur College which starts with one of the all-time great acoustic sets.
Next, we have the Honey years, '72-'74, where everything is just.... sweet ;). I'm a particular nerd for 72, so I'll recommend DP 36, 09/21/72 @ the Spectrum, but this really wouldn't be complete without shows from '73 and '74, and so...
11/17/73, a.k.a. Dave's Picks vol. 5. Famed for the Playin' sandwich (Playing in the Band > Uncle Johns > Morning Dew > John > Playing) in the second set, but this is again of the best shows ever played. I have to be careful listening to the Here Comes Sunshine in the first set, otherwise I can't stop listening to the complete show :P
08/06/74, from the best sound system ever created, The Wall of Sound. It's so fucking good that you owe it to yourself to listen to the audience tape of this show. You'll be frickin' amazed by how clean of a tape a dude standing in field in 1974 (!) could make with this sound system. Audience tapes are a bit of an acquired taste though, so don't worry if it doesn't quite click.
And conscious that I'm already way over 2-3 shows, I'll fast forward to 1977. This list really wouldn't be complete without 05/08/77 -- Barton Hall, Ithica NY, which is arguably the most famous Dead show of all time. Although I generally prefer some of the other shows on the legendary May '77 tour (e.g., 05/07, or 06/09) there is no denying that this show is probably responsible for converting more people to Deadheads than any other, it even did it to me way back.
As a final note, I'll leave this website. It often is down (hence why I linked the webarchive version), but it's pretty top notch at guiding you through some of the greatest shows of all time (again, from personal experience).
I can't thank you enough. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. If you don't mind, I may PM you in the future for questions/discussion. EDIT: I spent a lot of time listing to Skeleton's From the...
I can't thank you enough. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. If you don't mind, I may PM you in the future for questions/discussion.
EDIT: I spent a lot of time listing to Skeleton's From the Closet - The Warner Bros album - as a teenager and started listening to Workingman's Dead and American Beauty last year. I watched the documentary on Amazon (which was great IMO, especially the segment on The Wall of Sound) and so started listening to the sound track for that, which had some live numbers. That piqued my curiosity and I started looking up live shows on YT, but there are just SO many, so thank you for helping me get to the cream so to speak.
Thanks again for this. I bookmarked all of them and am slowly making my way through. You're right about the "honey years" ... so *smooth and so *sweet. I also really dig "good morning little...
Thanks again for this. I bookmarked all of them and am slowly making my way through. You're right about the "honey years" ... so *smooth and so *sweet. I also really dig "good morning little schoolgirl" from Grateful Dead Live at Carousel Ballroom on 1968-02-14. I just started writing down which ones I really like.
Yeah, he passed away shortly after the Euro '72 tour. In some ways his passing finalized the transformation of the Dead from acid/blues/country to a more jazz-fusion style influenced by Miles....
Yeah, he passed away shortly after the Euro '72 tour. In some ways his passing finalized the transformation of the Dead from acid/blues/country to a more jazz-fusion style influenced by Miles. That said, it would have been super interesting to hear that transformation with added blues numbers.
I went to school in Binghamton and I know a few people who were at both Binghamton shows (Harpur College and also 1977 at the Broome County Arena). One of them contributed some photos or reviews...
I went to school in Binghamton and I know a few people who were at both Binghamton shows (Harpur College and also 1977 at the Broome County Arena). One of them contributed some photos or reviews or something that ended up being used in the liner notes for Dick's Picks 8.
I have obsessions with venues (especially those I've never been to, or no longer exist) -- for instance at some point in time I'm going to do a show entirely composed of broadcasts on WLIR from...
I have obsessions with venues (especially those I've never been to, or no longer exist) -- for instance at some point in time I'm going to do a show entirely composed of broadcasts on WLIR from the Ultrasonic Recording Studios (btw: holy shit, I never knew there was video!!!) and My Father's Place, which together hosted some of the best shows of many, many musician's careers. As a consequence, I tend to geek out about places like Broome County which hosted a number of great Dead & Phish shows over the years :)
Phish played at the arena when I was in school but I had to skip it because of finals or midterms or something (although I did catch them later on in Syracuse). The only show I saw at the arena...
Phish played at the arena when I was in school but I had to skip it because of finals or midterms or something (although I did catch them later on in Syracuse). The only show I saw at the arena was the Dave Matthews Band. BTW, Frank Zappa also played there on the '88 tour. A couple of songs from that show ended up on Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life.
As for the Harpur College (now Binghamton University) show, that was at the West Gym, which is still there. I saw P-Funk play there in '97. I also played there a bunch of times in the pep band for basketball games. :-)
Today is Jerry Garcia's birthday -- probably the biggest holiday on the hippie calendar. I could inundate you all heady 40 minute jams, but I think a different tack is merited.
Here, we have one of the most unique and wonderful tapes of Grateful Dead history. Jerry Garcia is on Pedal Steel which, good sourcing has it, he took up again after seeing Sneaky Pete & the Burritos & the Avalon (and not to get too off track, but that show right there is without a doubt the best live performance we have of Gram Parsons, thanks Bear!). Bob Weir sings the hell out of some cowboy songs, in what was the absolute peak of the Dead's country-psychedelic-electric blend. They're joined by John Cipollina (of Quicksilver Messenger fame), possibly Mario Cipollina on bass, and Pete Sears (pianist for Rod Stewart, Steve Kimock) on the keys.
The tape, though short, containing hisses and radio compression, never fails to blow me away, including what has to be the definitive "Dead" version of Let Me In, and a magical Dark Hallow (which, may only be second favorite personally to the legendary 02/14/70 acoustic set).
Give it a spin if you've ever enjoyed anything like Workingman's or American Beauty
Since you seem to be a bit of a Dead Head, let me ask you, as an aspiring Dead Head myself, what are two or three of the best live recordings that I can watch on YouTube as a newbie?
I've been listening to some of the albums for years but I know they're the definitive "you have to listen to them live" band so looking to be pointed in the right direction.
Hmm. I could give a better answer if I knew specifically which sort of albums / eras of the Dead you liked best but, that starts to get into a chicken / egg situation, so I'll give you a range.
So, starting we have the Acid Dead era -- a good choice here is the Fillmore West show from 02/28/69. This was officially released 5-10 years back, so it's only on YT as on the GD "artist channel" (which I only mention because they're often blocked outside the US). This is before Workingman's / American Beauty introduced the country / folk elements into their music: expect blazing guitar solos / general acid-fueled madness (e.g., The Eleven on this just rips) cut with Pigpen doing some cool blues numbers. Another good / really famous choice here includes the Carousel Ballroom show from '68 (02/14/68 if you wanna search it on YT, I wasn't able to find a full source except on archive.org).
Moving forward, we have what could (possibly) be billed as "the best Dead show ever", a.k.a. Dick's Picks 4, 02/13-14/70. This is somewhere between the era of Acid-Dead and Countrified Dead (leaning towards the latter). The DP version has the acoustic set cut which is a crime, so get your fill with DP 8 - 05/02/70 @ Harpur College which starts with one of the all-time great acoustic sets.
Next, we have the Honey years, '72-'74, where everything is just.... sweet ;). I'm a particular nerd for 72, so I'll recommend DP 36, 09/21/72 @ the Spectrum, but this really wouldn't be complete without shows from '73 and '74, and so...
11/17/73, a.k.a. Dave's Picks vol. 5. Famed for the Playin' sandwich (Playing in the Band > Uncle Johns > Morning Dew > John > Playing) in the second set, but this is again of the best shows ever played. I have to be careful listening to the Here Comes Sunshine in the first set, otherwise I can't stop listening to the complete show :P
08/06/74, from the best sound system ever created, The Wall of Sound. It's so fucking good that you owe it to yourself to listen to the audience tape of this show. You'll be frickin' amazed by how clean of a tape a dude standing in field in 1974 (!) could make with this sound system. Audience tapes are a bit of an acquired taste though, so don't worry if it doesn't quite click.
And conscious that I'm already way over 2-3 shows, I'll fast forward to 1977. This list really wouldn't be complete without 05/08/77 -- Barton Hall, Ithica NY, which is arguably the most famous Dead show of all time. Although I generally prefer some of the other shows on the legendary May '77 tour (e.g., 05/07, or 06/09) there is no denying that this show is probably responsible for converting more people to Deadheads than any other, it even did it to me way back.
As a final note, I'll leave this website. It often is down (hence why I linked the webarchive version), but it's pretty top notch at guiding you through some of the greatest shows of all time (again, from personal experience).
I can't thank you enough. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. If you don't mind, I may PM you in the future for questions/discussion.
EDIT: I spent a lot of time listing to Skeleton's From the Closet - The Warner Bros album - as a teenager and started listening to Workingman's Dead and American Beauty last year. I watched the documentary on Amazon (which was great IMO, especially the segment on The Wall of Sound) and so started listening to the sound track for that, which had some live numbers. That piqued my curiosity and I started looking up live shows on YT, but there are just SO many, so thank you for helping me get to the cream so to speak.
By all means, I love to talk about the Dead :)
Thanks again for this. I bookmarked all of them and am slowly making my way through. You're right about the "honey years" ... so *smooth and so *sweet. I also really dig "good morning little schoolgirl" from Grateful Dead Live at Carousel Ballroom on 1968-02-14. I just started writing down which ones I really like.
Your random nugget of Pig's blues for today :)
Ah thanks man. That's right up my alley. Reminds me of Jim Morrison singing. Didn't PigPen checkout early in the Dead's career? What a loss.
Yeah, he passed away shortly after the Euro '72 tour. In some ways his passing finalized the transformation of the Dead from acid/blues/country to a more jazz-fusion style influenced by Miles. That said, it would have been super interesting to hear that transformation with added blues numbers.
Thanks. I really enjoyed that - the camera-work, not so much thought but hey, what'd you expect?! :)
I went to school in Binghamton and I know a few people who were at both Binghamton shows (Harpur College and also 1977 at the Broome County Arena). One of them contributed some photos or reviews or something that ended up being used in the liner notes for Dick's Picks 8.
I have obsessions with venues (especially those I've never been to, or no longer exist) -- for instance at some point in time I'm going to do a show entirely composed of broadcasts on WLIR from the Ultrasonic Recording Studios (btw: holy shit, I never knew there was video!!!) and My Father's Place, which together hosted some of the best shows of many, many musician's careers. As a consequence, I tend to geek out about places like Broome County which hosted a number of great Dead & Phish shows over the years :)
Phish played at the arena when I was in school but I had to skip it because of finals or midterms or something (although I did catch them later on in Syracuse). The only show I saw at the arena was the Dave Matthews Band. BTW, Frank Zappa also played there on the '88 tour. A couple of songs from that show ended up on Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life.
As for the Harpur College (now Binghamton University) show, that was at the West Gym, which is still there. I saw P-Funk play there in '97. I also played there a bunch of times in the pep band for basketball games. :-)
Zappa also played Harpur in '72 with the Petite Wazoo :)