[kingcoffee]

I'm a so-so Gratefule Dead fan. They really did do some great work. Most notably Workingman's Dead, American Beauty and Anthem of the Sun. But mostly they were just a bunch of lazy, stoned-out hippies who took waaaaaaaayyyyy too many drugs and just dicked around on guitars for an hour for one song and charged top dollar for it. They are easily one of the most overrated bands in history. They were fairly good musicians from 1968-1975, but after that, they were just pathetic and repetitive.

[kingcoffee]

It's just that simple.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by kingcoffee

I'm a so-so Gratefule Dead fan. They really did do some great work. Most notably Workingman's Dead, American Beauty and Anthem of the Sun. But mostly they were just a bunch of lazy, stoned-out hippies who took waaaaaaaayyyyy too many drugs and just dicked around on guitars for an hour for one song and charged top dollar for it. They are easily one of the most overrated bands in history. They were fairly good musicians from 1968-1975, but after that, they were just pathetic and repetitive.

wow. over-rated? by who? to be over-rated people OTHER then your fan base have to praise you, and generally speaking, no body but dead heads have ever heard any live dead to begin with.

[kingcoffee]

I've heard Live Dead. Some of the songs they played were really good, some of my favorites by them. But they also started just jamming way too long on some songs and it just became disinteresting. Im not saying they are bad musicians. I just think that the drugs and their own lack of good musical judgement affected their playing and decision making.

I mean come on, back when they were the Warlocks, they used to take a shit load of lsd before shows and then be so high they couldn't play and they just walked away from the shows without playing a note.

[screamingskull]

Originally Posted by kingcoffee

I mean come on, back when they were the Warlocks, they used to take a shit load of lsd before shows and then be so high they couldn't play and they just walked away from the shows without playing a note.

but the audience was so out of it as well that it didn't matter.

[kingcoffee]

It may not have mattered so much if the band performed poorly. I think it matters if the band never plays at all.

[screamingskull]

Were they any good live after Jerry died?
Currently listening to and loving American Beauty.

[Georgekrz]

Ive seen Grateful Dead one time, back in 1988, I wasnt a big fan I went out of curiosity more than anything else. I knew all the radio singles etc but not a person deep into it at all.

Then I went to Bonnaroo last year, Phil Lesh and Friends closed the festival, I went in with absolutely no expectations. It was beautiful. Month later I caught Bob Weir and Ratdog at Radio City. It hooked me it was beatiful powerful show, the songs speak for themselves. By now the music and the scene, it really captured my imagination- the people in the scene are the nicest people you will ever meet, period.

Last month I went the American Beauty Project, i wrote this at the time:

in case you werent aware this past weekend we had a really great event in NYC- back to back nights tribute to Grateful Dead, on saturday we got the complete "Workingmans Dead" album, followed by "American Beauty" on sunday,

Both albums were covered in entirety, as well as assorted instrumental jams in between some songs, each song got an intro and a short interview with the artist by the host John Schaefer whos a local dj here.

Saturday was absolutely packed, there were over 2000 people inside, if you know the wintergarden the steps were full and people lined the mezzanine upstairs, they actually had to post security at the doors who would not allow any more people in after a certain point, too bad for the late comers (someone said of 10 years that free events were held there, this was the largest crowd ever.) You know the album- its a classic kicking off with one of my personal favorites "Uncle John's Band". This was not a typical Dead show in that for the most part people sat and listened(thanks to security guards who made sure isles were clear), but by the last song "Casey Jones" everyone was up and dancing. The encore was "Knockin on Heavens Door" the Dylan tune with all musicians on stage.

Sunday the crowd was slightly smaller I think, perhaps due to the football playoffs.
Still, the steps and floor was packed, though mezzanine was clear. Once again I got some of my all time favorites "Friend of a Devil" "Truckin"- done by Jen Chapin. The musical highlights though was "Till the Morning Comes" by Espers, that is one band worth checking out. Also one of the great between song jams has to be mentioned- Sex Mob, a jazz trio, drums and 2 trumpets, it was just awesome. The whole thing closed out with another encore of a song I did not recognize, however I recorded a bit of it might post later.

both nights the shows were around 2 hours 30 minutes long, the crowd was great as usual, there is really no better people you will ever meet than those who go see the Dead, it just made everyone realize how much we miss Jerry and the rest of the band. The show was being recorded by at least 4 cameramen, stationary as well as people on stage, so lets hope this will show up on video or tv, it had that PBS feel to it...

anyway, thats it, if you dont know the Dead go buy these two albums, and go see Bob Weir and Rat Dog, they are on tour this spring.

forgot the links: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ID=113 806099

espers, : psych folk? best band on 2 nights imo: http://www.myspace.com/espers

sex mob- great jazz stuff: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...did=944 05388

[screamingskull]

My dad recently sent me

 

and i LOVE it!!! It's got some fantastic songs on it!!!!!

"i had to move, really had to move"

"Playing, playing in the band, daybreak, daybreak on the land"

Great songs!

[Cantankerous]

true story: about 10 years ago (probably a little more than that), nobody in the family had seen or heard from my uncle for about a year or so. then the dead rolled through town and we saw him on the news.

[screamingskull]

^ he he he he kool.

[TheDom]

haha that is awesome

what exactly did he do? (if you don't mind telling)

[demonrail666]

Grateful Dead are another of those bands that just go right over my head. I've never been able to hear anything in them besides some Eagles with a few jazzed-up over-long solos.

[Cantankerous]

Originally Posted by TheDom

haha that is awesome

what exactly did he do? (if you don't mind telling)

he was just wandering around aimlessly.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Rocking the Cradle: Grateful Dead, Egypt 1978

 

$34.98
Rocking The Cradle: Egypt '78

 

Good things come to those who wait! First, it took 30 years to produce this ultra-cool 2CD/DVD set from the Dead’s legendary September 1978 run at the Sound & Light Theater, outside Cairo, nestled in the dunes just a short mummy-walk from the Great Pyramid and the mysterious Sphinx. Then, Dead Heads had to endure the long, restless weeks between the announcement of the release and when they could actually order it. Well, ring them bells, because the wait is over! Dead.net is NOW accepting orders for this beautiful and historic package, Rocking the Cradle: Grateful Dead, Egypt 1978, which includes two exceptional music CDs and a DVD with over 95 minutes of concert footage from the Egypt shows (plus an impressionistic “Vacation Tapes” mini-documentary that shows the band and Dead family at play).
Much has been written about this storied adventure: About the band’s long-standing desire to play in “places of power,” as Phil put it years ago… The incredible logistical gymnastics necessary to get permission for this strangest of American rock bands to bring their peculiar alchemy to the cradle of the ancient world… The huge, scattered caravan of crazies that descended on Cairo from the U.S. and Europe, drawn to the desert by some irresistible force… The sheer magnitude of shipping in tons of sound equipment, setting up in 110-degree heat, maxing out the local power grid, trying to turn the King’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid into an echo chamber (alas, Osiris would have none of that!)… The wondrous interplay at each of the three concerts between Nubian drummers and singers and the Grateful Dead… The miraculous final show, during a total lunar eclipse… The synchronicity of that last show and the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel… Magical horse and camel rides under the desert moon…Trips up and down the Nile… High adventure at every turn!

The three Egypt concerts—September 14, 15, 16, 1978—were captured on a 24-track tape recorder with an eye towards putting out a live album to help defray the (considerable) cost of the expedition. When the Dead got home, however, they discovered that the tapes of all of the first night and part of the second were not useable because of technical problems. Then the band got wrapped up in finishing their Shakedown Street album (begun before the Egypt venture), and soon the notion of putting out the Egypt album lost its momentum. But just as Howard Carter and all those other explorers in the ’20s and ’30s couldn’t stay away from the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the Dead weren’t about to let those Egypt multitracks stay buried by the sands of time. Next thing you know there’s a phone call to ace GD mixer Jeffrey Norman and he and vaultkeeper David Lemieux discover that despite the problems with the first night’s tapes, there’s still lots of great material available from nights two and three, including: a dynamite “Shakedown Street” (just the second live version ever), “Truckin’,” an exquisite “Stella Blue,” “Eyes of the World,” fresh takes on then-new songs such as “Stagger Lee” and “I Need A Miracle,” and the hypnotic Egyptian tune called “Ollin Arageed” that features Hamza El Din and other percussionists, who are then joined by the Dead for a jam into “Fire on the Mountain.” Wow!
And the concert video, though rough around the edges in places, is quite a revelation as well. Not only does the DVD include many of the best tunes on the CDs—you’ll dig seeing Jerry do some pretty energetic thrashing here and there—it contains two songs not on disc—“Bertha” and “Good Lovin’.” The concert material has been mixed in both stereo and surround sound, with two listening options: DTS 5.1 and PCM Stereo. The beautifully designed booklet (with cover inspired by the late, great Alton Kelley’s Egypt 1978 tour poster) contains a revealing essay by longtime Ice Nine Publishing chief (and Egypt trip co-organizer) Alan Trist, and many rare photos. All that’s missing is sand, the smell of camels and some “hubbly-bubbly”!
So don’t delay! Order Rocking the Cradle: Grateful Dead, Egypt 1978 today by going