[JimmyPage]

just listening to an old CD and a brief GD mix came on ...

"Uncle Johns Band" followed by "St. Stephen" with "Dire Wolf" and finished by "Touch of Grey".

reminded me what a great band they were, and what a sad loss Jerry Garcia was.

RIP Jerry - I'll think of you tonight ....

[Randalizer]

Nice little set there Jimmy.

RIP Jerry.

I have to say though. The man didn't help himself any.

This post has been edited by Randalizer: 08 August 2011 - 11:11 PM

[Abe Froman]

Only heard them for the first time this year believe it or not .
i like the first few albums they did , i've got The Grateful Dead , Anthem of the Sun & Aoxomoxoa on my mp3 player .

i'll load up a few more and see if i like their other work.

[Mestizo]

'68-'72 were my favourite years. Did mushrooms in A'dam listening to Dark Star, China Cat Sunflower and all the great bootleg cds that popped up in the late '90s. Great band

[Randalizer]

There is a lot of G Dead videos on you tube. I recommend the Egypt videos.

[namkha]

what's the Dead's most psychedelic stuff then?

I've always been really underwhelmed by everything electric of theirs I've heard... and I love all that Merry Prankster Ken Kesey era, cousins are big Dead Heads in Oregon too, but they've never converted me to their tunes yet

I've heard a lot of West Coast folks say that Brits never really got psychedelia --- yet whenever I try any Dead stuff it's obvious to me that the guys are fucking loaded, but none of the tunes really seem to take me there... at all

seems to me there's more psychedelia packed into the interludes on Led Zeppelin tracks like 'How Many More Times', 'Dazed and Confused', 'Whole Lotta Love' --- I mean that just burns with sensuous mind-expanding intensity... can any Dead stuff ever touch that???

if I had to chose some Desert Island Disks from some American bands of that era I'd go for Quicksilver Messenger Service (Happy Trails album) and Crosby, Stills and Nash way before I'd chose anything from the Dead...

quite like the American Beauty album mind... Box of Rain is a nice track

This post has been edited by namkha: 09 August 2011 - 08:37 AM

[Randalizer]

namkha, on 09 August 2011 - 08:26 AM, said:

what's the Dead's most psychedelic stuff then?

Their live music.

This post has been edited by Randalizer: 09 August 2011 - 09:11 AM

[JimmyPage]

Randalizer, on 08 August 2011 - 11:11 PM, said:

Nice little set there Jimmy.

RIP Jerry.

I have to say though. The man didn't help himself any.

Ever heard of "The Rex Foundation" ? No I hadn't till a few years ago. There was a BBC documentary on it. They interviewed Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia about it. Jerry came across as a twinkly eyed uncle ... with a some of Zen smile - similar to the way the Dalai Lama is always smiling. He could hardly speak for laughing, when he made the classic comment ...

"If you need to come to the Grateful Dead for help, man you have really slipped through the cracks on the sidewalk".

What the hell, he gave up some of his life so we could enjoy ours. And he never killed anyone.

I'm not so up on modern music, but it seems to me the Dead were wayyyyyyyyy ahead of todays kids ... didn't they used to set aside a part of the venue for people to tape the show themselves ?

[namkha]

Randalizer, on 09 August 2011 - 09:11 AM, said:

namkha, on 09 August 2011 - 08:26 AM, said:

what's the Dead's most psychedelic stuff then?

Their live music.

I tried some of their Fillmore albums, and there was one track on there I really liked... overall though for me it was more the atmosphere of the events that came across than the tracks

I guess because I'd heard of them long before I'd ever heard their actual tunes I built them up in my mind to be the quintessential psychedelic rock band - so I was expecting their sound to be something like John Lennon meets Led Zeppelin (just add Peter Green and that would be the ultimate rock band I reckon... except I heard Lennon said he thought Led Zeppelin were 'vulgar'...)

I'm hoping the new Ken Kesey movie made from the original Merry Prankster footage is going to have loads of footage of the original parties --- really looking forward to seeing that

[Randalizer]

Namkha, the Dead did a drum/space jam at virtually every show. Very outside jazz to Fripatronics type stuff, loads and laods of guest percussionists from all over the world. The atmosphere was psychedelic because the music was. But not in a traditional sense. Also a lot of the band was into heroin (Micky Hart really liked mushrooms, taught the other drummer trance drumming and came froma military drumming background), so it was a mixed bag. A guitar player friend of mine was elated when he discovered how to play, what he called, Jerrys psychedelic scale. Something slightly diminished sounding i think.

JimmyPage, on 09 August 2011 - 09:39 AM, said:

Ever heard of "The Rex Foundation" ?

I've attended a few Rex Benefit shows, one at the Greek Amphitheatre at UC Berkley. Seva was another benefit organization they supported. A lot of their tradition in giving grew out of the very early days of the Haight Ashbury.

Quote

"If you need to come to the Grateful Dead for help, man you have really slipped through the cracks on the sidewalk".

Jerry had that dark humour.

Quote

didn't they used to set aside a part of the venue for people to tape the show themselves ?

Yep. Jerry came from a bluegrass tradition and they were always making tapes and trading them in those circles.

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This post has been edited by Randalizer: 10 August 2011 - 04:42 AM

[grandad]

every time this track played, i was compelled to skin up.

This post has been edited by grandad: 10 August 2011 - 07:17 AM

[Randalizer]

Great tune Grandad.

[grandad]

sometimes they played gigs tripping on acid, they were know to spike other players

[grandad]

wake of the flood is one of my all time favourite albums.

[Arnold Layne]

namkha, on 09 August 2011 - 08:26 AM, said:

what's the Dead's most psychedelic stuff then?

I've always been really underwhelmed by everything electric of theirs I've heard... and I love all that Merry Prankster Ken Kesey era, cousins are big Dead Heads in Oregon too, but they've never converted me to their tunes yet

I've heard a lot of West Coast folks say that Brits never really got psychedelia --- yet whenever I try any Dead stuff it's obvious to me that the guys are fucking loaded, but none of the tunes really seem to take me there... at all

seems to me there's more psychedelia packed into the interludes on Led Zeppelin tracks like 'How Many More Times', 'Dazed and Confused', 'Whole Lotta Love' --- I mean that just burns with sensuous mind-expanding intensity... can any Dead stuff ever touch that???

if I had to chose some Desert Island Disks from some American bands of that era I'd go for Quicksilver Messenger Service (Happy Trails album) and Crosby, Stills and Nash way before I'd chose anything from the Dead...

quite like the American Beauty album mind... Box of Rain is a nice track

Got to agree nam, I found them underwhelming back then, and still do. That said, I do enjoy their music - but just don't think its as ground breaking or earth moving as folks think. Psychedelia? Try Syd Barrett! Or any early Floyd albums, like "Piper at the Gates of Dawn", or "Saucerful of Secrets".

Garcia's solo album "The Wheel" remains one of my all time favourites. I know beggar all about him, but this is one hell of an album!

I prefer Psychedelic Rock, myself. Early stuff, like the original line up of either Styx or Amon Dul, or the Pink Fairies. The Moody Blues remain my number one Psychedelic band, however; maybe they are a sort of British "Grateful Dead"? Open for discussion, that. Its an interesting thought.

RIP Jerry Garcia, Syd Barrett. We owe you, both of you.