The Grateful Dead Thread

Discussion in 'Music and Recordings' started by gaspasser, May 16, 2017.

  1. Case

    Case Anxious Head (Formerly Wilson)

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    @Boops , absolutely correct about recording quality. Imagine if other bands had the same live and let live philosophy about concert recordings.
     
  2. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    The Grateful Dead have 3 different sounds. Studio, live electric and live acoustic. Here’s my favorite recommended albums in each category.

    American Beauty (studio)

    YouTube

    Tidal

    Qobuz

    One from the vault (my favorite live electric recording)

    Youtube

    Tidal

    Qobuz

    Reckoning (best live acoustic album)

    Youtube

    Tidal

    Qobuz
     
  3. shabta

    shabta Facebook Friend

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    There are several main eras of Grateful Dead. First is the initial psychedelic era that ends in 1970. The best document of that is Live Dead. It contains Dark Star which is one of the key touchstones of the pinnicale of Jam Band goodness, plus you get to hear Pigpen (who was the star before they started recording) at his best. The next phase is from 70-74 where the Hunter/Garcia writing team was both prolific and produced most of the bands very best songs. All the albums are good, but American Beauty and my fave, Workingman's dead are the best of the studio albums, and Europe 72 or even better the post dead release of the entire 72 euro tour are madatory listens. Then they took 1975 off. What emerged is a very different band. Some deadheads from that era still can't accept post 75. The studio albums are a lot less good, but Terrapin Station is a standout. Personally I feel 1977, a favorite amongst many deadheads is an ok year at best. By the second half of the year, Keith Godchaux's playing had devolved, from the super spacey slightly behind the beat playing that added something special to the 72-74 sound, to mostly hammering the keys as a thrid persussion instruement (while still not always precisely on the beat). Donna Jean, his wife and backup singer, starts singing less and less on key, with some painful results especially singing with Jerry. So called "musical differences" caused them to leave the band in 1978. Then Brett Mydland joined on keys, having played with Bobby on some of his solo tours. He was a decent singer and an excellent keyboard player. While herion had already started to affect Jerry's songwriting (as in his massively productive output disolved to a trickle), the band became a powerhouse live show and from this time the best years are 80-84 and 89. They did play a bunch of acoustic sets in 1980 that were excellent. !989 is (along with 1990) the best of the post 74 years. Brett ODed in 90, and they hired Vince Welnick on the keys (a mistake) and Bruce Hornsbey started sitting in. 1990 was excellent and some of 1991. Then Bruce stopped playing with them. Jerry, who was smoking too much rat (heroin), was listening to the other guys playing less and less often. The result is that from 92-95 the dead got worse and worse. Although there are excellent shows, especially from 92 and 93, these are not the best years of the band.

    It's the most recorded band in history, and everyone has their favorites. You can go to archive.org and listen to lots of different concerts. I can if people want go through some of the best live shows, but it's really impossible to make a completely definitive list since they've post dead release a shit ton of live stuff from the archives.
     
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  4. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Four albums, Two facets of the Grateful Dead:

    Earlier psychedelia...

    Aoxa Moxoa and Anthem of the Sun

    Early Ballads...

    American Beauty and Working Man's Dead

    Probably should throw in Live Dead And, if you haven't yet found something that you like, something that warms your heart and lights up your soul, or something that leaves a smoking crater of your mind --- the Dead are probably not for you.
     
  5. mimart7

    mimart7 Friend

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    For me, going to see them live was always a great experience. I saw a number of shows during 80's, and 90's. When Jerry was in a coma, I got to see Go Ahead, which was a side project, and was a great performance.
     
  6. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Must have been. Sadly, despite the fact that they loved to sing about wind and rain, they did not much visit Britain. I did see them a couple of times in 70s. Most memorable though (perhaps because certain chemicals had long been a thing of the past for me) was about 1990. I recall wondering why, hating crowds and loud noise, I was going to a rock concert! Even of the Dead. It didn't take me long to know why: it was sublime. And it was only ever painful to my ears when the crowd sang along.

    A glance at my profile posts would suggest that a Dead lyric or melody line is never very far from my mind, but unlike some of the posters here, I didn't really keep up after mid 1970s (and, having checked them out later, I think Terrapin Station might be the last of their for-me studio albums) and I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of of the live recordings, commercially published or otherwise.

    I've dipped into the Dick's Picks series, though, and 5 is a big favourite of mine.
     
  7. bobboxbody

    bobboxbody Friend

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    Plenty of good starting points and recommendations already, but here are some thoughts anyway.

    I got a "best of" CD when I was 13 and liked a few songs, but my Dead fanaticism didn't start until someone gave me a tape of Barton Hall in 9th grade. I've mainly been listening to live Dead, rather than studio albums, for the 25ish years since then. I've flip-flopped in my enthusiasm for '77 shows a few times, but I still think 5/8/77 is one of the best. I enjoy the vinyl edition Rhino put out a few years ago, but there are mixes on achive.org/relisten that are just as good(Betty Cantor SBD aka Betty Board). I think it's a fine starting point, and has been for many fans since that tape first started circulating.

    For major label released live albums, I think Europe '72 and Grateful Dead(Skull and Roses) are good intros.

    There are a million Dick's Pick's, and they're mostly good, but numbers 5, 14, 16, & 19 are stand-outs for me.

    After that, I would just jump on relisten.net and check out highlights from different years. A few to get you started: 2/14/68, 2/27/69, 8/6/71, 11/17/73, 6/28/74

    There's some good stuff on youtube as well, if you want to see some live footage. Here's one of my favorite recordings of "Morning Dew"
     
  8. shabta

    shabta Facebook Friend

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    Just "released" a new hunters trix (combines a decent soundboard with a decent audience recording) from the end of an epic run in 1990 at Madison Square Garden 9-20-1990 sound is excellent and the show is amazing...Especially everything after the drumz...

    http://bt.etree.org/details.php?torrentId=613087

    *HUNTER'S TRIX - 131*


    GRATEFUL DEAD
    MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
    NEW YORK, NY
    SEPTEMBER 20, 1990

    JERRY GARCIA - Lead Guitar, Vocals
    MICKEY HART - Drums
    BRUCE HORNSBY - Keyboards, Accordion, Vocals
    BILL KREUTZMANN - Drums
    PHIL LESH - Electric Bass, Vocals
    BOB WEIR - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
    VINCE WELNICK - Keyboards, Vocals


    CD ONE
    1 - FEEL LIKE A STRANGER (9:06)
    2 - ALTHEA (9:05)
    3 - IT’S ALL OVER NOW (10:25)
    4 - RAMBLE ON ROSE (8:53)
    5 - EL PASO (5:49)
    6 - BROWN EYED WOMEN (6:27)
    7 - GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (4:09)
    8 - U.S. BLUES (5:23)

    CD TWO
    1 - TRUCKIN’ > (9:09)
    2 - CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER > (8:00)
    3 - I KNOW YOU RIDER > (6:59)
    4 - WOMEN ARE SMARTER > (6:10)
    5 - DRUMS > (14:48)

    CD THREE
    1 - SPACE > (10:16)
    2 - DARK STAR > (12:03)
    3 - PLAYING IN THE BAND > (4:22)
    4 - DARK STAR > (15:31)
    5 - THROWING STONES > (10:03)
    6 - TOUCH OF GREY (7:51)
    7 - TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT (6:36)
     
  9. mimart7

    mimart7 Friend

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    I was at that show, so much fun.
     

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