Just heard this group called The Grateful Dead today...

[EstimatedProphet]

Wow, have I been missing out! :)
currently listening to 50/08/77 Cornell U

[AntiCoup2K4]

1. What's up with those clowns anyway?

Singing about sunshine daydreams and sugar magnolias and walking out in the morning dew? Don't they realize we're at war, goddammit!!

[DenverDem]

2. Best. Show. Ever!!

Man, I miss Jerry.

[mistertrickster]

3. And the amazing thing about The Dead was that they kept turning

out great songs album after album. "Black Muddy River" on one of their last albums was as good as any song they ever did--in the same league as "Ripple" and "Uncle John's Band."

They never had a "prime" and a long decline like other groups--they never sold out like Yes or Jethro Tull or REO Speedwagon that started at about the same time they did.

Unfortunately, the one guy that absolutely positively couldn't be replaced rejoined the Cosmos, so I'm afraid the long strange trip is finally over, except for the nostalgia tours.

Editted for spelling.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Oh, I don't know about that... Joan Osborne sounded GREAT

doing Jerry's stuff, and I hope they wake up and keep her.

[EstimatedProphet]

5. Joan Osborne? Seriously?

I haven't heard any of that. Where can I find her singing with the band?

[Squeech]

6. I thought Built to Last sucked

And they hardly "turned out" great songs; it took them the better part of a decade to write and record In the Dark (which I very much like).

And I disagree that Jerry was irreplaceable. Lotta first generation Deadheads say Pigpen was irreplaceable, but it seems they managed to keep on keepin' on without him.

And I emphatically disagree that REO Speedwagon sold out. They never had an "in" to sell out from :-)

[AntiCoup2K4]

8. Built to Last was OK - Kinda like "In The Dark lite"

I think if they would have known it was going to be their last studio album, they might have spent a little more time on it.

I missed the "Dead" tour this year, but I recently downloaded some music from the tour. I'm impressed with the sound and will probably catch them next year if they're touring (and when aren't they, in one form or another?) but they definitely are NOT the same without Jerry and that's just an undeniable fact. And they would probably be the first ones to admit it.

[EstimatedProphet]

9. They may not be the same, but they're still worth seeing

There's still a lot of talent there

[Emboldened Chimp]

11. Actually, GD were playing several songs live for years before In The Dark.

Touch of Grey, Hell in a Bucket and West LA Fadaway were live songs since '82-'83. It just took them 5 years to record them.

[mistertrickster]

14. Okay, well, we can go on forever in this vein, but

1. "turned out" does not equal "churned out" in my mind. A lot of their albums were uneven over the years, early and late. My point was simply that if you look at the late 60's / early 70's "American Beauty" and "Working Man Dead" years as the band's high point, they were fully capable of hitting equally good high points many decades later.

2. Pigpen, God rest his soul, was no Jerry. His vocals with Janis Joplin at Woodstock were positively BAD, I mean I could do better than that drunk (which he probably was). JG is one of those few guitarists like Hendricks or BB King or Pat Metheny (sp) that just play three notes and you know who it is. His incredible blend of folk and rock and psychadelic (sp) rock is unique. A lot of players can do an imitation of Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughn because it's blues based and its not really that hard to get a handle on those patterns and chord changes.

Not so, Jerry Garcia. There's hardly any blues in his leads. They are playful riffs and runs on the melody or even counter-melodies to the song melody. Nobody comes close to what he plays--listen to the Phish version of "Terrapin Station" if you don't believe it, a muddy, flat imitation.

3. As for REO Speedwagon, I used to worship those guys and heard them live on two occasions in their prime, but no way is "Keep On Loving You" (a BIG HIT, wow!) anywhere close to "Riding the Storm Out" or "Golden Country." Their first and second albums were inspired, and they've not had anything like them since, IMHO.

[DS1]

7. I don't normally do pity threads, but

You have my sympathies.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Mine, Too

The Professor

[EstimatedProphet]

12. Philistines. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Ssssssssssssssssssssssss!

I prefer to think of myself as an elitist jerk.
The Professor