A Starting Point for the Burgeoning Grateful Dead Fan
Making a decision to "get into" the Grateful Dead is one of the more daunting tasks a music fan can undertake. This is the case for several different reasons. First of all there's the whole associated culture, which contains many repellent aspects, among them fashion, dancing and use of the word "heady." Also, many fans of traditional rock and roll, used to the 3 to 5 minute song length comfort zone, find it harder to embrace the improvisational (read: longer) nature of the music. Finally, the sheer volume of live Grateful Dead material available makes finding appealing recordings an odds against crap shoot that discourages many likely fans. It's also worth mentioning that for as legendary and as popular as they are, they're never mentioned in the discussions of greatest bands of all time by those with the power to make those declarations. This is probably the reason that I had at least two Eric Clapton CDs in my collection before any Grateful Dead.
Don't let these guys keep you from listening to this band
All of the above at one point in time applied to me, but through a gradual process, I've learned to love the Dead. The culture thing was the easiest for me to overcome. Fifteen years ago, when the Dead were still touring, it might have been necessary to interact with the stereotypical hippies at concerts, or while seeking out the best bootlegs. The internet has put an end to this era, with many high quality recordings (both recording and performance quality) available for free on line, at the Internet Live Music Archive among other sources. Secondly, like many people who assume they know what the Grateful Dead's music sounds like prior to listening to it, it is quite dissimilar to the other "jam bands" you may have already heard and loathed. They played just as many covers of traditional and classic rock tunes as they did their own originals. Big River, El Paso, Dancin' In The Streets all our songs that you've heard other artists sing that turn up in Dead sets frequently enough for you to forget the original recorded version. And the original material is outstanding on its own. The songs are classics, with very few veering off into pointless, artsy, yawn-inducing territory, (but beware of anything called Feedback, Space, Drums or Dark Star.)
As far as the question of where to begin is concerned, I'll point you in the right direction. Begin like I did, with the "Cornell Show", that took place on May 8th, 1977. Sort of like the Europe '72 cd, it contains a great mix of great quality versions of everything that makes a Grateful Dead concert what it is. It has defining Dead staples that never appeared on a studio album such as "Estimated Prophet" and "Jack Straw." It also has it's share of covers of traditional and Americana songs, as well as some of the Dead's finest songs that you've heard on Classic Rock radio, like St. Stephen and Scarlet Begonias. As good as the studio version of St. Stephen you've heard on Skeletons in the Closet may be, there's nothing quite like hearing the song performed ferociously live, leading into little jam called "Not Fade Away" before erupting back out of the chaos that song descends into for one last triumphant chorus. Try fitting all that into one "Seven Song Super Set."
Download this show and just let it come up occasionally on shuffle. It'l work its way into your soul.
MP3s below:
1. Minglewood Blues
2. Loser
3. El Paso
4. They Love Each Other
5. Jack Straw
6. Deal
7. Lazy Lightning -> Supplication
8. Brown Eyed Woman
9. Mama Tried
10. Row Jimmy
11. Dancin' In The Streets
12. Take A Step Back/Tuning
13. Scarlet Begonias -> Fire On The Mountain
14. Estimated Prophet
15. Tuning/Dead Air
16. Saint Stephen
17. Not Fade Away
18. Saint Stephen
19. Morning Dew
20. Saturday Night
Comments
sweet, Conor, I'm a HUGE dead fan. tons of hours worth of stuff. i particularly favor the 60's and early 70's bluesy sound over the later jazzy stuff....rgds, will
Posted by: walbers | April 6, 2006 07:37 PM
Super! Thanks so much!
Question: Is that the original track listing for this show?
Comment: Not Fade Away is an old Buddy Holly song. The Dead knew their roots.
Posted by: Dan | April 7, 2006 07:59 AM
... and they play that old Buddy Holly song with a heavy Bo Diddly beat. Like I said, the Dead knew their roots.
Posted by: Dan | April 7, 2006 08:02 AM
I think one of the biggest things to remember about the Dead (or to instruct the so-called newbies) is that they changed their general sound every few years.
In other words, when people are turned off by 30 years of the same band, it's important to point out that a raw Wave That Flag from 1972 is a rockin' US Blues in 1977 in a much different way than the 1981 version and so on.
There's country and bluegrass and rock and soul -- they're the greatest American band in history because they're such a melting pot.
Cornell is a great starter show, my first tape and I think everyone I know's first tape. My suggestion for those first jumping in -- once you've advanced to the next level, seek out the famed versions of songs you now know that sound different from any others.
I always suggest listening to the Shakedown Street from Dicks Picks 5 (12/26/79 -- early Brent). There's a Brent-led distortion jam in there, with some great Bobby licks, that's simply out of this world. It's maybe my favorite version of any non-ballad Dead song in the whole archive.
Good post, man, thanks for churnin' the old Dead wheels in my head.
Posted by: Ace Cowboy | April 10, 2006 06:54 PM
How can you not mention the incredible version of Morning Dew from this show? About as epic as Marquee Moon, or something, this song has a typically sad, soulful Garcia melody that is eventually left behind on the launching pad as JG rips towards escape velocity. And I also have to disagree w/ your eval of the "boring, artsy" parts of the Dead's shows : each really deserves to be judged individually. I tend to find Space/Drums annoying myself, but Dark Star often spikes the exploratory jam vein better than, say, Sonic Youth. Not every time, maybe, but I'll put the best versions up against just about any "monster psych rock" record every time.
Posted by: jds | April 12, 2006 10:44 AM
In the spirit of one of those dicks who complained about the strike out totals in the RBI thing, "Estimated Prophet" was indeed on a proper Dead studio album: Track 1 on the cheesily produced "Terrapin Station" the Dead's first record for Arista, after they made a go of it with their own label after their contract with Warner Bros expired. All of their Arista records are terrible which is interesting given that '77-'78 was a great time for live dead.
Posted by: Derek | April 15, 2006 09:25 PM
As a Dead fan I can never ever get away from their 72 year. I personally feel that if you want to hear a band, at the peak of their ability and prowess the 72 Europe tour is a great example. Also check out the Venneta Oregon show from 71, it is the single greatest dead show I have ever heard
Posted by: Dan | April 19, 2006 05:19 PM
Awesome blog. Peace out until next time TabathaOster
Posted by: TabathaOster | May 18, 2006 10:49 AM