This may be a bit of a stretch, but does anyone else on the forum listen to the Grateful Dead. They are my second favorite group, but it is a very distant second.

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

Jerry's dead.....

'bout as much as I like phish...and I don't

PFunkjazz said:

Fair enough, but Phish and the Dead are way different (the Dead is way better)

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

Granted, but both are terrible without strong drugs.

The Dead is clunky, but they have a lot of great songs, and they were very different. Of course I WAS on drugs when I saw them.

...Casey Jones


Drivin' that train, high on cocaine
Casey Jones you better, watch your speed
Trouble ahead, trouble behind
And you know that notion, just crossed my mind



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

PFunkjazz said:

I can dig it. I never liked the Dead. And I like damn near all of their musical peers. I just can't fuck with them. And Phish, nah,..I can't get with them either. I fucked around and went to see Phish live when I was dating this girl. I had never even heard of them but my girl dug them and try to tell me that I would have liked the lead guitarist. Somebody gave her some passes so she wanted me to go. I was like "Yeah, sure." Maaaaan,...I was like "Uh,...nope." I grew up on rock and I myself, play rock. But I couldn't relate musically or spiritually to Phish. Granted, Phish is a good guitarist but yeah, their audience is deeply similar to the Dead's audience. Chicks were running around with mile long hair under their arms and shit.

blackguitaristz said:

Dating a white girl huh? LOL Does this happewn to every brotha?

blackguitaristz said:

Phish has some good musicianship, and the requisite amount of female body hair & white dreadlocks, but the difference between them & the Dead is I can never take them seriously. They're just goofy. Their songs have no weight. I was very disappointed when I went to see them live.

I see many reasons to not like the Dead & prefer someone like The Allman Brothers as a tighter more rocking band. But the Dead at least had a very serious aura & tone to their music, and Phish just doesn't have that.

PFunkjazz said:

I don't know...Me? I've dated several different women from different races. I don't discriminate!

NDRU said:

Yep, the guitarist Phish, he was grinning the whole time he was up there playing. I'm ALWAYS suspicious when a cat is smiling the WHOLE time he's playing. Everybody was some grinning muthafuckers actually...The band, the audience, the stage crew! Seriously though, Phish was a good guitarist. I think I liked the Dead better though. I think about when Garcia and the band showed up to perform at Altamont in 69. Then Jerry got word that the lead singer of JA got knocked out by the Hell's Angels. Jerry was like "Fuck this shit...We're bouncin'!"

blackguitaristz said:

If a brotha is into rock of course he's gonna date women of different races. Not too many sistas are into the rock scene.

blackguitaristz said:

the power of mushrooms!

I don't like the Dead at all but they're cool enough to join with the Allmans for an Obama-Biden Benefit in PA On October 13, 2008.

The show will take place at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA

blackguitaristz said:

I don't think you got my point. My experience was dating a WG got her to try to turn me into a Deadhead (or a Phishphreak), but it didn't quite work and actually ended our relationship. I just kinda figured you had the same situation.

BTW a game I used to play at Dead shows is "Count the black people not working the show with bonus pts for any sista out on a date."

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

Never really got into them except for "Shakedown Street". I LOVE that song and play it on my guitar every time I pick it up.

PFunkjazz said:

I live relatively close to State College, but I can not go that night. Have you heard of any others Obama-Biden shows by the Dead in that region perhaps a bit north (New York State)?

sextonseven said:

Yeah but I'm here to try to change that shit!

PFunkjazz said:

Nah, I did KINDA think u yourself had been out with a white girl..I sensed u were including yourself. I didn't know if it had to do with the Dead or not. Me myself, I had never seen the Dead in person. I respect their legacy and all, their sound just wasn't my thing. Odd being I liked damn near everybody else from their era and also from their location, San Fran. I just missed thier boat, that's all.

Can't say I ever really got into them, but I'll take a bunch of guys actually playing and singing without voice correction than 95% of the crap we are fed today.

I'm not a big fan but I guess they had a bigger following in the US than here in the UK. American Beauty is a good album though...

PFunkjazz said:

I'll have to tell my brother about this (he's a professor @ Penn State).
Definitely not his musical bag though (a confirmed Jazz-head).


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

It's "confirmed jazz-head"'s worst nightmare to be at a Dead concert without drugs or WGs in tow, but since ABB is opening he can have a reasonably enjoyable time and a speedy exit.

I am a huge fan of the Dead. I was 18 in 1988 when they were making a pretty strong come back after some down years in the mid-80s. I heard “Uncle John’s Band” on the radio one morning and I was pretty hooked. To that date I had just started drinking alcohol and had very little if any experience with drugs. I find the statement that one has to be on drugs or “strong drugs” to enjoy or get a band (or “jam” bands like the Dead) to show a prejudice against the band before giving the music a chance. It is as if the band is being judged by the fans and culture of the scene and that is an injustice to the music. As far as I know, the vast majority of bands from that error and many that followed, either used drugs or had fans that used drugs.

The Dead is more than a hippie stoner band. The majority of their music is straight forward country, blues, and rock with a little experimentation. While the band often extended songs in concert into long jam sessions, there area only a handful of tunes that fall into the weird and spacey category. Most of the Dead’s songs are typical 3-4 minute songs with great lyrics usually written (or co-written) by lyricist Robert Hunter. Songs like Ripple, Sugar Magnolia, Touch of Grey, Music Never Stopped, and Estimated Prophet, Box of Rain and Warf Rat are great songs. The American Beauty album and Workingman’s Dead are classics by any standard.

While Garcia himself would have admitted that he was not the most technically proficient guitarist, there is no question that he had a considerable amount of talent and played with incredible subtle emotion. His emotion came through in the music to be the signature sound of his solos and ultimately the Dead.

I was lucky enough to see the Dead a good 20-30 times before Jerry died. I still go see Bob Weir and Phil and Friends when I can. I caught Phil at the Myrtle Beach House of Blues in July and will see them in Raleigh again with the ABB on 10/03. I really like his band with the addition of Jackie Greene.

While I would like to think it just comes down to a matter of taste, I know that the Dead has great songs and music and I have to think that anyone who does not give them the credit they deserve really has never listened or just writes them off as hippie music. Much like people who only listened to a few Prince tracks and never really get him. You have to dig deeper.

As far as Phish and lead guitarist Trey Anastasio, they are an extremely talented band. Here is where taste comes in. I enjoyed Phish but I also found a lack of substance to their music, especially lyrically. There were some great lyrical moments, but overall not enough to keep me going back years later.

The best band on the scene for my money these days is Widespread Panic. I have seen them quite a few times over the years and with the addition of Jimmy Herring, they have really injected new life into the band. I believe Herring to be the hottest guitarist on the scene right now. His speed and precision are incredible.

Anyway, yeah – I love the DEAD.

As someone who grew up in the Bay Area, I kinda hated them just because I felt like I was supposed to love them. But a few years ago, a friend made a live mix that I actually really liked. That's about the only thing I've ever listened to by them, tho

PrinceOscar said:

I think it's kind of a joke, and an easy one at that, considering the amount of narcotics at a Dead show. But plenty of sober people like the Dead.

But the same goes for other music, like the Beatles Revolution 9. I happen to love it, but if someone dismisses it as an "acid song" I can understand.

Obviously a joke, but I've seen enough live Dead to know I don't enjoy bluegrass. Based mostly on their tapes (save one Horde show) Phish just turns me off. They're trivial and their rabid fans can be annoying. Dead fans are at least knowledgable about blues jazz and early r&b. Phishphans think they invented music.

Panic is cool, but I have a preference for Gov't Mule and Ben Harper's. Harper comes close to competing with Panic, but Mule doesn't pull as big a fanbase. Still, there's enough overlap to keep us all happy.