There's a "new" documentary out on Amazon Prime called Long Strange Trip. My brother suggested watching it.
What are you favorite Grateful Dead albums and why do you think they are so significant to American culture and music, yet so underrated on this site?
What do you know about the Grateful Dead beyond they are hippies, did a lot of drugs, are an americana mecca, and a jam band? Besides being jam bands, why do you think so many dead heads became phish heads?
Been to any shows?
Discussions wanted.
Here are probably my favorite albums and Ripple is probably one of my favorite songs of theirs.
As the son of Deadhead, I've heard so much Grateful Dead in my life that they have mostly been ruined for me. I rarely if ever listen to them on my own leisure time, because I know the next time I see my Dad I'll probably get a couple hours worth exposure of the SiriusXM Dead Channel. When I was about 15 to 17 years old, I got really into jam bands for awhile, even went to a Phish concert (yikes) but I have since barely listened to that kind of music at all. Phish and The Dead are really the only ones in the genre that would warrant any of my listening time at this point.
That being said, here are my favorite Dead (and Jerry) albums.
Jerry Garcia is a bluegrass musician, so I think he's best with an acoustic guitar in hand. The traditional songs played on the album have a distinctly Grateful Dead feel to them while maintaining the original intention of the music. There are no overextended jams on this album, just clean and fantastic playing.
Here's a live cut of some of the songs off this album. Pretty much the same as I said for Reckoning. This is where I feel Jerry did his best, in the realm of bluegrass.
This next album isn't on here, I'll have to add it.
Their are times listening to the Jerry Garcia Band that it appears Jerry was much more relaxed, I don't know why, but it seems that way to me. This album is stellar if you can find a copy I suggest you buy it. Lots of great covers and original material jammed on in a good way.
As the son of Deadhead, I've heard so much Grateful Dead in my life that they have mostly been ruined for me. I rarely if ever listen to them on my own leisure time, because I know the next time I see my Dad I'll probably get a couple hours worth exposure of the SiriusXM Dead Channel. When I was about 15 to 17 years old, I got really into jam bands for awhile, even went to a Phish concert (yikes) but I have since barely listened to that kind of music at all. Phish and The Dead are really the only ones in the genre that would warrant any of my listening time at this point.
Thanks for the recs.
Why the yikes on a Phish concert?
Is that why they are boring/not well rated - they are really old man music?
Bolded=
It's intriguing because The Grateful Dead seem like so many layers of culture, yet sometimes so boring (from what I've attempted to get into). Are they overrated? Are they underrated?
No, I like Phish, and they put on a great show, but I'm pretty far away from the type of people that would label themselves as "Phish Heads". In a lot of ways, I like them more than the Dead.
One thing that The Dead should be lauded for is the improvisational nature of their music, and how much they took from jazz. They truly are some of the greatest musicians ever.
I think they are probably underrated in a lot of respects by music critics, but massively overrated by their cult-like fans. However, a website like this, which is album based, is not really applicable to The Dead or Phish, because the studio cuts of songs are only a quarter of what that song probably is live. I think that The Dead were a better studio band than most jam bands are, because they had some legitimate hits. Acually, so are Phish, which is probably one of the reasons they're so popular to. They can write an actual 4 to 5 minute song, and have it sound somewhat decent. I think a lot of jam bands lack that quality.
I never really got into the Grateful Dead beyond a couple of their most famous songs. But they're somebody who I just take people's word for it that they're as great as people say they are. Kind of like in the same way that I just take people's word for it that classical music and and certain jazz and Opera and ballet and Modern Art are as great as people say they are. There's just some things that I know I'll never get into but I don't doubt that they're as great as their fans say. We just can't like everything equally, I guess.
I never really got into the Grateful Dead beyond a couple of their most famous songs.
Yeah, I like a few of their songs, but even though I was a burnout as a teenager, I never went much deeper. So I'm looking forward to more recs. Are their live recordings the best ones? Which ones, including archival live releases and boots, would folks rec? (Assume boots are fair game to discuss since they're officially sanctioned.)
Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:
As the son of Deadhead
Wish I was young enough to have a Deadhead for a dad! It's probably not that special in reality, but I like the image of visiting my parents and hearing the Dead playing in the background.
I am damn near an expert on the grateful dead if not an expert. I have heard at least a good portion of every show on archive, not every version but at least one of every show. I have heard and own all there releases. I followed them around the country in the 90's. I love Jerry and the boys. They most certainly get me going/ I am also a fan of the off shoot bands and solo projects. The current Dead and Company with John Mayer is probably my least favorite of all the incarnations but even they have merit as a live act. They have a wide range of albums from amphetamine driven to acid drenched psychedelia, they then moved to country/ singer songwriter rock, then moved to progressive, then a funkier sound, before ending as a n arena rock act. They are far more than the hippie nostalgia act they are often labeled as. You can tell those that just dismiss based on their reputation by how they dismiss them. Truly the greatest American band in my opinion, and nobody else is even close.
Let’s face it. The Grateful Dead are their own genre. Their own cottage industry. There is nothing like them. I didn’t always know this. I used to lump them in with all these other jam bands my stoner friends and surfing buddies would listen to back in the early 90s when jam bands were having a renaissance. I mean the Spin doctors were popular solely because they were Jam Band lite. A poppified version of the jam bands that were all the rage back then. So funny that jam bands now make almost no appearance on anyone’s list from 1991. And please don’t even mention those goofballs Phish. They suck. lol. No. The Grateful dead exist all alone. And because of all thoseother jam bands my hipppie dippie friends would listen to in the early 90s bands like Big Head Todd, Blues Traveler, moe. and yes Phish. Lots & lots of Phish, I completely wrote off The Grateful Dead for a long, long time. I just assumed they sounded like all those other jam bands all my stoner friends liked.
But, I was wrong. The Dead stand alone.
And this is one of their best live albums. I’m no expert. I’m no Deadhead. I just know that this album rules. And has become one of my favorite live albums over the years. A staple for my camping trips over the last decade.
BUT, Glynspsa does know his Dead. His chart of the 100 best live albums from the Grateful Dead is a gift from the gods for us Dead neophytes. And I’m not surprised at all to find One From the Vaults in his top 6. It’s that good.
Grade A: ESSENTIAL. I used to laugh that so many of one band’s live albums could be considered essential. I thought it was weird and just a bit pathetic. I mean there was sooo much great music out there. How could one just obsess about one band. Surely all these live albums sounded pretty much identical, right? With slight variations that only the total obsessive would notice and the rest of us normals would just scratch our heads and wonder why people would listen to a hundred different versions of the essentially the same album. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong. Long live The Dead!
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
