Silk Road forums
Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: Brave New World on June 30, 2012, 01:50 am
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Do you love, like or hate the Grateful Dead?
I find it remarkable they only had one Top 40 hit with "Touch of Grey" in the early '90s.
To have that large of a following for that many years and never compromising the band's artistic integrity with commercialism.
And is there not something magical about Jerry?
To me the whole band were alchemists with their instruments.
One in a million.
But then I have friends who hate the Dead. Tell me to turn it off.
Why do you hate or love the Dead?
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No band, no matter how talented, will resonate with everyone. I would be one of those people telling you to turn it off. It's just not my kind of sound.
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I've never listened to the Grateful Dead before this post. I've always just assumed they were some lame acid rock band. They're not bad, but not my type of music. :)
sdesu
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Love the culture but only like the music. Just never stuck with me. 8)
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Listening to the grateful dead is like reading a really long book. it takes effort. You have to give them your effort and they give it back times 10. They are the best period. It takes a while to "get it", but when you do, it hits you so deep. Most people just cannot let go of what they think music should sound like. It is important to truly love every type of music and remove the labels, and then the grateful dead really starts to stand out. I enjoy ALL music. I love every style. I cannot limit myself to just one sound or style. Saying "it's not my style of music" is really limiting yourself to all music in general. All music is magical and the grateful dead really know their magic. I like how owsley "bear" stanley explains the grateful dead:
The music of the Grateful Dead is an important assistant to the revival of tribality. Because it has to do with the way things are. It's not somebody's idea about the way things might be, or the way things could be or should be. It's what it is. It's real music about real things. The whole thing is about a social movement. It's tribalism. Which is the only social structure that is truly human. The structure of the world today runs on feudalism--governments, companies; all those structures are feudalistic, arranged in a hierarchy which at the root of it follows Parkinson's law. That is, once you create a hierarchy or bureaucracy, it has only one purpose, and that is: To Continue. There's nothing else. But that has nothing to do with the tribal entity. The tribal entity exists so as to abide in harmony with its environment. It's something that benefits everyone, not just this one structure.
But I digress....
thebear.org
Also the story of Ken kesey's after his son died:
Kesey's son had died when the high school wrestling team's van drove off a cliff during snow storm. Kesey went to great lengths to discuss his struggle with grief following this tragedy. He commented that not long after his son's death, he was invited to see the Dead play a gig somewhere on the West Coast. Kesey said that sometime during the second set, the whole band turned to him (he was sitting in a balcony seat, or was close to the stage...) and began playing "Broke-down Palace." Kesey recounted with tears in his eyes that it wasn't until that moment that he really understood what art was. He said that "All my life I thought art was this [he stuck a fist in the air]. But at that moment I realized that art was really this [he made a hugging motion]."
Grateful Dead just know how to hit you. When you are rock bottom in your life or walking the line of sanity after a little too much acid, they are always there to give you that rush of energy that moves through your body and makes the hair stand up like pins and needles. Their music has really helped me get through some of the toughest times of my life. I love them with all of my heart, I really do. It is amazing what music can do for you.
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After reading this thread I really want to devote some time to checking these guys out... I have a chance to go to my first Phish concert soon and I am under the impression Phish and Grateful Dead are quite similar.
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You will have a blast seeing phish live. I like phish a lot, but they can make me bored sometimes. They are great live, though. I started out liking phish before I ever liked the dead, but that has changed a lot over time.
For the Dead, I recommend listening too:
Dicks picks 11, 16, 25, 26, 36, history of the grateful dead: Bear's choice, fallout from the phil zone, and you must check out old and in the way!
Bear recorded all of those mentioned above. you can read about them on his website thebear.org in his albums section.
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Love the culture but only like the music. Just never stuck with me. 8)
I agree with this, the shows where amazing with all the weird people, the music is okay. I went to three shows before Jerry died and they were the most amazing experiences of my life but I haven't listened to them in years.
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Yea, i checked out phish a bit on youtube... I truly like electronic music more than anything else at this point in my life although I am REALLY trying to grow appreciation for all sorts of music.
At a phish concert is just EVERYONE on psychedelics? Definitely seems like a pretty fun time, I have only been to EDM festivals so far.
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Hearing you older guys talk about seeing 'em makes me a little envious ha
I'm pretty young still, and never had the chance. I've seen Further, and I saw Bob Weir at Wakarusa.
I got into the Dead because,well, I've always been into classic rock, so when I was going through oldies, they came up. Back then though I only liked stuff like Scarlet Begonias and Sugar Magnolia, it was tough for me to get into their jams.
Then later in high school i started going to this Grateful Dead tribute festival in S. Missouri called Schwagstock..
It was my first festival and it was on Jerry's birthday. Goddamn did it leave an impression. I smoked amazing bubble hash, met so many great people and got my head blown by Dead tunes on a head full of great LSD
Since then I've come to love the Grateful Dead. Anything I could really say about them has pretty much all been said. There's just not much else like them..
And the first time I ever smoked DMT me and my girlfriend shared a bowl as St.Stephen was playing.
Was quite the fucking experience.
I'm too drunk to really go on and explain it in detail. Robert Hunter's lyrics are fucking amazing though. and I love how Bob sings every song like its his last. And god damn do i wish I could see Jerry play just once. Me and my buddy were watching the DVD of them playing at Radio Hall or whatever in the '80's. Great performance.
I totally support this thread. You guys are awesome. Much love
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For most people you would have had to be there dosed at least once before being able to hear "it" or "the one" in their recordings.
I still don't get much from their early recordings but I didn't see them till the late 80's and then some 6-7 times before Jerry lost.
Nothing like standing in the cattle chutes of the Shoreline trying to get to your car, if you remember where it is, and Bob comes rumbling down the sidewalk splitting the crowd on his Harley.
I liked Dead Set and Reckoning best as commercial stuff. But then I really liked Mydland, probably having seen him with them the first time. I haven't bothered to check out the repositories of private stuff yet. Stupid, I ought to do that. I remember turning around the first time and seeing a "forest of microphones". It was hilarious.
One of the most concise descriptions I have heard of the experience is that "it's like they are all playing around something".
I doubt I would have got that from just recordings, though I have detected it in them when dosing after seeing them .
First time, way, way high, with Santana. God what a show.
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im so glad this thread was started.
you can see where I stand on the issue
;D
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If you don't like them, you haven't listened to them. If you've listened to them and don't like them, you still haven't listened to them. Grateful Dead = Music. ^-^
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They're good I'll give them that, but in terms of majesty and sheer awe, they're not a scratch on Zeppelin. NOT A SCRATCH
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Wow. I'm glad the Deadheads are out in full force. Nice.
What I believe is so magical about the Dead is that when they're noodling or jamming, whatever you want to call it, the music takes you places.
When they start jamming you find you thoughts going in so many directions and your mind takes you to whole other dimension. And that is true even when you're SOBER.
I have never had any other band capable of placing me in another realm every time I push play.
Never heard the story of Kesey's son. That is beautiful.
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the deads "golden years" are from 67 to 70.. the basically quit using psychedelics in the 70's according to bear. once bear went to prison it all went down hill from there. Everyone was using a lot of coke and heroin at this point. Bear tried to push the wall of sound but it was too much work and no one was really interested in expanding the sound much. I also agree that the golden years are 67 to 71'ish. I have almost every stanley tape that you can find right now in .flac and listen to those years quite frequently out of all the other dead shows. I have listened to A LOT of dead music. I have gone through every dicks picks at least 3 or 4 times. Jerry's guitar in the 60's sounded like tiger claws.
People need to remember, they did not have a lot of technology back then. they did a lot with what they had. They did not even have on stage monitors..
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They're good I'll give them that, but in terms of majesty and sheer awe, they're not a scratch on Zeppelin. NOT A SCRATCH
Haha i was waiting for some Zep fans to step in.
If you asked me who i like (love) more, the Dead vs. Zeppelin, i really wouldn't be able to answer.
If you watch any Zeppelin shows you'll find they jam a lot. Not in the whole sense that the Grateful Dead did i guess, but man, watching Paige just fuck that guitar with his hands like its nothing. Blows me away every time.
SO i guess my answer to Dead vs. Zeppelin is..BOTH : )
I think the Dead can match Zep in majesty and sheer awe. Their just opposite ends of the same stick ya dig?
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I like zeppelin's music more than I like the dead's but I just love the dead culture. You had to be there for it in the 60s to really get it.
Ya, I missed the boat, too young.
Led Zepplin is in the same category.
Shit, Plant hitting those high notes, Jimmy Page's fingers on fire, and Bonham doing 40 minute drum solos. That was a god damn all-star team.
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I am a big fan of the Grateful Dead. I saw the Dead twice when they toured in 2005 and I have seen Bobby play with Ratdog. I have never seen them on LSD unfortunately, which I think would've helped me get into some of their really spacey jams. I am so jealous of the old timers who saw them in their prime. Reading the Acid Test books made me fall in love with that culture. I especially love the Grateful Dead album American Beauty. Perfect for road trips or trippin in the backyard with friends :)
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Nothing like laying in a bed in Ireland, high on Guinness gin and speed, listening to Casey Jones.
Nothing like sitting in a hot tub in my backyard, on 10g of Psilocybe Cubensis teachers, blasting Truckin' out of a PA system.
The only other thing I have to say is, poor, poor Stagger Lee- but no matter what you do, DON'T TELL ME THIS TOWN A'INT GOT NO HEART.
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I love Workingman's Dead.
But with the main man gone watching the Dead would still mean something to the millions who never saw them and yearn for that classic few hours of everything being ok and people feeling like part of a family.
I would love a time machine.
The gigs we would see!!!!!
Just as long as you don't love your own mum and be your own father.
I wonder about that.
I am very very stoned.
I'm like gone, now.
;)
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greatest band ever!!
give me some darkstar when i goto bed and some eyes of the world when i wake up :)
jerry we all miss ya!!