Dead. Where Is Thy Sting?
Why did the Grateful Dead playing live sound so terrible at times and at other times so spectacular according to audience recollections? Was it the amplification set-up? Quality of drugs available? Whether the band was rested? The crowd vibe? The venue vibe? Did the Dead themselves have a handle on this?
I am not a true DeadHead though I treasure the Garcia/Grisman recordings. Lots of my friends are Heads.Their stories of following the Dead around are full of legend and calamity. They wouldn't have had it any other way. "Off" performances were just Part of Life. That's what they were looking for and preferred that it be unpredictable just like life.
Happy Trails got a lot of play time at my house, at one point-Bo Diddley beat on LSD. Thought they were better without Chet Powers aka Dino Valenti. He is the writer of "Get Together" that the Youngbloods turned into a big hit. Needing money for a lawyer, after another drug bust, he sold the rights to the song and never saw a dime of royalties. |
@larsman Thats awesome that you know so much about Man, they've had more line-ups than I don't even know. Terry Williams the drummer went to play with Dire Straits. Deke, Cippo and Mickey Jones are no longer with us but Martin Ace is still plugging away, playing in Putney, West London next month. That's were Marc Bolan/T.Rex crashed his car into a tree killing himself and his girlfriend. Budgie another Welsh band, quite heavy and also the fabulous Badfinger. |
@wharfy Same thing happened to Badfinger they sold I can't live, if living is without you. |
@lordmelton -Gawd, yes!!! What a tragic story. And they were great. I have a greatest hits and listen to it on average, once a month-Baby Blue, Day After Day, No Matter What. For some time I thought Without You was written by Harry Nilsson. |
