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Grateful Dead

HollafameHollafame 844 Posts
edited January 2011 in Strut Central
I don't know what it is, but I just cannot bring myself to like their music...

I totally appreciate their place in music and cultural history, and I can get behind some of their jams, but for the most part it just sounds like some country noodlin'

Any dead-heads up in here that wanna tear me a new one?
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  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    Ban
  • HollafameHollafame 844 Posts
    haha...no!!!!
  • DJ_WubWubDJ_WubWub 874 Posts
    By far their greatest contribution was as a front for a worldwide LSD manufacturing and distribution network.
  • jjfad027jjfad027 1,594 Posts
    I like New Speedway Boogie but that's about it. I used to work cameras for Dark Star Orchestra and got taken out by a spinner. I remember a gig where I walked past a gigantic pile of Birkenstocks and almost barfed.
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    I can tolerate and sometimes even enoy '66 - '71 (it helps when they don't sing) and '73-'74 (it's required that Donna doesn't sing). And maybe even '77 (when my sisters and their friends started listening to them).
    MIT Kresge Plaza 5/6/70 St. Stephen > Not Fade.
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Yeah, I can't do it. And I was even dragged to both a Dead show and a JGB show as a teen by friends. I mean, to each his own, and I respect their place in the pantheon of American musical legacy. But musically it just doesn't jibe with me. I know it's apples and oranges but I would listen to The Band (whom I absolutely LOVE) any day of the week over The Dead.

    B/W

    That all being said, I have been known to play this song in my sets from time to time...

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Any time someone disagrees with someone here they call for the BAN.
    Don't you liberals believe in freedom of speech.
    How about just putting user on ignore.

    Who is this RAJ guy anyway?
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    LaserWolf said:

    Who is this RAJ guy anyway?

    sounds arab.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    sabadabada said:
    LaserWolf said:

    Who is this RAJ guy anyway?

    sounds arab.

    BAN!
  • esskayesskay 221 Posts
    IMO solo stuff is much better than things the band did
  • walter_chronwalter_chron 347 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    Any time someone disagrees with someone here they call for the BAN.
    Don't you liberals believe in freedom of speech.
    How about just putting user on ignore.

    Who is this RAJ guy anyway?

    BAN
  • Options
    Unknown
    HOLLAFAME said:

    Any dead-heads up in here that wanna tear me a new one?

    I will try...

    I think the Grateful Dead were more of a live band than a studio band. So their albums are not that great. Nevertheless, I think a Grateful Dead record is a good record to listen to...makes a lot of people happy. Like the one with the wooden looking cover that has the rose in the middle, or the one with the turtles dancing on the cover...both prettty nice. Also, even though their songs sound all happy and fun, some of them are talking about some kinda dark issues like death, violence, and gambling. Jerry's guitar playing is more than noodling, even though he does noodle with the best of them, he goes into some fabulous solos...and phil is not too bad on the bass either. Sure, Bobby had his soft spots, like when he would try to sing and then forget the words of the song, mess up the guitar, or worry about his jean shorts and sunglasses on stage. Ofcourse, sometimes Jerry and the other members of the band would give Bobby a hard time on stage because of that cockiness. Not to mention, their music video was pretty neat (trippy)...with like a human/ handmade skeleton thing going on.

    here it is:
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
  • barjesusbarjesus 872 Posts
    American beauty is the only album of theirs I own, probably will keep it that way. But that record is very good IMO. Dark and moody goodness.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    I grew up in a time and a place where the Dead were extremely popular. Every northeastern suburb in the 70's had a mandatory percentage of Dead Heads. Some were into it purely for the music......many were into it for the lifestyle the band sustained and represented. At some point the Grateful Dead went from a ground zero psych band to traveling minstrels for a financially profitable caravan of drug fueled, soap adverse future Scarborough Faire participants with the odd lawyer and accountant thrown in.

    Personally I could probably put together a collection of 5-7 songs of theirs that I like enough to listen to......and I find the whole modern "jam band" scene hideous......from that SF scene I prefer CJ & The Fish.
  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    if you sit through all of the festival express dvd, you will be split between moments of disjointed ramblings of LSD-soaked alcoholics and moments of raw beauty.... both of which displayed in this single scene.

  • Options
    Unknown
    Rockadelic said:
    I grew up in a time and a place where the Dead were extremely popular. Every northeastern suburb in the 70's had a mandatory percentage of Dead Heads. Some were into it purely for the music......many were into it for the lifestyle the band sustained and represented. At some point the Grateful Dead went from a ground zero psych band to traveling minstrels for a financially profitable caravan of drug fueled, soap adverse future Scarborough Faire participants with the odd lawyer and accountant thrown in.

    Personally I could probably put together a collection of 5-7 songs of theirs that I like enough to listen to......and I find the whole modern "jam band" scene hideous......from that SF scene I prefer CJ & The Fish.

    At least the Dead never went Starship. I like some of the Airplane material when I hear it but I almost never pull those records out.

    It's just too soon.

    I still have 4-5 Dead records around but the only one that gets played these days is the 2LP compilation "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been." I don't think they ever put a killer album together, but I don't think they ever cared.
  • Garcia_VegaGarcia_Vega 2,428 Posts
    When I first registered to soulstrut there was a west coast psych thread and I mentioned the Grateful Dead and their first albums. I got hazed hard by the_hookup and shingaling, who proceeded to post pictures of wookies and the dancing bears, getting called a Jerry lover and shit. Someone came out and tried to back me up but the merciless clowning continued, all in good fun though, ahhh memories.
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    Garcia_Vega said:
    When I first registered to soulstrut there was a west coast psych thread and I mentioned the Grateful Dead and their first albums. I got hazed hard by the_hookup and shingaling, who proceeded to post pictures of wookies and the dancing bears, getting called a Jerry lover and shit. Someone came out and tried to back me up but the merciless clowning continued, all in good fun though, ahhh memories.

    yeah, I wish I had the energy to give you shit or Shing-a-Ling (the male one) would return from exile to do it for me, but truth is I'm old now and Shing-a-Ling (the dude) is busy being Andrew and Hook Up is even older than me, probably. not. so ride for the Dead, ride away.

    I can't believe we haven't heard from Soul Strut's #1 Dead apologist, the sovereign liege Kitchen Knight.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    BobDesperado said:
    Rockadelic said:
    I grew up in a time and a place where the Dead were extremely popular. Every northeastern suburb in the 70's had a mandatory percentage of Dead Heads. Some were into it purely for the music......many were into it for the lifestyle the band sustained and represented. At some point the Grateful Dead went from a ground zero psych band to traveling minstrels for a financially profitable caravan of drug fueled, soap adverse future Scarborough Faire participants with the odd lawyer and accountant thrown in.

    Personally I could probably put together a collection of 5-7 songs of theirs that I like enough to listen to......and I find the whole modern "jam band" scene hideous......from that SF scene I prefer CJ & The Fish.

    At least the Dead never went Starship. I like some of the Airplane material when I hear it but I almost never pull those records out.

    It's just too soon.

    I still have 4-5 Dead records around but the only one that gets played these days is the 2LP compilation "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been." I don't think they ever put a killer album together, but I don't think they ever cared.

    The bar can not be set any lower than "at least they didn't go Starship".
  • Options
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    Rockadelic said:
    The bar can not be set any lower than "at least they didn't go Starship".

    And they started down that way in the mid-70s with "Miracles." I kept thinking some other "classic" band would overtake them in the Shit Sweepstakes, but no one else ever caught up.

    (In case someone brings up the Beach Boys and "Kokomo," keep in mind that they sucked when they started.)
  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    i ride for this:

  • eliseelise 3,252 Posts
    :shreddin_it:

  • eliseelise 3,252 Posts
    elise said:
    :shreddin_it:



    "you ate my fractal"
  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    i fully ride for these 3 LP's... i can handle other stuff by them depending on my mood, but i think all 3 of these are great records...
















  • marwal_bustmarwal_bust 195 Posts
    I ride for any Donna solo songs or extended solos, so Folk Fest/Renfaire/slow burner. Pigpen, yes--Alligator, yes. Most of the good stuff in their catalog are usually always Jerry songs, JGB has some good stuff too. Most anything Bobby related or the reformed band = painful. There is nothing more painful than Phish, so please direct all hate there.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Great band, though to be fair, over the course of 25 years, two great bands, one ok band and on not so hot band.
    Their psyche/garage shit is next level.
    Their country rock/Americana stuff is great.
    The jazzier stuff from the mid-70s is interesting but does not always hit the spot.
    The stuff like 'Touch of Grey' = blechhhhh....


    You dis the Dead out of hand you're basically showing your ass.

    Don't make the mistake of confusing the Dead with Deadheads.

  • HollafameHollafame 844 Posts
    I gave em a shot after reading the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, but like was mentioned above it seems like it would have been pretty difficult to capture the visceral experience of those early Fillmore concerts in a recording.
  • SteepSteep 31 Posts
    "Anthem of the Sun", til the days end.

    Fucking double drum parts are incredible, the editing & transition, & as thankfully already posted, the cover art is beautiful.

    "Box of Rain" for example, is lyrically penned to perfection. That whole album has such deep bass lines for an acoustic record it's ridiculous.
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    Sorry, still can't ride...maybe I'm just showing my ass but I have never been captivated by any aspect of their music... I find the songwriting to be boring, the hooks dull and the instrumental pyrotechnics are not my cuppa. As far as bay-area Americana rock, gimmie CCR any day of the week. The Warlocks stuff is simply ok psych/garage that pales in comparison to the Elevators IMO. The aspects of the band that they might be the best at don't interest me and the aspects of the band that do interest me I find that they are merely ok at best. I admit that making fun of deadheads is fun, but removing them from the equation doesn't improve my feeling towards the band at all...too much other amazing rock music to listen to...
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