Minimal Donna

[Erictw83]

Although I thought she gave birth to a bowling ball during every "Playin'" she performed on.

Priceless!

I am honestly embarrassed to play "Playin" from 71-74 in front of anyone unfamiliar with the dead. The sweet jam passes them by unnoticed and all they remember is donna birthing that bowling ball.

[b weird]

I too am embarrassed to listen to the 72-74 "Playin's" around none Deadheads especially my Mother who is definatly NOT a Head. She says she doesn't understand them.

[ker1227]

Maybe I'm either a hopeless romantic or a sentimental fool, but the notion of cutting Donna out of the mix of a show is as bad as cutting any of the other band members out.

Seriously, would anyone call for cutting Jerry out of some of his worst shows (of which there were MANY)?

The band is the band.. it is how they wished to be presented. Who the fuck are we to call their calls into question. Don't like Donna Jean... find another era.

While I fully understand the issues with Donna Jean, and know how off-tune she could be... what right do we have to re-master shows? The Boyz were magnanimous enough to let us have what music they made free of any restrictions (until the recent Bobby power grab)... you fuck with the recordings, you fuck with the historical record of the band we all adore. Warts and all.

Sorry... just my $.03 (adjusted for inflation).

ahmen brother. now i hate her random death cries as much as the next guy or gal, but i LOVE her addition to the band. I think there is alot of passion in her voice. I think her and bob are a nice pair

[KCJones]

Although Donna sometimes gave one the feeling of nails on a chalk board, she at least backed up Bob well, sometimes actually enhancing some passages, unlike much of Ratdogs detracting backing VXs.