OK, I will admit upfront that I have only read this last page of the thread - but I'm gonna go ahead and spout off anywho.
I have not seen D&C, nor do I have any intention to; I have seen several show vids, and my take is this: John is a pretty decent guitarist - but he is not a Dead guitarist. I have always thought that what made Our Heroes different was that, when most rockers say "jamming", it means that the rhythm section puts down a groove, into which the lead guitarist lays a (probably memorized) maturbatory solo; now, don't get me wrong - I'm not particularly opposed to musical onanism. I mean, I like a good wank as much as the next guy. But when the Dead said "jamming", it meant that everybody was improvising; as Mickey once said, "We use a rock lexicon with a jazz syntax".
John is, I fear, the former sort of "jammer". Besides, I don't really trust anyone who's never gotten high........
To contrast, I saw The Dead with Jimmy Herring & Joan Osborne ('04?), and it was great; not, of course, GD, but damn fine. Jimmy could bring it in a GD way, which John (nor Trey nor Warren) cannot.
As to those running down Bobby, I saw an interview once where Jer said "His playing provides the only context where my playing makes any sense." I don't have a favorite guitarist - too many fine pickers, too many genres, too many moods; it changes by the hour. But if the Guitar Genie came out of my soundhole tonight and told me I could have the chops of any one player, living or dead (nyuk nyuk), I would not hesitate to speak the name of Mr. Robert Hall Weir. At his best (meaning when he is being a guitar player & not a Rock Star, throwing back his head and yelling "Caw!"), he is the only genius of rhythm guitar in the history of rock. While I love Billy, Mickey, and all the keyboardists except Vince*, to me the heart of the Dead was the interplay betwixt, Jerry, Bobby, and Phil.
And i know Bill will mock me for this, but I love his slide playing, too.
*Vince, like John, is a fine player - who to my ear didn't fit the band.
I have not seen D&C, nor do I have any intention to; I have seen several show vids, and my take is this: John is a pretty decent guitarist - but he is not a Dead guitarist. I have always thought that what made Our Heroes different was that, when most rockers say "jamming", it means that the rhythm section puts down a groove, into which the lead guitarist lays a (probably memorized) maturbatory solo; now, don't get me wrong - I'm not particularly opposed to musical onanism. I mean, I like a good wank as much as the next guy. But when the Dead said "jamming", it meant that everybody was improvising; as Mickey once said, "We use a rock lexicon with a jazz syntax".
John is, I fear, the former sort of "jammer". Besides, I don't really trust anyone who's never gotten high........
To contrast, I saw The Dead with Jimmy Herring & Joan Osborne ('04?), and it was great; not, of course, GD, but damn fine. Jimmy could bring it in a GD way, which John (nor Trey nor Warren) cannot.
As to those running down Bobby, I saw an interview once where Jer said "His playing provides the only context where my playing makes any sense." I don't have a favorite guitarist - too many fine pickers, too many genres, too many moods; it changes by the hour. But if the Guitar Genie came out of my soundhole tonight and told me I could have the chops of any one player, living or dead (nyuk nyuk), I would not hesitate to speak the name of Mr. Robert Hall Weir. At his best (meaning when he is being a guitar player & not a Rock Star, throwing back his head and yelling "Caw!"), he is the only genius of rhythm guitar in the history of rock. While I love Billy, Mickey, and all the keyboardists except Vince*, to me the heart of the Dead was the interplay betwixt, Jerry, Bobby, and Phil.
And i know Bill will mock me for this, but I love his slide playing, too.
*Vince, like John, is a fine player - who to my ear didn't fit the band.