[GratefulRed]

Could it be that the Grateful Dead is synergistic improvisational and unpredictable, where as everyone else including the stones just shout things at you that you already know?

[RiseandFall]

They are THE band beyond description. But we try.

[ugly rumor]

My first Grateful Dead show was July 27, 1974, just before my eighteenth birthday. I was familiar with their recorded music on American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, as well as Europe '72, and liked it, but at the time my favorite band was Traffic, and I listened to a lot of Cream, Blind Faith, Humble Pie, Allman Brothers, Grand Funk, Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, etc. That first show was enjoyable, but not memorable, and I may have been a bit stoned at the time. Listening to recordings show that it would never be a Dick's or Dave's Picks choice. In April, 1975, I saw the Legion Of Mary in Chicago, and that was when I actually got hooked. Over the next twenty years, I saw them a handful of times; 50 or 60. I never followed them, per se, but our paths intermittently crossed, as I traveled a lot and drifted into areas where they were playing. But I listened to them constantly, sometimes almost exclusively for months at a time. If I got away from listening, and then returned, it was like coming home. I wondered why I had been away so long. Being a music performer (I hesitate to assume the title "musician"), I never got to play Dead, but played a lot of rock, which I dislike even today, blues, soul, and even old-time gospel (loved the music, but had to dissemble mightily), although for a period of about ten years I practiced almost exclusively Phil's approach to music. Most bands I played with did not appreciate creative bass lines, especially if I played with the beat, and wanted four on the floor monkey see monkey do playing, which I found very stifling. I loved living in Colorado because there I found acceptance, with few exceptions, and understanding, and a world full of musicians on the same page. I hated moving back to Virginia. Musically I have not found a home with people who get it the same way I do.

I seem to digress. I love the music, with few exceptions, more than any other kind. The collective approach and improvisatory experimenting reach me where I live. Playing it is the height of my experience in performing, and playing with others who get it is sublime. Listening never gets tiring, and the amazing collective mind is stimulating in every way.

So, that's me!

[CountryMile Cadillac]

Because they are Fucking Awesome

[PaulJay]

This might be slightly off topic. But it has to do with liking the Grateful Dead. I have been listening to their music since '73 almost constantly. I have always had friends that are deadheads and some that are not but tolerate the music anyway. I have always tried to turn people on to the music, some got hooked and some didn't get it. Today as I was working and listening to a Dick's pick I was reflecting on society and how it's changed in so many ways. I realized that the things "normal people" like I have no interest in . In fact these things annoy me. For example reality TV shows, actually TV in general, People's obsession with celebrities, facebook, other forms of social media,(except Rukind), Texting, Overuse of the cellphones, The popularity of mindless music. Materialistic people, the lack of privacy, fox news,etc., tell me when to stop. The point is the only times I feel some relief of all this bullshit is when I am playing Dead, Listening to Dead, or hanging with my local Dead community listening to Dead bands. When I'm in a "regular" social atmosphere I look at haif the people like they are nuts. Does anyone else feel this way ? I wondering if it is just me. Thanks Paul

[mgbills]

A friend said it best. "They are not in our tribe."

I try to remember that saying when that world get's to big and unreal for me. The hate can get pretty real, and I don't think it helps much. I have to remind myself often.

Peace
M

[Charlie]

There is something about the Dead's music and Hunter's poetry that transcends the every day. I discovered them via a friend who had an older brother who was a Vietnam vet. He'd been turned on to the Dead by some US servicemen. They had a copy of Workingman's Dead which I liked but it gave me a conception of the them as a country rock band. The next album I heard was Mars Hotel and I think that was the turning point. In Australia there was no tape trading at least that I was aware of so the best you could do was collect their official releases. The Dead never toured here either, probably because of a justifiable fear they would be busted if they did. In the Seventies Australian police and customs took great joy in going over touring bands with a fine tooth comb.

The Dead also never got much radio airplay here and other than a few older hippy types the band are largely unknown in Australia. When I play their music to people they are often quite surprised because they have a preconception of the Grateful Dead as a heavy metal band.

I'm not an exclusive Dead listener but their music speaks to my emotions more than any other band I can think of and I keep coming back to them.

[TI4-1009]

The Dead never toured here either, probably because of a justifiable fear they would be busted if they did. In the Seventies Australian police and customs took great joy in going over touring bands with a fine tooth comb.

Wow. How did Dylan manage to stay out of Australian jails? He had some 70's drug-soaked tours down under.

[Charlie]

The Dead never toured here either, probably because of a justifiable fear they would be busted if they did. In the Seventies Australian police and customs took great joy in going over touring bands with a fine tooth comb.

Wow. How did Dylan manage to stay out of Australian jails? He had some 70's drug-soaked tours down under.

He only toured once in the Seventies in 1978. By then the hysteria may have died down a bit. I was at the Sydney show for that tour and have no recollection of any drug connotations around him in the media. Mostly it was a general feeling of gratitude that he had finally returned after being booed for going electric during his previous tour here in 1966.

Joe Cocker and entourage were busted in 1972. Many others were subjected to all kinds of treatment at airport terminals or being accused by the local press of being drug addicts. Following a tour in the late Sixties the then Prime Minister of Australia Bill McMahon actually wrote to Pete Townsend of the Who requesting that he and his band never return.

Had the Dead ever decided to tour here during that period, I'm sure the media would have picked up on their reputation which in turn would have led some pretty hairy times.

Incidentally with the exception of Santana, none of the other San Francisco bands toured Australia either.

[TI4-1009]

Right. I was thinking of that 60s tour with The Band.

[oceanbear11]

What I find fascinating is that younger people are into the GD. I m talking about people who are in their teens or twenties. I call them "near misses" because these folks missed Jerry simply by the twist of fate of their birthday. I estimate that there are 1000 GD cover bands in the US. Not a scientific survey, but there are several in most major metro areas.

This to me shows that there is "something" to the music, the fact that the music can continue on after Jerry died and the band disbanded. It seems like there are more GD cover bands out there, by far, compared to any other cover band. There is clearly something there, although it is unclear what is is. I like the music because 1) I like the music 2) I grew up on the GDs music 3) I saw the GD over 100 times 4) Most of my friends were and are deadheads (admittingly most not quite the deadhead I am.)

But the fact that many young people like the music, without having the live concert experience clearly shows that that there is something that is enduring. I find that amazing and wonderful...............

Hey man, thanks for bringing attention to that! I love it when somebody notices the young 'Heads in it for the music. I first got into the Dead when I was twelve (my god, only three years ago!), when I heard the Spring 1990 version of "Eyes of the World." Other bands make great music, but only the Dead have been able to make me feel the way I do whenever I listen to them. . .
I recently met and began jamming with another major teenage 'Head here in Albuquerque. So yeah, there are a lot of us around, and the music lives on in a way that makes me wonder sometimes if Jerry and Pigpen ever really left us.
So thanks. You can always count on us Near Misses to carry on the Dead's spirit!
-Oceanbear

[Poor Peter]

I probably won't be around in fifty years but I don't think we have even reached the tip of the iceberg yet when it comes to quantifying what affect the boys music has had on our culture and how its shaped much of the landscape of music and how it will continue to do so. I too find it extremely exciting that there are as many "near misses" as someone put it that have picked up the torch and are running with it. Only time will tell to what extent the "music never stopped".

[Naataanii]

I was sitting in dunkin donuts about 6 months after my of the passing of my mother, when some people stopped in on their way to a show and asked if I wanted to join them because they had had an extra. At 18 y/o and unaware of the scene I was up for anything. The feeling of community and fellowship along with the music was one of the best healing elements I could have ever asked for. All without having to spill my guts of the turmoil that had been eating me alive for months. I went on to see Jerry and the boys 100+ times over the next 7 years. There are songs that give me goosebumps and some on the verge of tears, but those are stories for another day.

Spencer

[Tennessee Jedi]

. What if I'd gotten all twisted up in the BeeGees?

[oceanbear11]

For me it's simply 'cause they rock.
Pretty much every person in that band is/was one of a rare breed who can play in a way that you feel more than hear. . . they can play as though it's not even music, just pure, raw emotion.
It's also 'cause they simply cannot be classified. They're not quite blues, or rock, or anything. They are simply their own genre. A list of genres, in no particular order, would go something like "Rock, blues, Grateful Dead, country. . ." They draw from a lot of genres, but the total is something entirely sovereign. They're pretty much the only band I've heard that, no matter whether you like them or not, it is impossible to truthfully say all their stuff sounds the same, from any point of view.

"They're not the best at what they do. They're the only ones that do what they do."
-Bill Graham

I also like that they have their own brand of patriotism. I get very easily fed up with the typical 4th-of-July-barbecue, red-white-and-blue type of patriotism, the kind politicians seem to like, but I like the Dead's rather tongue-in-cheek version (evidenced by tunes such as U.S. Blues).
But mainly it's 'cause they sound great.
Long Live the Dead!
Viva los Muertos!
Vivre les Morts!