[penny3000]

Hey all, don't really know where to begin, got several topics to cover here...
I've always been very much into music, and it is one of my passions in life. I play guitar and appreciate good guitar playing, but it has only been recently that I've really started to get into the Grateful Dead. I had heard a couple songs like 'truckin' and 'casey jones' on the radio before, but not until fairly recently have I felt the true power of the dead through their live recordings, which is what its all about.
The first track that had me knocked back in my chair was when i listened to 'chinacat sunflower' from the europe 72 album, and i was blown away, and to this day remains by far one my top favorite dead recordings. I've also checked out some chinacat's from 74 which were pretty sweet, a little more mellow, but the recording from europe 72 remains my favorite.
I also fell in love with a recording of 'Franklin's Tower' that I had downloaded; i don't even know the date or venue, but based on listening to samples from the Grateful Dead Archive website, it sounds like it was around the may 1977 time-frame. If anyone knows the exact date of the show, i'd appreciate if ya let me know; to give more info. about this recording, its 10m56secs long, and theres a part where at about 5"40' jerry shreds, and at 5"50' bobby is shredding. its a freakin amazing recording, and in my opinion the best version of franklin's tower.
Another song I recently was blown away by was 'Scarlet>Fire' from 5/8/77 Cornell, which is currently my absolute favorite song, and I've listened to quite a bit of music in my day, although im only 23. Absolutely beautiful music, and an overall fantastic show that date. Jerry at his finest, Bobby truly phenomenal on the rhythm, Lesh a beast on the bass, and its also one of the few instances where i dont mind hearing donna's voice. In 'Fire' jerry's guitar has a really funky sound to it; does anyone know what equipment jerry used during this show?? and what effect made his guitar sound like it did during fire?
I have a recording of the whole 5/8/77 show, but does anyone know where i can get the soundboard recordings of 5/7/77 and 5/9/77 ??? instead of the low-quality recordings available on the Grateful Dead Archive website.
Anyway, I don't want this post to turn into a 500 page novel, but I would also like to bring attention to 1 more song, which I believe is a greatly under-appreciated Dead song... 'Sage & Spirit' - the version off of 'One From the Vault'. Absolutely beautiful, and I'm shocked that it does not get more recognition, and I believe I had read that the Dead only played that song in concert twice.
Based on these songs that I've listed, does anybody have any recommendations of recordings they believe I would also appreciate greatly? I've been listenin to the dead quite a bit lately, but compared to people who have known them for 30 years, I am quite a newbie to all of this. But it is great to find a forum like this; not many people my age where i live (north jersey) really listen to the dead or appreciate the music they made. Any responses, or recommendations of songs/dates would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

[frankielee]

nugs.net

[Mick]

It is surprising that you heard "Truckin'" and it drew you to the Grateful Dead. Blame it on my personal taste, but I always hated that song and think of it as one of the Dead's worst.

Donna actually has a nice voice, which I enjoy on the studio stuff like Shakedown Street and Terrapin Station. I never saw a live show with her in the band (she and her husband Keith left the band in the late 70s and I didn't go to any shows until '85), but from the recordings of live shows it sounds like she was pretty bad. She seemed to have a habit of just shrieking in the middle of songs in a way that was not only unharmonious, but shocking, disruptive and irritatiing as well. I have also heard that she often sang off-key at live shows, I have one version of "Dancing in the Streets" that I think is from an old Philly show where this is evident, but I think most of the really bad stuff is not going to make it onto a "Dick's Picks" or anything else you would find at the local CD store.

I think there are a lot of people all over who are into the music of the Dead. I think you are right that lots of them are older than you are and working in Corporate America trying to make the mortgage payment, so wearing that kind of thing on one's sleeve could be a career limiting maneuver. But that is just weekday stuff. Weekends are a different story, my daughter and I did a quick version of Fire on the Mountain yesterday when we were at someone else's house, it went over well.

Jerry may be gone, but the music he wrote and left behind has a long way to run.

As far as your specific questions on old tunes, shows ane Jerry's equipment, nothing popped into my mind. I am sure someone here could help you with the Jerry's equipment question though.

[I'm on the Bozo Bus]

Welcome aboard Penny,
Keep digging through the archives of this site.
A lot of people have put a great deal of effort and energy in providing information on subjects ranging from Equipment from the 65 - 70-ish era (etc.... through '95) all the way to exploring different ideas of how tunes have progressed/changed over the years. Listen to "Cold Rain and Snow" from a 1967 show and compare to a 1991 version and you will be hit square in mouth with what "the boys" could do with a two chord song... Good stuff.

To add to Mick's comments....
DJG - Is a sweetheart. She is from (Sort of) my neck of the woods and I had the extreme pleasure of talking with her a couple of times. I swallowed hard and asked the tough question (Of course with all due respect and fueled by a little liquid courage)... Why, at times, did it seem she was struggling through performances. First answer was atmosphere. Be it drugs, be it fights between she and Keith, be it the mix of her vocals in the monitors, etc... all was not well. One of the best performances for her was a Boston Music Hall performance June 12, 1976. This was a very laid back show everything has an extra touch of soul, you can almost hear it breathing. I just recently pulled it out of the my personal archives when I heard a "This Day in Grateful Dead History" Lemieux does everyday on Sirius. Check the tempo of "TN Jed". The boys (and girl) were on fire that night. Well worth the search.

I digress as usual.. Too many coffees today...
I do not consider a China / Rider from 72 to be the same song as a China / Rider from Early to mid 80's. I know that may not make much sense, but I think some will understand where I am coming from.

Back to where I started.... Keep digging. Lot's of Kind folks here and most if not all will be willing to help. Just do a little digging... you'll be surprised at what you will find.
PEACE
Phil

[tigerstrat]

Welcome Penny!

You'll find that Deadheads are both Everywhere and Nowhere at the same time. Keep your ears and eyes peeled!!

Don't get to hung up on what the popular opinion says the "greatest" shows are. It's different for everyone. Sure 5/8/77 or 8/27/72 or 11/11/73 are all prime material, but they are like a drop in the ocean. If you love Scarlet> Fire, check out some lesser-known but deliciously teased-out versions like 3/10/81 or 10/8/81. If you love China Rider, DON'T MISS 6/26/74, 10/12/81, or 11/14/73!!

Jerry's "Fire" (or Shakedown or Estimated etc) effect is the Mu-Tron III envelope follower. There are several in-depth Dead-centric guitar gear discussions here on rukind, from which you could probably get a lot of knowledge, opinions and ideas on how to achieve various sounds.

[GratefulFloyd]

check out facebook, go to "dead heads" group, i've had a million awesome conversations about shows/songs/etc, if you want a goldmine of head info on that kind of stuff check out that group

[mrMix]

There are some tasty things here to check out:

http://tela.sugarmegs.org/

[tigerstrat]

the original "official" and probably the hugest and most many-branched GD discussion, founded by Robert Hunter in like 1996: http://www.deadnetcentral.com user beware ...

[I'm on the Bozo Bus]

OK TS....
You have me curious.....

I'll put on the rose colored glasses and see what happens....

PEACE,
Phil

[warrenMFKNhaynes]

Wait till you here the 80's!! its like a completly different band. not saying at all that the 70s were'nt good...

Tip: East Coast shows tend to be more energetic and West Coast shows tend to be more chill and relaxed

[bucketorain]

i remember my 1st time geting into the dead...i just wanted to hear and see more...

nowadays its so much easier to get your dead fix...

welcome to the family....

[penny3000]

Thanks for all of your feedback, I do appreciate it. There is such a tremendous amount of music available through the archives and resources posted in responses that its almost been overwhelming... but in a good way. It is indeed quite interesting to see how the band changes songs and sounds over the years.
I must say though, that I greatly prefer the 60s/70s era over their later years. Sure ya can find some good stuff in their later years; but to me, 60s/70s undoubtedly has the golden stuff, and I'm gonna save 80s & 90s for when I totally wear out 60s/70s.... i mean early 80s also has some good stuff, but late 80s and 90s doesn't do it for me as much as their older sound.
I was hooked on checking out the archives for a while, which is cool, but I'm gonna check out the Dick's Picks for a while, cause the sound quality is superior to a lot of the recordings from the archive, and I do find it annoying when the sound qaulity is crappy.
I believe there are 36 Dick's Picks, so that should be enough Dead to hold me over for quite some time, especially when some of them are like 400 discs.
I'm gonna get vol. 29 cuz I really enjoy '77 era, and I've heard good things about it. Then check out the other dicks picks from there.
Anyway, once again, thanks for all your responses and resources; I have browsed through them, but with so much material out there, I've only seen the tip of the iceberg...maybe in about 30 years I'll catch up to ya guys...

[frankielee]

Please check out nugs.net..."Ya just gotta poke around."