Grateful Dead Music Forum

The spirit that swelled from the 60's birthed a loving collaborative decade of the 70's. The San Francisco hippie guitar builders were not the only ones sharing their discoveries and techniques with one another. The musicians of the time also revered each other as brothers and sisters foraging through their art.

Members of the Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Fly Burrito Bros, Country Joe and the Fish, often work together on projects. Most of theses have gone unnoticed these many years later.

One of the great collabs was “Blows Against the Empire “This was the first incarnation of the Jefferson Starship. Featuring members of the Dead the Airplane. But the one project that has fallen into the cracks is “Baron von Tollbooth”. If you ever wondered what the Dead would have sounded like with Jack Casady and Jorma playing with them, well there are several amazing tracks of this. Or if you ever wondered what Jerry would have sounded like if he was in the Airplane!

All these songs are genuine gifts of a time, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbTBasAaFpA (Kantner, Casady, Slick, Freiberg, Garcia, Barbata, Hart, Kaukonen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etp9y7gr ... re=related (Kantner, Slick,Barbats, Eshridge, Freiberg, Hart, Garcia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9v8pFp9 ... re=related (Slick, Barbata, Casady, Chaquico, Garcia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdWFiCko ... re=related (Kantner, Slick, Barbata, Casady,Freiberg,Garcia

Awesome videos, Tom! THANK YOU!

Other collaborative gifts could include David Bromberg's Wanted Dead or Alive:
http://www.amazon.com/Wanted-Dead-Alive ... B000002529
http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Wanted_Dead_Or_Alive.htm

WOW WOW! You just blew me away with your post and that selection! All of a sudden I was 38 or 40 yrs ago feelin all the vibes being generated by the members of the bands you mention. I listened to all of them including the Flying Birito Brothers and still listen to the Dead and a couple of the others all the time (every day). They all were from the same pot of stew and shared all the philosophies. I'll never forget seeing The Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore East in '68 or '69. I was 15. Was my first show ever. It was so incredible being with people like me. I couldn't fuckin believe it. And, all smokin herb and sharing inside during the show! The band was what ya call amazing. I had heard the album, but seeing them live there was like nothing I has ever experienced. Kinda like when you first saw the Dead in a way (which for me was the following year). I couldn't believe my eyes or my ears. Needless to say, I started taking the bus from NJ (where I grew up) and the subway to the Village every weekend and hangin out and chatting with other hippie types, musicians and going to the Fillmore on a regular basis. I started playing guitar the year before at 14 after hearing the Beatles, Stones, early metal etc., but the Airplane and then the Dead immediatly filled the spot I was searching for and changed my life forever, thank goodness! Don't get me wrong, I do like some Beatles and Stones, but the metal...no. The Dead were just the real thing to my ears and soul and filled that spot so perfectly.
I'll also (which your post threw me back to) will never forget seeing the newly named Star Ship open for the Dead in Golden Gate Park in '75. Was free. Free acid. Free face painting. Free food. Lasted from noon to very late at night when the city closed it down. Jerry playin the Bean! It's been a "long strange trip" ever since. Funny how it seems like last year. I'm still enjoyin the trip and there are, thank goodness, still great players and many musicians making and building on the ideas imbedded in the music we love!
I sure can't thank ya enough for takin the time to think of and share the memories. There are so many, and many more to come.

Blows Against The Empire ... but a much previous collaboration of this kind is the Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow, which reputedly has Garcia's musical "fingerprints" all over it.

Can't wait to check out the vids...

Don't forget David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name". I remember seeing an article where they were calling it PERRO...Planet Earth Rock & Roll Orchestra. Just think of the productivity in those years...solo projects...Dead projects ...colab projects...that was an amazing time. I am so glad someone mentioned Bromberg's album. I've always loved him and that's the album that turned me on to him....what a player.

[quote="tigerstrat"]Blows Against The Empire ... but a much previous collaboration of this kind is the Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow, which reputedly has Garcia's musical "fingerprints" all over it.

Thank you Tigerstrat! I have made the correction to my mistake, not Rise against but Blows Against the Empire. I do know better but it must of been a Freudian slip, me thinking of our need to rise against the empire today as being pretty much a necessity.

Please everyone share the collabrative projects your aware of that Jerry had engaged in!

tigerstrat wrote:Blows Against The Empire ... but a much previous collaboration of this kind is the Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow, which reputedly has Garcia's musical "fingerprints" all over it.

Can't wait to check out the vids...

What vids?

a quick internet search yielded these...i don't think i've ever heard them before

Nice Thomas! We play Skethces of China from Baron Von Tollbooth on occasion - great record. I was looking through a recent guitar player magazine and they had a picture from the "if I could only remember my name" session and there was a great shot of Jerry, Crosby, Neil Young, & Phil recording Cowboy Movie. Pretty darn cool.

hippieguy1954 wrote:

tigerstrat wrote:Blows Against The Empire ... but a much previous collaboration of this kind is the Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow, which reputedly has Garcia's musical "fingerprints" all over it.

Can't wait to check out the vids...

What vids?

referring to the youtube links from Thomas' lead post.

Regarding Surrealistic Pillow, Garcia plays the lead guitar figure on "Today", and the haunting main guitar part from "Comin' Back To Me", which I just read was written by Balin as an homage to Tony Bennett!

tigerstrat wrote:

hippieguy1954 wrote:

tigerstrat wrote:Blows Against The Empire ... but a much previous collaboration of this kind is the Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow, which reputedly has Garcia's musical "fingerprints" all over it.

Can't wait to check out the vids...

What vids?

referring to the youtube links from Thomas' lead post.

Regarding Surrealistic Pillow, Garcia plays the lead guitar figure on "Today", and the haunting main guitar part from "Comin' Back To Me", which I just read was written by Balin as an homage to Tony Bennett!

They are not vids, they are audio tracks with background pics. It's not hard to miss Jerry when ya hear him!