These have been popping up since we lost Jerry. I am just letting my memory dump and thinking and saying everything I can about the 60's, music, Jerry, the Dead, Jazz, and so on. Think of this experience as if you just picked the lock on my diary. Hope you find these interesting.
As they developed, the Dead played a lot more "jazzy" material, with jazzy behavior. In fact, they had always been jazzy.
How?
Well, the long jams and long solos (especially Jerry) are very typical of jazz, and not of rock. Rock up to that time (early 60's) was very structured, while jazz was leaving its structured period and becoming more free and open. The Dead met at that crossroads, and took both roads.
One example of the more free and open fusion with Rock, was the Butterfield Blues Band's "East/West" album. This was a very influential piece, in addition to being one helluva fantastic performance.
The Dead owe a great deal to Louis Armstrong. He really started it. If you ever get the chance, listen carefully to the "Hot 5" and "Hot 7" albums. These were done in the mid-1920's, when Louis was young and at his hottest. They are unbelievable, especially considering the state of recorded popular music at that point in history. My personal favorite is "Heebe Jeebies", which displays a very important form of New Orleans jazz style. More on this elsewhere.
Do the Dead owe something to other jazz greats? You bet. For instance, they owe (don't we all) a lot to Duke Ellington, for the writing and performing of jazz "suites". By all means, the Dead wrote and performed many suites in their time. "The Other One", is one that comes to mind, but "Terrapin Station" is a suite that was especially written as one.
Speaking of Ellington, anyone who has not heard the unbelievable "Dimenuendo and Crescendo in Blue" as performed in the mid-50's at the Newport Jazz Festival is missing one of the greatest live performances of all time. Another early Ellington Rock piece would be "Rockin in Rhythm". I have a CD where this tune just explodes. Much like the Dead, it starts quietly, but builds and builds.
Anyway, Jerry owes a great deal to Ellington and Paul Gonsalves, since that performance at Newport contains one of the longest live recorded solos in memory. That really started the long solo trend. Only Jerry on a guitar could outdo Paul on saxophone; after all, a sax player will run out of wind sooner or later, but Jerry could just go on and on and on.
As I noted elsewhere, check out Quicksilver and John Cipollina for a similar guitar style. Also, Jerry and Duane Allman influenced each other, I think, in many ways. Too bad these folks are no longer with us. They are sorely missed.
However, here is my take on Jerry's guitar style. Laugh if you want, but listen to the records, VERY carefully.
Les Paul.
Really.
Listen to some of the Les Paul/Mary Ford records from the 1950's. The figures Les used show up over and over in Jerry's style. One that I remember from my own childhood was "Little Rock Getaway", which first came out on Capitol on a 78 (yes, 78). I am sure that there are many CD's around now, with Les's great work. Well worth a listen.
This idea of mine is not meant to downgrade either Jerry or Les. In fact, I think that they are both greater performers for the similarity and influence.
What an amazing run of shows!
I, of course, loved the album when it came out. There was obviously a lot of material they COULD have put on the album, but didn't.
Now, in my old age, I am getting tapes from folks, and have delighted in hearing such performances as Copenhagen.
And now, the CD of 100 Year Hall. A very good show.
Perhaps the Dead were at their zenith, and we (they) did not know it. Naturally, after Europe '72 there were 23 years more, but who was to know it then?
Pigpen was almost out of it, but he still put on a great show. The "Lovelight" on 100 Year Hall is very nice, not only for Pig's work (which gets better as the song continues on), but for Jerry's wonderful Allman-like guitar work.
Pig did very well, too, in the Copenhagen show on the tape that I have. It must be remembered that these were among the last sessions where Pig sang with the group.
I have told this to my wife, in hopes of convincing her that the Dead are OK. (She is not a Rock fan, and always disliked hearing the Dead. I've been working on her for the last few years.)
Anyway, what I tell her is that Jerry shows remarkable restraint in his guitar playing. This sounds like a nonsense statement, but it is true. During the time of "really far-out" guitar playing of the 60's, even good guitarists went too far and were very self-indulgent. Not so Jerry. In jam after jam (check out, for instance, the Dark Star and Other One on "Vault 2", from 1968), he amazes the listener with what he does NOT do. There is a delicacy in his fingering at times that belies the fact that he has many, many kilowatts of amplified guitar in his hands. When he wants to "sting", he happily obliges by sending a jolt of pure electric energy into our ears and brains. The rest of the time, he teases us with his light touch. Similar experience with the tape and CD I recently got from 2/13/70.
This reminds me of a musical joke. The Bonzo Dog Band did a wonderful takeoff of hard-rock guitarists in their song Caverns of Your Mind. The lead guitarist nearly has a nervous breakdown, while plucking at random on the strings. Funny.
About 10 years ago, my wife and I attended a Winton Marsalis concert. He is one amazing trumpeter. I have heard more of him since, and I continues to be very impressed. It is downright spooky to hear him play the old Louis Armstrong tunes. It's as if you were sitting in the same room with Louis in 1924, no scratchy ancient recording, but the real thing.
Anyway, the point here is HOW Winton played for an entire concert. He played entirely on the LOWER register of the trumpet.
Now, this may not sound like a big deal, but consider that there are many, many good trumpeters out there. And, most of them cannot restrain themselves, when they want to show off, and blast the audience away. This is all well and good, especially if you like this kind of playing. A good trumpeter can shriek at the top of the scale, and show how good they are. Many often do this, thinking that this proves their talent. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A truly great musician (or any artist for that matter) knows when restraint is in order, and that to show their true talent, they must play both "sweet and hot". I did not invent those words. They were first written in the 1920's about one of the greatest trumpeters in history: Bix Biederbeck.
Which brings me back to Winton. He played an entire concert on the lower register, making each note count. You could listen to a tape of that concert many, many times, and spend the rest of your life feeling each and every note. Not easy for a performer to do, and certainly a sign of true genius, and not just "flash".
Why this long story about my impressions of Winton Marsalis? Well, I believe that Jerry's guitar playing followed the same style I am describing for Winton's trumpet playing that I heard that night. Sometimes you cannot fully describe "class" and "style" but when you hear or see it, you know.
On record after record, on tape after tape, I hear Jerry show remarkable restraint. Often he plays only on the lower register of the guitar for bar after bar, making use of a part of the guitar that few lead electric guitarists ever think about, much less play. Just like the trumpeters, many lead guitarists play high, strident, lingering notes to show how good they are.
In fact, true genius is far less flashy than you would think.
In the notes that come with the latest disk for Greyfolded, the author (Rob Bowman) makes the point about John Oswald (creator of Greyfolded) liking the brief zap of feedback on Live Dead, and wanting to extend that in many ways on Greyfolded.
I, too, remember, and like that little zap of feedback. Naturally, since I first heard Live Dead, I've heard a great deal of feedback, live, on record, and on tape.
Someone, during the '60's, noted that feedback was "cleansing", when used in moderation. In this case, they were talking about the feedback on the Airplane's Poo song album. Another nice example is from the Beatles on their Yellow Submarine album: It's All Too Much.
The Dead took feedback to its extreme, but I still feel that a small amount can be as "cleansing" as was said nearly 30 years ago. It bridges the music, giving closure to the previous musical ideas, and introducing new spaces not previously explored.
The fact is simple for me: I used to think a lot of the Jefferson Airplane, but I've discovered in my old age, that they were never really a very good band.
Now, don't all stone me at once. I'll explain, I hope.
When you listen to all the early Airplane albums, a sameness starts to appear. They just didn't come up with any new tunes. They all sound alike.
Jack and Jorma are absolutely terrific players, and I still admire them. Haven't heard from them in a lot of years, but their talent really stood out with the band.
The very best Airplane album IMHO was "Crown of Creation". The songs hold together, and there is some variety in the tunes. The songs really say something, without being preachy. The trouble started when the Airplane started to preach to their listeners. 60's music in general took a dive when they tried to use it too much for social action.
The San Francisco "sound" also took a dive IMHO, when they took on too many keyboardists. The Airplane took on Nickey Hopkins, and I think that was the end for the "sound". It was no longer unique. I've been stoned by too many folks already for mistreating Nickey, but those are my feelings.
I recall reading an interview with the Dead, when someone (maybe Jerry) said that they wanted to be best remembered, not as the most psychedelic band in history, but rather as the greatest bar band of all time.
Instead, I'll alter the image a little, and state that they could be perhaps best remembered as the greatest frat party band of all time. It fits, it really does. No joke. The good times flowed, when the Dead were really working, and everyone felt it. Today, you can still have a helluva party with just their music as the theme. Blues, sure, but lots of noise, lovely, and just fun, music. It will live on.
Of course, many people talk about the influence of the Blues on the Dead's music. No question about it.
However, there are other ones, including a lot of Jazz.
PS: I became a fan of fusion in the 60's, and still think that the mix has been beneficial for both Rock and Jazz. Others will disagree, I am sure.
Dark Star, by the way, sounds to me like a Caribbean-influenced tune. Of course, people point out the Spanish quality about it, even with the Spanish Suite appearing there from time to time. However, the beat of the song sounds a lot more Calypso (old name for the easy beat of the Islands. Maybe now we should use Reggae, but Rock Steady was more typical of the older days).
One song I heard the other day caught my attention, since it sounded exactly like a Bebop tune. It was: (are you ready?) "Bird Song". Listen carefully to this tune in all its variations. In particular, the 1990-period sessions on "Without a Net", it clearly is a bebop tune with words. Just add your own scat-singing, if you don't believe me.
Of course, some songs are more clearly Caribbean, such as "Estimated Prophet".
There is no question that the Dead's music, especially their longer stuff like Dark Star and The Other One, are direct descendants of the Fugue form.
We know of the Fugue from great dead European composers, such as J. S. Bach. The form was simple, but allowed for vast amounts of improvisation on the theme.
Statement of theme.
Improvisation.
Restatement of theme.
Go onto something else, already.
Jerry is a direct descendent (musically) of Handel. Handel was a terrific organist, and all of his concertos for organ leave large sections unwritten, placeholders for the wizard of the keys to improvise. Jerry's work was full of great and wonderful improvisation of this type.
Do not think poorly of Baroque music for its apparent inflexible "formula". In fact, theme and variation was its very core. And, Jerry and the Dead are followers on that pathway.
There is no question that the Dead, and Jerry especially, were the greatest improvisers who ever played Rock music. No one else even comes close.
The first time I saw Ravi Shankar, he was just introducing his music to us folks in the West. This was about 1963, if I remember correctly. His work later became the darling of the LSD set, as the Beatles promoted Indian things.
He made the statement that Indian raga music of the type that he played was highly improvisational.
I don't know if Shankar or Indian music influenced the Dead, but the public was certainly more ready for it when the Dead appeared on the scene. Of course, some folks still can't figure it out...
The Dead, especially Jerry, are some of the greatest Rock improvisers of all time.
Naturally, when you talk of American musicians who improvise well, you turn to Jazz artists. And there are many good ones. Jazz by its very nature is more open to improvisation, and anyone who is a good Jazz artist must usually have terrific talent for improvisation. There is a Jazz tradition for someone to walk in cold to a session and sit in. Anyone who does a lot of that and has the talent, will sooner or later be very very good indeed at improvisation.
Which brings me to "Infrared Roses". The last cut has Branford Marsalis joining in on a pure jam, Dead style. There are few musicians in this world who could join the Dead in one of their Space sections, and make sense out of it. In fact, Branford leads the way, in the best of jazz tradition. It is probably his leadership, and not that from anyone in the Dead, that makes this Space into something very special. Only his extensive experience with improvisation, along with prodigious talent, could make this a very special piece.
Listen to it, if you get the chance.
When I hear it, I immediately start to sing the Jet's Song from West Side Story.
"The Jets are in gear, All cylinders are clickin'"
"Help on the Way" is a very jazzy piece. Even the 1977 Winterland show tape I have clearly shows this. It didn't require the changes of the 80's to show that the Dead were highly influenced by jazz. Slipknot follows in the same vein. Not so sure about Franklin's, however.
I heard this song a long time ago. The version on "Terrapin Station" is very good, certainly, with lovely guitar work. However, I was unprepared for the great job they did with this song, when performed live. I would have never imagined that they would do well with it. On some tapes I have, the guitar work sounds even better than the studio work on "Station". A really terrific song.
Jerry says it best, with: "Soon you will not hear his voice". I'm sorry that indeed we will not hear it live again. We just have our tapes now.
A wonderful Head sent me a tape of this show, second set. Amazing. Just amazing.
First of all, they do a great rendition of that old Italian classic "Funiculi Funicula".
Help>Slip>Franklin are very, very good.
The 2nd side of the tape, however, is the killer.
St. Stephen turns into a MONSTER drum session. The beast is walking for sure.
Terrapin is one of the best I've heard on tape. Jerry was in excellent voice this show, and the guitar work is wonderful.
Sugar Magnolia nearly falls apart, with the singers going in different directions. However, they prevent tragedy and immediately pick back up and make a wonderful Sunshine Daydream rollout from the song. Great stuff, with Donna doing fantastically. She sounds a lot like Janis in this show.
Recommended. Get this tape if you can!
I am listening to the 100 Year Hall shows, after purchasing the CD. Very nice.
I agree with some of the criticisms leveled at the CD by folks who are disappointed with it, but all in all, the band really cooks.
One interesting thought: listen to some of the instrumental breaks in "Lovelight". They are playing just like the Allman Bros. Band! Jerry is working out very much like Duane Allman, and it sounds GREAT! Who could say that the Dead were completely original? There was a lot of "cross-cultural" activity, especially in the 60's during their formative years.
I found myself luckily given a copy of a tape with Duane Allman and the Dead, working on Lovelight together. Very nice, and it certainly shows the cross-influence of two great guitarists.
It is 'way too bad that Duane did not make it, so that we could have seen some duets (or even "unplugged" sessions) between those two. A sad loss. But we have had many sad losses in music since the 1960's.
If you want to discover for yourself that Jerry was not the only fantastic guitarist in San Francisco in the '60s, you have only to look to Quicksilver. It was called Quicksilver Messenger Service earlier, just as Chicago was called Chicago Transit Authority early on.
John Cipollina did some amazing things during that time, too, and I feel that there was a lot of cross-fertilization between the groups. This was not always true of other groups, or of their styles. I will comment elsewhere on issues about the Dead and the Airplane.
Anyway, take a listen to side 2 of "Happy Trails" by Quicksilver. This was one of their last albums (maybe THE last?) where they played in the SF style. They work out for an entire side live (that's LIVE, y'all) on "Who Do You Love?". This has to be the classic rendition of this tune, and a lot of the playing is much like Jerry and the Dead. Highly recommended.
Also, Silver and Gold from their first album is very good.
My history appears elsewhere, but I finally got to a show, after I moved back to So. Cal. I have only recently discovered that this is the ONLY show the Dead ever played at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
It was on September 25, 1970, and Deadbase does not have any setlist. Well, here is my poor memory on the show.
A buddy of mine thought that going would be great, and he lived in Pasadena at the time, so it all fit together. We took in something before the show that caused various mental problems later. Thus, the show and my memory are not perfect.
By this time (1970) I was a happy Head, especially after getting "Live Dead", of which more elsewhere. Thus, I expected stuff like the album. I was not fulfilled in too many ways.
First off, the show was the New Riders and the Dead. First set was Riders only, with Jerry on pedal steel. I was bored, and the seats we were in sucked. Being auditorium- style seating, we were 'way off to the right (stage left) of the hall. Anyway, not very interesting.
At the break, my buddy and I wandered down to the orchestra pit, where the soundboard was located. Now my buddy was a "real macher" as they say, and was in the sound recording business in Hollyweird. He was a smooth talker, so before you could say "grateful", were sitting down on the floor of the orchestra pit, talking sound systems with the board guy.
When the Dead set started, we just stayed in the pit. We wanted to keep our heads down, anyway, since the security guys were standing at the lip of the pit, keeping the masses from rushing the stage. Anyway, the experience was truly amazing!
I sat there on the concrete, looking up at Jerry for the entire set! He was no more than 10 feet from me. I could not believe what he was doing with the guitar strings. Time stood still.
I still don't remember much of the set, as the songs were not familiar to me, even with my new fandom for "Live Dead". However, I DO remember, that they did a fantastic "Lovelight". They also had a "drums" section, with everyone leaving the stage for Mickey and Bill to work out.
After the show, we lingered, also to keep from being bothered by the security guys. As the road crew was breaking down the equipment, we were told that several guitars had been stolen from backstage during the show. They were bummed out, to say the least. I wonder if that is why they never played Pasadena again? Or was it the "city fathers", who were notorious blue-stockings?
In spite of mental indigestion, I managed to get home, and spent the rest of the night considering several deep recesses of my mind. I still liked the Dead.
I visited regularly in the Bay Area during a lot of the '60's. An old High School friend attended Berkeley, while I stayed in So. Cal. at Riverside. However, on lots of vacations, I came up, and we did a lot of stuff, both as a team, and with other folks we knew from So. Cal.
My friends at that time did not like the Dead. I believed in Them, and was ridiculed for it.
We all agreed on Janis however. We all had the hots for her. The sexiest woman on stage, I said at the time, and it is still true. Yes, better than Tina Turner, and all the rest. She just put everything into her performances, and it showed. A sad loss for everyone, and especially for horny young guys, when we lost her. I still shed tears when I hear "Bird Song".
Anywayyyy, when I visited Up North, we went to Janis shows, and not Dead shows. We saw a few other bands, too.
I liked Quicksilver, and we saw their show once or twice. My friends, being from the East Bay, went to a lot of Country Joe and the Fish shows. That is a group, I'm sorry to say, the should still be living in the '60's. They just couldn't make any kind of transition beyond that.
The most interesting show I ever took part in, was a private performance by the Steve Miller Band at UC Berkeley. My friend organized the Boz Art Ball, which was run by the Architecture Dept. of UCB. This was a big dance held once a year. Well, they got Steve to perform. They were very good, to say the least. Later in life, I came to greatly enjoy the work on one of Miller's band members, Boz Scaggs. But that's another story.
One of the more interesting events of the evening, was that the Band blew out all of the circuit breakers for the building. They would play for about 5 minutes, and then, nothing. After a while, someone found a better circuit, or else they taped down the breakers, I don't know.
During my visits, we also went to GG park, and saw some of the local bands. Dan Hicks, for instance, was a force of some kind to be reckoned with. Also, the Charlatans. We saw the Airplane one summer day in the Panhandle, and they played their new "feedback" song about Poo. Otherwise, I didn't get to many of the free Park shows.
Gosh, this is a long story. Anyway, when "Live Dead" came out, then I had my revenge on my "Philistine" friends. That album just blew me away. After hearing it for many, many replays, I decided to try to get to a show. Thus, another story about my first show.
The infamous free show at the Cow Palace, when the Dead tried out their new "wall of sound" system.
I never got to hear the Dead. The hall was absolutely packed with people, and the folks I came with did not want to stay (claustrophobia). We stood in a vast crowd for about 3 hours, with no Dead. We were told that it was "technical problems".
I don't know if any show ever happened.
New Years eve, Dec. 31, 1973 (or 4?)
We were partying down in our house in Berkeley. The radio was blaring with a live show from somewhere (Winterland?). The Dead and the Allman Brothers were on the bill.
All I remember about this, is that about midnight, there was this incredible jam between Duane and Jerry. I think that it was the Allmen guys playing, and Jerry was sittin' in.
I wish I had a tape of that show.
Attended a show in 197? at the Sports Arena. I remember that things were not very good.
The audience was shouting out song names so loudly, that we couldn't always hear the band.
They would play a short number, something off "American Beauty" for instance, and then stop for the longest time to discuss what they would play next, or maybe to tune up for several minutes at a time. No jams. No long acidy stuff like "Dark Star". I was a little disappointed.
The crowd was unruly, and a guy near me was ejected for hitting on a girl seated near me. He was yelling about "police brutality" the whole time.
Not so great.
Also in LA, but at the Universal Amphitheater in the late 70's. Keith was with them, and they were using the "wall of sound" system.
They played a lot of very jazzy stuff, not so spacey. Jerry was in excellent form, and did some wonderful guitar work. Phil managed to drop some fantastic Phil Bombs.
I don't remember any of the individual songs. Funny, how that happens.
Some folks don't like the "free" jams that the Dead performed. Sometimes, this was described as a "Space" set, other times, it was just a meltdown from the end of a standard song. I just heard one today on the tape of 12/16/94 from Los Angeles. They wander off after playing Estimated Prophet, and jam for quite a while with Branford on sax. As I said, some folks go to the bathroom during this time, or go get a beer from the fridge :-)
If you want to hear where some of this came from, check out the "free jazz" of the 50's and 60's. An especially difficult group to get into would be those performances from Sun Ra (and his Celestial Arkestra) in the 60's. I once got this album by accident, even though I had ordered The Fugs album. Very dense stuff with too many musicians going in too many directions for me. However, the Dead cannot be credited with starting this trend, but they incorporated it into their performances.
I leave myself open for much criticism, when I say that the Dead were the primary Rock group to improvise heavily. Of course, there were bands in the SF area in the 60's that spent a lot of time jamming. It's just that the Dead made the most of it, and made it their own.
My reading on the subject leads me to understand that the Dead spent a LOT of time rehearsing and working together during the 60's, sharpening their songs and skills, so that they could be free to break out and let it go. If this story is true, then IMHO, they took the right path.
I have always believed this to be the underlying "philosophy" of the Dead's music, from the very first time I heard "Live Dead".
You cannot have one without the other, which may be a rather simple Eastern-religion way of looking at life, as well as life's components. I think that it fits well with the Dead's music.
From Order comes Chaos. Thus, rather "normal" songs become unstructured jams, and the Dead are off into Space. However, from this Chaos always comes Order. A song floats up out of the jam, and they are off into it. Sometimes if you listen carefully, you can hear the song grow and prepare for its birth. The most common protagonist is Phil. His role in "calling" up the next song is very obvious, if you listen carefully to some of these jams.
To really enjoy the Dead's music, I think that you should understand this duality. Maybe even meditate on it. Perhaps while listening to some Space sections from the Europe '72 tour.
Jerry did not like this moniker, but an aspect of it is very, very true. I stumbled upon its truth, when I first heard the Dead, and especially, with "Live Dead".
Jerry and the Dead often wandered far, far, out into the uncharted regions of Space. On the guitar, Jerry would soar to places where no other guitarist had ever been. Sometimes, those places turned out to be very, very strange, difficult to fathom.
HOWEVER, he always brought us back! He never left us hanging around out there with too little oxygen. He always came back. Sometimes it only took one bar, other times it took half an hour, but we were safely deposited back on Earth after the ride.
"Gimme an airplane ride, Daddy!"
"Gimme an airplane ride, Daddy!"
Now, I'll back off a little on my flaming of the Jefferson Airplane. In particular, their implied assistance with: "getting you there on time".
The album of the Airplane that I can truly enjoy is "Bless Its Pointed Little Head", which was an album of all live performances. With Jack and Jorma working out, they were hot, hot, hot. I even saw them live one year in LA. They were supposed to be on the bill with the Moody Blues, but the Blues were held up by Customs, and could not make it. So, we had an entire Halloween night at the Forum with the Airplane.
Rene Labalaster was dancing like a dervish (they had set up a side stage for her), Jack and Jorma were going crazy, and everything jelled. I believe that this did not happen all that often, so I feel blessed to have seen them when things were going well. So, I will withdraw some heat of the flame. I cannot flame them too badly, after all, I was one of their FANS!
Lest the reader think that I'm some paragon of music appreciation, I can assure you that I grew up in a family of tin ears. I was no exception.
I am currently reading David Gans' little musical autobiography (no longer on the web). I can sympathize in many, many ways with his history.
My vastly important breakthrough was to have a music fan for a roommate for 4 years in college. He was one of the "cool" guys in High School who played a real Martin guitar. He wore turtlenecks with tweed jackets (VERY cool in the Beat era). He and his family listened to not just Folk, but also Jazz.
While we roomed together, we often shared records, and his were usually the coolest. I tried to catch up, but it took time. Brubeck, lots of folk music (remember Broadside magazine?), Dylan. The strangeness of Highway 61, and the start of Dylan's rock phase.
One of the mind-blowers for me was a sampler record that had the Butterfield Blues Band playing "Spoonfull". What a blast! I think that the Lovin' Spoonfull also played on that sampler LP.
Of course, lots of Beatles, and especially the electronic stuff leading up to Sgt. Pepper. However, sometimes, I think that Rubber Soul and Revolver are more exciting, since the guys were just starting to work with the medium and doing strange and wonderful things. Sgt. Pepper was almost too polished, but of course it's impossible to downplay that album, both for its quality and its profound influence.
One Spring, 1967 to be exact, I saw it all arrive. I bought both Surrealistic Pillow by the Airplane and Sgt. Pepper. Incredible. I hadn't heard of the Dead yet, but I HAD heard of the Trips Festivals. While I was inhaling these new records, they were playing somewhere in SF. I think that my eclectic musical education in college might have prepared me well for a Dead show. I'll never know.
As for my visits to the SF area, things warmed up by 1967 and 1968, so I got to see a lot of shows at the Fillmore during Break, but mostly saw Country Joe and the Fish and Janis (yes, Janis). Later, some free Park shows with the Airplane, the Charlatans, and the Flamin' Groovies (remember them?). Again, no Dead. An amazing private concert by Steve Miller (it was called the Steve Miller Blues Band, earlier on).
I was hardly aware of the Mamas and the Papas, except for their radio airplay. Later, in 1968 I heard their album "End of the First Golden Era". The show was over, but they had done wonderful work, full of life and singing that will haunt a lot of people for along time to come.
I grew up and lived in the LA area, but only heard the Byrds on radio. I had a strong dislike (distrust?) of Hollywood music, knowing a lot about that area, and the power the industry had of heavy hype. Too much was so artificial. So, even the psychedelic music of the 60's that came out of LA left me cold. I got turned off by the Byrds album that had to be played by studio musicians. I'm sure the Byrds were good enough, but Hollywood wouldn't let anything alone.
I knew that the true wellhead was in the Bay Area.
Of course, I thought the Monkees were absolute false junk. Later, as their handlers had less and less control, the guys figured out their own way, and made some nice music. They even made a movie called "Head" which must have been very interesting. I've never seen it, but did have the pleasure of seeing some gel stills of the colorized portions. Must have been strange.
I had other influences from the Bay Area that were musical, without the musicians being from the Bay Area. These included Albert King (fantastic Soul, his style influenced how many guitarists, including Jerry?), Tim Buckley (strange, strange guy). Judy Collins and her singing songs about the French Revolution (what? we said? French?).
Anyway, I had to make the hard transition from folkie (yes, I bought a guitar, and learned to play enough to impress someone in High School) to folk-rock, to rock-in-a-big-way. It was not easy.
More later.
The Butterfield Blues Band got a lot of us off our butts and dancing (and thinking). A lot of bands in the SF area were Blues Bands, and some stayed that way forever.
The absolute most important record from Butterfield at that time was "East/West". Just absolutely amazing. I have to assume that this album influenced the Dead as well. If you get a chance, listen to this wonderful jam. Yes, it's white guys playing all this, white Jewish guys to boot, but they are GREAT!
How about another influence? "Hoots, Rags and Hollers" by Koerner, Ray, and Glover. What incredible music, again by white guys, but full of all the fire of the original Blues. I read a recent interview with Spider John (he lives in the Twin Cities, an area I recently left), and he is himself amazed by that work of the '60's and his youth, and how much influence it has had on a generation of music and listeners.
Oh yeah, just to lighten things up a bit. Remember the Bonzo Dog Band? I was a fan of British humor, and these guys just broke me up. Speaking of the Blues, I cannot think of the issue without remembering their song "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?" (or are they hypocrites?). "The Into and The Outro" will never be forgotten, either (Adolph Hitler on vibes. Very nice....)
Actually, just the use of voices for most of the musical impact. The Dead did this from time to time, and when they did it, it was powerful! We often don't think of the Dead as a vocal group, and, unfortunately, they let us down a lot on vocals. They tried to do things that they just could not achieve.
However, the "camp sing" at the end of many Uncle John's Band performances is fantastic. I have had the pleasure of hearing some, now that I have a few tapes. Also "Not Fade Away".
Not to forget "We Bid You Goodnight". The performance on the 2/13/70 Filmore East tape is beyond description. How, I asked, can a group that just stung us all with a very hot performance of "The Other One", be able to sing Gospel so beautifully and with such deep conviction?
Slide over to December 16, 1994, LA Sports Arena. I recently got this tape, and they do a wonderful blues breakdown at the end of "He's Gone". I almost expected to hear the Doobie Brothers "Old Black Water". It would have been a great cover for the Dead to do that Doobie song, I think.
Now there is one interesting musical dude.
Deep Blues, but heavy Rock. Sometimes all at the same time.
I remember their first album, and being blown away by a lot of the material. I only learned later that it was produced by George Martin (of the Beatles). A truly smart move by Steve.
Remember when he did a song on an album that contained all the foghorns of the San Francisco Bay? Talk about moody!
Steve had a guy singing with him named Boz Scaggs. What a performer! Later Boz had his own bands, and a few very well-crafted hits. His first album had as guitarist? Yes, Duane Allman. Amazing.
When I first heard American Beauty, I said, "what is this? I want these guys to ROCK and get spacy." However the songs quickly grew on me (and others). They are classics now, and for good reason. The Dead tapped a deep well with this album. Too many people have forgotten their roots in the United States, especially musical roots.
I read somewhere a statement that I feel is true. When we think of WW II, we hear the Big Band music of that time. Those songs are used as narrative, whenever a movie or TV show tries to bring back that era, and are all now associated with it. However, said the author, the fact is that most of the troops were listening to Cowboy music on those scratchy 78's in the tents and YMCA huts all over the world. People like Bob Wills, not necessarily people like Benny Goodman or Glenn Miller.
I am a collector of things. One of my collections at one time, was 78-rpm records. I collected anything that seemed interesting from all eras of that medium. The bottom line was that most people's musical tastes of those times were pretty simple and folky. Nothing too arty (like classical). People danced to the Big Bands, you bet, but they listened to other things, especially if they were from the Country. Thus, the Dead spent more time drinking at the well of the Country, and not of the Big Bands (Ellington excluded here) or other "pop" music.
Anyway, listening to American Beauty may cause the phrase "rock-a-billy" to pop into your mind. This is perfectly OK, harmless, and probably right.
Remember the "Cowboy" songs Ringo would sing on the early Beatles albums? They knew, they knew.
PS: This all reminds me of a remarkable experience I had listening to a radio show in the early 1980's. Garrison Kiellor was just becoming popular, and we listened religiously every Saturday night in So. Calif. Garrison had some very good musicians with him, and later when we lived in the Twin Cities, we got a chance to hear some of those folks perform live. They are very, very good.
Anyway, right out of the blue, Garrison and his musical friends sang about 3 or 4 songs from "American Beauty". No introduction, no announcement afterwards. They just sang the songs, with the kind of conviction and tunefulness of good Country music. After the audience applauded, they went on with the show. Never told that audience they were singing Grateful Dead songs. I wonder if anyone in that audience, live or radio, knew what was going on.
Under the listing "other guitarists" we can place Django Reinhart right up there as a style-leader. I hope that Jerry was influenced by this wonderful guitarist's unique style. In fact, Rock Scully mentions that Jerry was a big fan of Django. That would certainly fit with his guitar style.
There is a strange connection here, too. Django did not become the really unique stylist we know from 1930's records, until he was nearly killed in a caravan fire (yes, he was a Gypsy), and lost strength and control of some of the fingers of his left hand. He played with only a few fingers remaining. Jerry's finger loss is often mentioned as an influence on his guitar style, too.
Now THAT would have been a cover song, for the Dead to do "Nuages" or some other spacy (for its time) tune by Django. Maybe there are some Django riffs there, I just need to listen to more tapes.
I am doing this, writing my thoughts about the Dead, their music, and my history of it, because Jerry is now gone. My thoughts coalesce as never before. I now talk with young people who don't know what I'm talking about. We need to remember! This music is not deceased, only one of its players.
I am now an aging, gray-haired and -bearded Deadhead. What happened (and continues to happen) with this music must be expressed or it will be lost.
Yes, I am comparing the two, but not necessarily musically. Rather I intend to work on an argument that as cultural icons, these two fellows have a lot more in common than not. I believe that their status as icons, and their ultimate fates, bridges the generations between the 40's and the 60's and beyond.
I'm doing this because after Jerry left us, the Jerry-bashing started in earnest. My current daily read, the Wall Street Journal, showed quite a lot of restraint, considering that it often represents conservative points of view. Even with their bias, however, the Journal usually tries to give a more balanced approach to opinion. Some of its commentators and readers, however, did not share that reasonable view. They immediately danced on Jerry's grave, crowing that the 60's were dead, and that Jerry had lead that generation like the Pied Piper, down the path to drug-induced destruction.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. We Heads know that, but it sounds like no one else does. This is undoubtedly due to that fact that most people's views are filtered heavily by TV and other mass media. It is an image issue, and here we come down to the matter of two musician cultural icons of their eras: Jerry and Glenn.
Both were musicians, of course. Both "led" bands that were popular to various degrees. Both took risks, and lost. I don't actually know much about Glenn's lifestyle, but the point here is that he jumped on an airplane to fly over the English Channel during both bad weather and wartime, risking his life (perhaps unnecessarily) to join up with the Army Air Corps Band to entertain the troops. His plane was lost without a trace. Of course, Jerry took far more risks, every day of his life. Risky lifestyle is a common ground, but it can be argued that this is only a matter of degree.
I have always liked Jazz, and got into Big Band music many years back. However, I was not a "Jazz Critic" in any way. I just discovered what I liked, and sometimes learned to understand the various styles as they came along. That all changed when I started to hang out with some real Jazz buffs. These guys were all from the WW II era, and I was truly the youngest in the group (20 years younger, at least). These fellows had seen it all, and well understood the issues of the time, such as Bee-Bop vs. Big Band, and so on. They taught me to not merely like, but to LOVE, Duke Ellington (of which more elsewhere).
Kind of a long intro., but the bottom line is that many Jazz people did not like Glenn Miller's music, especially the musicianship demonstrated. They pointed to far better bands, such as the Dorsey brothers, and perhaps the apotheosis of all Big Bands, Stan Kenton. The rap that comes down from the 1940's on Miller is that he was lucky to have been killed in a plane crash, because his work did not stand up well at the time, and would not stand the test of time into the future. Simplisticly stated, his "popularity" after the 1940's was due more to his loss as a cultural icon than to his popular music. Everyone sympathized over a young man of talent lost in the horrors of War. They saw their own sons, brothers, and fathers in that image. This is what a cultural icon is all about. In the end, the truth may have little to do with the image.
There are some who say that Jerry was not that much an influence on the Rock scene, or that his music was only liked by a small fanatical group of fans. He could thus be treated similarly to Glenn, when the critics get their knives sharpened.
Jerry's image and position as a "role model" is what has been taken to task over the last few months (and probably well into the future). His supposed cultural leadership (which he constantly denied) rankles a lot of folks. The music? It gets no mention, except by Heads or critics. Those who want to attack the 60's use Jerry's image, regardless of his music (good or bad), to excoriate the 60's and all 60's "hip" people.
Conclusion, I Think
Talk to any American about WW II these days, and the music of those times, and they will almost automatically associate Big Band music, and band leaders such as Miller, with the War.
So, we come to Jerry. Aside from the music, nearly all response to his loss is associated with the image of him as a cultural icon. He "represents" the 60's just as strongly as Miller "represents" the War years. This is an issue purely of image, and it shows that the power of an icon is nearly unstoppable.
I think that this image gap can be narrowed some, if people think about these two musicians, and of what they represent to two generations of people. If older conservative folks stop to think a little about the loss of Glenn Miller, and what he represented, maybe they will sympathize a little more with our loss. The 60's are not dead, the music is not dead (any more than Miller's music is). We have all suffered a painful loss that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
The Dead stopped playing this wonderful tune rather early on. I'm not sure if any comment has been made about this disappearance, but there are other known removals of tunes from the repertory.
Anyway, where did it go?
I can think of at least two places where it "went":
1) Bird Song -- listen to many of the figures and jams for this song. "Potato" is there. Listen to New Potato on Vault 2, and you can sing the words of Bird Song right along with Jerry's guitar.
2) Wharf Rat -- again the music is there, too. You can sing this one, too.
It's great, when one song becomes two (or more). A fantastic "morphing" in musical space.
Besides the Dead, perhaps one of the more famous self-quoting musicians was Vivaldi. :-)
On the subject of self-quoting, we have to carefully tread, so as not to accuse anyone of self-parody.
I was told something a long time ago (in college, actually) about artists, especially famous, talented artists.
As a famous artist, whether painter, composer, writer, musician, actor, etc., ages, and is called upon to work even beyond their prime, their work often becomes a self-parody. This can be tragic, in the case of a popular artist who really wants to move on and do something else. Sometimes they just begin to copy their earlier work out of weariness. Some had their big flash while in their 20's and that was it. But they still generate works of their art in "autopilot". It has happened many times over.
One of the great things about Jerry was that he was self-quoting, but never self-parodying. He always had what sounded like a bottomless well of new musical ideas. One note I read on the Net said that Jerry came up with more musical ideas in 10 minutes than most guitarists did in a lifetime. Very true, indeed.
Two excellent bassists. (I was really into the bass, in my youth. I played guitar, but I fantasized about playing bass in some rock group. Oh well, we all fantasize from time to time...)
Anyway, Jack Cassidy was/is one great bass player. His work on some of the Airplane albums is out of this world. I do not like "Bathing at Baxters" much as an album, but several of the cuts feature Jack's careful, interesting, exploratory, rich, bass work.
I remember seeing the Airplane live, and seeing him do something I'd never seen a bass player do: he "chorded" his bass. Now rhythm guitarists usually strum chords as part of the accompaniment, but the bass player was "supposed" to play single notes, building a bottom for the sound. But Jack just took the thing and strummed all the strings at once. Just like a guitar. Strange, and actually rather good.
As I said, his work on the early Airplane albums is great, just he and Jorma working together. Excellent jams. He provides some good work on "Bless Its Pointed Little Head" as well.
And then there is Phil, one incredible musician, and a terrific bassist. With the Dead, he really "lead" the group, suggesting the melody for the next song inside those heavy, strange Space sets. If you listen closely, you hear him pulling out the melody, losing it, pulling it out again, and again, until the band picks it up, and a new song emerges.
Phil played excellent counter-melodies with Jerry, much like those played by good jazz bassists, or even (really) R & B players. Most rock bass players just manage to lay it down, and power the group. To do this, and to also play counterpoint (often improvised), is the sign of deep and true talent.
The Dead was blessed with several musical geniuses, and Phil is definitely the leader.
This appears to have been the lead-in for the "drums" jams in the 60's, right along with "The Other One". I own only one tape (and the Anthem album) that demonstrates this, but it demonstrates this behavior very clearly. The drumming out of Alligator is just wonderful on the Filmore East tape I have (4-29-71). I wish I had 100 different tapes of these drum sessions. I'd play them continuously.
Some of the jamming after Alligator is something else, too. Like "Dark Star", this tune was a way to set some structure around interesting jams. On "Anthem", Jerry really gets strange. I have played this record for people, and pointed out that this may be the only actual released record where someone is tripping heavily on some drug unknown, and got their rap recorded and sold in stores! Jerry is just all flying. The usual result, however, is that he plays fantastically, raw, rich stuff. We will not hear the likes of that again soon.
Great sessions. Someone could almost class these as Jazz sessions, in the old style. Everyone loose, Jerry working wonderfully, but with some raw edges. Some of these songs were still in the "building" stage. The band wasn't tired of them yet. Little or no singing. Jack Cassidy on bass working closely with Jerry. No rhythm guitar or organ. Small, close, dense stuff.
It would be lovely if all the best masters could be brought together, cleaned up using all that wonderful digital magic they used on Vault #2, and reissued on CD's. Yessssss!
Nothing maybe to do with the Dead, but some of the Pranksters would have modeled their behavior on this Ultimate Hip Cat.
Listen to his records, if ya can find them.
He was considered to be the equivalent of a Jazz musician, and the Jazz people always treated him with great respect, as one of their own.
He belongs to the Be-Bop era and the 50's, but was lost and rediscovered in the 60's and onward. He wrote one of the finest epitaphs for himself, and I would be proud to use it for myself:
"The flowers, the mystic multicolored flowers are not the flowers of life. No, people are the true flowers of life, and it has been a most precious pleasure to have temporarily strolled in your garden."
Oh yes, there is a connection between Jerry and Lord Buckley, noted in a Salon article that is, alas no longer online.
About Lord Buckley, and another.
Cosmic Charlie
Now, this song, both in style, words, and
"feel" is very evocative of the 60's
and San Francisco. It is hard to hear the
song without thinking of long, wet, cold nights
walking to and from the old Fillmore. Of
incense, and other fumes. Dancin'. Patchouli perfume
wafting off many people. Tie-die, sure, but rather
more common was Indian (Madras, for instance)
indicating that the wearer had been to (or
wanted to go to) the East for Enlightenment.
India, or maybe Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, they stopped playing this song
much too soon.
"New Ones comin as the Old Ones go...
Everythings movin' here much too slow...."
And, for Jerry:
"Go on home, your mama's callin you..."
Morning Dew
Cannot hear this song without seeing an image
of the fog rolling in over the Golden Gate
Bridge; down the streets; through the Park;
rolling past a dimly-lit cable-car, as it strains
its way up the Hill out of Chinatown.
This song is a Haight-Ashbury song, not a Marin County song.
At least they played Morning Dew a lot for many years. It was on their first (official) album.
Of course, people make a lot of the words, and maybe that is how this song will live on. I rather stay with the tune, the bass line, Jerry's searing guitar work.
This is a "signature" song. There are other candidates, but I think that this song truly fits that role. Oh sure, there was:
Truckin'
No, sorry, I don't feel that this is a truly
"Dead" song. It's OK, but neither quintessential
nor a signature.
Uncle John's Band
is closer. The style changed a lot over the years,
as it was played. It IS a very important song, especially
for its clear description of the band's philosophy,
and general "fun" it expresses. Quintessential,
only if you think of the Dead as a country-rock
group.
Ripple, etc., etc.
Important songs, but not Rock!
I guess everyone thinks of a different song, when they think of the Quintessential Dead.
This item's title is taken from a song performed by Pete Townsend of the Who on his solo album of garage work entitled "Rough Cut".
The essence of music (especially according to Eastern thought) is to make one note, and make it well. Play it again and again until its essence achieves clarity in both the player and the listener.
Anyway, Jerry used this technique quite often in Dark Star. If you listen to some common examples (Live Dead and Vault II) you will hear him reach a section where he repeats the same note for several bars, only modulating it near the end for emphasis. It is a very powerful technique. Too many musicians figure that if they just play enough different notes fast enough, it will show their skill and sound "neat".
No, the true essence is to play one note only, and make it sound like the universe.
The 60's live on now only in the hearts, minds, and memories of those who survived those times. It is no different from the legend of Atlantis: Those who come after cannot possibly understand, analyze, or comment; but they try anyway. They are looking at the smoking crater of the 60's, and try to put us down (the 90's are better?), analyze (as if the 60's were some kind of organism in a laboratory), criticize (we were and are merely human).
Yep, it had to happen.
I was listening the other day to a wonderful Scarlet->Fire from the Winterland 12/31/78 show. Really nice.
However, during the great jam out of Scarlet, heading toward Fire, it sounds like they are playing right out of It's a Beautiful Day's songbook. Remember them? Anyway, you can sing "White Bird" right along with Jerry, as he jams his way through.
No violin of course, and eventually the Dead move on from that tune.
Ah, yes.
"White Bird in a golden cage...
White Bird must fly, or he will die...."
A while back, I read "Living with the Dead" by Rock Scully. It is a fascinating and sobering book. I had read various books about the Dead, but Rock really brought together several ideas I had been thinking about. There has been much screaming and tearing of hair, since Rock's book came out. "Too Negative" they say, or "Paints Jerry's Addictions in a Bad Light" say others. Well, I believe Rock more than others, since he lived through the same Hell as Jerry did; they both suffered terribly from the Scourge. In the end, the amazing thing is that Jerry lived so long, and produced some wonderful music, all the while fighting a dreadful demon.
The title is most apt for Jerry. I was greatly touched by Rock Scully's description of Jerry in his recent book, working, working, all the time perfecting his guitar technique. While the rest of the band was taking it easy, trying to lay off (maybe prevent burnout), Jerry was active, always active, trying new things, jamming with anyone available.
I'm serious about this. There needs to be a monument to Jerry. When any group loses so important a person, there needs to be some permanent way of expressing grief and making pilgrimage. This probably sounds like an "old fashioned" idea. After all, statues in the park belong to the world of 100 years ago. Fact is, we all need to have an object of our pilgrimage, something solid to look at and visit; take home a souvenir. In fact, everyone who visits San Francisco should see Jerry's statue, and hear the music, even if they've never heard a Dead recording. Everyone needs to understand the impact and importance of the Dead on these generations of people.
My vote is for a larger-than-life bronze statue near Lotta's Fountain on Market St. Dead music should be playing from the statue at all times. My suggestion for the pose, is Jerry playing in his usual hunkered down, eyes-closed style.
Do we have to get school children to gather up their pennies for this? Get with it!
I don't go with those who want the statue in Golden Gate Park. It is too far from tourist areas, and could be a problem at night. Hopefully, the bright lights of Market St. would keep things pretty safe. The intention is for this shrine to NOT be a center for crime, but rather a place to laugh, cry, contemplate, dance, listen, sing, play (along, please).
Jerry alone, no group statue. Should be physically large enough, so people can look up and feel the strength and power. A bench or two might be nice, also, for us older geezers to rest on, while we listen and remember.
I read a fascinating novel the other day. "Wisdom's Maw" is supposed to be a fiction work about the heavy influence of LSD on a generation, and how this influence was manipulated (or at least so attempted) by the U. S. Government. Call me paranoid; it is a lingering disease of the 60's. I frankly think that this book is non-fiction. Anyway, I recommend it to anyone who is tolerant of sleazy novel content. Lots of sex and violence, but can you name any time in history that was free of those?
In keeping with the paranoid fantasies (?) of "Wisdom's Maw", it is easy to come up with an explanation for the sudden rash of rock star deaths around 1970. We lost a lot of people: Janis, Jimmy, and Jim Morrison: the Big Three. There were more.
If I were a paranoid person, I would opine that these people were killed by the U. S. Government, in order to try to stop the "alternative youth" movement. If the current history is to be believed, the U. S. started it with free LSD, and they found that they had a monster on their hands. They had to try to stop it. They did pretty well, evaluating it from a military point of view. The "word on the street" by the early 70's was that the party was over. Rock stars were dropping like flies. Crime was invading the "flower people". Of course, there were many social problems, a continuing war in Viet Nam, etc., etc. But what really matters to a generation is that the music stopped too soon.
It would be easy then (and now) to kill someone who was a known drug user. Just pass them some bad heroin, and watch them take it and die (remember Lenny Bruce?) Remember, those were times of mutual trust; people ingested a lot of things handed to them by total strangers. What is remarkable to me, is that Jerry survived the killings. He was a very tough person, a survivor, and he proved it again and again later in his life.
[Watch out, incoming rant!]
I am more and more disgusted by the reviews and articles I read today about the 60's. Far too many people are treating the events of that time completely as political events. Yes, political things happened, but they are remarkably removed from what was REALLY happening then. One reason, I think, for this fascination with the political, is that the current crop of politicians are trying to take credit for it all. They weren't responsible then or now.
Sure, the radicals were demonstrating, trying to stop the War, pushing for some (usually vague) progressive ideals, Ban the Bomb, but the fact is that the political "leaders" from the 60's only recently entered the chambers of power. The folks we have with us now are poor substitutes for leaders, and are just as muddled as they were in the 60's.
I attended college with some real "red diaper" people; True Believers, sons and daughters of card-carrying Communists. They seemed somewhat amusing and out-of-sync in the 60's, but they have become complete dinosaurs now. They really thought that the tremendous cultural changes going down in the 60's were just the signs of the final stages of the "revolution". They were just as wrong then as the so-called "conservatives" of that era. Both the artificial political "left" and "right" were still fighting the wars of the 1930's. Both their thinking and words were already obsolete by the 60's. In fact, the political struggles of that era were a mere backdrop for the real changes taking place.
I believe that the 60's were the beginnings of major CULTURAL changes in the U. S., not political changes. A cynic might opine that the U. S. political system is worse now than it was 30 years ago, and that the 60's pols have just added to the mess. Certainly there were political changes over the last 30 years, but I believe that there is too much importance placed on these changes.
Themes of the 60's:
º distrust of authority (Gov.); WW II lies == Viet Nam lies; backlash against parent's unquestioning acceptance of WW II-style propaganda,
º television generation (visual, pictures don't lie) ; a certain passive quality to the generation's behavior
º Interstate highway generation (rarely mentioned, I've noticed) -- heavy cultural changes brought about by ease of transportation (on the road), and loss of "downtown" in cities of all sizes
º more tolerant than parents (but no generation is perfect, ever)
º going back to "roots", including rejection of "official" dogma for all aspects of life, including health, work, family, sex
º rediscovery, a true "Renaissance", of original roots, including those of America itself (both good and bad) ; later a rediscovery of ethnic "roots"
º The Pill ; the alleged sexual revolution; were things really new and different? not in my opinion
º Beats backlashed against "conformity", but 60's people protested in a conforming way
º Economic freedom -- strong desire to live independently (including "back to land") ; do your own thing, outside of the corporate world ; this behavior had a profound impact on business today
º Technology set the pace, not politics, all of which accelerated into the 70's and onward ; no personal computer possible without 60's culture
º Consumerism/Materialism -- the true underlying nature of this generation ; attempt to escape from materialism (Eastern mysticism) ; materialism refined (demand for "real" food, durable hand-made products, escape from shoddiness)
"I can tell your future, just look what's in your hand...."
This line from Playin' is particularly apt. Most people would interpret the words as saying that the lines in your hand predict your future (Palmistry).
My take is a bit different. You can tell a lot about what people value by what the hold onto. We use the words "to hold dear" to describe that which is important to a person. For instance, the person with a cigarette in their hand may have a future that is easier to predict than someone who doesn't. Same with a joint. How about a bottle of booze? A snack? Money? A camera? Briefcase? Genitals (whose? yours or someone else's?)? A gun? Knife? A book? A child's hand?
Yep, it is a lot easier to "tell your future" than you might think. Bobby definitely got it right.
I watched the newsgroup for quite a long time, and I always saw discussions about the "best" Scarlet/Fire. Didn't think much of it, not having too much material from the later shows. Well, that all changed. I bought Dick's Picks 6, with a wonderful Scarlet/Fire from 10/14/83 (Hartford). Excellent show. I especially like CD's two and three, with great jamming, beautiful S/F and strong Other One. Now I understand all the partisanship over this great opportunity for creation.
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