Category: Grateful Dead

Posted on

50th Collection: Workingman’s Dead

The Grateful Dead released the 50th anniversary edition of the American rock classic recording, Workingman’s Dead today. I have a special connection with this album through the Capitol Theatre Howard Stein days.

Latest T-Shirt in my collection!

My first experience witnessing the Grateful Dead live occurred at the Capitol Theatre in Portchester NY on November 7, 1970. I first heard the track “New Speedway Boogie” over the loudspeaker system from Workingman’s Dead on June 14, 1970 in the balcony waiting for Santana to perform the late show. This was the release day in the U.S. for the album. I loved what I heard so fervently I was motivated to run down to the box office where I bought a pair of 7th row center seats (six months before the show) for their November 7, concert.

New Speedway Boogie B-side to the Uncle John’s Band single

The Dead loved the Cap and Jerry Garcia said it was his favorite venue to play after the Fillmore West (this is according to Warren Haynes who has played the Garcia guitar role in the latter day Dead unit.)

The 50th anniversary edition features the live concert from the Dead at The Capitol Theatre recorded February 21, 1971. Which is fitting and appropriate as the Dead played the Capitol Theatre many times in the early 70s. If you combine that with how I discovered Workingman’s Dead its simpatico. Peter Shapiro, promoter and Capitol Theatre owner booked the last Grateful Dead concerts, the “Fare Thee Well” shows at Soldiers Field in Chicago, July 3-July 5, 2015. So the Grateful Dead/Capitol Theatre partnership lives on!

Posted on

30 Days of the Dead, 2018

What is 30 Days of the Dead ? Each day during the month of November the Dead are giving away a high-quality 320Kbps MP3 download. That’s 30 days of unreleased Grateful Dead tracks from the vault, selected by Dead archivist David Lemieux! Today is Day 5, “Doin’ that Rag”.
Guess the venue and date correctly and you’ll be automatically entered to win the prize of the day, a 2019 Grateful Dead Wall Calendar. Each day a winner will be selected at random, so take your time and make your best guess! Additionally if you answer correctly, you will be automatically entered in a drawing for the PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73-’74 THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS boxed set.
Posted on

Wolf Bros.

Bob Weir will perform the Grateful Dead catalog as a new trio called Wolf Bros which includes Weir, RatDog drummer Jay Lane and bassist/producer Don Was. The announcement of this new project and tour come on the heels of the news that Dead & Company‘s upcoming performances at LOCKN’will be the band’s final shows of 2018.

Weir says, “Wolf Bros is something that really took its roots back in the spring of 2015 when Don Was came up to TRI and helped us piece together Dead & Company. For a while now I’ve been itchin’ to explore our songs in a trio setting. An upright bass, my acoustic or electric guitar and a drummer. We did some rehearsals this past spring and it was big fun—and that’s the whole idea. We were kickin’ around Dead songs as well as tunes from my back pages. I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have a big adventure with this…”

Wolf Bros Tour Dates

October 16 – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort
October 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at Ace Hotel
October 20 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Arlington Theatre
October 22 – Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
October 23 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theater
October 24 – Missoula, MT @ The Wilma
October 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @
Delta Hall at Eccles Theater
October 27 – Albuquerque, NM @ Kiva Auditorium
October 29 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
October 31 – Chicago, IL @ The Chicago Theatre
November 5 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
November 6 – Louisville, KY @ Palace Theatre
November 8 – Syracuse, NY @ Landmark Theatre
November 9 & 10 – Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theatre
November 12 – Washington, D.C. @ Warner Theatre
November 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
November 16 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre
November 18 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre

Posted on

8th Annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At The Movies.

Come to the movies to see the Grateful Dead’s entire July 7, 1989 concert, the very last show at Philadelphia’s John F. Kennedy Stadium. Dancing in the aisles is guaranteed!

Oh, and you’ll want to head down early because we’ve got an exclusive sneak peek at the PACIFIC NORTHWEST ’73 – ’74: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS teed up and ready to roll. It’s all happening this Wednesday, August 1st at the 7:00pm local time.

Tickets are available online at FathomEvents.com and at your participating theater’s box office on the night of the event.

Posted on

Anthem of the Sun (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

The Grateful Dead album that entered directly into the music of our heart is Anthem of the Sun. I discovered the magic of the Dead in concert by reading a passionate article in Circus Magazine in ’68. The author described a concert in the desert that piqued my interest as it highlighted this recording.

I went to my local record store the following day and purchased Anthem. I melded with that sonic experience as the LP played on the hi-fi in my room. The recording has been etched in my psyche ever since. Anthem of the Sun defines psychedelic music to my DNA without having to ingest the hallucinogen 😉

Anthem

I was elated to read about the 50th-anniversary edition becoming available in various media formats. The two options that interest me the most are the high-definition FLAC (Fidelity Lossless Audio Codec) 192 kHz/24 bit release and the vinyl picture disc edition.

picture disc

Posted on

The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead

cover

The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead is a 1995 compilation album of songs, performed by the original artists, that the American rock group the Grateful Dead covered and performed live throughout their career.

The cover was drawn by underground cartoonist Robert Crumb who was paid in rare 78 r.p.m. records that he avidly collects by the label’s president.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The tracks and performers on the The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead compilation are:

  • Rain And Snow – Obray Ramsey
  • Mama Tried – Merle Haggard
  • Iko Iko – Dixie Cups
  • Samson and Delilah – Rev. Gary Davis
  • Big Railroad Blues – Cannon’s Jug Stompers
  • El Paso – Marty Robbins
  • It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue – Bob Dylan
  • Spoonful – Charlie Patton
  • The Red Rooster – Howlin’ Wolf
  • The Promised Land – Chuck Berry
  • Don’t Ease Me In – Henry Thomas
  • Big Boss Man – Jimmy Reed
  • Turn On Your Love Light – Bobby Bland
  • Morning Dew – Bonnie Dobson
  • Not Fade Away – Buddy Holly
  • Goin’ Down This Road Feelin’ Bad – Woody Guthrie
  • I Bid You Good Night – The Pindar Family w/ Joseph Spence
Posted on

Best of the Grateful Dead Live

I had a long drive ahead and pondered what to play on the car audio system. I began to hear strains of the Grateful Dead’s “Fire On The Mountain” when it hit me. Why not play the new Best of the Grateful Dead Live that was just released on Apple Music? The recording timed out perfectly for a 2.5-hour ride.

A two-disc set with recordings selected from the band’s official live albums on Warner Bros. and Arista, plus a few tracks from their many archival live releases, beginning with “St. Stephen” – from the group’s first official live album, 1969’s Live/Dead – and ending with the poignant “So Many Roads,” taken from the band’s final concert at Chicago’s Soldier Field in July of 1995.

I recommend “Estimated Prophet”, “Eyes of the World”, and “Blow Away” for starters 😉

 

 

 

Posted on

Before The Dead – Jerry Garcia

Before The Dead brings together a rare collection of the earliest known performances by Jerry Garcia. From an informal and intimate 1961 performance of simple folk songs at a birthday party with future songwriting partner Robert Hunter to more polished coffeehouse gigs with old-timey and bluegrass bands through 1964, this collection showcases Garcia’s deep study of the folk music tradition and it’s influence on his musical journey leading to the formation of the Grateful Dead.

 

Before The Dead is produced and curated by longtime Grateful Dead publicist and author Dennis McNally and documentarian Brian Miksis who also contributed extensive liner notes to the collection bringing historical context for each performance and the carefully researched lineage of each recording. The liner notes, along with the track by track essays and listening notes by musicologist & bluegrass historian Neil V. Rosenberg, essays from Sara Ruppenthal Katz (Garcia’s first wife) and Stu Goldstein (former owner of The Tangent) and rare photos and memorabilia comprise the 32-page book included with the collection.

Before The Dead will be released in two physical configurations – a limited edition 5-LP boxed set and a 4-CD edition. The 5-LP boxed set is pressed to 180-gram vinyl in a limited edition of 2,500 by Quality Record Pressings from lacquers cut by Ron McMaster at Capitol Records. The recordings contained within Before The Dead were restored and mastered by Fred Kevorkian. Both configurations are now available for pre-order at GarciaFamilyProvisions.com in advance of their May 11th release date.

Posted on

Mickey Hart Presents Musica Universalis

Legendary Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart is performing in a unique program at the American Museum of Natural History on Friday April 13th/Saturday April 14th in New York City.

The evening begins with a walk-through of the special exhibition Our Senses: An Immersive Experience featuring a curated soundscape based on Hart’s recently released album, RAMU.

Ramu

Then Hart will be in the Hayden Planetarium Dome for an electrifying live performance of Musica Universalis, created in collaboration with the Museum’s Director of Astrovisualization, Carter Emmart. The show will be followed by a discussion with neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley and Our Senses Curator Rob DeSalle.

%d bloggers like this: