Last weekend, I went to my first Grateful Dead concert in Santa Clara as part of the Fare Thee Well mini-tour. I have never been a Deadhead. I have liked the dead, listened to them on many occasions, and I even own a few CDs and a couple of vinyl bootlegs. If this was any other band, I'd be considered a fan. When it comes to the Dead, I'm an outsider. I appreciated the Dead musically but I was always a bigger fan of their studio material than their live jams.
American Beauty has been spun on my system as much as any of my favorite albums (I own over 10,000 albums to give you some perspective). As a first timer at a Dead show...this is my impression: now, I get it. I was blown away. This is easily one of the ten best concert going experiences of my life and I've seen hundreds of shows. The musicianship was excellent, even with the few missteps (which should be expected) their craft was better than 99% of the musicians playing music today. Vocally, they were functional...but let's be honest, the Dead were never great singers. They were unique in the vein of Dylan. I always thought they sounded like old men singing...now they live the part. I hate Phish, but thought Trey was a perfect guest to fill Jerry's shoes for this celebration. The show was stunning and will be a great memory to my musical life. I wasn't a Deadhead before the show, I am now. Now I'm off to catch up with 50 years of concerts, albums, and side projects.
I'm shocked by the reactions of some people about the 2015 shows and the abilities of the band. Some say it's a cash grab, which is a petty argument. Aren't all concerts cash grabs? People say the show wasn't the same as in the old days. Of course not, these guys are in their 70s, get some perspective. After listening and watching old shows on Youtube...I'll be honest...they still sound exceptional. Are the 70s shows better? Yes. The 80s shows? Sometimes. The 90s shows? eh. The biggest difference isn't the band...it's the crowd. The Dead culture was as big as the band. That culture no longer exists...which is the bigger aspect of what was missing. The music was sharp as ever. As a concert experience, it was still mind-bending.
This list is meant to be fun. It's not a list of what should have been played. Not at all. It's a list of some of their stronger songs that didn't make the tour. I made a list of live versions of all these songs, so you can enjoy them.
Here Are the 11 Best Grateful Dead Songs Not Played During Fare Thee Well:
- Good Lovin' (Shakedown Street)
- Sugaree (Garcia)
- Mexicali Blues (Ace)
- Ramble On Rose (Europe 72)
- Peggy-O (Go To Heaven)
- Ship of Fools (From The Mars Hotel)
- Mama Tried (Grateful Dead)
- Looks Like Rain (Ace)
- The Promised Land (Steal Your Face)
- Dire Wolf (Workingman's Dead)
- Dupree's Diamond Blues (Aoxomoxoa)
It's been a hard year on music. Another major loss today with the passing of the iconic, Phife Dawg. A legend, whose lyrical mastery inspired a generation of socially-motivated rappers. A wordsmith, a poet, a legend. Your words will live on.
Here are the 11 best Phife Dawg performances in A Tribe Called Quest:
In high school, I bought a four pack of CDs from Costco, featuring four of the Eagles best albums. The set included The Eagles, Desperado, The Long Run and Hotel California. Costco had been packaging four packs of CDs like this for some iconic artists like Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. It was a great doorway drug for a young kid, discovering a classic artist for the first time. I purchased the Eagles because I was growing up in a small town where country music was the mainstream while I preferred rock music. I believed it was a nice alternative to have in my car in case someone found one of my Depeche Mode or Cure CDs lying around. What instantly struck me about the Eagles was their flawless ability to teeter back and forth between two lead singers with strong success. Both of them had similar styles that blended into beautiful melodies and harmonies. Only the Grateful Dead and Fleetwood Mac can brag about having multiple lead singers. But when Weir sang over Garcia or Buckingham over Nicks, there were distinct differences in the songs. The Henley-Frey combo was a needle in a haystack. A perfect union that has forever ended.
Glenn Frey's legacy is unmatched except only by his brother in arms, Don Henley.
RIP Glenn...Take it easy...
Happy Halloween, ghouls, goblins, and all you ordinary people dressing up. Here's a playlist to keep the frights going.
In these lists, the order is always arbitrary. If I were to publish this list every day...every day there'd be a new order. And I'd look back at the old order and wonder what the heck was I thinking. The old order is nowhere as good as the new order. But I'm not going to do that. I'm going with one order, it's not a new order, it's not an old order, it's the only order. But if you don't like my order and prefer a new order then just hit random and you can have your New Order in any order you want.
September has always had that schizophrenic nature of being placed in the middle of the year, yet it's the month that represents the beginning of many new things in our culture. September is the month that a new school year begins, it's the month when TV shows begin their new season and new TV shows debut, and it's the beginning of the award season for Golden Globes, Oscars and Grammys. It's also the time of the year when record labels begin releasing their biggest albums of the year, gearing up for the holiday season. There are more new album releases in the first two weeks of September than in July and August combined. (I just made that up but it sounds accurate.) To kick off this new start as we head into the end of the year, I've concocted a playlist for such a time. I've chosen a wide variety of music from old artists, new artists, rock to hip-hop to dance and everything in between. Some of these are new songs to debut this month, others are from albums that will be released in the coming weeks. Sit back, enjoy, while watching the new NFL season.
Led Zeppelin made albums. Like others of their generation, Led Zeppelin didn't make music to be radio stars. They didn't make music to be featured in commercials, movies, or TV shows. They didn't make music for any other reason but to make great music. Their albums were islands. Moments in time. A place to journey to. A sonic landscape to escape to. Back then, it was about quality not quantity. There are very few songs that slipped out from in between the cracks. In fact, prior to the Led Zeppelin box set of 1990, the band only officially released one extra song as a B-side (Hey, Hey What Can I Do).
This week sees the final release of the Led Zeppelin remasters series. Though most of the bonus tracks were alternate versions and demos, some better than others (actually, few better than others), there was a handful more unreleased tracks in the overall series.
Led Zeppelin bonus tracks are a rarity. They may exist in small doses but only to draw attention to their larger contributions. They exist like bonus scenes at the end of a Marvel movie. The end credit scenes. Over the course of the remasters and box sets, enough bonus material has come out to form one additional album...an "end credits" album.
With the releases of Led Zeppelin coming to a close, here is the final culmination of their remaining music, compiled in one album, aptly called "End Credits."
It's too early in the year to really get a chance to digest which are the best albums, so right now it's more about which albums I find myself listening to on repeat.
This summer Jamie xx will have us up raving all night with his new album. It's already easily one of the best albums of the year but there is still something missing. I don't know if it's the appearance of his xx band mates on a few random songs that makes wish this was a full xx album...or if it's the appearance of his xx band mates who make me wish this was a full Jamie xx album. When something leaves us wanting more, it's only because it's great. We don't wish for excess of mediocrity.