BornAgainDeadHead

The Mother Load

2006-08-26T22:42:00.000-04:00

Google Video is very quickly taking over from YouTube as the premier source of GD Bootleg Video. Got a few hours to spare?

3/24/90

10/9/89

4/8/85

10/31/80

note: only downside is it seemed to take forever to download the embedded video. That being the case, better off just going to the source!

You Choose: Viola Lee Blues

2006-08-21T20:33:00.000-04:00

A You Choose request, and a great request at that!

Take My Poll

3/3/68 Viola Lee Blues
3/21/70 Viola Lee Blues

Thanks Scott D...

2006-08-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

... for the kind link on the Archive Forum to the Best AUDs list. :-)

The Other Ones: Zappa

2006-08-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

Over my 35 years, there is no single band that I have been more devoted to more than the Grateful Dead. There have been others though over time that have come close though. Typically, I listen to one band at a time. Don't know why, but I just do, and almost always have been that way (It could be worse, my 1st college roommate only listened to ONE SONG at a time. Remember "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers? I still cringe when I think of that nightmare!)

Thanks to the magic of my favorite website, you guessed it, Youtube, I have been able to explore some of my old favorites recently. Overall, I've always loved bands that have been a bit off center, those who employ a variety of styles, who are typically underappreciated, who advance and evolve over time, and who are phenomenally talented. For a couple years in the mid-nineties, I dove into the brilliance of Frank Zappa. Like The Dead, the best Zappa was live Zappa. I've always felt that Zappa and Garcia were two of the most underrated, finest improvisational guitarists in rock history. Zappa also had a bizarre sense of humor that is almost unmatched in rock history.

It had been years since I had listened to Zappa last, but after checking out some Little Feat on Youtube (who I will feature next), I thought I would see what they had from Zappa, and the collection there is outstanding. I owned alot of live-Zappa on tape, but never saw him live. At least I can enjoy him now. So sit back and enjoy one of my Zappa favorites, Florentine Pogen:

Happy 64th Jerry!

2006-08-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

Today would of been Jerry Garcia's 64th birthday, and to celebrate, take a listen to a sweet Sugaree from Jerry's 31st birthday show at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ.

Christmas in July...

2006-07-28T22:13:00.000-04:00

...or Hannukah in July in my case I guess. No matter. This is a public television broadcast of a christmas concert performed december 17, 1987 at the warfield theater in san francisco, via Duanebase. Man I love YouTube! :-)

You Choose: Bertha

2006-07-20T21:30:00.000-04:00

Time for another round of You Choose, this time featuring a favorite 'barn-burner', Bertha. Which one will You Choose?

Take My Poll

8/6/71 Bertha
10/27/80 Bertha

You Choose: Morning Dew

2006-07-14T20:42:00.000-04:00

Very close votes on the Terrapin and Eyes so far, just as I had hoped for :-) Thanks for the suggestions, I'm trying to find good AUD versions of those songs from different eras. If you are able to find any hot AUDs on The Archive that aren't on my Best Of list, please be sure to let me know, that will help enhance this effort for sure.

Anyway, moving on to today's You Choose. Your mission, if you accept it, is to select your favorite of two of the greatest Morning Dews recorded. The Cornell version is often referred to as the best, but some may like Pigpen-era version better. They are each special in their own way, but which one will You Choose...

Take My Poll

11/8/70 Dew
5/8/77 Dew

You Choose: Terrapin

2006-07-11T21:33:00.000-04:00

In our second installment of you choose, we'll go with Terrapins from '78 and '87. Both are excellent versions, but which one will you choose?

Take My Poll

5/6/78 Terrapin
3/24/87 Terrapin

You Choose: Eyes of the World

2006-07-07T21:24:00.000-04:00

It's audience participation time once again. This time around, I'll be selecting two versions of a song, include links to the versions of the song, and you get to vote on your favorite! Since 'eyes' are kind of a theme on this blog, Eyes of the World is as good of a song as any to start with.

I'd invite any suggestions you might have for future 'You Choose' polls. The ground rules are that there must be two verisons of the same song from different eras, and they should be linkable from The Archive, meaning that they will likely need to be from an AUD source. This should be interesting, so without further aideu...

Take My Poll

6/26/74 Eyes
3/29/90 Eyes

One Year Ago...

2006-06-30T17:15:00.000-04:00

Wow! Another milestone. I just realized today that I've been at this for a year now (with a brief hiatus earlier this spring). Early June 2005, I thought that it might be fun to blog about the Grateful Dead. Little did I know at the time where it would go, who I would connect with, or what would happen in the coming months. Alot happened in the past year:
- 10 year anniversary of the Dead's last show
- 10 years since Jerry left us
- The Archive Scandal
- Ramrod Passed Away...
- ...And So Did Vince

I've had fun making this as interactive as possible with items like:
- Best AUDs at The Archive
- 10 Questions, and
- Desert Island Dead

The Grateful Dead blogging community has grown quite a bit over the past year, and I've feel privileged to have been a part of it. Thank you again to those who have visited over the past year. The Grateful Dead lives on in the hearts and souls of all of us. This blog has been, and will continue to be my tribute.

Dreadful Wind and Rain

2006-06-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

Ode to all the rain we've had here in the DC area the past few days:

It's all night pouring, pouring rain; Lord but not a drop on me - Bertha

A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through - Box of Rain

Sound of the thunder with the rain pouring down - Brown Eyed Women

And I feel the wind, and I taste the rain - Comes a Time

Your rain falls like crazy fingers - Crazy Fingers

Rain gonna come but the rain gonna go - Doin' That Rag

And brave the storm to come, for it surely looks like rain - Looks Like Rain

Come again; walking along in the mission in the rain - Mission In The Rain

And the rain fallin' down, rain fallin' down - Saint of Circumstance

You still have to stand out in the pouring rain - Sugaree

As the lightning cries out of the rain - Wave To The Wind

And little change, the wind and rain - Weather Report Suite, Part I

Summer Solstice!

2006-06-21T21:30:00.000-04:00

Yes, today is the first day of summer, and to celebrate, GD via YouTube, from 17 years ago this very night!

Goin' DownUnder

2006-06-14T11:20:00.000-04:00

Throw some shrimp-on-the-barbie, grab your favorite Sheila and head down under to join John and his new blog, downunderdead. Thank you John for the kind words, it's sweet to know I inspired someone. In fact, it's kind of Ironic, John inspired me, and I inspired John :-)

Also, welcome to Joy, who shares a wonderful Vince Welnick Story on her blog.

Garcia/Grisman on Letterman

2006-06-09T23:17:00.000-04:00

Just found this on YouTube (gotta love YouTube!). A sweet Garcia & Grisman performance on Letterman from c.1993.

Delaware Shore, Here I Come!

2006-06-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

Rainbows end down that highway where ocean breezes blow

I'll be heading off to the beach with the family this weekend for a week, so you probably won't be hearing from me until I return. I'll actually be heading back by myself home for a day in the middle of the week for something semi-work-related. It's about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour trip, so to keep me entertained, I just purchased this week Dick's Picks Vol. 8 and Download Series Vol. 5.

The ride across the Eastern Shore in particular is flat, straight and rather boring, so this should keep me from 'Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad'. Looking forward to a nice week away. Be back soon.

Vince Welnick: 2/21/51 - 6/2/06

2006-06-03T14:12:00.000-04:00

Sad news for Deadheads everywhere today as we mourn the death of Vince Welnick, the last keyboardist for The Grateful Dead. According to the Mercury News, an unofficial spokesman at the Welnick home said that "It looks like he took his own life.'' If that is true, then this tragedy is even greater in magnitude. Vince admitted that he fell into a deep depression after Jerry's death in '95. Apparently, he never fully recovered, and as a result, could not go on in this world any longer.

Myself, and I'm sure Deadheads everywhere, pass along their greatest condolences to the Welnick family in this difficult time. RIP Vince, you will be missed.

He's Gone, and nothing's going to bring him back.

PS - Thank you my ol' Deadhead friend for passing this unfortunate news along.

Updates to Best AUDs

2006-05-30T21:53:00.000-04:00

I've added a couple new AUDs to Best AUDs at The Archive. One was the Unbroken Chain breakout in Philly in 1995, worth making the list if only for the Unbroken Chain. The other show is the 9/9/72 show. Super hot. Check out the notes, this guy did some great work on this recording to make it one of the best I have found, especially from that time period.

Anyone else who would like to contribute more to the Best AUDs list, please feel free.

Blues Traveler Live in Rockin' Rockville

2006-05-30T21:34:00.000-04:00

Saw Blues Traveler live (and free) with the Wife at the annual Hometown Holiday's festival in Rockville, MD on Sunday night. I hate to say it, but I'm afraid that I was a bit underwhelmed by the performance. I can't say that I've ever been much of a fan, but I've usually liked what I've heard, and always liked "The Hook".

There is no denying the brilliance of John Popper and the overall chops of the band. But as hard as they played (and it sounded like they were playing hard), there was no spark in the crowd, nothing to really grab you and get you up hopping. Maybe I was a bit tired from a long day (ugh, I'm getting OLD), maybe it was the indifference of most of my fellow suburbanites there, but it just didn't work for me. Oh well.

I'll give the City of Rockville one thing though, they can pull out some big names for this annual Memorial Day festival, including Kansas, Three Dog Night, Blood Sweat and Tears, The Gin Blossoms, , Hootie & The Blowfish, Live and even the Jefferson Starship, who I saw there in 2003. That was a pretty hot show, even sans Grace Slick. Marty Balin, Paul Kanter & Co. actually did just fine.

RadioDeadHead

2006-05-25T22:34:00.000-04:00

During my 11 year Deadhead hiatus, one of my favorite bands for a 3-4 year stretch was Radiohead. I think I liked them for a lot of the same reasons I liked The Dead. They were their own band and created whatever they felt like creating at the time. They changed up the set lists night-to-night. When they could of cashed in after The Bends and OK Computer, two of the best albums of the 90s IMHO, they instead went about as far in the other direction as you could possibly imagine. Listening to some of their more recent work reminds me a little of Seastones/Brian Eno/King Crimson. There had to be a big influence there somewhere.

Anyway, while searching around Youtube, I came across one of my favorite songs of theirs. It was never released, but was featured in their concert movie, Meeting People Is Easy. Here it is live, Nude (Big Ideas), from the Bill Graham Civic Center in 1998. It's a stunningly beautiful song. Check it out and enjoy:

So, what's the deal?

2006-05-24T20:53:00.000-04:00

No need to worry, everything is cool. No fight to fight really. It's been more of a 'quantity' issue than 'quality' issue. Just a lot of different things to deal with and not much time to deal with much else, such as:

New house...issues at my current job...thoughts of changing jobs
...two young kids (boys, 5 and 2)...money...
health (especially my mom's, my grandfather's)
...disappointing sports teams (Nationals, Terps, Wizards)...turning 35...

Each issue on it's own probably wouldn't be too tough to deal with, but all together, well let's just say it's been a handful. Compared to the troubles of some, it certainly could be much much worse. But things are looking up in the short term. My 10 year wedding anniversary is this weekend and the wife and I are going to indulge ourselves, sans kids, for a nice long weekend. We'll all be going on vacation then in mid-June to the beach. So some much needed R&R coming up for sure.

In the meantime this evening, I'm sitting back listening to the 6/28/85 Hershey, PA show. The family wife, kids and I went up to HersheyPark this past Easter Sunday. It was a spring preview weekend, so the tickets were cheaper and the crowds were smaller on Sunday in particular. We all had a great time there that day. I couldn't help to look over at the Stadium adjacent to the Park, smile and think, "Hey, the Grateful Dead played there 21 years ago". Cool :-)

Going back home, that's what I'm gonna do

2006-05-22T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hello again. Thanks to those who have been checking in. Everything is good, just a bit hectic and a tad stressful. Maybe I need to write again just to escape a bit again. The Dead are good for that you know...Escaping.

Right now, I'm escaping into the 7/7/89 JFK show. Sweet Healy mix. Excellent quality for a stadium show. I need to get some new Dead. Since the whole Archive debacle, I haven't downloaded much. I was going to download more AUDs, especially since I went through the trouble of compiling the list. Maybe I'll download a couple new Dicks Picks, or Download Series instead. A month or so ago I got Dicks Picks 21. Not bad, it was between that and Reckoning. Should of got Reckoning. I'll need to something soon as I have a couple semi-long drives coming up, and I'll need some new tunes to keep me going.

...Ugh, just saw something about RamRod passing last week. Very sad. RIP brother. He's gone, gone, and nothing's gonna bring him back...

Hope all is well with everyone out there, if anyone still checks in here that is. I'm going to write more, even if it's Not Dead Related (NDR). Good for the mind and the soul. Nothing left to do but smile smile smile...

Vacation or Sabbatical?

2006-05-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

Thanks to those who've been checking in. Everything is OK, albeit a bit turbulent for me right now. I've had alot of other things on my mind recently, so it's been hard to focus on much else. I do want to start writing again. I'm still thinking about expanding this blog to be more than just a Grateful Dead blog once thing settle down.

Through it all, I can still decompress with the Good 'ol Grateful Dead on my 30-45 minute commute to and from work. I'm listening to alot from '72-74 right now. What a truly glorious period of the band's history...

This blog ain't dead yet. Till then, Keep 'on Truckin'

Blogger Vacation

2006-03-28T20:50:00.000-05:00

Take a vacation, fall out for a while...

A blogging vacation that is. It's been a couple weeks since my last post, for a number of reasons, I just kind of took a break. I wasn't feeling well for a while, wasn't sleeping well either, then went on a business trip to San Diego two weeks ago, and just haven't got back into the groove since. I wrote alot the first several months of this blog's existence, it was starting to get tough to keep it going with new and fresh ideas. The collaborative nature of this blog has been positive, and I hope to come up with some new ideas around that.

I may start blogging on some other subjects as well, probably around things happening in my life, or other things that interest me. I don't plan on going political, in fact I'll probably keep my personal views and opinions to myself for the most part. I even thought about starting up a completely separate work-related blog, but I'm still not sure if that's a good idea or not. This however is first and foremost a Grateful Dead blog, I'm just still thinking about where I want to take this and what else would be worth blogging about.

In my hiatus, I missed a couple birthdays, so with apologies, happy belated birthday wishes to Phil Lesh who turned 66 on March 15, and TC, who turned 62 on March 19.

Jonathan's Desert Island Dead

2006-03-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

Jonathan takes off for the Desert Island with five favorites...

1. DP 18 - Like Mark, this collection just blows my mind every time I hear it. The Samson alone is worth the price of admission, but to follow it with that ripping Scarlet > Fire is unworldly. To include what,for me, is the consummate "Eyes" is almost unbearable.
2. DP 35 - The House Boat Tapes. Despite the noveltythat surrounded this release when it came out, it's a great collection of music. 1971 Dead at their peak.
3. 10/26/89 - Miami, FL - This show came from outer space, I swear. Great performances during the whole thing, and the Dark Star here is Halloween-worthy.
4. 4/23/77 - Springfield, MA - One of my favorite '77 shows, with what is perhaps a Top 5 Scarlet > Fire for me.
5. 4/17/71 - Princeton, NJ - The Brooklyn Bridge rave-up, my favorite Pig moment of all time. And as was typical for '71, the rest of the set ain't bad either.