I thought that Donna sounded pretty good when she sang with the Jerry Garcia Band. In general, I think that she usually sounds fine when she is singing in "soft mode" within her range. Her parts with the Dead that exceeded this range and included shrieks would have been best left out (IMO). On the other hand, I am so used to them now that they no longer bother me that much.

I have the same gripes about Bobby, in fact.

Yep, and as well his "hee haw giddy up" cowboy mannerisms on the western stuff really grates sometimes.

In fact, the whole lot of 'em suck so large when it comes to singing, when I get home tonight I'ma gonna burn burn all my GD artyfacts.

...not to mention his hipper-than-Shaft-in-Africa approach to singing blues and R&B.

I ordered 3 so that I can trade two plus my OJ rookie card for that '69 set.

$100 for a 9-cd box and yet they start in with the 'Greedy Bastards' talk.
_________________________________________________________

Greedy Bastards

On March 17th, 2008 Will said:
$100 for three shows? A Benjamin for only 9 cd's? Are you kidding me?

The Dick's Picks series was attractively priced, but this is not. I guess too much money had to pass through too many hands to work out the Rhino leasing deal, and now it's the fans who end up paying for it. I have purchased every last scrap of officially released Grateful Dead material that there is, but no more. This is a sad day for me.

P.S. Phish releases their complete shows at 40% less than this (and I'm talking about remastered cd's, not downloads.) Go ahead and make a joke about Phish's music, rich 70's heads, but I'm not laughing.

OK, I might not be too rich, but I do qualify as a genuine 70s head. Let's do a thought experiment. How many people here would trade their Grateful Dead collections for Phish music at the rate of 1 Dead show - 1.4 Phish shows?

Don't you mean Fish?

Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings ---- SHIPPED!

And he's not foolin' either!

What a nice surprise email this morning!

Received the set last night.

Pretty nice little cigar box, all paper (three three cd digipaks) and the bonus disk was sealed inside the set in a paper sleeve, so don't freak if you don't see it separately in the shipping box.

Booklet is okay.

Sound is awesome.

what are the special surprises?

There's a button inside. When I picked up the cigar box I heard a rattle. There's also a reproduction of a mailer for the shows with a comic and uh, some sort of writing. If you unfold all of the digipacks and line them up by date you get a giant version of the artwork on the front of the booklet.

I just discovered something as an add-on for Firefox; it is something that will rip all mp3s in an M3U playlist.

You might find this interesting if you peruse archive.org...

dig it

Dead on Vinyl


http://www.lonestardeadradio.com/vinyl.htm

Now that I have DSL- I have to discover Archive.org and other sites to get some shows. MP3s will work for me.

Did you guys order your Winterland set through the Grateful Dead Store? I got a notification from them that the set is still on pre-order, and will only be shipped sometime later this month.

Yes, preordered when it hit their website, and it was shipped April 1.

My guess is that the email was either outdated/inaccurate, or they mailed out the initial sets received and are waiting for more (though that seems unlikely. . .seems unlikely they would print so few or presell so many).

Thanks, Lon. By the way, there are some complaints on the Music Archive Grateful Dead forum about a skip on disc 2. Maybe there are cleaning that up before they sell any more? Does yours skip?

Yes, it does, in one song. Not going to cry over it but hopefully they'll replace. Hadn't thought about it, but that may be why they aren't shipping.

I ordered mine through the Dead website after people started posting that their set has shipped. I ordered last Tues and Thurs I received an email saying the set was shipped. Haven't received it yet.

http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/730/an-in...wall-of%20sound

Here's a picture of the contents of the November '73 box.

Click to view attachment

From the top is the "cigar box," the white sheet is a reproduction of a flyer about the shows. That bit of color on the lower left of the white sheet is a button that comes with the package. The 3 digi-packs are at the bottom (each holds 3 discs), the booklet is to the left and at the upper left is the bonus disc.

I was going to try use the board software "spoiler" feature but it apparently doesn't work for pictures. My sincere apologies if I ruined anyone's surprise.

Nice package, ahem.

Got mine today. Listening to disc 1 right now - very nice. (hey, we need a stealie smiley...)

Rocker Steve Miller hated the Grateful Dead

By Dean Goodman Thu Apr 10, 10:32 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rocker Steve Miller may have honed his craft in San Francisco during the late 1960s, but don't lump him in with local bands from that time, especially the Grateful Dead.
ADVERTISEMENT

"I couldn't stand that band," Miller said on Thursday, during a panel at a music industry symposium, recalling the Dead's interminable jams and lengthy tuning breaks between songs.

In fact, Miller said it was much more interesting to listen to frontman Jerry Garcia's stage banter than to listen to the band play its psychedelic improvisations.

The San Francisco music scene was more of a "social phenomenon," Miller said, and his eponymous band was more musical and more professional than the pack.

Miller was speaking at the "I Create Music" expo hosted by performing-rights group ASCAP. The night before, he received a lifetime achievement honor from ASCAP, and performed a half-dozen tunes, including such hits as "The Joker," "Rock 'n Me," and "Take the Money and Run."

During the panel discussion, he stressed the importance of having complete artistic control, noting that he held out for such rights when 14 labels competed to sign him after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He eventually went with Capitol, which still represents him.

He recalled that he allowed the United States Postal Service to license his tune "Fly Like an Eagle" in the 1990s under an $11 million deal that gave him final approval of every aspect. But the first few television ads aired before he received the submissions in the mail, and were "awful."

Increasingly frustrated, he called the USPS and its ad agency, and told them, "You have to stop sending this stuff by Priority Mail ... Use FedEx."

"It was really bizarre working with them," he said.

Reuters/Nielsen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If Steve hated them so much then why did he accept the opening slot on their 1992 Summer tour?

Well, today I feel a little more justified in my dislike of Steve Miller.

Oh yeah - fuck him. Sounds like sheer envy to me.

There's a choice few pars in the McNally book quoting Miles Davis and his horror at the Miller band's efforts and then delight with the Dead when the Davis crew played with them at Fillmore. I concur. IIRC, Davis compared to the difference between non-music and music.

Miller was really dismisive of the whole SF scene, but that didnt stop him relocating and using it to launch his career.
I saw him once at the Rainbow in London where the whole first set was plagued by equipment failure, and then a complete power failure. In the end, increasingly frustrated and close to tears he responded by playing a magnificent solo accoustic set, and then was finally able to bring on his band. I always felt sorry for those waiting in line for the late show, whose entry was delayed by a couple of hours.

But I concur with the rest of you, Miller was an undreacheiver, none of his albums not even Sailor can be counted in the top rank of the SF pantheon . The Joker? give me a break... Give me Mad River, another band that relocated, anyday.

Miller peaked early IMO. Livin' In The U.S.A. was about as good as it ever got. Wasn't his original bass player Boz Skaggs? At any rate, comparing The Dead and Steve Miler is like comparing The Stones and Herman's Hermits.

Up over and out.

Yep, although I think guitarist rather than bassist.

And, truthfully, at least three of Scaggs' subsequent albums - S/T. My Time and Moments are cleary superior, IMO, to anything released under Miller's name before or after. But then, I consider all three masterpieces, even if minor masterpieces..

Hey I have nothin' against Miller - good luck to him. But slagging off the likes of the GD is just cheap BS.

As far as SF blowins, I'd vote for Cody and Crew and also Doug Sahm and crew. That Sir Doug Quintet box set is calling me ...

I used to hear the Steve Miller (Blues) Band quite often in the 60s, as they played a lot of free concerts and festivals in the Bay Area. In you ask me, Boz Scaggs was always the best thing about that band, and he proved it later on by making albums that blow anything Steve Miller ever did completely away.

Miles Davis really cracked me up in his autobiography when he talked about having to be second billed at the Filmore to "some sorry ass motherfucker named Steve Miller."

Kenny, a couple of other out of towners to remember H.P Lovecraft and Seatrain!
And the Sir Doug box is a must have!

The Winterland set is getting some big bucks on Ebay....$150.00, $125.00.......don't people do their homework?? I asked a seller about the set (beginning bid 149.99) on whether it's OOP and a limited edition- he gave me a nebulous answer about the last set going OOP and they're collector's items.....I think he knew.

I've just finished listening through the Box. Brilliant stuff. This is as good a portrait of the Dead at their peak as exists, and the sound quality is remarkable. The presence of Phil and Keith is really boosted relative to the SBs that I had of these concerts, in addition to other major sonic improvements.

It struck me listening to this collection is that one reason I love this period of the Dead so much are the setlists. The song selection can hardly be beat. I also love the latter 70s, but the setlists began to deteriorate somewhat (IMO). Bringing back Good Lovin' with Bobby singing lead was NOT a good idea. The Terrapin Station material has not worn on me too well either. And losing Dark Star in the mix lightened up the center of gravity a bit too much.

Holy Crap- look at this!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/GRATEFUL-DEAD-FILLMORE...1QQcmdZViewItem

If I can get this price- consider mine sold- even for half this amount....

Damn! I thought I scored when I sold my copy for $310.

OMFG I am never going to get to hear this.

Will Phil and Bobby get the hint and put out an un-numbered 2nd edition of this already? Aaaagh!

My old home town to get 30 years worth of GD archives.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../DDML109ACN.DTL

Grateful Dead archives going to UC Santa Cruz

On Friday, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart are scheduled to announce that the archives of the legendary band - 30 years worth of correspondence, business records, merchandise and memorabilia, including stage backdrops, a large "Blues for Allah" stained-glass artwork a fan gave the band in 1978 and some of the life-size skeletons of the band members for the 1987 "Touch of Grey" video shoot - will be donated to the UC Santa Cruz archives.

Wonder if the letter I wrote in '76 is included.

(Note that they're getting support from the CEO of Seagate. Dead downloads take up a huge part of my hard drive. Now I know, it's a plot!)

Thanks for posting this info.

Finally (assuming this all pans out) a "Road Trips" unquestionably great to buy: Summer '71 soundboards not known before:

http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/g...n-the-way/#more

Ho ho, that "Dark Star" that's raved about is sandwiched between a "Playin'" and a "Bird Song"! Hope they include all of that! (though I know the '71 Playings weren't the stretched out monsters they later became.) A "Darkness Jam," a great "Other One" and a SNB 8-6-71 "Hard To Handle" as a bonus. Yeah I like full shows, but I really appreciate a well edited comp. Let it be so!

From the AP:

PETALUMA, California (AP) _ Alton Kelley, an artist who helped created the psychedelic style of posters and other art associated with the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, has died. He was 67.

Kelley died Sunday of complications from osteoporosis in his Petaluma home, according to his publicist, Jennifer Gross.

Kelley and his lifelong collaborator, Stanley "Mouse" Miller, churned out iconic work from their studio, a converted firehouse where Janis Joplin first rehearsed with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

The pair created dozens of classic rock posters, including the famous Grateful Dead "skull and roses" poster designed for a show at the Avalon Ballroom, as well as posters and album covers for Journey, Steve Miller, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles.

Kelley and Miller's work influenced other well-known names in the genre such as Rick Griffin, who moved to San Francisco in 1966 after seeing their psychedelic posters and soon started producing his own.

For inspiration, the pair scrutinized old etchings and photos, took in the youth culture of the time and dug through public libraries, often breaking out into laughter until they were asked to leave by the librarian, Miller recalled.

"We were just having fun making posters," Miller told the San Francisco Chronicle. "There was no time to think about what we were doing. It was a furious time, but I think most great art is created in a furious moment."

Born on June 17, 1940, Kelley met Miller in 1965, at the epicenter of the hippie movement — San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district — and soon recognized their ability to work together, in their words "riffing off each other's giggle."

In recent years, Kelley's artwork focused on paintings of hot rods and custom cars, which were sold as fine art and printed on T-shirts.

He is survived by his wife Marguerite Trousdale Kelley; their children Patty, Yosarian and China; his mother, his sister and two grandchildren.

Road Trips Vol. 3, August 1971, is now available for order:

http://www.deadnetstore.com/roadtripsv1n3.aspx

Includes some material recorded on my sixteenth birthday on the bonus disc!

Good news. Can't beat a 1971 Hard To Handle.

Speaking of the Winterland Box I don't know if a moment or a song makes it worth the box set but that Dark Star is one for the ages. I have had the soundboard MP3 of it for years but the remaster is like hearing it brand new. Check out around the 22:00 minute mark when Keith lays down the groove after Phil's bass solo and then the MLB Jam before Eyes. Incredible.

Yes, it's great.

To me, Keith, and the recorded sound of his piano, makes these shows something special.

I was on the fence about the Winterland box--but I do love the Godchaux years, and I'm guessing the general concensus is "must have"? I have had scattered bits of these on tapes of varying quality over the years...but for 9 bux/CD, seems like it's not really rocket science...

I don't think you'll be disappointed. These cds sound like no other live Dead cds I have in a way. They claim a process called "Clarity" is used to digitally correct tiny bits of wow and flutter etc. The sound is amazing! Really good performances too.

I'll second this. I had all 3 shows and had traded/downloaded for upgrades of 11-11 a total of 3 times. For me the biggest surprise was 11-9. We all know 11-11, and 11-10 has the "sandwich," so 11-9 gets overlooked (also because there a just so many great shows in late '73 - hell, all of '73, but I digress.) 11-9 is a superb show, and like Lon says the sound is amazing, and the improvement in sound quality over the circulating really makes it stand out. I was a bit concerned as these aren't multi-tracks, but having heard this I'm onboard for more "Clarity" releases. Of all things it's often 1st set songs that make me pause, like "They Love Each Other," or the weird bit of magic that Bobby adds to songs...of course hold onto to yourself for the mind-melting "Playing" and the like. I often have at least a few seconds of "buyer's remorse" with $100> purchases, but not with this.

Krugman on the GD in the NYT:

Best quote: "In the long run, we are all the Grateful Dead."

I know a bunch of people for whome that will be an utterly horrific concept!

Op-Ed Columnist
Bits, Bands and Books
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Do you remember what it was like back in the old days when we had a New Economy? In the 1990s, jobs were abundant, oil was cheap and information technology was about to change everything.

Then the technology bubble popped. Many highly touted New Economy companies, it turned out, were better at promoting their images than at making money — although some of them did pioneer new forms of accounting fraud. After that came the oil shock and the food shock, grim reminders that we’re still living in a material world.

So much, then, for the digital revolution? Not so fast. The predictions of ’90s technology gurus are coming true more slowly than enthusiasts expected — but the future they envisioned is still on the march.

In 1994, one of those gurus, Esther Dyson, made a striking prediction: that the ease with which digital content can be copied and disseminated would eventually force businesses to sell the results of creative activity cheaply, or even give it away. Whatever the product — software, books, music, movies — the cost of creation would have to be recouped indirectly: businesses would have to “distribute intellectual property free in order to sell services and relationships.”

For example, she described how some software companies gave their product away but earned fees for installation and servicing. But her most compelling illustration of how you can make money by giving stuff away was that of the Grateful Dead, who encouraged people to tape live performances because “enough of the people who copy and listen to Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance tickets. In the new era, the ancillary market is the market.”

Indeed, it turns out that the Dead were business pioneers. Rolling Stone recently published an article titled “Rock’s New Economy: Making Money When CDs Don’t Sell.” Downloads are steadily undermining record sales — but today’s rock bands, the magazine reports, are finding other sources of income. Even if record sales are modest, bands can convert airplay and YouTube views into financial success indirectly, making money through “publishing, touring, merchandising and licensing.”

What other creative activities will become mainly ways to promote side businesses? How about writing books?

According to a report in The Times, the buzz at this year’s BookExpo America was all about electronic books. Now, e-books have been the coming, but somehow not yet arrived, thing for a very long time. (There’s an old Brazilian joke: “Brazil is the country of the future — and always will be.” E-books have been like that.) But we may finally have reached the point at which e-books are about to become a widely used alternative to paper and ink.

That’s certainly my impression after a couple of months’ experience with the device feeding the buzz, the Amazon Kindle. Basically, the Kindle’s lightness and reflective display mean that it offers a reading experience almost comparable to that of reading a traditional book. This leaves the user free to appreciate the convenience factor: the Kindle can store the text of many books, and when you order a new book, it’s literally in your hands within a couple of minutes.

It’s a good enough package that my guess is that digital readers will soon become common, perhaps even the usual way we read books.

How will this affect the publishing business? Right now, publishers make as much from a Kindle download as they do from the sale of a physical book. But the experience of the music industry suggests that this won’t last: once digital downloads of books become standard, it will be hard for publishers to keep charging traditional prices.

Indeed, if e-books become the norm, the publishing industry as we know it may wither away. Books may end up serving mainly as promotional material for authors’ other activities, such as live readings with paid admission. Well, if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, I guess it’s good enough for me.

Now, the strategy of giving intellectual property away so that people will buy your paraphernalia won’t work equally well for everything. To take the obvious, painful example: news organizations, very much including this one, have spent years trying to turn large online readership into an adequately paying proposition, with limited success.

But they’ll have to find a way. Bit by bit, everything that can be digitized will be digitized, making intellectual property ever easier to copy and ever harder to sell for more than a nominal price. And we’ll have to find business and economic models that take this reality into account.

It won’t all happen immediately. But in the long run, we are all the Grateful Dead.

My copy of Road Trips #3 arrived yesterday.

Only got through disc 1, its still a bit odd hearing the Dead as just a quartet or with Pig and no keyboards.

Raw and energetic with Phil and Billy leading the way. If your a Phil fan you will love this.

Interesting if somewhat abrupt transition to Bird Song from Dark Star, you can hear the onstage dialog of the band members during the transition.