That is all of that show (supposedly) that exists. The song has been booted for years. They played for a tiny crowd and figured they'd have fun, and fun they had.

I should probably check, but is that Viola Lee Blues from Chicago 1969? If so, it continued past the "end" with feedback over which Owsley played a tape of "What's Become of the Baby." This was the only time they did that. I can imagine the acid drenched crowd digging that--though I never did.

People pan the Phil Zone disc as being disjointed--they want whole shows, not just a sampler. But, as samplers go, it's pretty damn good.

Right, Viola Lee Blues is supposed to be from 4/26/69. . . it's not on the Dick's Picks of that show though. (Volume 26).

The show has been in circulation for a few years. I got my copy 4 or 5 years ago.

You can listen to 9.3.67 here....

http://www.archive.org/details/gd67-09-03....7272.sbeok.shnf

Thanks for the link. Wish I'd downloaded that when I had the chance!

Just realized that supposedly the Viola Lee Blues from this show is a bonus cut on the remastered cd of the first album. That's good news!

Article on Vince Welnick's demise....



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...DDG12JM4F61.DTL

The sad thing about all of this is that we assume (or do we?) that musicians are to be held to a higher standard or, barring that, that their personal lives are supposed to be tragic. Who knows what the truth is?
No doubt Vince had a heavy load to carry. Bipolar, despite Dr. Tom Cruise's lecture to the contrary, is a real disease, as real as cancer or diabetes. It is a genetic issue; it is inherited. It and depression affect more people than any of us may realize, and musicians are not immune. In fact, "artists" tend to have a higher percent of chemically unbalanced members than the populace at large.

And who knows about the facts of Vince? Bobby hired him to play in Ratdog; Vince attempted to eat some valium (85 tablets: sorry, you need a lot more plus alcohol to trigger the reaction; don't ask how I know). It was a cry for help. You don't do a show and tell before swallowing the buggers unless you are seeking attention for your illness. The worst thing Bobby could have done was to keep Vince on the tour with all the rigours and stress. Sending him to the nearest hospital was the right thing to do. Bringing him back when he was in bad emotional shape would be disasterous all around.

Did the Dead reject him, or did they care about him enough to keep him away from the touring life? Who are we to say what the motivation was. As much as many folks feel he was shunned, and he may have been to some extent (who really knows much about this disease?), who would want to be responsible for triggering another, perhaps successful attempt? Being on the bus, figuratively and literally, requires some serious fortitude. It got Keith (another manic depressive who could not accept the power of his gift), Brent (yeah, him too), and finally Vince.

It wasn't the airplane; it was beauty killed the beast.

Bill, a very savy post. My headband is unwound and off to you. . . .

Thanks, Lon. I wish that someone in a strong position would take up the banner for this type of illness as Phil has for Hep C. The problem is that it is an invisible, unmeasurable, unprovable illness about which so little is known. The stigma attached to those who are ill above the neck combined with fear and misunderstanding keeps it in the dark and those who suffer behind dark doors. Something like one in ten of us have one of these illnesses (depression, bipolar, schitzophreia, etc.), but only 1 tenth of those are diagnosed and even less get adequate treatment. There is no cure. There is no wonder drug. Treatment is hit or miss and often temporary. The illness hides, especially when the patient is on an upswing. Then, in the dark where noone may notice, comes the crash. And if/when that crash is too hard or severe, thoats are slit.

You may know or be a member of this club and not know it.

Noone could save Vince other than himself, but those who are informed can at least help.

____________________________________________________________________________
A pistol shot, at five oclock, the bells of heaven ring,
Tell me what you done it for, no I wont tell you a thing.
Yesterday I begged you before I hit the ground,
All I leave behind me is only what I found.

If you can abide it, let the hurdy-gurdy play,
Stranger ones have come by here before they flew away.
I will not condemn you nor yet would I deny,
I would ask the same of you, but failing, will not die.

Take up your china doll, take up your china doll,
Its only fractured and just a little nervous from the fall.
La-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Yes, it's an insidious illness and has shaped humanity in dark ways, and caused much collective and individual suffering. SLOWLY recognition and acceptance ARE happening, I must say, way way too slowly, as are medical advances.

I've had the reality of mental illness as a part of my daily life for more than a decade (not sure that I suffer from it myself, but my wife does). I've learned more than I ever expected to about the disease(s), but fortunately much of what I've learned and experienced brings hope. . . slowly . . . but perhaps surely.

Just downloaded Dick's Picks 28, which is pretty darned good. . . . I can't stop, I have only about six or so to go to have the full official releases of GD from the beginning to the departure (in several ways) of the Godchauxs.

Really enjoying Dick's Pick's 35, the "Houseboat Tapes." Cool to hear the band with no keys, and occasionally Pigpen on harp and voice.

On 28: "Loose Lucy!" Okay, it's not the best version ever, but is it one of the earliest?

I've started downloading the audience recordings from the archive available. . . I've gotten all from '67 through '69 so far. I have great fun making artwork for these . . . using handbills, posters, photos, etc.

If you know how to use bittorent check out http://bt.etree.org http://shnflac.net and http://jeromesplace.net/ for LOT'S of GD shows. Most of the shows posted on those sites have excellent sound quality.

shn and flac and bittorrentin' hasn't work for me with my Mac machines. It's either me or the machines or both, but I can't take the frustration at this time.

I think I posted this before, but you can download several of these programs in mac friendly form. Also, there are several recorders--like total recorder--that will allow you to download all those streaming files on archive. Just DON'T do anything else on your computer while recording. It's just like recording from disk to cassette, only any interference will give you snap, crackle and pop.

Of course, my good friend, I keep tantalizing you into personal ruin by downloading and downloading and downloading and downloading.

There is currently no cure for this!!

Right now, I'm living on dimeadozen downloading art ensemble of chicago gigs. The only question is how one can listen to so much good music and still absorb it all?

A Resurrection, of Sorts, for the Grateful Dead

By ALAN LIGHT
Published: July 10, 2006
The Grateful Dead, one of rock 'n' roll's longest-lasting institutions, has announced a licensing agreement with Rhino Entertainment to manage exclusively all of the band's intellectual property.

Rhino, a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group that is best known as a premier reissue label, will oversee everything from the band's vast archive of live recordings and its Web site to its merchandise and use of its likeness. Grateful Dead Productions will retain creative control, and the deal does not include the band's music publishing.

"In the last couple of years, it became apparent that the business was just too much trouble," said Bob Weir, a guitarist and vocalist for the band. "The Grateful Dead of yore was built around being a touring band, and when we stopped touring, the structure wasn't there."

The deal also reflects a shift in the music industry as labels look beyond declining CD sales for new sources of revenue. The Rhino-Dead arrangement is similar to a multiple-rights venture that the band Korn signed last year with EMI Music. The deal makes EMI a partner in the band's overall business, including its publishing, touring, merchandising and multimedia activities.

"The music industry has to change," said Jimmy Edwards, a vice president at Rhino. "We can't just put CD's out to retail. We need to be more involved with protecting the legacy of the artists."

What's more unusual in this deal is that the Grateful Dead officially disbanded after the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995. The surviving members toured under the name the Other Ones in 2002, and then as the Dead in 2003 and 2004. Mostly, though, the band has lived on through various official releases of their concerts.

Rhino has overseen the band's catalog in recent years, including two box sets that collected expanded versions of all of its studio albums. The label approached the band with the idea for the licensing deal.

"The Dead all started individual endeavors," said Mr. Edwards of Rhino, "and they needed a partner to provide infrastructure."

Rhino seemed the right partner for the band. The drummer, Mickey Hart, noted that the Grateful Dead started its recording career with Warner Brothers in 1966, and remained on the label through the mid-1970's. "It's kind of funny," he said. "We tortured them so much in the early days, so maybe now we're making up for it."

Last year, the Grateful Dead came under fire from its passionate fan base when the band took down the free recordings of its concerts posted at archive.org and announced plans to charge for downloading the music. Deadheads petitioned in protest, and the files were made available again.

"That was a perfect example of why we got a bellyful of being a record label," said Mr. Weir. "It's always been too expensive, too labor-intensive, to digitize our vaults, and maybe that's possible now."

Mr. Hart said that his hope was that the arrangement would free the band to make music together. "To us, the Grateful Dead was always about the music, not just going to board meetings. The business got so big, and that's not what we signed up for.

"When we don't have to do business together, maybe we can become friends again. Maybe we can even play together again."

This has been rumored for quite some time. I'm glad Phil got on board. Wonder if it will be download or if Rhino will produce cds? Download would probably be more cost effective, since it's easier, cheaper, and there would be no leftover copies to dump.

Hope they can clean them up and fill in the gaps.

Well, it just seems beyond me, whenever I've tried I just get a knot in my stomach and a big ball of confused frustration. So I'm staying away til I maybe wake up one day smarter and more qualified.

Maybe Rhino will solve my problem. I don't mind paying for downloads the quality of those the Dead have been offering on their site and iTunes.

I am going to use my Borders coupon to fatten' up my Dead collection this week. Here is what I am considering.

Dick's Picks 19 or 23
Rockin' at the Rhein
Dead Set
Nightfall of Diamonds or Without a Net

I have several of the recently remastered vault recordings and a few Dick's Picks 29, 33, and 36.

I'm not interested in shows with inferior sound quality.

I've been to about 30 shows and some of them were about the most fun I have ever had.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

A little promo here for DP 19.

This one starts out as a fairly average '73 show (that's better than faint praise, since the average in '73 was especially good). Then, at the end of Set 1, the "Playin' in the Band" monster almost slips out of the band's hands and heads for frightening territory. You can hear the whole band get scared and retrench, as one, to the out chorus.

Set 2 gets off to an almost routine start. And then in the "Dark Star," they go back to that scary place that "Playin" touched. They explore it, tame it -- conquer it. The beauty of "Morning Dew" is hard-earned after this one.

In short, Disc 1 and Disc 2 good, Disc 3 off the hook, off the meter.

Also my favorite DP front cover art.

I agree, DP 19 is excellent! DP 23 is pretty darned good too, but pales a bit in comparison. Both I think are better than the others on the list (ducking my head for cover!) Maybe I just like the Dick's Picks series a lot, I like the two track sound better generally than the 16 track.

From your list I'll also pitch a nod to 19.

19 is exceptional, but anything from europe '72 is well worth a listen. Then again, any of the dps from 1968-74 are mighty fine. Mostly, it depends on which dead you like the most. There's the raw, emergent dead from 67-68; the full blown psychedellic machine from 1969-70; the bar band of 1971; the reenergized keith band of 1971-72; the post pig jazzed out band of late 1972-74. Different song selections, obviously, with a greater array of tighly performed tunes later on. That's the thing about the dead: they certainly evolved as they grew. It's the part of the chain you like the most that matters.

There aren't many genuine clunkers in the DP series.

I just noticed that my local Borders also has DP 20. Nice set list and, based on the sound clips, not bad sound.

Any comments?

Thanks!

Right on.

That said, out of the choices listed by Newk I would try (in order of preference) DP19, RTR, DP23, Dead Set, NOD, WAN.

Those shows never did anything for me. I think they were still trying to figure out how to integrate Mickey back into the band and the music suffers as a result. I'm not a big fan of '76 in general, though I do think they started to turn it up a notch in October.

I'm looking at Vol. 20 right now, and was listening to that set last week.

A lot of what Chalupa says I agree with. . . it's not as good as 19 or 23. . . but it's good in its own way. I have to say I like the way Billy and Mickey played in '76 and '77 and '78 BETTER than what I've heard of them afterwards. The two drumming scenario really helps to turn me off to a lot of the post-Godchaux Dead; I just don't get any groove off the combined, whereas I do before then. Still, I prefer just Billy all the time.

With the Fillmore Box selling out before its street date, I think they should definitely continue making CDs.

How many of you who saw the inadvertent link to the proposed Winterland Box would have jumped on it? I would have. I think if they do cds, it should be in a limited format so they don't keep getting stuck with product. They appear to have tons of DPS left on cd, and Rhino is releasing the first box set in single cd format. THe idea should be to sell out the runs and keep the mother rolling.

But there is something nice about holding a product over downloading it.

Along with some of those 73 discs, my picks are:


8 (Harpur college!!!! The Other One!!! Man's World!!! Dancin--and a great acoustic set)
11 (Fillmore East 2-13-14-70 the best of the bunch)
16 (Fillmore West-----humongous!!)
36 (I'm biased, having been at that one, but what a Dark Star---Dew!!!!!!!!!)
30 (Biased again--got to catch the whole run. shows just before the left for Europe--with Bo Diddly!
36 another good '72 effort
22--c'mon--Anthem of the Sun material!!!

Okay, fine, like you didn't know my favorite period was '67--'72!

Those are all great ones, have all but 36 and don't doubt that it is spectacular (that will be my next order from GD Store!)

I CURSE dimeadozen . Every time when I finish some downloads I check if there are any other shows I'd like to download and there are ALWAYS some goodies available.

I also keep wondering how in hell I'm able to find enough time to listen to all of them.

Right now I have around 30 GD shows ranging from 1967 to 1971.Along with my other goodies my only 160Gb HD is filling up really fast.I should definitely buy some 500Gb HD really soon

And I'm glad there is no cure for this!

Lon: Buy yerself a cheap used Windows operated computer! Think of the money you'll save. Oh, wait, all that downloading--we'll never hear from you again!

In the interest of keeping in touch with my chosen online community, I'll NOT buy a PC!

I think my wife might divorce me if I did. . . she's a Mac person for many years, and she's making me comfortable with Macs. . . we have three Apple computers (iMac, iBook and MacBook), and she's about to buy me an iPod for my birthday.

I use both Windows & a Mac, though I do all my downloading on the iBook. I've had great luck using xACT for converting FLACs and SHNs.

I'm using an older version (1.4b21) with OSX 10.3.9. The more recent version of xACT is 1.58. Anyway, it seems pretty friendly and prompts you where you want to deposit your converted files. There's a checkbox if you want to dispose of your FLAC files after conversion.

Sometimes those downloads from Archive don't unzip properly after downloading. I believe the latest (free) version of StuffIt can now handle those rascals, at least one did for me after updating.

Oh yeah, the link for xACT.

You're just making me feel bad.

Well, more power to ya! I just don't have something that it takes to do this, and the patience I guess to acquire it.

Right now, listening to disc two of DP 22~!

I picked up DP 23 because 19 was not available. I have been looking for a good '74 concert and my local Borders has 24. Is 24 a good one or should I hold out and get 31 from the Dead store?

Any favorite Brent era DP's or vault recordings?

Thanks!

Really, it's just as well. Downloading is very addictive. You don't have to do anything, and soon as it's done, on to the next one, and the next one . . . . Then you have way too much to listen to. An interesting book, usually available used on Amazon, i the G.D. taping compendium. While not complete or wholly up to date, they do provide a nice service in previewing possible acquisitions. DP is really--or was-great because you had time to absorb each disc at your liesure before another one came out. Hope they do this again.

I like 24! Have it at home in Austin presently and can't hear it right now. But at two discs it's affordable and quickly "digestable."

24 (3/24/74) has one of only 3 Playin' sandwiches performed and is a delightful 2 disc morsel. 31 (8/4-6/74) is more like Thanksgiving dinner. Listen to all 4 discs at once and you'll burst. Both are recommended. However, if you don't have DP 12 (6/26 & 28/74) I'd strongly encourage you to get that 1st. The China/Rider intro is one of the most beautiful things they ever did.



I received DP 13 (Nassau 5/6/81) accidentally and I'm very glad that happened as it's a keeper. Very solid show with a strong "He's Gone" and jamming that follows. It also has a "hidden" Scarlet>Fire from 11/1/79 on disc 2 which makes a very nice bonus.

Speaking of '79, DP 5 (12/26/79) might be my favorite post Keith & Donna era Pick. The band was really on in the fall of '79. Not much else to say, other than many who don't care for the post Keith & Donna era end up liking this one (along with 12/28/79 which circulates.)

I have DP 21 (11/1/85) but I like the 2 above more. The filler is killer though from 9/2/80.

One that I like that few seem to is DP 6 (10/14/83). Criticisms center around that they should have picked another show from that week and that Jerry & Brent's voices are rough. However, look at Disc 2 (Scarlet>Fire Estimated>Eyes.) Disc 3 has a nifty jam going into The Other One. And though his voice is rough, I loved Jerry's set 1 songs from that era (Althea & Alabama Getaway.) The St. Stephans that were played in the shows that weren't picked for a Pick were interesting & fun, but not that well executed. I think this is a highly underrated DP.

Oh oh oh! How could I forget about Reckoning. This is the acoustic brother to Dead Set (which I don't recommend) from the Warfield & Radio City Music Hall shows in '80. They've now added a lot of extra songs to it with the latest remastering. The acoustic "Bird Song" is one of my all-time favorite performances, and there's much more than that. A+.

I second Quincy's recommendation for DP 12, and add a further recommendation for downloading any June '74 you can get your mitts on.

the 5/5/77 Peggy-O is tha shit.

So's the 5/19/77 "Sugaree" on DP 29.

Welcome back, Shrugs!

Hands down my all time favorite version of China>Rider. Not to be missed. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200 w/ out hearing this first.

10-16-77

love this "review" from the archive:

Reviewer: Ole Uncle John - - March 19, 2005
Subject: Why Jerry? Why?

"Why did you have to go and ruin Bobby's 30th B-day show like that? Why did you have to follow his peppy little Promised Land opener with a 17 min plus colossus of a Sugaree?? Did you have to remind him and us who's the Master and who's the young apprentice? We knew,he knew, we still know."

Love this photo; used it as the front cover of a little collection of favorite Pigpen performances which I call "Hard to Handle: the Ron Pigpen McKernan Collection."

Love to do those "collections." I'm trying to find a moment to burn a Pen disc with The Same Thing, Schoolgirl, and Midnight Hour from the "Sunflower/Avalon" recordings (1966) plus a Smokestack Lightning/Kingbee pairing (or the Kingbee/Caution pairing) and a few other ditties. That's a good snapshot of Pig when he was the "frontman" for the group.

As is, I put together a cd with Smokestack from Bear's Choice, Kingbee and Hard to Handle from the Fillmore East, Good Lovin from Copenhagen (Europe '72) and Midnight Hour from Fillmore.

What too many folks miss is that Mr. Pen always made the boys work extra hard to keep up.

I agree totally. . . Pig really worked that band!

In terms of discussing the various keyboard players and their tragic demises, Pig's is in that category. He's the one who talked Jerry into taking the jug band electric. He's the one who moved them into blues and r&b. He was the soul.

In the primal days, Pig had a major role as a musician and a vocalist. Constanten limited Pig's organ playing (okay, it wasn't that great), but if you look at 68-69, Pig sometimes got a whole set. Alligator--Caution. Lovelight. Lot's more Kingbees, Midnoght Hours, all sorts of raves. But, by 1971, he was relegated to a few songs a set--albeit standout tunes like Hard to Handle (almost all of the 1971 versions smoke). His slots in the rotation were cut way back. Often, the tunes were basic blues--short but strong--like the rub or Next Time You See Me or Big Boss Man. As his health faced, his role in the band diminished. He did comeback with a vengence in 1972--those Good Lovin's from Europe often outshine everything else--those and the Cautions. But the band was moving away from the hard blues into the c&w tunes from Workingman's Dead, American Beauty, and the post Pig Wake of the Flood.

In a way, Pig never quite fit in to the acid drenched trip of the sixties. As the band evolved musically into post psychedellic jas infused jams, his style seemed more and more out of place. His keyboard work, when it was there at all, is mixed way down on the tapes that circulate.

It's sad, because when he died, he had reemerged not only as a master of mojo and a stone solid rapper, but his songwriting had just begun to mature.

I've always felt that he was the soul that fueled the Grateful Dead, and his passing marked the end of an era.

Too right.....
Wasnt he recording a solo album at the time of his demise?

All I know for sure is that an article in, I believe, Rolling Stone said that he was found dead on the proverbial floor and that among the various artifacts in his room were some homemade demos tapes.
Just think--he had several songs done that the Dead chose not to release--The Stranger and Empty Pages leap to mind. Both excellent tunes that are extrememly mournful--both expressing loss instead of the usual boisterous strutting. State of mind?

And why, I wonder, was Empty Pages left off of So Many Roads; and why was the Stranger not on Hundred Year Hall? Publishing issues?