Kate

MJ: Phenomenal! Finishing my 2nd pass at this set as I type. Though center mass in (one of) my preferred periods, I wasn't familiar with The Seven. Hope you don't mind, but I x-pollinated your post, and my response, over on SHF's "Grateful Thread", as this thing - and The7 in particular - deserve introduction to a broader audience. FYI: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/the-grateful-thread.349350/page-1653

Brilliant live recording. Bear's autistic genius on full display. Paradigmatic. I just wish Doc warn't as enamored of the sound of his voice talking as I am of it when employed to singing. Still, unlike Dave's Picks, future editions of BSJ will likely be an automatic purchase.

It would have to unseat "Tree of Life". Good god, a clinical exposition of mass Academy delusion. "Bug". Genius. The raw pathos of human desperation and madness in a sublime mix of brilliantly paced, gut wrenching suspense. To quote Letterman, when he was worth quoting: "The paramters are askew." In some small way, the world would be a better place with more like this. Did anyone here see Shannon live while the stage play was touring? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqdKv0Vz0sU

In the last few years I've begun to wonder about the sociocultural influences that shaped my early predilection for a (predominantly) racially homogenous universe of musical artists. Challenging the established frontiers of those forces is yielding edifying dividends.

Given that I'm partial to physical media, I've an old $15 iTunes gift card that's been moulding in a desk drawer's dark corner; however, while trawling through blues' selections I discovered this apparent digital exclusive (as I couldn't find a cd counterpart at the regular spots). At $12, it's a pretty impressive 130 song collection, including multiple recordings from Lead Belly, Miss.John Williams, Robert J., Blind Willie, Lemon, et al. Early on I encountered "Canned Heat Blues" (I just realized the songs are organized alphabetically) and thought, 'couldn't be', but sure enough a quick check of wiki revealed the namesource of my beloved blues rockers: "Canned Heat is an American rock band formed in L.A. in 1965. The group has been noted for its interpretations of blues material and for its efforts to promote interest in this type of music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who took the name from Tommy Johnson's 1928 'Canned Heat Blues', a song about an alcoholic who had desperately turned to drinking Sterno, generically called 'canned heat'". This reminds me of a story told by my grandfather regarding his time in boot camp ages ago when the more desperate alcoholics, facing a period of militarily enforced prohibition, turned to drinking aftershave. Oi!

I'm a woman, I know my stuff I'm a woman, I ain't never had enough I'm going down yonder, behind the sun I'm gonna do something for you, that ain't never been done I'm gonna hold back the lightning, with the palm of my hand Shake hands with the devil, make him crawl in the sand As a tie-dyed-in-the-wool Deadhead it shakes me to the core to confess that, in a house fire, I'd grab my nascent electric blues collection before even considering 5/9, 2/14, 5/15, or anything Spring 72 (though I'll risk 3rd degree burns to grab the '69 Fillmore West material). Why the hell doesn't anyone talk about this stuff? Oh yeah, on order from Amazon... Jr.K: Sad Days; God Knows; Most Things; Better Run....Junior is like the VU & Meat Puppets: never heard anything like 'em (I like the critical description of "surreal and otherworldly") Hound Dog: Boogie, Genuine, Beware Anyone else anticipating, or already received, the first release of Bear's Sonic Journals, the Doc & Merle Watson box? Should arrive here tomorrow! WOOT!

Started listening to T and Hound Dog this week. Bought my first power tools. Eschewed paying someone else or, more likely, buying a replacement, and personally repaired the fuel lines on my weedeater (it works!). Gutted a few hundred pounds of hanging, defunct, iron gas lines from the basement with a recip saw. Sat down to a dinner of loose metal scraps and spit out #10 finishing nails. Gonna put Junior and Luther A. in the queue and build a house next week. Edit: The bit about the nails isn't technically true and I've already got a house. Nonetheless, this is some powerful stuff: check with a doctor to ensure your heart is healthy enough before taking these here electric blues...

I now own 2 country albums: .05% of my collection. But such an audacious few... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQHo9gaF348 "I leave a wake of death behind me A thousand miles wide A thousand rivers of blood and tears the dying cried I remember every plea for mercy, begged in vain I am the great separator and the instrument of pain"

Beyond the glare of fame ordained / By fickle public masses / For shadowed talent, guileless acclaim /From those who can see past it

The 2004 reunion tour was vintage GHWB-era redux; enough variations, nuances, and risk taking from these reckless avant garde virtuosos to warrant scooping up another 4 shows from the final 12 ... what would we do without ebay? (or discogs, for that matter) I'm intrigued by similarities b/w the VU and Pixies, essentially 2 decades apart./peace,K

Alan - excellent and appropros...disc 2 is a paradigmatic study in how rehearsals/outtakes should be done, love Outskirts, Early, and especially the mercurial Jam to close; with the remaster, the thing has already paid for itself, but then throw in a fantastic Fall '73 show with a slew of terrific, unreleased stuff, and this is a collection cornerstone (check that triumvirate of Jess/YDLM/LesB on #4). Nice shout out!

'87 Redux! https://www.jambase.com/article/grateful-dead-scores-two-top-15-albums-billboard-chart

Ned's engineering intellect, avant garde artistic sensibilities, and technomusical skills at mischievous play./K Edit: sample - http://spiritcats.com/catdreams.html

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gqgp0o6yFqQ Precious little appetizer...I like the effects at 4:55 & 5:40..."the notes were flying off his guitar, it was so fluid, so liquid"... Edit: Mj, how do you embed a video? Edit II: What, no scroll!?

I purchased this box 3 yrs ago for $89USD and, not a fraction through, concluded it to be the greatest commercial bargain in the history of recorded music. The price rose considerably thereafter, but, scanning new prospects on Amazon, I see it's available in the crazy-good range ($99USD) once again. FW's work on the Ring Cycle in '53 alone goes a long way toward justifying the price. One of my favourite surprises: performances by the BSO from '39 and '51 of FW's own symphonic compositions./peace,K https://www.amazon.com/Wilhelm-Furtwängler-Das-Vermächtnis-Legacy/dp/B004JC16LC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492991428&sr=8-1&keywords=furtwangler

Just a word of caution regarding the Rhino/Warner webstore: Yesterday, almost immediately after "the big fix", a few posters on .net reported fraudulent activity on their Paypal accounts after completing purchase. This afternoon, out of curiosity, I carted a box and, upon being linked to the R/W store, Norton securities intervened with the dreaded Red Fraud Shield, recommending that I abort and return to my home page. I've begun checking my CC account online every so often throughout the day. No problems, but vigilance is warranted./p,k

Outstanding! Now, when does decorum dictate that we can start speculating about DaP 23?

Dave, every 2/16 at 2:54 pm EST we'll have to observe a moment of silence for this afternoon's emotional casualties...

Problem solved! The dysfunctional Dead.net order page is now linked to the apparently operational Rhino webstore....so, return to .net and keep trying to cart until you are transferred to Rhino. I just received email confirmation. WOOT!

Over on SHF and the .net thread there's still the rare report of an order going through. I began trying online just 10 minutes after the notice hit email, and about 30 minutes later jumped into the CS phone queue while continuing attempts to order from the site. After 3 hours, 5 dropped calls (terminated every 30 minutes), literally dozens of electronic error messages while attempting to cart the box, and 5 failed order confirmations after I'd managed to get the product into the cart, I quit. And all this for shows of which I have near-commercial grade SBDs. Maybe I should start looking for meetings.

Claude Hudson Trucks (1947-2017) An acutely painful loss in the family. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/01/25/allman-brothers-band-drummer-butch-trucks-dead-at-69.html https://www.youtube.com/embed/1lSf3kdao6o

I've been on my most successful music buying moratorium since age 14; my last purchase was a pre-order of REM's OOT deluxe in early October. However, just a bit ago, I ran into a thread over on SHF addressing VU's 45th anniversary eponymous release versus The Matrix Tapes box. I have the first and thought the latter would remain out of reach financially after going OOP in 2015 (Amazon lists it new @ $89). Yet, after a poster from Sweden remarked on recent lower prices, I searched ebay and - to my astonishment - found new sets selling from high volume, reputable dealers at around $40USD. Sooooo, I executed the fastest series of left mouse clicks my motor skills could accomodate. Matrix Regret no more! WOOT! http://www.ebay.com/itm/VELVET-UNDERGROUND-COMPLETE-MATRIX-TAPES-RECORDED-1969-4-CD-SET/291935606975?_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D40804%26meid%3Da235340ba0eb41a9a1c7aa5dec9aa96e%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D311498276270

It's official, the O/P just became every Beatles' thread on Steve Hoffman Forums!

Well, I've finished listening to the Miller transfer and, except for a few second set highlights that I've bookmarked over on some postings at .net, this show is simply underwhelming. I wholeheartedly endorse a more egalitarian era release philosophy, especially since the 90s and a few of the 80's shows from 30T were such delightfully unexpected discoveries, yet this performance not only fails to present a consistent set, but misses the mark on even an outstanding run of songs/jams/segues within a set. To be clear, I'm a subscriber, so it's coming anyway. But I can't help but wonder if this marks a paradigm shift; I suspect expectations will be high for at least one 80's appearance yearly from now on, and the CU show, which apparently was recorded on reels, may be indicative of the inclination to select subpar shows with superior sources versus superior shows from the cassette recordings that were so prevalent during the decade. I strongly suspect that I'll approach next year's DaP a la carte, though I appreciate the immediate joy, and optimism for future releases, that #20 brings to the increasingly voluble crowd for whom Reagan era Dead was the pinnacle./K