Linear Dead Listening

I am a bicycle commuter (19 miles a day), and I generally listen to Dead shows while pedaling.

Awhile back, I did the whole E72 tour consecutively. Earlier this year, I ran sequentially through 1974. So much good music. I don’t really retain too many specific memories, so just a few observations.

The February Winterland shows are uneven. 2/22 is the best of the bunch, IIRC, 2/23 has that nice Here Comes Sunshine (last one?), and 2/24 was weak. At least that’s how I remember it. Maybe it was the other way around. 😉

May and June – hamina hamina. So much good stuff. I didn’t do the Pacific Northwest shows through the official release, which I wish I had. But there’s just loads and loads of great music here.

“Money Money” is a great tune. I don’t blame those who objected to its misogyny for doing so, but man do I wish they could have just done it with Bob’s vocal mic turned down, because the music gets me tapping my toe.

July also strong, unsurprisingly. I seem to recall that the one show without a big jam (Roanoke?) actually had a great PITB. One of these shows really did, anyway.

August 4-5-6 also awesome.

E74? Yeesh, not so good, is my impression. There was a good Dark Star or two, 9/10 for sure, some other moments.

I thought I had recalled Phil saying he did a “Firebombing of Dresden” type assault somewhere in the Munich, maybe in Seastones, but I didn’t hear it. I was ready.

The Last Ones, or whatever they were called? Blech. I know there are better tapes now than there used to be, but for some of these shows I still only managed to get the ones with the old reverbing out-of-sync crowd clapping, the booming room sound, etc. The 10/19 Caution Jam was pretty legit, wonder why they didn’t do that more. They seemed to be trying hard, the shows had their moments, but mostly I found them to be a letdown.

One obvious conclusion from my ’74 listening: Friend of the Devil should always, only, ever have been played upbeat. Another: I do love me some Spanish Jam.

I even listened to some Seastones, and it was often diverting.

Spoiler alert: Mickey Hart returns, and a drummer who doesn’t really keep time just muddies the waters, IMO.

Now, I have started in on 1976. Some good stuff here the first few dates, though nothing that really destroys me. 1976 is often considered a relatively slow and sleepy year, and nothing I have heard so far dissuades me from that view. Might As Well is nice, The Music Never Stopped is nice, Help > Slip > Franklin’s is nice, Crazy Fingers is nice, Lazy > Supp is fun, Cosmic Charlie is lame. The PITBs start off short, and the one I heard a few days ago sounded like it wanted to go into Dancin’ In The Street, before it reprised. Today I was with the 6/10 version and, indeed, it segues nicely into DITS.

I seem to have skipped 6/9 II, so no Stephen yet, but I expect to be underwhelmed.

Interesting that Jerry hasn’t figured out the wailing approach to Samson that he’d develop. I look forward to hearing that song develop over the course of the year.

I have been trying not to FF>> too much. For ’74, It Must Have Been The Roses was my biggest challenge, Ship Of Fools not far behind. (Interesting these are Jerry tunes.) For ’76, I WILL NOT listen to Looks Like Rain, and you can’t make me do it. What a turd. I see now that it was on the shelf all through 1974, another point in that great year’s favor.

So, there you have it.


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12 responses to “Linear Dead Listening”

  1. Fate Music Avatar

    6/9 set II is actually maybe the best of the first half dozen shows, at least out of the gate. The Stephen was surprisingly good, and rolls into an Eyes that starts off with a long and interesting jam and has tons of pep. I don't remember an Eyes quite like this one – I really dug it.

  2. David Leopold Avatar
    David Leopold

    You might be interested in Jesse Jarnow's breif listening notes for 74 http://www.jessejarnow.com/2014/12/deadfreaksunite-1974/

  3. m0thra Avatar

    I also commute on bike, 25 miles roundtrip, and generally another 50 miles on the weekend in the Summers.
    Mostly trails, but there's a few busy streets so I only listen in one ear. For years I refused to do this think it'd ruin the music just getting half of the stereo, but it's not too bad, sometimes I get a weird mix I am sure. But this does provide me endless hours of listening. Due to the road noise, I pretty much to good clean boards. 73 and 74 are my go to years as there is so much going on in those jams. I rarely listen to the first sets, except for a set closer jam i.e. Playin, etc. Definitely preferable to a audiobook as it diverts my attention less.

  4. Fate Music Avatar

    Yeah, my headphones are "open" to the outside, which is good since I share four miles each way with cars. It's bad when I am zipping downhill, but the great thing about this bulk listening is that I don't obsess about hearing every fart. Safety first, of course. And, so much amazing music! I commuted home late last night and got to hear the 6/14/76 Playin', which I really enjoyed even though Garcia puts him himself and stays in a weird key.

    Bike commuting is the bomb. During the summer I like to do a 13 mile one-way that gets me some nice views and such.

  5. m0thra Avatar

    Are your headphones the bone conduction type? Never tried those, but if the sound was good, I'd be all over em.

  6. Fate Music Avatar

    6/14/76 set II has some really good stuff, including a tremendous Slipknot! that gets very exploratory. Crazy Fingers also stretches nicely at the end into the Spanish spaces I always wish they'd explore more. I liked the PITB from set I, as well, though Garcia is playing in an odd key. This sequence was excellent, less the Cosmic Charlie, which just doesn't work.

    The Music Never Stopped, Crazy Fingers> Drums> Dancin' In The Streets> Cosmic Charlie, Help On The Way> Slipknot> Franklin's

    I started in with the next night, and I will say the Let It Grow is kind of a trip. Donna is simply off key throughout, but it's fast and Jerry comes out of the gate giving it some of the flavor of Nicky Hopkins's "Edward", which he had done the previous fall with his band (including at the Beacon).

  7. m0thra Avatar

    6/14/76 is a personal fav, it was the first HQ board I had from 76 (betty?), starting a forever love affair with that year, although these days I prefer the fall gigs.

  8. Grateful Seconds Avatar

    skip 6/9 second set my first show? glad to see in the comments you circled back

  9. Fate Music Avatar

    It was worth it!

  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I used to do this for bike rides in the 2004-2007 era (I also attempted the entire Europe 72 thing at work a few times, but have never been able to do it all, I'd always wind up stopping in mid-May). To this day when I listen to certain shows, I remember exactly where I was during specific songs/jams. I'd keep a little notebook of "TDIH" shows and cross them off as I got to them. Things would get really hectic in May through August, trying to bike through 72, 74, 76, and 77.

    In those days I would generally work until 10 pm, race home and eat something, then hop on the bike for late night 15-20 mile rides after midnight, generally on country roads near the Missouri River you wouldn't think of riding on during the day but were pretty desolate at night.

    In mid May one year I had put on 5/19/77. I was nearing the end of the show and went to ride up onto a shoulder and there was this little crack between the road and the shoulder. I had just looked down at my odometer/speedometer thing and was going about 15 mph when my back tire got stuck in the crack and I knew I was in trouble. Sure enough, I couldn't correct and wound up taking quite a tumble. As I was shaking it off, making sure nothing was broken, looking for road rashes, I realized my cd player was still running. Right at that moment, China Doll was winding down. As the adrenaline was wearing off and I realized I had no major injuries, they sung the line "Pick up your China Doll…it's only fractured, just a little nervous from the fall." Despite a couple of scrapes, I had to laugh and think "even in a bike wreck, those Dead coincidences are always there."

  11. Fate Music Avatar

    Wow, that is a good one.

    GD + riding = happiness (unless there's a wipeout)

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