orchiddoctor

Remind Lon to show you all them gold stars he used to get waaaaaaaaaay back when.

When I first heard the Mountains that preceeded the Dark Star from Live/Dead, I felt as if they'd left the best part off the L.P. I guess those were the limitations posed by 22-24 minutes a side. Thank God for cds. Don't have to change the record, don't have to guess what came before or after. Anyone listen to the entire suite that is excerpted in Europe '72?

Care to share that secret way in? Go to gdlive.com and look on the left of the homepage. Under mp3, click on grateful dead and the whole list appears. Same for shn.

Which Dick's Picks is this? NEWSFLASH: www.gdlive.com is back in operation with all of its listings intact.

A sad ending for a deeply intelligent, deeply gifted, deeply troubled man. Apropos of nothing, more from Rhino: http://www.gdforum.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.c...2&list=postcard

Agreed: First, the excuse re: archive was that they were taking contributions. So does dime and the others. Second: Unlike Dead.net, Rhino is a real business, and they have signed a deal. Now the Dead aren't the "bad guys." Rhino will do everything in its power to protect its investment. BTW, Chalupa--you the guy who has uploaded on archive? If so, hat's off to you.

I know only about dimeadozen.org (home to a lot of Jazz such as Trane, the AEC, etc.), but not "zomb." Perhaps those in the know might list a few download sites. These sites tend to host only "legal" downloads, so there is no "moral" hangover involved.

I went back on the Windows Media player to burn the last Avalon concert and they didn't show up as they did before under artist. I found them again by typing in grateful dead 1 24 1969 then 1 25 1969 and 1 26 1969. Are there more?

Question. Why did they retain a tape archivist when they have no tapes???? Perhaps because of his expertise, he is a liason????

Going back to an earlier debate, an interesting article: http://www.jambands.com/Columns/Zzyzx/cont..._12_12.00.phtml

Yes, I think the singles are there. Now, as I pm'd to Lon, I found a goodie. I don't know the story, just the ending. The new Windows Media player (free download) offers all the usual music for burning or ipoding. Go there. Go to URGE. Go to "Artist." scroll down a small bit. Se it: Grateful Dead, Avalon Ballroom 1-24, 25, 26 1969. Better quality than Archive. This is where the eleven--lovelight on Live Dead comes from. It's like a companion to the Fillmore Box Set. Is this provided by Rhino or the Dead? It's right between all the "hit" cds, so it must be legit. Okay, don't want to pay to play? Get the 15 day free trial like I did and burn the muthah. The last "Clementine"--well, it's just top quality 1969 dead. Is more to come?

Just for the record (no pun intended), the two songs were nothing special, and they can be found on all sorts of boots. I think that one boot has a half dozen takes including instrumental tracks of each song. One of the "Unsurpassed" series. Yawn. That Kingbee--caution pair is hot, primal dead. It has been sugggested that it was done in the studio. Sweet sound.

According to inside sources, not many were printed, fewer were distributed, few were sold, and it is speculated that only 20 or so survive today. I found one in 1969 in a Greenwich Village hole in the wall record store on Bleeker Street. I kept it in pristine condition and sold it in the late 70's for two thousand dollars to a crazed tape head in Brooklyn whose name I cannot divulge--mostly because I cannot remember it. I always thought that the recording sounded ridiculous in its immature performance. Could that really be the dead???? Yikes!

That was aired in part on VH1--I forget the series. Doesn't Steven Barncard put the master reel on and turn off everythng but Jerry's vocal? So sweet. Those were the years that he spent as much time honing his voice as he did his fingers. As to American Beauty, Mickey Hart remixed it for 4.1 sound a few years ago. I lack the technology, but can imagine that all those mandolins and guitars and layered voices really shine.

The first lp is awfully underrated, even by garcia and the band. Sure, a few songs are rushed, but it's worth it just for Cold Rain and Snow and that awesome Viola Lee Blues. Trippy, hippie, dippy, but you can hear Garcia getting his chops down. Anthem? Whooie. All those splices. The Alligator is primarily from 2-14-98, and the cuation is from 11-11-67 (or 11-10?), so the main segments are live. The Alligator is truncated. Jerry's a capella solo after drums is much longer as is the post "ALLIGATOR!!!) jam. (I'll send you a copy of both). Isn't part of cuation also on the dicks picks from the dream bowl? Aoxomoxoa. Best l.p. cover ever. Love the St. Stephen--Phil chasing Jerry! There's a set of outtakes available with St. S--William Tell--11 in the studio with Hunter on bagpipes. Chuckle. Rosemary--what a lovely, forlorn piece, and doin that rag. Get the original mix for that one, with the subtle extra layers. China Cat Sunflower! But, uggh, What's Become of the Baby? I don't care (btw, Owsley played a tape of it during the feedback that ocurred in the Viola Lee Blues that's on The Phil Zone. Oh the worthless trivia). What can one say about Workingman's Dead and American Beauty? Certainly the latter is one of the best lps of the 70s--if not of all time. Frind of the Devil? Box of Rain? Ripple? There was a special on VH1 during which Steven Barncard during which he went to the master tape and isolated Jerry's vocals. Those who say Jerry couldn't sing---HA! Skullfuck--well, the Fillmore East Box os much superior. Never could understand why there wasn't more Pig on that one--especially Hard to Handle.

Who won?

Look on the upper left. If it doesn't stream, downlad realplayer for mac and that should do it. Stream (help) VBR M3U (Hi-Fi) (flash)

Twice. One is good, the other is pitiful and ugly. Janis is beyond shitfaced and raps about Pig's sexual perversions. One to skip. The better one is 6-7-69 Fillmore West; the xxx rated one is 7-16-70 Euphoria Ballroom. Both can be streamed on archive. The digital downloads must be on hold until Rhino takes over.

Twice. One is good, the other is pitiful and ugly. Janis is beyond shitfaced and raps about Pig's sexual perversions. One to skip.

That's Bring Me My Shotgun. Here's a rundown, though I don't buy the idea that these recordings were more than demos: "Pigpen recorded several songs for an album which never was released. These include "C.C. Rider" and "Bring Me My Shotgun", recorded in 1970. In February, 1973, he recorded a Lightning Hopkins song, "She's Mine", as well as "I Believe", "Like A Long Time", and "Michael", at his apartment in Corte Madera, CA. ... Another song, intended for the solo album, was the Clancy Carlile song "I'm A Loving Man", which was recorded in 1969 at Pacific High Recording, located on Brady Alley just off Market, in San Francisco. ... The album was to be released, tentatively, on Mercury, or its Smash subsidiary, with Bob Serempa as the A&R person. Many of these songs have been given different names over the years. The most common tape in circulation has the following songs (with alternative titles in brackets): I Got Two Women (Two Women) Michael (Poor Michael Went Down, Queen Of Santa Fe II, Gas Station Rap) Katie Mae Baby Please Don't Go (New Orleans) That Freight Train, Up In The Sky (That Train) Untitled instrumental Bring Me My Shotgun C.C.Rider Katie Mae (repeat) Hitch Hiking Woman I Got Two Women (repeat) When I Was A Boy (Santa Fe Queen, Queen Of Santa Fe I) Bring Me My Shotgun (repeat) I Believe (The Devil In My Bones) She's Mine Like A Long Time (Look Over Yonder, No Tomorrow, No Time) Sweet Georgia Brown (instrumental, with Jorma Kaukonen) Betty And Dupree (with Jorma Kaukonen) I'm A Loving Man circulates separately, normally with outtakes from Workingman's Dead/American Beauty The Deadhead's Taping Compendium Volume 1 lists a tape (dated ??/70) which may be an earlier source for the more widely circulated tape above. It includes some additional tracks: "The folk motif continues with "Hobo Jungle Rap," a simple one-chord monologue in which Pigpen describes his first encounters with local hobos. After dissolving quickly as a song, the monologue continues as a spoken word narration. In it, Pigpen talks briefly about his first experiences hopping freight trains, adding a sweet lick from his guitar here and there. Much to our dismay, however, the tape breaks off prematurely. "Following the tape flip, the subsequent two tracks are disturbingly haunting. All the preceding selections are based around traditional blues and folk approaches, but these songs are derived from a deeper spiritual influence, remotely similar to that of Charlie Patton or Son House. Vocally, these are emotionally harrowin, and the musical approach is dark, almost occultish. "Passing Through," while admittedly not a very dynamic selection and further hampered by feedback blasts, is a chilling tale of weary travel, with loneliness and despondency prevailing. "Easy Rider," which at the outset sounds distinctly similar to the Rolling Stones' "Sister Morphine," is only slightly less morbid lyrically but far eerier in execution. Unlike "Passing Through," which is delivered from an emotional and perhaps autobiographical approach, this tune is presented in the form of a narrative, focussed intently on setting as well as character. Following a brief rap, the tape concludes with a fragmentary and comic attempt at the fifties sock hop classic, "In The Still Of The Night," complete with teen idol falsetto, before the finale of "Big Boy Pete," which is playful and immature. " Somehow I doubt that these were intended for release. If they were, the Dead had their own labels, GD Records and Round Records, the latter being for solo projects. Jerry, Hunter, Lesh, Keith and Donna all released recordings on Round. Seems as if Pig would have gone the same route, professional recording and all. As is, the cd in question is really an interesting document of various things Pig did that someone gathered together for a bootleg.

Maybe I'll get inspired to do a retrospective set of cds--there are many, many songs over his career--going by time period. There are things like the Feb. 14, 1968 Carousel Ballroom Alligator--Caution that deserve listening (that's the Alligator used as the basis on Anthem of the Sun--but it is uncut.) I guess there would have to be a Europe '72 disc--at least one. Or Pig and Janis on Lovelight (the good version, not the drunk one). I've never heard the Bring Me My Shotgun Cd in its entirety, but there are a few nuggets there to be sure.

The Wenner/Reich interview(s) were done in 1971. I don't recall a mention of Pig's purported solo, but I'm over 50, and my memory sucks. Still, with all the boots and so on, all we have seen is the early demos from various dates--a haphazard collection of material. I really am surprised that nothing has surfaced after 30 someodd years considering the stuff that's out there--including rehersals from 1971.

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?

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.

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.