AfricaBrass Posted May 14, 2003 Report Posted May 14, 2003 (edited) At the risk of getting flamed, it might be a good idea to list some Grateful Dead albums NOT to start with. If I was just getting into the group, I would avoid: Go to Heaven - I like Alabama Getaway, but that's about it. Built to Last - There's a lot I like about In the Dark (the album before this one), but I've never been able to get into Built to Last. Others that I wouldn't put high on my list, but some might be fans of: Steal Your Face - you're better off downloading live recordings from those same shows for free. There has always been a very negative buzz about this album, so I never bothered with it. Shakedown Street & Terrapin Station - I know I'll get blasted for this, but I just can't get into the production of this and Terrapin Station. There are great songs on both of these albums, but the live versions are MUCH better, to me. I'm not saying not to get these eventually, but as first purchases, you could do better. I'll put my asbestos coat on. Flame away! :rsmile: Edited May 14, 2003 by AfricaBrass Quote
jazzbo Posted May 14, 2003 Report Posted May 14, 2003 (edited) Boy are you a BRAVE man! Hey, no flaming from me, from what I can remember you've given good advice, though I will admit to a real fondness for the tune "Althea" on Go to Heaven. . . . I don't know why, I just really like that tune! Edited May 14, 2003 by jazzbo Quote
jazzbo Posted May 14, 2003 Report Posted May 14, 2003 And Imp: yes, "Ace"---I remember that album fondly, and what a killer cover too! Thanks for reminding me of that one. I could stand to listen to that and the Dead stuff from '73 to '75 again. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 14, 2003 Report Posted May 14, 2003 Jazzbo, I forgot about Althea, it is a good song. I wish I liked the rest of the album as much. :rsmile: Quote
sal Posted May 16, 2003 Report Posted May 16, 2003 To help share the flaming with you, AfricaBrass, I really don't like ANY of the Dead's studio albums. The production on them just doesn't do it for me. I probably have about 7 dead albums (all live, multi-disc albums), about 15 different Dicks Picks Volumes and a few shows burned on CD-R. Basically, my entire Dead collection is live stuff, except for the studio tracks on the "So Many Roads" box set. I think the Dead are a live band, and that's really the only way I enjoy hearing them. I love "Althea" too.....the version on Dick's Picks 6!! Quote
scottb Posted May 16, 2003 Report Posted May 16, 2003 I also got rid of all my Dead studio albums except Americal Beauty and Workingman's Dead. Ditched Steal Your Face as well. I really like One From the Vault and Two From the Vault. Another one of my favorites is 100 Years Hall from Europe in 1972. I like Reckoning too when I'm in the mood for acoustic Dead Quote
sal Posted May 16, 2003 Report Posted May 16, 2003 Right on, scottb. Hundred Year Hall is one of my favorites as well. That was the second Dead disc I ever bought after Dozin at the Knick. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 16, 2003 Report Posted May 16, 2003 I'm with you guys, Sal and Scott. The Dead's studio albums (except Workingman's Dead and American Beauty) don't match the live stuff for me either. I do enjoy them, though, because the studio versions are interesting when compared to the live versions. It's too bad they were never able to capture in the studio what they had live. I guess I also like the studio versions because they are all I had for a long time when I was a Dead newbie. This was long before they started opening the vaults, and tape trading was only for those in the know. It's amazing that I can download hundreds of shows off the internet at any time. If any of you out there are interested in live shows. Check out www.gdlive.com or www.furthurnet.org. These are great resources for downloading live shows. If you're not familiar with the .shn format, you should be. This is a lossless compression format. Basically you convert your .wav files to .shn and they are about half the size. The best part is that unlike .mp3, the file quality hasn't been lost in any way when you convert it back to a .wav file for cd burning. This would be a great format for trading jazz also. I hope some of you will give the downloading method a chance. I've got hundreds of Dead shows now. :rsmile: Quote
sal Posted May 16, 2003 Report Posted May 16, 2003 AfricaBrass, I'm hip to the downloading thing as well! For a while, back in college when all I was into was jambands, I was trading CD-R's of shows from the original audience taper sources. When I discovered .shn, that made everything so much easker. I did that for a while, back when it was really young and you would download shows off of people's small servers. But now, its caught on and they have all those websites that you mentioned...and then some. It truely is a nice aspect of not only the Dead, but other jambands as well. Now, if I could have only taped that Tom Harrell Quintet show I saw last night!!!! Quote
jazzbo Posted May 23, 2003 Report Posted May 23, 2003 Grabbed a tape copy of Wake of the Flood (flawed tape, but listenable. . . though I'm going to have to replace it with a cd) and have to say that this will always be one of my favorite Dead sessions. It's just special, I don't know what else to say. Have a copy on the way of a cd of Blues for Allah (cd only, no art!) that I plucked off half.com cheaply . . . I know I'll enjoy hearing that too soon. Darn this thread! Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 23, 2003 Report Posted May 23, 2003 Welcome back to the bus, Lon! I love the songs from Wake of the Flood. I just found out that Dick's Picks 28 will be from February 1973 when many of these songs debuted. One of my favorite things is listening to a live version of Eyes of the World on a sunny afternoon. If you're interested, www.gdlive.com has some Wake of the Flood outtakes on it for download. It looks like the site is down right now, but it should be back up soon. :rsmile: Quote
jazzbo Posted May 23, 2003 Report Posted May 23, 2003 Cool. I'm not much for downloading. I have problems with this with my computer skills and hardware. I bid on a cd of "Ace" on ebay. Don't outbid me now! Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 23, 2003 Report Posted May 23, 2003 That's a good album! I hope you win the auction. :rsmile: Quote
shrugs Posted May 23, 2003 Report Posted May 23, 2003 Reflections is always found for cheap on lp. Mission in the Rain, baby Quote
danasgoodstuff Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 I like the Dead, I really do, but am I the only one who finds the self-involvment of deadheads to be just a bit of a barrier? On the other hand, I have some nice bootleg Quicksilver.... Quote
shrugs Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 I like the Dead, I really do, but am I the only one who finds the self-involvment of deadheads to be just a bit of a barrier? Many have the said the same about jazz. Quote
chris olivarez Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 Here's another vote for the Dead's live recordings.Dick's Picks or other live recordings are the way to go. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 I like the Dead, I really do, but am I the only one who finds the self-involvment of deadheads to be just a bit of a barrier? On the other hand, I have some nice bootleg Quicksilver.... At this point, I'm only into the Dead for the music. I would never give up listening to it just because of some overly self-involved Deadheads. It's pretty funny though, there's a bulletin board for the gdlive.com site, but all they do on it is trade cds and fight. They don't really talk about much. You bring up Quicksilver. I love that group. I couldn't imagine getting to see both bands play together. That would have been amazing. The interplay between the guitars of John Cippolina and Gary Duncan was amazing. I just wish they would never have added Dino Valente to the group. I like some of the Just For Love album, but I don't like much after that. I've been able to find some live QMS shows using the furthurnet.org site. :rsmile: :rsmile: Quote
danasgoodstuff Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 (edited) africaBrass, Yeah, sociology shouldn't get in the way of music, but then it doesn't exist in a vacumn either....I too have been curious to hear what some of those mix 'n match Dead/QMS/Airplane shows might have sounded like. I do know (and like) some deadhead tape traders I could ask but I hate to unleash the overly long reply. Did hear some interesting music on the local tape trader show on KBOO (Dead Air Space) by a band called String Cheese Incident, I think they played Birdland as bluegrass, kinda... Almost forgot, Dino V. was (I believe) originally part of QMS but got busted and/or drafted, then came back...talk about dark cloud/(quick)silver lining! Edited May 24, 2003 by danasgoodstuff Quote
chris olivarez Posted May 24, 2003 Report Posted May 24, 2003 (edited) When I lived in Los Angeles I remember watching a TV show featuring,the Airplane,Santana and the Dead.ONn that night I liked the Dead the best but it would be about the last time Santana wouldn't finish first in some context with me. Edited May 24, 2003 by chris olivarez Quote
jazzbo Posted May 28, 2003 Report Posted May 28, 2003 "Ace" went too high for me to consider it a good deal on ebay. But I did pick up "Greyfolded" . . . which is a real trip, as I suspected it would be! Quote
Noj Posted May 28, 2003 Report Posted May 28, 2003 2cds of Dark Star, can't go wrong with that... :rsmile: Quote
jazzbo Posted May 28, 2003 Report Posted May 28, 2003 It's very well done. I remember reading about this when it came out and figuring it would be good. My gut reaction was right! Quote
AfricaBrass Posted May 28, 2003 Report Posted May 28, 2003 John Oswald did a great job with Grayfolded. I don't listen to it much, but it's impressive. I'd really like to hear his Plunderphonics cd. I've read a lot about it, but haven't heard it. I guess he really pissed off the record companies with that one. :rsmile: BTW - if any of you download from gdlive.com, they just added a bunch of new shows. Quote
jazzbo Posted June 9, 2003 Report Posted June 9, 2003 Well, I've been busy. So far I've gotten a copy of Blues for Allah, and Dick's Picks One and Fourteen reasonably priced. More on the way! Quote
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