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In This Issue

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In This Issue

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CDead World Roundupc


CMusicc


CWe Are Everywherec


CWhat's In Store For Youc

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Dead World Roundup

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More everywhere than ever...

A sunny afternoon at Frost in ’87. © Regan McMahon 2012

As we geared up to land our latest digital dispatch on your virtual front porch, a cherished old Dead Head motto came to mind:

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"We Are Everywhere"

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It's not a sentiment that's entirely original to our scene. It’s been invoked many times over the years to represent solidarity among members of various political movements, for example. But it always seemed particularly apt in describing the far-flung and diverse community of Dead Heads, and the sometimes surprising places you’d encounter them: Not just in the venues and parking lots, but at your dentist’s office, or the place you get your car fixed; in the chamber of the United States Senate; on a basketball court, winning an NBA Championship; or in the kitchens of more than one of the world’s great restaurants. Like we said… everywhere. There’s always been a little bit of conspiratorial joy in spotting a fellow ‘head: a nod and smile at a passerby sporting some Dead iconography on a t-shirt; or that little wave as you pass that car with the Stealie on the back.

Jackie Greene, Phil lesh, Brian Lesh, Grahame Lesh - Phil and Friends - Gathering of the Vibes - July 2012 © Jay Blakesberg

Remarkably, in the 17 years since Jerry Garcia’s passing and the formal end of the Grateful Dead, the meaning of “Everywhere” for Dead Heads has only expanded, in ways that couldn’t have been imagined when the band began its adventure in the mid-1960s. If anything, the musical and cultural reach of the Grateful Dead is greater than ever, touching more people than it ever has, and in more different forms.

When we think about “Everywhere” now, it transcends mere geography and encompasses a dizzying variety of new technologies that allow us to appreciate the Dead in different ways; to enjoy the music, the art, the history, the interaction with other fans in the online world; to listen to the band’s music 24/7 on its very own Grateful Dead Channel on SiriusXM Radio; to access an ever-wider range of archival music and videos, in the form of both official releases and – in a continuation of a revered tradition among fans – the free exchange of privately made recordings, now accomplished in new, higher-tech ways unavailable to the old-school tape traders.

“Everywhere” includes the world of computer games and apps as well: the “Epic Tour” is an entertaining interactive trip affording players the opportunity to negotiate a tricky landscape of Dead-related fun (and to vote for all-time favorite shows); and those wishing to test their musical skills can plug into “Rock Prodigy” and jam with highlights from the Dead’s landmark Europe ’72 tour, the 40th anniversary of which was celebrated this year.

Rock Scully and Blair Jackson at the Grand Opening of Dead Central at UCSC in April 2012 © Jay Blakesberg

Fascination with the history of the Grateful Dead remains as great as ever, as demonstrated on various fronts. Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum mounted its first-ever exhibition solely devoted to the band, “Grateful Dead: The Long Strange Trip,” scheduled to run into early 2013. The long-awaited permanent home of the Dead’s own archives opened to the public at the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a website simultaneously launched, making access to selected gems from the archive available to people – you guessed it – everywhere.

Needless to say, the Everywhere ethos is still best expressed when Dead Heads gather to hear the music live and in person, and there are more opportunities to do that all the time, with an ever-growing number of bands and individuals who display their love for the Dead’s body of work by interpreting it in many different ways. Indeed, so great is the number of Grateful Dead tribute bands that a website was created to keep track of them and to keep fans aware of upcoming performances.

Of course, all the surviving core members of the Grateful Dead are still carrying on the living legacy, both on the road and in several exciting new ventures closer to home.

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The Adventures Of Phil, Bob, Mickey, Bill & Robert Hunter In 2012

Phil Lesh and Friends - Ramble at Terrapin Crossroads May 2012. L to R: Adam MacDougall, Jon Graboff, Jaz Sawyer, Tim Bluhm, Chris Robinson, Phil lesh, John Skehan, Graham Lesh © Jay Blakesberg

Phil Lesh brought a piece of Everywhere home to Marin County, fulfilling a longstanding dream with the opening of Terrapin Crossroads, an intimate new live music venue and restaurant, located in San Rafael (just a short hop from the Grateful Dead’s old recording/rehearsal studio, Club Front). Phil had been wishing for years for a great little place, close to home and away from the rigors of the road, where he could regularly make music in a relaxed setting with some of his talented friends. In envisioning Terrapin Crossroads, Phil was particularly inspired by his visits to the home studio/performance space of the late, great Levon Helm in Woodstock, NY. Levon regularly held wonderfully informal events he called “Midnight Rambles,” in which he played with his own band and welcomed an ever-changing cast of musical guests. Phil got Levon’s blessing to bring the Rambles concept to the West Coast, and set about looking for the ideal site. The original plan was to build a new facility from the ground up in the town of Fairfax, but that project encountered some of the daunting logistical obstacles that often thwart such an endeavor. That setback, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because just after abandoning the Fairfax plan, Phil found out that a venerable San Rafael institution, The Seafood Peddler restaurant, was up for sale… and the building also happened to house the Palm Ballroom, a cozy room that was the perfect size for the venue he had in mind. In a remarkably swift turnaround period after acquiring the property at the end of 2011, Phil and a very dedicated team set about installing a new Meyer Sound P.A. system, sprucing up the building, getting the restaurant staffed and the venue ready to unofficially open on Valentine’s Day, with a spectacular lineup featuring Phil, Furthur colleagues Jeff Chimenti and Joe Russo, jazz guitar master John Scofield and longtime Lesh associates Warren Haynes and Jackie Greene.

Furthur at Terrapin Crossroads, June 30, 2012 © Jay Blakesberg

Since then, Phil’s been playing Terrapin every chance he gets, several nights a week, both in the main music space (dubbed “The Grate Room”) and in more impromptu gatherings in the bar area of the restaurant (and when weather permits, out on the patio). Musical guests have included Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco, John Molo, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Tim and Nicki Bluhm, Stanley Jordan, Mark Karan, all the members of Furthur (separately and collectively), Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth. Adding to the warm familial and multigenerational vibe at the Crossroads is the frequent presence of Phil’s very talented sons, Grahame and Brian, who have played with their dad in an assortment of configurations (and also did some out-of-town gigs as part of a Phil & Friends lineup that hit the festival circuit this summer). Some of the especially memorable events included a 70th Birthday Tribute to Jerry Garcia; a reunion of the classic Phil & Friends lineup (aka the “PLQ”) of Lesh, Haynes, Herring, Molo and Barraco; a multi-night Furthur run in preparation for Summer tour; and a heartfelt tribute to Levon Helm shortly after his passing, at which Phil and guests performed in sequence all the songs from the classic second album by The Band. At that show, Phil said “I dedicate not just this show, or the next show, or everything we do here, but the whole place, to Levon Helm.

Not surprisingly, Terrapin Crossroads instantly became a magnet for Dead Heads from the Bay Area and around the world. And by the way, the restaurant is anything but an afterthought to the music venue – it has become a huge success in its own right, and got a rave three-star review from the San Francisco Chronicle’s notoriously picky food critic, Michael Bauer.

Bob with Chris Robinson and Jackie Greene, Summer Camp Music Festival, May 2012 © Jay Blakesberg

Bob Weir’s version of Everywhere meant that he went right on doing what’s he’s been up to pretty much continuously since he was 16: traveling the country, making music and having as much fun as he possibly can. But this past year things were a bit different: instead of just touring with one band, Weir seemed hellbent on playing in as many different, challenging musical contexts as he possibly could. In addition to the usual busy touring regimen with Furthur, he performed in several brand-new formats, with various collaborators and all by his lonesome. In the spring, Bob embarked on his first-ever solo acoustic tour – just Weir, his voice, a guitar and his bare right foot – the latter item lending a nice one-man-band quality, as Bobby used that foot for percussion, tapping it in time on what he called his “stomp box” – the lid of a road case, laid on the floor and outfitted with a contact mic, producing a surprisingly convincing kick-drum-like sound. Never one to take the easy way out, Weir didn’t just do the simple, campfire-friendly folkish material, either, but chose several tunes many might find daunting to pull off all alone (like the full “Weather Report Suite,” for example) and, well, aced ‘em. Bob also hooked up for some tour dates in a dynamic acoustic trio with Jackie Greene and Chris Robinson, and made a brief swing to some festivals with old friends Bruce Hornsby and Branford Marsalis (starting out the sets as a guitar/piano/sax trio, then gradually welcoming Hornsby’s band, The Noisemakers, to the stage).

Bobby was no less busy, it seemed, when not on the road, eschewing that “back home, sit down and patch my bones” stuff in favor of more music making. A lot of that took place at TRI Studios, the state-of-the-art performance/recording/webcasting facility (aka “the ultimate playpen for musicians”) that Weir and partners opened in the spring of 2011.

Bruce, Branford and Bob, Gathering of The Vibes, July 2012 © Jay Blakesberg

Rolling into its second year, TRI was a whirlwind of activity, hosting a busy schedule of performances, some with Bobby and various friends, others with a range of visiting artists, including both well-known musicians and emerging young talent. Excerpts from many of the webcasts can be found at the TRI website, and also at Yahoo! Music, with which TRI established a partnership this year.

Screengrab courtesy of Hidden Track © 2012 TRI Studios

While there was plenty of great stuff happening at TRI all year long, some very special webcast events generated especially massive buzz: in January, there was a heartwarming reunion of RatDog, Bob’s longtime touring compadres, playing together for the first time since the fall of 2009. Then in March an unprecedented (and, it is fervently hoped, just the first of many) collaboration between Bob and members of the acclaimed and influential Brooklyn-based indie band The National, who brought along a few other East Coast pals, all in the service of the vitally important voter registration/education group HeadCount. TRI’s biggest event of the year came in August: “Move Me Brightly,” a celebration of Jerry Garcia’s 70th Birthday (two days after the actual date). It was an astonishingly generous (four and a half hours without a break!) tribute, featuring a stellar cast (including Weir, Phil Lesh, Donna Jean Godchaux, Furthur’s Jeff Chimenti and Joe Russo, Phish’s Mike Gordon, Jim Lauderdale, Harper Simon, Neal Casal, Jon Graboff, members of The Hold Steady, Vampire Weekend, the Yellowbirds, and various others), playing many of the canonical works from the Hunter/Garcia songbook. (While we’re on the subject of that songbook: one of the delights of the past musical year was the beautiful cover of “It Must Have Been The Roses” that Norah Jones added to her repertoire over the summer. One of the GD-loving members of her band, Jason Abraham Roberts, wound up playing on the “Move Me Brightly” webcast, and not long after, Mr. Weir returned the compliment by doing a surprise guest appearance on “Roses” during Norah’s set at the Outside Lands festival in Golden Gate Park).

As if all that didn’t give Bob enough to do, he was also involved in the revival of a Marin County institution. The legendary club and musician’s hangout Sweetwater, which was reincarnated in a new Mill Valley location as the Sweetwater Music Hall. Bobby has dropped in to play frequently, and the room plays host to an eclectic range of music (including our pal from RatDog, Mark Karan, who’s been holding down a regular Wednesday night slot).

As Summer inched toward fall, Weir was fixing to get back on the road for a few more solo dates – including one opening for Bob Dylan in Hershey, PA, and a HeadCount benefit pairing him with one of the greatest bands on the planet right now, The Roots, held at the gorgeously restored and reopened Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, a much-beloved venue that was the site of some unforgettable Grateful Dead shows in the early 1970s. Then it was back to work with Furthur for Bobby, who covered a whole lot of Everywhere this year.

Speaking of Furthur: even with all that activity on their plate, Phil and Bob still managed to get in a whole bunch of work and play with their joint venture, which continued its inspiring musical growth. High points of the year included a return to some favorite venues, including New York’s Beacon Theater (for an 8-show run, to the Big Apple’s great delight); the Woodstock festival site at Bethel, NY; Philadelphia’s Mann Center; Brooklyn’s MCU Park; Red Rocks in Colorado and more.

Mickey Performing in SF at an invite only web stream recording/broadcast debuting his new band, April 2012 © Jay Blakesberg

Mickey Hart’s covered so much territory in his joyous pursuit of different musical worlds that he might well be called “The Man From Everywhere.” That’s been no different recently, with Mickey, as ever, immersed in a variety of projects. Foremost among these of late has been the Mickey Hart Band, which had a banner year highlighted by the release of its first studio album, Mysterium Tremendum, an irresistible mixture of the deep grooves we’ve come to expect from Mickey with a highly accessible and melodic collection of songs (with lyrics by Robert Hunter), soulfully sung by Crystal Monee Hall and Tim Hockenberry. Tim had to move on from the band for the happiest of reasons: he became something of a nationwide sensation with a series of appearances on the wildly popular TV show “America’s Got Talent.” Ably filling Tim’s shoes on the road was Joe Bagale. Also joining the fun and stoking the grooves in the band’s second year was Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools (or as Mickey affectionately calls him, “Bass Mountain”). The band’s sets were the highlight of numerous festivals this past summer, and the MHB had the honor of opening the Grateful Dead exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Mickey and his musical model of the bridge. Courtesy of Mickey Hart

Mickey, inveterate sonic experimenter that he is, was a natural choice to help celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge in a very special way. He played the sounds of the San Francisco landmark on a unique musical instrument, a 25-foot replica of the bridge (named – what else? – “Bridgette”) built by engineers at the city’s great science museum The Exploratorium.

Bill doing what he does best. © Jack Gardner

Bill Kreutzmann’s music embodies a little bit of Everywhere, from the laid-back ethos of his beloved island home of Kauai to the deep primal funk of his birthplace, New Orleans. His affinity for the Crescent City continued to manifest itself in another busy year for Bill’s “swampadelic” band 7 Walkers, with Kreutzmann, Papa Mali, Matt Hubbard and George Porter, Jr. playing to a steadily growing audience of new fans. Highlights of the year included an oceangoing adventure on the popular floating party known as Jam Cruise, a performance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during Jerry Garcia’s birthday week and plenty of club and festival appearances. Bill, avid jammer that he is, found time to play with Yonder Mountain String Band and fill in for John Molo on some dates by the David Nelson Band. Looking ahead, it’s been announced that Bill is working on an autobiography, slated for publication in 2015.

Robert Hunter’s creative renaissance remains a wonder to behold. Hunter has been enjoying an astonishingly prolific burst of lyric writing with numerous collaborators that’s lasted for several years now, and shows no signs of slowing. In the past year alone he’s contributed to songs by longtime associates such as Mickey Hart, Bob Dylan, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Jim Lauderdale, and launched a new partnership with yet another legendary band by contributing lyrics for four songs (co-written with keyboardist Bill Payne) on Rooster Rag, the latest album by Little Feat.

Celebrating Jerry’s 70th

Dead Head Bill Walton and Mickey honor Jerry at AT&T Park's Jerry Garcia Night © Jay Blakesberg

As ever, Jerry Garcia was much on our minds this year, especially as we approached what would have been his 70th birthday on August 1st. That landmark was observed in numerous ways in addition to the celebrations at TRI and Terrapin: The San Francisco Giants, continuing an annual tradition of Grateful Dead-themed events, staged a Jerry Garcia Night on his birthday at AT&T park, complete with Garcia bobblehead dolls, the National Anthem performed by Bob Weir, Jackie Greene and Giants coach (and fine high-harmony singer) Tim Flannery, and a spirited 7th-inning stretch singalong of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” led by Mickey Hart and Bill Walton.

The home team, alas, came up on the short end of the score (the first time the Giants haven’t chalked up a win at a Dead-related event dating back to 1993) but a fine time was had by all. And better still, a portion of the proceeds went to the Rex Foundation. Another tradition, Jerry Day, was held at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre, in McLaren Park, located near Jerry’s childhood home. Melvin Seals & the JGB Band and Peter Rowan were among the participants. But as nice and as well deserved all these commemorations and special events are, we really don’t need any reminders to celebrate Garcia. We do it every time we hear his music, whether on a recording of Jerry himself or in loving interpretations by his closest musical colleagues, or by musicians who never knew him but were touched by him nonetheless. Through the music, he is everywhere, and so are we.

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Fare You Well...

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Peter Barsotti (1947-2012)

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Levon Helm (1940-2012)

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Jon McIntire (1941-2012)

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Joe Winslow (1948-2012)

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Community Corner

The Rex Foundation

As it nears completion of its third decade, The Rex Foundation continues the mission that inspired its creation by the Grateful Dead and friends in 1983: to help secure a healthy environment, promote individuality in the arts, provide support to critical and necessary social services, assist others less fortunate than ourselves, protect the rights of indigenous people and ensure their cultural survival, build a stronger community, and educate children and adults everywhere. Rex relies on the generosity of our community and the efforts of selfless, dedicated volunteers, including the ever-growing number of musicians who have lent their talents to the cause over the years. Rex encourages active community involvement in a variety of ways. To learn how you can get involved, visit the Rex website at http://www.rexfoundation.org; or check out Rex’s You Tube Channel.

HeadCount

TRI's Headcount benefit. L to R: Scott Devendorf, Josh Kaufman on Banjo, Conrad Doucette, Brian Devendorf on Drums, Bob Weir, Kyle Resnick on Trumpet, Aaron Dessner on Mandolin© Jay Blakesberg

While the thoughts of many Americans turn to the electoral process only once every four years (if then), full involvement in democracy and defense of the right to vote should rank high among our national priorities every day of every year. HeadCount is a grassroots organization that uses the power of music to register voters and raise political consciousness. HeadCount reaches young people and music fans where they already are – at concerts and online - to inform and empower. The need for voter awareness and empowerment has never been more vital, as we see daily evidence of brazen attempts to suppress, rather than encourage, the vote, and to disenfranchise specific segments of the populace for blatantly partisan reasons. Headcount wants to make voters aware of their rights and responsibilities, and to make participation in democracy the easy and even enjoyable process it should be. To register to vote and/or learn how you can get involved, visit HeadCount online.

Comix

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By Tim Truman

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Listen to Alabama Getaway from Go To Heaven.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY

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Music

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As many of you probably remember, a year ago in this very space we introduced the successor to Dick’s Picks and the Road Trips archival release program - Dave’s Picks - and we're sure you've been waiting with bated breath to find out just what's in store for the 2013 Dave's Picks Subscription and its first release, so without further adieu, a note (and a video - pick your pleasure) from series Producer David Lemieux.

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A Note From Dave

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Hey now. For those of you who prefer print to video or who are just tired of seeing me babble away beside the water (likely the latter...), we figured we'd write a few words about Dave's Picks 5, and what's ahead. The long and short of it is that if you're inclined to pick up Dave's Picks 5 and/or the 2013 subscription, you're in a for a huge treat. The first show, 11/17/73 at UCLA, is a major, heavyweight Grateful Dead show, one of the best of any year, and being top-of-the-heap from the 1973, that's saying a lot. It's one of these shows that every time I've heard it in the past decade+, I've wondered why it's not been released. I almost feel a need to apologize for taking so long -- 40 years! This is really prime Dead. First set material worth noting is one of the hottest, most inspired versions of "Here Comes Sunshine" ever, and a "China>Rider" that's up there with the best of 1973-1974, and that's saying something. The second set features the best of the three "Playing>UJB>Dew>UJB>Playing" musical palindromes, with every second of it exciting and interesting. And they top that off with a late-show "Eyes Of The World" that is remarkably hot and energetic. I say this without hyperbole, but to my ears and many others, this is a top-40 Grateful Dead show of all time. And the sound quality of this one is perfect, full, clear, great bottom end, and overall terrific.

We don't have much planned beyond DP 5, but I've previously hinted about a major batch of 1969 and 1970 tapes that were recently returned, and we hope/expect to get some of that out in 2013. I'm not trying to be coy or cryptic on the contents and possibilities, but we're in the midst of backing these tapes up and sorting through them. Once this is complete, we'll know what we have. What we've heard so far has shocked us in its excellence in terms of performance quality, song list, and sound quality. So, if you like peak-era Grateful Dead, with huge versions of major songs that you (and we!) have never heard before, this lost-batch of tapes is for you. Expect news on that within a few months.

- David Lemieux

David Lemieux on Dave's Picks 2013 and Dave's Picks 5

Last year's Dave's Picks succeeded far beyond our own expectations and became a true fan favorite, with each volume selling out in a matter of weeks. Now's your chance to become a Dave's Picks 2013 subscriber. Not only are you guaranteed all four releases for 2013, you get free domestic shipping plus the ultra-happenin' Subscribers-Only Bonus Disc that will be mailed with one of Lemieux's choices - in 2012, the Bonus Disc, sent out with Dave's Picks, Volume 2 was a fantastic collection of tracks from the July 29, 1974 show at the Cap Centre in Landover, Maryland. Act now, and you will also get Early Bird Subscriber pricing of $99.98 (that's for a total of 13 CDs throughout the year!) After December 15th, the price will go up to $115.92. All Dave's Picks releases are mastered from the original tapes by Jeffrey Norman and include an informative and fun booklet containing notes about the show and archival photos. The good news is that an extra thousand copies of each release will be pressed to accommodate the heavy demand. The 2013 Dave's Picks releases will be numbered and limited to 13,000 units each. Dave is promising some great things for 2013 - so don't be left out!

Dave's Picks 2013 Subscription Benefits:

Four Limited Edition, Numbered Releases Delivered Quarterly
Highly Collectible Bonus Disc
Free Domestic Shipping
Early Bird Pricing - $99.98

A savings of $27.94 over purchasing a la carte.

Subscribe Now!

In Review: Dave’s Picks 2012

Here’s what you missed from Year One: Dave’s Picks, Volume 1 – The complete May 25, 1977 show from The Mosque in Richmond, Virginia, features great versions of “Mississippi Half-Step,” “Lazy Lightning” > “Supplication,” “Scarlet” > “Fire” and “The Other One” split by “Wharf Rat.” Dave’s Picks, Volume 2 – a three-set marathon from Dillon Stadium in Hartford, Conn., July 31, 1974 – the heart of the Wall of Sound era – this one includes several long jams based around such tunes as “Weather Report Suite,” “Eyes of the World” and “Truckin’,” plus the rarely played “To Lay Me Down,” a fine “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider,” and “Uncle John’s Band” as a second encore choice. Dave’s Picks, Volume 3 draws from two concerts at the beautiful Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, October 21 and the complete show from October 22, 1971, Keith Godchaux’s second and third shows. Besides spotlighting early takes of then-new songs such as “Comes a Time,” “One More Saturday Night,” “Jack Straw” and “Tennessee Jed,” it contains state-of-the-art jamming on stellar versions of “That’s It for the Other One” and “Dark Star.”

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Listening Party

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We invite you to enjoy special selections from Dave's Picks, Volume 4: College of William & Mary, 9/24/76.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY

The recently released Dave’s Picks, Volume 4 is another winner from beginning to end – the rightfully acclaimed September 24, 1976 show from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. This last one is particularly special because the soundboard recording of the concert is not been in circulation. Among the many charms of this excellent show are the dynamite first-set sequence of “Playing in the Band” > “Supplication” > “Playing” reprise, and an imaginative second-set medley that moves from “Help on the Way” into “Slipknot!” into “Drums,” back into “Slipknot!,” then “Franklin’s,” a late-show “Music Never Stopped,” followed by “Stella Blue” and “Around and Around.” Hot stuff!

Spring 1990 - The Essential Spring 1990 Experience

Our box release this year was the first of its kind: Rather than being drawn from a few consecutive shows at one venue, as was the case with Fillmore West 1969 or the Winterland boxes from November ’73 and June ’77, or presenting a full tour, as we did with the gargantuan Europe ’72: The Complete Recordings, we served up six full shows from six different cities for Grateful Dead: Spring 1990. Vaultmeister David Lemieux has called the Dead’s Spring 1990 jaunt “the last great tour,” and once you hear this box you’ll know why. The six spectacular shows Mssr. Lemieux personally selected for the 18-CD box set are: 3/16/90 Capital Centre (Landover , MD), 3/19/90 Hartford Civic Center, 3/22/90 Copps Coliseum (Hamilton, Ontario), 3/26/90 Knickerbocker Arena (Albany, NY), 3/30/90 Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, NY) and 4/2/90 The Omni (Atlanta, GA).

Spring 1990: Look & Listen

Coming off the momentum of the fabulous fall ’89 tour, the Dead roared out to the East Coast like a band with something to prove. They worked up a few numbers specially for the tour, including Brent’s “Easy to Love You” (missing since 1980), a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” The Band’s “The Weight” and a lyrically retooled “Black-Throated Wind,” un-played since 1974. Additionally, the tour – and the six shows in the box – featured fantastic, high energy versions of so many Dead classics: “Scarlet Begonias” “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider,” “Playing in the Band,” “Uncle John’s Band,” “Eyes of the World,” “Estimated Prophet,” “Truckin’,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “The Other One,” “Terrapin,” “Stella Blue,” “Feel Like a Stranger,” “Bird Song,” “Let It Grow,” “China Doll,” “Box of Rain,” “Morning Dew,” and, from the Fall ’89 revivals, the triumvirate of “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower,” “Attics of My Life” and “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Among the still newish tunes were “Picasso Moon,” “Blow Away,” “Foolish Heart,” “Just a Little Light,” “Victim or the Crime,” “Standing on the Moon,” “We Can Run” and a couple that would get their final plays from the Grateful Dead on this tour – “Built to Last” and “Believe It or Not.” There are stirring renditions of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “Black Muddy River,” rockin’ takes on “Gimme Some Lovin’” and “Iko Iko” and the only version of the full “Hey Jude” the band attempted in the modern era.

The shows were recorded and mixed by longtime Grateful Dead engineer John Cutler and mastered by Jeffrey Norman to HDCD specs. Besides the discs, the box contains a beautiful 76-page hardcover book containing a ton of color photos by Jim Anderson and Michael Laurentus, playful artwork by Wes Lang, fascinating business letters and communications related to the tour, a detailed historical essay by Dennis McNally, individual show descriptions by Blair Jackson, a Producer's Note from David Lemieux, a reproduction of the Dead’s 1990 25th Anniversary tour program, tickets and backstage passes from all six shows, a band publicity photo from 1990 by Ken Friedman, Dennis McNally’s tour laminate, and reproductions of the colored 8x10 sheets GDTS sent out with hotel, food and other information for each city on the tour. All in all, it’s quite a package.

If it hasn't sold out by the time this here Almanac goes live, this limited edition box of just 9,000 copies will surely sell out by the time you finish reading this. Unlike the Europe ’72 box, the individual shows from the Spring 1990 box will not be sold individually, so this is your only chance to purchase them. For song lists from all six shows, a peak at what all that cool stuff looks like, and ordering information for the few remaining boxes, click here.

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Spring 1990:
So Glad You Made It

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Actually, there is one way to hear at least some of this music without springing for the box. Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It is a wonderful 2-CD compilation of some of the best of the box’s songs and jams. Included among the 20 selections (chosen by David Lemieux, of course) are the Brent favorites “Easy to Love You” and “Blow Away,” a powerful and spacey “Bird Song,” one of just two combos of “Scarlet Begonias” > “Estimated Prophet” the band ever performed, a nearly 15-minute excursion through “Eyes of the World,” a rompin’-stompin’ “Gimme Some Lovin’,” “Morning Dew” and, to cap it off, a sweet and emotional-filled “Attics of My Life.” You can find out more about it and order that one here.

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Listening Party

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Listen to Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It in full.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY


David Lemieux on Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It

The Making Of Spring 1990

We would be remiss if we didn't show a little love and appreciation for the fine folks who helped make our Spring 1990 release a true experience. Get to know the artists and photographers who have continually contributed to the Grateful Dead's presence with our exclusive All In The Family profiles.

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Jim Anderson

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If Jim Anderson isn’t as well-known as some other photographers who chronicled the Dead, it’s not because of a lack of quality in his shots. On the contrary, the Connecticut-based photographer has an exceptional eye and has taken thousands of great photos of the Dead and other bands since he started shooting concerts in the early ’70s. In just the past few months, his historic Dead shots dominated the booklet for Dave’s Picks No. 2 (from Hartford 7/31/74) and are spread throughout the book included in the new Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 box. And he’s had many of his photos appear in earlier Dick’s Picks and other releases.

One reason Anderson has flown under the radar is that he never actively pursued marketing his photos while the Dead were around. “I wasn’t trying to get published,” he says when I ask why he didn’t approach Dead ’zines such as Relix and The Golden Road. “I didn’t have any intent. I knew I needed to be shooting, but I didn’t really know why. It never occurred to me to, say, go to Rolling Stone and try to get my stuff in there. Shooting the Dead was always more of a personal project for me.” Even keeping a low profile, magazines sometimes found him, and his work has been printed in numerous publications, as well as The Deadhead's Taping Compendium.

Another reason Anderson rarely took his passion for shooting the Dead beyond his own darkroom is that he has always had a “straight” photography business to run – rock ’n’ roll was never going to be his bread and butter.

“Photography has been in my blood,” he explains. “My dad was a photographer, and when he died in the [mid-] ’70s, I took over his business,” which was primarily devoted to commercial and legal photography. Jim started working summers and weekends with his father when he was about 15 – “I ran the darkroom in the house” – and by 18 was getting assignments from the company, shooting accident scenes for insurance companies and such. Jim went to college planning to get into television engineering, but the photography business proved to be too powerful a lure.

Read more of our profile on Jim Anderson here.

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Tony Reonegro

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The Grateful Dead have been credited with all sorts of innovations through the years, from numerous big and small developments in sound equipment and musical instruments, to the first live 16-track recording (Live Dead), to pioneering the rock T-shirt business. The Grateful Dead is also responsible for turning the backstage pass into an art form.

It happened over many years. Long ago, a backstage pass might just be the band’s name stamped on a sticky label. Then, for several years, the Dead’s passes typically were printed with the date, the venue and a picture of their most current album cover – Shakedown Street during ’78-’79, Go to Heaven in ’80, Reckoning or Dead Set in ’81 and ’82. There were also passes that utilized more generic Dead iconography – especially “Stealies.” However, the tide turned in 1984, beginning with a series of license plate images used for the spring Marin Vets shows, and then on the East Coast tour that followed, a whole bunch of colorful photographic images of hot rods and classic cars that had been altered to include Dead stickers on them, or perhaps a skeleton driver. Besides being fun for the wearer, the difference in passes made it easier for security personnel to make sure that people were wearing the correct pass for each show.

Later, there was a slew of Rick Griffin designs that made it onto different passes, and also earlier ones (like the cars) that turned up on different tours. A few were clearly designed for specific shows – the giant lobster for Maine ’86, the Stealie over a cheery Christmas wreath for the December ’89 shows – but mostly they were a mixed bag of very different designs – surprises that revealed themselves when they were picked up at “Will Call.”

However, beginning with the Spring ’90 tour – hence the tie-in with the box set – the backstage passes started to be dominated by original designs of a single artist – Tony Reonegro. Over the following years, Tony’s work would appear on a whopping 170 passes–some light and funny, others dark and menacing; a few just strange. It was quite a run for an artist who had barely heard of the Grateful Dead before he started providing art to them.

Read more of our profile on Tony Reonegro here.

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Ken Friedman

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In mid-August, when I call ace Bay Area photographer Ken Friedman - whose fine work graces the 25th anniversary program reprinted for the Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 box, and who took the band's official portrait for that year - he is in the thick of working on arrangements for this October's giant, free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park. This marks the eighth year Ken has been the photo coordinator for the event - he makes sure that every act on every stage is covered for still photography and hires the folks to shoot them. Needless to say, he also shoots the festival himself.

Ken has been a fixture on the Bay Area arts photography scene for three decades now, and shot the Grateful Dead extensively as a freelance photographer working for Bill Graham Presents for about half that time - from 1981 through 1995. He captured dozens of other groups for BGP over the years, and also became perhaps the preeminent live theater photographer in the Bay Area: He shot for the Berkeley Repertory Theatre for 25 years, for San Francisco's renowned American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) for 18, as well as for the San Francisco Opera and other smaller companies. "I probably didn't do as much rock 'n' roll as I could have because I always loved doing theater, too," he comments. Not bad for someone who fell into professional photography almost by accident.

Read more of our profile on Ken Friedman here.

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Rick Griffin

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It seems fitting that some of the last work the great San Francisco artist Rick Griffin did before his tragic death in a motorcycle accident in 1991 was connected to the good ol’ Grateful Dead. During 1990, he produced the front and back cover illustrations for the group’s 25th Anniversary Tour Book (reproduced in the Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 box set), plus posters and advertisements for the Dead’s fall ’90 European tour and the cover of the 2-CD live album that came out while they were in Europe, Without a Net.

By that time, Griffin had been friends with Dead for 25 years, having moved to San Francisco originally in 1966 and establishing himself as one of the “Big Five” psychedelic poster artists of the burgeoning Haight-Ashbury scene, along with Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse, Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso. Though only 22 when he moved to SF, Griffin had already carved a niche in his early teens as an artist in his native Southern California, creating a goofy surfer character named Murphy that became a fixture in Surfer magazine beginning in 1961. His designs also found their way onto surfboards, cars, T-shirts and decals.

Read more of our profile on Rick Griffin here.

GRATEFUL DEAD X WES LANG

The Grateful Dead for me is America at its finest. Their tales of life and death, love and loss, brightness and darkness encompass the true story of this great country of ours. Sinners are redeemed, fortunes are found, the lives we all lead or wish we did.
- Wes Lang

We've been enamored with fine artist Wes Lang's hand-drawn work ever since we came across his contemporary interpretations of the Dead's classic iconography and we hope you will be too. Get to know Wes in the video below and read his fascinating interview with Blair Jackson.

Getting To Know Wes Lang

Skulls and Indians and Choppers, Oh My! A Profile of Spring '90 Artist Wes Lang

The original artwork gracing the cover of the new Spring 1990 box, and others spread throughout the beautiful and informative book included in the package, are the work of a Brooklyn-based artist named Wes Lang. The images range from rapier-wielding and chopper-riding skeletons, to rough-hewn variants on familiar Dead iconography, girls and whimsical treatments of song titles and lyric fragments. His work combines a loose “fan art” approach with a skilled draftsman’s eye for detail, and the emotional underpinnings of his art – grim to light – speak to his influences, from biker and tattoo art, masters of ’60s San Francisco rock posters and artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon.

Working on the box was a dream-come-true for Lang, who has been a devoted Dead Head since one of the teachers in his Chatham, New Jersey high school, Mark Laichtman, took him to his first show at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum on March 30, 1990–coincidentally, one of the shows selected for this box. “That was it,” he says. “I kept a little book with all my ticket stubs and set lists and stuff, and as far as I can tell, I saw them 74 times in the stretch from ’90 until Jerry passed. I saw them up and down the East Coast, out West. I was there for the ‘Here Comes Sunshine’ [revival] at Compton Terrace [in 1992]. I saw ’em in Oakland.”

Although Wes describes his picturesque New Jersey hometown, half an hour west of Manhattan, as "an extremely heavy Dead town,” he didn’t discover them early on. “My father owned a used record store when I was growing up and he’s super into jazz,” he relates, “so I grew up going to a lot of jazz shows with him; we’d go into [NYC] all the time. So,of course I went the opposite direction with my musical tastes, and as soon as I was allowed to pick things, it was punk stuff. I was into the Misfits, Bad Brains, The Cramps–the other side of music. I was also way into skateboarding and all that.” But he wasn’t only into punk–his teacher also took him to see Rush and Deep Purple, among other groups.

Asked whether getting into the Dead and the surrounding hippie scene conflicted with his punkish lifestyle, he laughs and says, “Oh, yeah. I definitely had a shift in consciousness. To be honest, I got sick of being pissed off all the time. I went from being angry and getting into fights and being nuts to, well, when I got into the Dead, everything kind of calmed down for me. I got into reading the Carlos Castaneda books [the famous “Don Juan” series about a man’s psychedelic encounters with a mystical shaman], and I got into Ram Dass and reading other things, and my brain just kind of shifted–it changed me.”

Read the rest of Blair's Wes Lang piece here and check out a few new limited-edition Grateful Dead x Wes Lang items in the merch section.

Dead Family 2012 Releases

There are also a couple of other Dead family releases in 2012 you should know about. The Mickey Hart Band’s fabulous album, Mysterium Tremendum, has garnered universally positive reviews from both Dead Heads and the press. The 12-song, 75-minute studio-recorded CD boasts seven new songs with lyrics by Robert Hunter, with the music written by Mickey in conjunction with the members of his amazing group, including Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools, singers Crystal Monee Hall and Tim Hockenberry (an America’s Got Talent semi-finalist, he’s since moved on), keyboardist and album co-producer Ben Yonas, and longtime associates such as Sikiru Adepoju, Zakir Hussain, guitarist Steve Kimock and others. There are deep grooves, deep space “sonifications” galore and memorable hooks throughout – it definitely ranks among Mickey’s finest recordings, and it stands as one the most pleasant surprises of the year. You can hear samples and order it directly from Mickey’s website You won’t be disappointed! And if the Mickey Hart Band comes to your town, you do not want to miss them – they play an intoxicating mixture of new tunes and creatively rearranged Grateful Dead classics.

All of you folks who have been patiently awaiting word about a new release of Jerry Garcia music will be delighted to learn that something new is finally on the horizon. Shipping in November from the Garcia Family LLC is the first venture in their new Garcia Live series, from the early and late shows at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, March 1, 1980. This was the quartet featuring Jerry, John Kahn, drummer Johnny de Fonseca and keyboardist Ozzie Ahlers, and the shows were recorded to 24-track because the early show was broadcast over the radio in the NY metro area. The 3-CD set includes Jerry Garcia Band classics such as “That’s Alright Mama,” “That’s What Love Will Make You Do,” “Sitting in Limbo,” “Dear Prudence” and a pair of songs featuring opening act Robert Hunter fronting the JGB. For ordering information (and other cool JG merch), click here.

In 1973, Jerry not only found time to write, record, and perform with the Grateful Dead but with friend and mentor Merl Saunders. Keystone Companions/The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings, recorded live on July 10 and 11, 1973 at the Keystone club in Berkeley, California, beautifully captures the magical musical friendship of the keyboardist and the guitarist. The lavish four-disc set features seven previously unreleased tracks, a special booklet featuring vintage photos; liner notes by Grateful Dead expert David Gans; and a poster, coaster, button, and “scratchbook” (replicating the design of the original album’s promotional matchbooks). Fantasy Records also reissued, on multi-color double vinyl LP, the first Saunders/Garcia album Live at Keystone. Learn more here.

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We Are Everywhere

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Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers

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Nicki Bluhm is a rising star in the San Francisco music scene performing with her band, The Gramblers, and as a duo with her husband Tim Bluhm (The Mother Hips). She's even shared the stage with an array of revered performers including Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.

How did The Gramblers form?

It started initially just me solo. I played my first handful of shows...when I met Tim, my husband, I didn't sing at all or play out in front of people. He heard me sing at a party. We started a relationship there and he really encouraged me to start singing in front of people - to go to open mikes and just get some experience playing in front of people. I didn't really want to, but I trusted him so much that I kind of figured he knew what he was talking about. So I started going out on my own and playing. I was living in San Diego at the time so I played my first open mike and didn't tell any of my friends - just kind of went and played my songs and it was a really good experience. I was surprised. It went really well which gave me the courage to keep doing it and then I moved to San Francisco and did some recording with Tim. I wanted to start playing some shows - real shows, not just open mike shows and I did and I liked it. At some point, I was in these louder clubs, opening for Skinny Singers (Tim Bluhm and Jackie Greene) - just solo - and I immediately wanted someone to be playing with me. It's hard to play a club with one guitar and one voice. People are chatting and I wanted to cut through a little more so I enlisted my childhood friend Deren Ney, who still plays guitar with me in The Gramblers. We were a duo act, just me and Deren. Then we recorded our first record with a collection of musicians from San Francisco. It was just our favorite musicians playing on that first record but when we went to release the record, I wanted the release show to sound like the record. So I hired some musicians and we played the show. It was a total rush for me to play with a band because I'd never done it before and I could never go back. So I've had the band since 2008 and some of the players have shifted but for the most part it's been me and Deren and Tim and our drummer Mike Curry. Steve Adams was added on bass shortly after that initial release. More recently, we've added Dave Mulligan to the mix. It's a good, strong family of people. We're all really close.

Nicki Bluhm.

Your connection with the Dead runs pretty deep. Do you ever play their stuff live?

Yea we have. We've played "Deal" live and we very much admire the members of the Grateful Dead. Tim, my husband, was on tour with Mickey Hart. He did a Rhythm Devils tour with Mickey and that was really an honor for him to get to play with living legends. Mickey is very, very dedicated and serious about what he is doing, it's cool. It's so interesting because what I do know about the members of the Dead is that they are really cerebral, intellectual, smart people. Obviously they have great stories too, you're like wait a minute, tell me that part about Grace Slick again. It's been an honor to get to know them. I got to sing with Bob Weir at the Seva benefit last year. It was Chris Robinson, myself, and Bob among other incredible musicians up on the stage. Everybody there was just amazing. That for me was a really, really cool experience. Phil opened Terrapin Crossroads so we played there. It was really cool to play with him and his son. It's been a honor to live so close to these people and have our paths cross.

Read more of our exclusive interview with Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers at Dead.net and learn more about the band at nickibluhm.com.

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Cubensis

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It’s Cubensis' 25th Silver Anniversary of tributing the Dead! Formed in 1987 in Southern California, Cubensis continue to prove that the music never stopped.

How and when did you form the band?

Technically we got together in '87 to rehearse and then in '88 we actually performed out in public so we're calling this our 25th anniversary year.

We actually started the band because the Grateful Dead didn't play in L.A. but once or twice a year and that just didn't work for us. So we decided for our own amusement that we'd start a band. My brother had a friend at work named Chester who was a Dead Head and a guitarist and a singer. And my sister was dating a guy who was a Dead Head and a drummer. And there was a kid living in the house in front of Chester's who was a bass player and we all just kind of congealed in that way and started rehearsing at somebody's house in a garage and it went from there...

Cubensis.

Do you exclusively play Dead tunes or do you have any of your own recordings?

We also play Jerry Garcia Band stuff, of course, which we consider fair play but we really do just play nothing but Grateful Dead songs and the cover material that they covered like Bob Dylan. That only leaves us with about 250 songs. [laughs]

What are some of your favorites to perform?

Truly, I'd say some of the ones that are most peoples favorites like "Scarlet Begonias," "China Cat," "China/Rider" as they called it. I love "Run For The Roses." The more complicated stuff interests me the most. "Lazy Lightning" is a song that comes to mind because it's got an odd time signature and it's interesting because of that.

Read more of our exclusive interview with founding member Craig Marshall at Dead.net and learn more about the band at cubensis.com.

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Aaron Gibson

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When he's not chopping wood in the majestic Siuslaw National Forest or tending to his 5 children, Oregon-based Aaron Gibson spends his time making great music with just a bass (and great videos with just an iPhone). You can grab his very touching rendition of "I Will Take You Home" here.

How did you get started as a musician?

I was born in Walnut Creek California and grew up in the Bay Area. My mother was a singer and my dad was a drummer but not professionally. My mom was in a singing group that actually sang for the first George Bush when they did Mount Rushmore. It's always been a hobby and because I grew up in the Bay Area I spent most of my time going to concerts and playing music. I've been in bands since I was ten - that's around when I started playing bass.

Aaron Gibson.

You covered "I Will Take You Home" - a Brent Mydland song for the Dead Covers Project. What made you choose it?

I didn't know the Dead Covers Projects were going on until about a week into it and I was thinking I should do something. It was the first song that came to mind as soon as I thought about doing it. I don't usually do a lot of covers. I play a couple of them, but I don't really rely on cover songs very often. I always thought it was a bit disingenuous to do covers as a songwriter. But anyway, it's just one of those songs that I love. I got home and my wife said did you see this Dead Covers thing? I said yes, I think I'll do "I Will Take You Home" and she said that would be great! That was the only one I considered. I knew right off the bat there'd probably be a whole bunch of stuff from American Beauty and Workingman's Dead and I just gravitated to it right away.

Read more of our exclusive interview with Aaron at Dead.net and learn more about him at www.aarongibson.me.

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The Giving Tree Band

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Based in Chicago, The Giving Tree Band most closely resembles the spirit of the '60s and early Grateful Dead with their commitment to living, working, and touring in communal harmony. Dabbling in bluegrass and Americana, the group is about to release their 4th album, Vacilador, featuring their mighty fine rendition of "Brown Eyed Women."

How did you get into the Grateful Dead?

My brother and I got into the Dead when we were a little bit younger, mostly through our cousin Steve who we call "The Creeper." He had gone to over a hundred concerts and turned us on to their music. My brother played in a bluegrass band with him and they got into a lot of Jerry's side-work with David Grisman. That's kind of how it started. We just kept exploring the rich history there - the music, the side projects, everything. I got really inspired by the band. I really think of them as one of the greatest American musical acts.

The Grateful Dead's legacy is so rich and there are so many layers to it that I think it's easily misunderstood. Because they cover so many different aspects of American music, I think people catch some peripheral imagery or aspects or sound of the Dead and from that, they make their inferences about what the band is all about. You might see a skull sticker and you draw your own conclusions. I remember seeing the skull before I had ever listened to a song and I assumed it was something like Megadeth. You can easily misunderstand the depth of what they are all about. I think part of our job as modern artists is to educate fans about the rich history of American music. That includes the Grateful Dead. We should encourage people to go deep in to their catalog and to their concerts, their side projects, lyrics, stories and the lifestyle - and what they will uncover is a real American musical gem.

The Giving Tree Band.©Kevin Malella

How did you select "Brown Eyed Women" for your cover?

We chose that one for a number of reasons. My brother E really loves that tune. He heard that the members of the Dead and Robert Hunter had wished they had done a proper studio recording of it, so we thought it might be neat to do. For me and my brother, it also feels very personal. Our father had been sick in the last year. He had a surgery recently and he's kind of struggled with losing some of his abilities, through his medical condition. Gentle Jack Jones, the protagonist of the song, kind of reminds us of him - talking about how things change. It kind of felt close to home for us with what we have been experiencing with our father. My brother was able to sing it with a full heart and really kind of make it his own. The timing seemed right. Right around the time we attempted the song in concert, without even arranging or working on it, we'd become aware of the DEAD COVERS PROJECT from Woody, another guy in our band. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

Read more of our exclusive interview with The Giving Tree Band founding member Todd Fink at Dead.net and learn more about the band at www.thegivingtreeband.com.

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Brandon McCoy

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At a mere 23-years-old, Brandon McCoy is just starting to establish his presence in the local Lansing, Michigan music scene by performing at open mics and slowly but surely putting together his first official release. Around the Dead.net headquarters, however, he's already made a big impression with his unique finger-picking instrumentals, his love for world music - specifically the Native American flute, and his, well, gratefulness (he wants to send a big thank you to all the musicians who participated and all who listened to his song and others)!

Did you grow up in a musical family? How'd you pick up the guitar?

I did kind of grow up in a musical family but I wasn't really around it. I didn't know my Dad until I was 14. I picked up a guitar when I was around 13 or 14. My grandpa plays guitar - mostly country. I would play friend's guitars at their houses, messing around with them, borrowing loaners. I obtained my uncle Brad's guitar, this real piece of crap - an Epiphone acoustic that kept breaking on me. Every time I took it to the shop, they'd say you just need to get a new one. I've never taken any lessons or anything like that - I just play by ear.

Tell us a little bit about your personal style.

I tend to play a little bit of everything because I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, but as for my personal style its very based around rhythm and percussive sounds with lots of muting of the strings. I kind of imitate flamenco and celtic stuff but make it a little more funky and keep it in the pocket. I'm still working on my singing voice, I used to write a lot in high school but currently I only have about three songs with words to them. Lately, I have been getting really into my native flutes as well and soon I will have a contra bass Native American flute that I can't wait to start recording with.

Brandon McCoy.

How did you choose "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" for the DEAD COVERS PROJECT?

My friend told me about the DEAD COVERS PROJECT. We were trying to think of a song that other people most likely wouldn't do. We went through a lot of songs, a lot of popular ones, some of my favorites, but figured that a lot of people would be playing those songs. Then we came across "The Golden Road." We had the annotated lyrics book which I always look through and read now and then. We read that it was actually the first song they recorded and that it doesn't get much recognition. So we thought that it would be perfect. I just used the words over a type of improv thing that I do.

Read more of our exclusive interview with Brandon McCoy at Dead.net and learn more about him here.

30 Days Of Dead

If you've been part of the Dead.net community for the past two years, then you know we're on a mission to make a miracle every day in the month of November. This year is no different.

As a token of our appreciation for making 2012 an epic year, we're giving away a high-quality 320Kbps MP3 download every day this month. That's 30 days of unreleased Grateful Dead tracks from the vault, selected by tape archivist David Lemieux! Intrigued? We're also going to put your knowledge to the test and give you the chance to win some sweet swag from the Dead.

You know your Ables from your Bakers from your C's, but can your finely tuned ears differentiate the cosmic "comeback" tour from a spacey 70's show? Each day we'll post a free download from one of the Dead's coveted shows. Will it be from that magical night at Madison Square Garden in '93 or from way back when they were just starting to warm it up at Winterland? Is that Pigpen's harmonica we hear? Brent on keys? Step right up and try your hand November 1st.

Guess the venue & date correctly and you'll be automatically entered to win the prize of the day. Each day a winner will be selected at random, so take your time and make your best guess! Answer correctly, and you will also be automatically entered for our Grand Prize - a Spring 1990 box set.

Photographer Jay Blakesberg: Visual Anthropologist

Photographer Jay Blakesberg.

I first met photographer Jay Blakesberg sometime in 1986, after I had already been putting out my Grateful Dead fanzine, The Golden Road, for a couple of years. He seemed to be at every show I attended, and I quickly learned he wasn’t merely documenting the band onstage–he also had some of the finest photos of Dead Heads I had ever seen. In fact, the first major spread of his photos we ran in The Golden Road depicted dancers going wild at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. When the Dead shot their video for “Touch of Grey” with the skeleton marionettes at Laguna Seca (near Monterey) in May ’87, Jay captured that better than anyone. He was also the main photographer for the band’s “Throwing Stones” video shoot at abandoned Oakland school months later. Jay was well-represented in both The Golden Road and Relix during this period, and it wasn’t long before other, more prestigious magazines – such as Rolling Stone – started giving him assignments.

Since the late ’80s, his career as a professional photographer has been on a steady upward trajectory. Though he continued to shoot the Dead until Garcia’s death, and has made a point of photographing nearly every band the former members have been involved with, he has also shot hundreds of other artists representing countless musical styles through the years. He’s shot a zillion shows, and also done innumerable studio sessions with both top acts and rising stars, some for magazines, some for album covers.

There are two beautiful books of his work worth searching for. Between the Dark and Light: The Grateful Dead Photography of Jay Blakesberg came out from Backbeat Books in 2002. (I was privileged to help shape the text that appears with the hundreds of Dead photos, spanning 1978–when he was still a teenager living in New Jersey–to 1995.) And in 2008, RockOut Books published Traveling on a High Frequency, a 30-year career retrospective which presented hundreds more photos–amazing live shots and intimate offstage portraits–depicting such diverse talents as Tom Waits, Tori Amos, John Lee Hooker (with Keith Richards!), Phish, Snoop Dogg, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Carlos Santana, Talking Heads, George Clinton–dozens of acts, all captured magnificently. (Yes, the Dead are in that one, too.)

In recent years, aside from his own booming photography business, he’s also gotten into directing video–he’s done considerable festival work in that area, and also made conceptual song videos for Jackie Greene, Nicki Bluhm, ALO and others–and book publishing. Another interesting sideline for this perennially busy artist: Since the death of the great SF photographer Jim Marshall a few years ago, Jay has been in charge of scanning, editing and licensing Marshall’s incredible archive.

Jay has several excellent shots in the 1990 25th anniversary tour booklet reproduced in the Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 box, so I used that as a springboard to ask him a few questions.

Let’s go back to 1990. You had started out shooting the Dead solely as a fan, but by then you were carving out an impressive professional career. What changed for you as you made that transition?

Well, I got a little better access. You still needed that assignment. It wasn’t like it is today where everyone with a digital camera can go shoot a show, as long as you say you’re shooting for your brother-in-law’s website, or for Facebook or something. So not only was I getting assignments from Relix and The Golden Road, by 1990 I was also shooting for Rolling Stone regularly so I was sort of elevated to this next level of professional. And that’s how I approached it–I was trying to make a career out of it. I was trying to become a successful music photographer shooting whatever I could. I wasn’t just shooting Grateful Dead. By 1990, the alternative rock world was really growing and I was spending a lot of time shooting bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana and Jane’s Addiction and The Cure and Echo & Bunnymen and Red Hot Chili Peppers and all these others. I was full-on deep into shooting as much music as I could and I had a lot of different clients and a lot of different opportunities to create photographs. The Grateful Dead were just one part of that.

It’s funny – at that time when I’d go see shows like that, I really couldn’t talk about me being in the Grateful Dead world, because they really hadn’t merged yet, but now they totally have.

What do you mean?

Like at Gathering of the Vibes last year [2011] when Janes Addiction played, they talked about being on that Deadicated record that Arista put out [of other bands covering Dead songs] and about how drummer Stephen Perkins’ brother was a huge Dead Head. But when I shot a magazine cover for the Chili Peppers back in ’89, I didn’t feel like I could be set up in a studio shooting a portrait of them and say, “Oh yeah, I’m going to be shooting a bunch of Grateful Dead New Yerar’s shows in four weeks.” It wouldn’t have resonated. They were two very different worlds. You didn’t go to the Butthole Surfers and talk about the Grateful Dead, even though there were a lot of Dead Heads going to see the Butthole Surfers. But the Butthole Surfers’ fans didn’t get the Grateful Dead.

I think in general, music fans have matured and musicians have matured and there isn’t as much of a divide anymore between a band like the Grateful Dead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whereas back then I think there really was. It was sort of like a secret life on both sides of the coin for me. Some of the Dead Heads I knew were hip to that kind of music. But a lot of them were very close-minded, listening to Dead tapes 24/7. And if they veered from that it was the Allman Brothers and not much further.

Now, when I work with bands from the ’90s, some of those people look at my work and they say, “Wow, you did portraits of Jerry Garcia!” [Laughs] They’re more accepting and its not so foreign.

Were you still going out on Dead tours during that era?

No, my touring days were long gone by then, because in the late ’80s and early ’90s I was trying to make a career as a photographer. So, I wasn’t jumping on Dead tour and throwing all my eggs in the Grateful Dead basket. I don’t think I saw any Grateful Dead concerts on the East Coast once I moved to the West Coast in 1982. For me, being “on tour” was the late ’70s and early ’80s. The height of it for me was probably 1980–I’m in college, it’s summer we’re going to get in a car and we’re going to pack it with people and a cooler, and we’re going to drive everywhere in the United States. I saw the Dead from Maine to Florida, from Alaska to San Diego and everywhere in between, and I never repeated that after that, really.

How much did you shoot?

I shot a lot, but I shot it as a fan, and I shot more pictures of fans and friends. I picked my shows. I went to Radio City, I went to the Warfield in ’80. I look back now and say, “God, I wish I’d shot every night!” But I was interested in hanging out with my friends and dancing and having fun getting psychedelic–that’s what we did. We went to Grateful Dead concerts to have fun. That was the whole thing for me, and I just happened to have this camera with me. It was sort of in the back of my mind that I was creating an archive, but I was documenting more of what I was doing in my life than what the Grateful Dead were doing; those two things just happened to be the same thing for a while when I was 18 years old. [Laughs]

By the mid-’80s I was a West Coast Dead Head and I’d go to Southern California sometimes to see shows, but it was mostly Bay Area shows and there were plenty of them–the Greek, Frost, Kaiser, Laguna Seca, Sacramento [Cal Expo].

It seems to me that in the post-Jerry era, you’ve devoted the most energy of any photographer to capturing the solo bands, whether it’s Phil’s many groups or Bob’s or Furthur…

Where that comes from is, at a certain point in my career as a professional photographer, I realized I was not only documenting the Grateful Dead experience and this rock ’n’ roll pop culture experience, but a much larger thing. At a certain point I matured enough to understand that I was really creating what I think is a fairly important archive of rock ’n’ roll, with the Grateful Dead being a big part of that. My philosophy and my feeling always has been that until all these guys stop making music, the Grateful Dead experience continues to live on, and I want to document that. Because I still enjoy it and I like being around that music and I like being around those fans and I like being around that scene.

I’ve also gotten to a point in my career where I think I’ve proven myself and people know that if I shoot them, the photos will hopefully be… above average [laughs], and hopefully represent them very well at a professional level.

I also that I think it’s important to have a big chunk of an archive all in one place. There’s value in that for me from a licensing standpoint, but also from a pop culture historical standpoint. And that’s why people will come back to me–because they know I’ve got the photos from 20 years ago. Last year was the 20th anniversary of Lollapalooza. Well, I shot all the early Lollapaloozas on assignment for Rolling Stone; hundreds of rolls of film. So when Lollapalooza wanted to put some of that material out there in a big online web gallery and timeline, they came to me. So for them it was one-stop shopping to get 80 percent of what they needed. And I got to license photos I’d shot 20 years ago. It is very important to be organized, because if you can’t find the photos you took 20 years ago, they have no value or historical significance for anyone on any level!

So, I think it’s important to not only shoot what I do, but also to properly catalog it so I know where it is. Because in the grand scheme of things, I consider myself a historian, an archivist, a visual anthropologist. All along I’ve been documenting cultures. And one of the main ones just happens to be this weird culture called Dead Heads. [Laughs]

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