Grateful Dead

dead.net the official site

The last 2 weeks have featured some nice Nov. 73 bits. Between those 2, I'm sure a release is in the cards eventually. 11-25-73 Playin is smokin. It was in Last year 30 Days of Dead. 11-10-79 also another link to Road Trips 1.1,, the Passenger rips and shreds. One of the finer versions. From the same show Alabama Getaway > Promised Land 2nd set opener is the 3 tracks featured from this show. The special piece I am noticing about this 1979 portion is that Cold Rain, Minglewood, and Peggy-O seem to be material that may not have been in circulation. The show on archive that is available to stream starts with El Paso (other soundboard is not available to stream, due to Road Trips release = 3 songs.) the comments regarding this piece is also very interesting. I hope in the upcoming Dave's for 2015 a show from Fall 79' or another 1980 show is released. Considering all factors, the band and equipment in tune with each other and surroundings.

i want to throw something out there.over the past year or so i've been reading much of the discussion re: which era has the best dead etc. and it is clear in the realm where rational minds hold sway that every era has its high and low points. beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that. now, my being a tried and true late-70's - mid-80's head --- although i saw the occasional show through 94 --- i am of the belief that neither the tapers section nor the jam of the week can really do the 80's dead justice because of the emphasis on the song book. despite the current quest for the lost chord and the perfect rendition of the perfect song emblematic of all things dead, there were a fair number of folks throughout the 80s who attended the shows not to hear jerry, or bobby or phil sing --- although it was always great fun especially when something new was being broken out --- but rather for the creation of the universe moment commonly known as drumz/space. timing your high of choice for that portion of the show, moving closer to the stage as people fled for the concession stands or finding the sweet spot in the arena where the sound was epic, can never be conveyed via the jams/tapers format --- nor should it be. clearly drumz/space is does not fit those bills. however, when reflecting upon the dead's 80's legacy, i believe the analog->digital experiments performed live for packed arenas --- developed from the quaint acid tests ---- explored motifs which would stand solidly along side the concepts/works of cage, stockhausen and other forward thinking sound pioneers. beside the hat trick releases of greyfolded, infrared and seastones --- it would be very interesting from both a historical and listening perspective to present the dead to the experimental/avant garde/new music world via a release which curates these works and presents them in a thoughtful manner. drumz/space --- during the 80s in particular --- stands the test of time largely because of the mostly analog nature of the work. and of course if no one is interested or willing to do it, i'd gladly volunteer to sift through the vault and take on such a project if the desire where there. shameless plug. wink wink. nudge nudge.

Absolutely. I've been enjoying some 94/95 Drumz>Space. I like 80s,too.

Drumz wuz trippySpace was often agravating blapblaaap bllllaaaaaa....toobatoopah...... and remember: there's Space, and then there's space.

to apply jerry logic: drumz/space is like licorice. not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice. i get that space sounds like "agravating blapblaaap bllllaaaaaa....toobatoopah......" to many. plenty of room for everyone i think. but for those who dig this sort of thing i image curating drumz/space in such a way as to explore its origins from early experiments with feedback and delay all the way through the full blown midi extravaganzas. the people who sat in over the years are lengthy. the experiments with non-traditional instruments --- suspended garbage can with chains anyone? ned's contributions. collecting the oral histories from band and crew and guests who were clearly doing it for real not just killing time --- i imagine phil and mickey would be very interesting to hear from on this front. healy and bralove of course as well. if i am not mistaken drumz/space could be a candidate as the most played segment --- second only to tuning ... :^). and as such i think it deserves consideration as an important component of the overall cannon. there were certainly klinkers and of course not every performance requires lengthy consideration but those which have become legendary with their own names -- raven space, earthquakes space, etc. deserve better than a place to flip your tape.