• https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-not-fade-away
    Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Not Fade Away"

    By David Dodd

    Here’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)

    “Not Fade Away”

    Once in a while, I like to spend a blog post considering a worthy cover tune. And what is more appropriate for Valentine’s Day week than “Not Fade Away”?

    The Bo Diddley beat. The clapping. The sing-along, and then the clapping and singing of the crowd as the band faded from the stage…knowing that we would bring them back eventually.

    The endless riffing by Jerry as he tore it up on guitar time after time—that’s the astonishing thing, when I listen to concert recordings—to hear the fresh take each time during his solos. How did he manage that?

    “Love is real.” That’s quite a claim, when you think about it. Bordering on arrogant, really. But I guess if anyone had the right to that kind of hubris, it would have been Buddy Holly, who likely wrote the song alone, despite the co-credit to studio owner/engineer/producer Norman Petty. (Petty was himself a recording artist, who scored a major hit with the Duke Ellington tune “Mood Indigo” in 1956.) Holly himself is named as Charles Hardin, his first and middle names—Charles Hardin Holley (yes, with an “e”) being his given name. There’s another occasion for bringing up this song—Holly’s plane crash on February 3, 1959—55 years ago this month.

    Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded the song in May, 1957—I would have loved to have heard them play live. I bet they rocked it. The song was picked up by many bands over the years. The Rolling Stones recorded it in 1964, and they charted with it, as their first US single. It’s been covered by everyone from James Taylor to Florence and the Machine. There’s a Wikipedia page for the song, enumerating the many cover versions both recorded and live, and on that page, the Dead only merit a short footnote.

    I have to think, though, that the Dead’s overwhelming number of performances and recordings make them the song’s owners in many ways—although I admit to being prejudiced.

    “Not Fade Away” ranks as one of the top ten most-played songs by the band. There are hints that it may rank higher than the 7th place position it occupies in most lists—including a reference by Alex Allan to a 1966 version, with different words, that predates the first performance noted in DeadBase and elsewhere, which is given as June 19, 1968, at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco. At any rate, there were very likely many versions played before and between the earliest noted performances in DeadBase.

    NFA was a performance staple right to the end. The song provided a platform of celebratory rhythm and changes that served as a launch pad for intense, joyous jamming. The final performance of NFA took place on July 5, 1995, at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

    The band included NFA on its Skull and Roses live album, and it appeared on many subsequent live releases.

    I love this song. The big opening chords, the swagger of the lyrics, the deep philosophy, really, of the song’s message all combine to add up to something much bigger than the two simple verses would convey. That is the nature of rock lyrics, quite often: look at them on the page, and they seem simplistic or banal. Sing ‘em from the stage as rock and roll, and they come to life.

    (By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s a “how” missing from the first line of the lyrics as cited in the link at the top of this post. “I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be.”)

    There’s even some story in this song, wouldn’t you say? The singer is trying to convince the object of his affection of the truth of his love. And yet, it’s so down-home. “My love is bigger than a Cadillac.” Someday, and it probably won’t be too long from now, no one will get that line, because it is so topical and of the time in which it was written, when Cadillacs were really big flashy cars. Even now, they’re looking fairly mid-sized. “My love is bigger than a…Hummer…”? Hmmmm.

    But when he tries to demonstrate his affection, he gets pushed away. “I try to show you but you drive me back.” The singer really tries hard to make his case, insisting that her love for him has to be real. And then there’s that kicker line: “You’re gonna know just how I feel.”

    Love is real.

    Not fade away.

    Happy Valentine’s Day! (And hey, the song is the same age as me. Cool.)

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  • Jeff Hitz
    10 years 1 month ago
    JGB NFA
    Check out this version of NFA from the encore of a JGB show in Asbury Park, New Jersey on July 9,1977. Only JGB NFA IIRC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stFZ6-WGeas&sns=em
  • Default Avatar
    donny b
    10 years 1 month ago
    Saw them preform it countless
    Saw them preform it countless times with the monster version from Englishtown still, almost, ringing in my ears. I agree with you that the Dead own the song because when they played it live it was so obviously a promise and contract between the band and the audience which both parties were willingly signing on to. The Cadillac line is fine in the same way say a T-Model Ford is in Katie Mai, while hopefully dinosaurs like cadies will be a thing of the past soon anyone with a sense of cool will know what they were just like with Henry Fords contribution to American road history.
  • ddodd
    10 years 1 month ago
    Yikes! My mistake...
    Well, that is completely a mistake on my part, for which I apologize to the memory of Duke Ellington. Petty had a major hit in 1956 with the song (which he of course did not write), and it was the money from that which allowed him to expand his recording studio and take on many artists as an engineer and producer. Thanks so much, jazzmonkie!
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14 years 11 months

By David Dodd

Here’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)

“Not Fade Away”

Once in a while, I like to spend a blog post considering a worthy cover tune. And what is more appropriate for Valentine’s Day week than “Not Fade Away”?

The Bo Diddley beat. The clapping. The sing-along, and then the clapping and singing of the crowd as the band faded from the stage…knowing that we would bring them back eventually.

The endless riffing by Jerry as he tore it up on guitar time after time—that’s the astonishing thing, when I listen to concert recordings—to hear the fresh take each time during his solos. How did he manage that?

“Love is real.” That’s quite a claim, when you think about it. Bordering on arrogant, really. But I guess if anyone had the right to that kind of hubris, it would have been Buddy Holly, who likely wrote the song alone, despite the co-credit to studio owner/engineer/producer Norman Petty. (Petty was himself a recording artist, who scored a major hit with the Duke Ellington tune “Mood Indigo” in 1956.) Holly himself is named as Charles Hardin, his first and middle names—Charles Hardin Holley (yes, with an “e”) being his given name. There’s another occasion for bringing up this song—Holly’s plane crash on February 3, 1959—55 years ago this month.

Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded the song in May, 1957—I would have loved to have heard them play live. I bet they rocked it. The song was picked up by many bands over the years. The Rolling Stones recorded it in 1964, and they charted with it, as their first US single. It’s been covered by everyone from James Taylor to Florence and the Machine. There’s a Wikipedia page for the song, enumerating the many cover versions both recorded and live, and on that page, the Dead only merit a short footnote.

I have to think, though, that the Dead’s overwhelming number of performances and recordings make them the song’s owners in many ways—although I admit to being prejudiced.

“Not Fade Away” ranks as one of the top ten most-played songs by the band. There are hints that it may rank higher than the 7th place position it occupies in most lists—including a reference by Alex Allan to a 1966 version, with different words, that predates the first performance noted in DeadBase and elsewhere, which is given as June 19, 1968, at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco. At any rate, there were very likely many versions played before and between the earliest noted performances in DeadBase.

NFA was a performance staple right to the end. The song provided a platform of celebratory rhythm and changes that served as a launch pad for intense, joyous jamming. The final performance of NFA took place on July 5, 1995, at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

The band included NFA on its Skull and Roses live album, and it appeared on many subsequent live releases.

I love this song. The big opening chords, the swagger of the lyrics, the deep philosophy, really, of the song’s message all combine to add up to something much bigger than the two simple verses would convey. That is the nature of rock lyrics, quite often: look at them on the page, and they seem simplistic or banal. Sing ‘em from the stage as rock and roll, and they come to life.

(By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s a “how” missing from the first line of the lyrics as cited in the link at the top of this post. “I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be.”)

There’s even some story in this song, wouldn’t you say? The singer is trying to convince the object of his affection of the truth of his love. And yet, it’s so down-home. “My love is bigger than a Cadillac.” Someday, and it probably won’t be too long from now, no one will get that line, because it is so topical and of the time in which it was written, when Cadillacs were really big flashy cars. Even now, they’re looking fairly mid-sized. “My love is bigger than a…Hummer…”? Hmmmm.

But when he tries to demonstrate his affection, he gets pushed away. “I try to show you but you drive me back.” The singer really tries hard to make his case, insisting that her love for him has to be real. And then there’s that kicker line: “You’re gonna know just how I feel.”

Love is real.

Not fade away.

Happy Valentine’s Day! (And hey, the song is the same age as me. Cool.)

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Once in a while, I like to spend a blog post considering a worthy cover tune. And what is more appropriate for Valentine’s Day week than “Not Fade Away”?
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Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Not Fade Away"
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Once in a while, I like to spend a blog post considering a worthy cover tune. And what is more appropriate for Valentine’s Day week than “Not Fade Away”?
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Once in a while, I like to spend a blog post considering a worthy cover tune. And what is more appropriate for Valentine’s Day week than “Not Fade Away”?

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the encore on 7/3/88 was not fade away and it was the most amazing bit of audience participation on that song I have ever experienced. after the band left the stage, we continued to clap and sing long after The Dead flew off in their helicopter. I love this song too!!
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I hope the comment in the article about Norman Petty writing "Mood Indigo" was a joke. I could hear Duke Ellington spinning in his grave when I read it.
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Well, that is completely a mistake on my part, for which I apologize to the memory of Duke Ellington. Petty had a major hit in 1956 with the song (which he of course did not write), and it was the money from that which allowed him to expand his recording studio and take on many artists as an engineer and producer. Thanks so much, jazzmonkie!
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Saw them preform it countless times with the monster version from Englishtown still, almost, ringing in my ears. I agree with you that the Dead own the song because when they played it live it was so obviously a promise and contract between the band and the audience which both parties were willingly signing on to. The Cadillac line is fine in the same way say a T-Model Ford is in Katie Mai, while hopefully dinosaurs like cadies will be a thing of the past soon anyone with a sense of cool will know what they were just like with Henry Fords contribution to American road history.
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I really love the "Darkness Darkness" Jam in the NFA from Fillmore East 9/19/70. There is also a brief China Cat jam that follows. The entire soundboard recording is sweet, which is comprised of DARK STAR>ST. STEPHEN>NOT FADE AWAY>TURN ON YOUR LOVELIGHT. Somewhere during 1970, NFA became the official replacement of the William Tell Bridge/The Eleven. I prefer The Eleven, and don't know why the Dead decided to drop it.
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David, this is the song I thought you would write about right after Throwing Stones... lol My second show was Binghamton 4.12.83. I'd had a year to prime myself for the experience. At the end of an amazing second set, a tender Wharf Rat led us into a rousing Not Fade Away. My memory is a bit hazy, but I seem to remember that the band didn't quite end the song, rather they just kinda filtered off one by one. The audience kept up the beat the whole time they were offstage however, and when they returned for the encore the band went back into NFA for a couple minutes before giving us a very sweet It's All Over Now Baby Blue. I remember being awed by that audience/band interaction, having never seen anything like it before. That show and its ending helped cement my love for this band. I always thought that NFA was kind of like a group hug that we and the band would give each other at the end of a show.
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This song is yet another indication of the magic of the Grateful Dead. It takes the love that I believe comes from the sixties hippies and continues it to this day. I was not even a thought in the sixties, but I think I know what that love was like because of the Grateful Dead. Unconditional love of life! The Golden Road or the Golden Rule or "Playin in the Heart of Gold Band." Its all love! That is really what this band is/was all about. I want all the people (particularly the older heads) who read this to know that their input to this discussion board is so important to me and many others. It lets us know we are not alone in this "Brokedown Palace" and definitely not alone in our love of the Grateful Dead! It offers a perspective that is slowly fading away.....the ironic reality is that we will fade away, but our love will survive! Thank you Grateful Dead of all ages and times. Love this real WILL NOT fade away. You can take that to the bank! Happy Valentines Day to all and Happy Birthday to my good buddy, Tom Weed!
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I may be wrong Bach 2 Bach but I believe that Binghamton '83 show was the first time they ended w/ NFA w/out completing until the encore (w/ the audience participation in between). And it didn't seem planned on the band's part; I got the sense that it just sort of happened. Of course it became a bit of a staple for some time after that.
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Dick's Picks, Volume 7 has a blistering version!
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82 us festival, seattle 82 they slow it waaaay down. at least i think they did (maybe my maxell was wonky?). I think I remember some slow ikos too. anywho, Skull fu** nfa/gdtrfb is BEAUTIFUL. Alpine 89 is pretty sick as well. agreed on Jerry always seeming to play something different..sometimes after we clapped they'd come back and sing "oohm bop bop", we'd clap, "oohm bop bop". I don't think they did this every single time. good love or bad love..it wasn't fading away........
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By far to me the best version ever played! The whole band is just simply on fire from the opening note to Bobby and Donna wailing to Jerry's guitar and Phil dropping bombs all over the place to Billy and Mickey and Keith this NFA has it all!! Long live the Grateful Dead!!!
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...when we could all go out in a psychedelic bang like an Orange Sunshine or in a Purple Haze? Remember that stuff? Pink Double-Dome was even more screwy. Now you know I just half to wonder about that "double-dome" thing...but I'm still of two minds about it. Pretty heady stuff and we had a blast. It would appear that their little cuckoo nest army experiment in messing with people's minds had some unexpected consequences that we've now turned to our favor. Tough bus to get under control, no matter who was driving. So what did that stuff really do to us? I highly suspect that it shot a pretty good chunk of us all directly in the Existential mailbox. Perhaps once you've been beyond the very concept of life and death itself, the question of whether you're dead or alive becomes a rather moot point. Good mailbox, by the way...after a bit of tweakin'...Here, There and Everywhere. "So we all went through the Wall: No one uses doors any more." - Grace Slick Not Fade Away is a great song on it's own, but it's the lead-ins and transitions to Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad that remain some of my favorite times... Peace.
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I first encountered, and came to enjoy, the song as a Buddy Holly performance, and I must say I never considered it to be even remotely romantic, that is, appropriate for Valentine's Day. More vaguely threatening, domineering. I'm pretty sure that's not the way the Dead meant it, and absolutely sure that's not the way the fans heard it or sang it back to the band, and I understand that we're discussing the Dead's transformation of it, and what that meant to fans. But I think a disinterested reading of the original lyrics, which say 'I'm GONNA tell you...' not 'I wanna tell you...', as Mr. Dodd has it here, paint a different picture. I think Mr. Dodd came closest to the heart of the original song in his analysis when he wrote: 'Bordering on arrogant, really.' Too bad the Dead didn't also cover 'Rave On', a more rocking song with a more genuinely loving lyric. My thanks go out to jazzmonkie as well.
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What a tragedy that Buddy Holly died, he seemed to have the Hank Williams touch of producing simple lyrics that expressed an entire cosmos of feeling. who knows what he would have produced in his career? My impressions of NFA seem to run counter to the prevailing thoughts. For one thing, I've never heard this song without hearing it as a Holly/Stones cover. To say the least, Jagger got that bravado/menace several people have mentioned. Part of the magic of the song for me was that it was such primal rock; it belonged to the canon, not the Dead, and validated them as a band who could play the old stuff fucking well. Another impression (perhaps even less popular!) is that the fading off-stage and leaving the audience clapping was an incongruous bit of showmanship. I would rather have heard GDTRFB. Not to say that I don't agree with the commenters who see NFA as an expression of the bond between the fans and the Dead, and not to deny the folk process ... songs can change in meaning. But come on, what I've always liked about seeing the Dead (etc.) was that it was a concert, not a "show." Apologies for being so crabby! Just the perspective of one of those old Deadheads ...
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But I seem to recall that at a certain point in the Dead conference on the WELL, there was a thread called "The Chant: Boon or Bane?" or some such. Opinion was pretty evenly divided. It's a tricky line to walk between Evergreen Cultural Meme and Annoying Ubiquitous Cliché. By the time this had gone on for quite a few years, I would have been perfectly happy never to hear it again, but now, of course, it's entirely different. (And part of the mixed feelings at the time were due to the fact that one knew perfectly well that today's situation would be upon us all too soon.)
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If there's such a thing as Pure Hellthen this Song is All About the Entire Opposite of That PURE LOVE A Preacher once asked our Church: "Where Else Can You Go and Find Unconditional Love?" Not Here I Thought ... (there are lots of conditions unfortunately at that church) ...but I always find it at a Dead Show!! and "Not Fade Away" Invokes Pure Love with a Raw Power from High the Heavens into the Depths of Every Soul that Holds on Tight and Won't Let Go. Even in the midst of the Chaos ; Love Holds it Together "All Together Now...Love-Love-Love...Love is All You Need"
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I too remember when "the chant" became cliche, passe. Was it the chant, or the repetition of the chant; been there done that? I think we can all agree, to those uninitiated (first show or chant) it was unlike any other show out there. A communication from us to them; and a good one at that. I think if the boys didn't like the chant they would have moved NFA around in the set? Alas, the formula had jelled (gelled?). I didn't see 350 shows in a row. A few friends did, a few got three-to-five,a few turned in friends in the 3 for 1 "rat your friends out". I got popped a month before my 18th birthday with 30+ goonies. Judge told me if I had been busted 30 days later I would have a mandatory 3-5... There was a dark side to the whole thing from my perspective. I'm rambling, sorry..nine mile skid on a ten mile ride..........
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When I first heard this (on Skull & Roses) I thought it was an odd cover choice for a couple of reasons. For one, it had been successfully covered by the Stones already, and two, it just did not fit (in my mind) the pattern of other covers the Dead were doing. But NFA widened my appreciation because it was unexpected and because they made the song completely their own without referencing the Stones version and barely referencing Buddy Holly. They were not afraid to go there, and most bands were. Then they took it in directions no one could have predicted, perhaps peaking with Englishtown '77, and always playing it in-the-moment. I don't tire of it. I want to hear what Garcia is going to do with the one-chord jam.
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Such a great cover. . . I love reading all the comments everyone has shared. When I was in college (77-78), we made a banner, "Chico Dead Heads Not Fade Away!" that we hung up at shows for awhile. I still have it in my garage. Was very psyched to see a picture of it appear in The Dead's "Get Weirder" promo video a few years back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0414VHMo8cw&list=FLDfjRSxfOqUYNPBDe6YrUqg Another memory. . . when I wound up in a hospital in Puerto Rico in '78, I got several telegrams from family and friends. My favorite get well message was from my college roommates: "You know our love is real, not fade away!"
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To be honest, I'm partial to early 70's versions that go into GDTRFB, but I gotta agree - 9/3/77 is insanely great!
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I got on the bus at the Ally Pally in 1974. I don't think they were going to do Not Fade Away but after about 5 minutes of the crowd stomping and clapping the beat Billy started up on the drums and away we went. That bits missing from Dicks Pick 7. My Dave's Pick 9 finally arrived today - the pics remind me that Lesh nicked Garcias beard for a little while there.......
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"Not Fade Away...Not, Not Fade Away; Not Fade Away...Not, Not Fade Away". Weir, Mckernan call and response. Those were the days, Not fade away. 43 years ago February 19, 1971 restart of original five band members for 50 shows. Was there.19 years ago my last live China Cat Sunflower, I Know You Rider. Not, Not Fade Away.
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The Chant There may be something going on in there we need to take a look at. I've never trusted Gregorian chants either. Your ramblin' is much appreciated. Those rhythms may do more than we know, trusting souls as we are.
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Years ago, my brother had "Love is Real" inscribed on his new wife's wedding band, and she had "Not Fade Away" inscribed on his. They each did it on their own, not knowing what the other had planned. Nearly 20 years later, they are still clapping along, with a beautiful family to boot!