Grateful Dead

dead.net the official site

Yeah, that email about the picture sleeves got me convinced. Thanks to all involved, I think that was a great idea and very wise decision. Cheers

From GD email How do we make our brand new highly-collectible 7" vinyl series even more collectible? In addition to limiting each release to 10k and issuing them on colored vinyl, we've enlisted a few of our favorite artistes to design the packaging for each single and its B-side. This will mark the first time all of the band's commercial singles have been officially illustrated! Our first release, the 1966 debut "Stealin'" b/w "Don't Ease Me In," will feature illustrations by longtime Grateful Dead collaborator Tim Truman. Stay tuned as we'll be revealing more artists throughout the year.

I got back into vinyl collecting 7-8 years ago. New 180 gram reissues and anal retentive Dead, Zappa and Stones collecting all versions. For example I have 13 copies of Zappa's We're Only In It For The Money. That includes my original 1st edition to promo to Brit variations etc.etc. I have the complete 1st issue British Stones Decca Collection non lp singles eps and lps. So I have maybe 250 singles. I have no desire to get up every 2.5 - 3 minutes so I bought one of the small portable record players. I bought a 20 ft. rca cable and when the feeling strikes (not very often) to play a bunch of singles I put it next to me hooked to my stereo open a Sam and go back to 1965

I remember when a buck bought you a single in a plain white wrapper. But it sounded pretty much the same.

It's a shame that many new fans arent buying the records/ cd's that are out there nowadays... I'd consider myself a newer fan (within the last 12 or so years) but im collecting everything a can find. Especially vinyl and CD's. Theres just too much good stuff already out there to ignore. I understand that the streaming is way more convenient and a hell of a lot cheaper (especially for the Road Trips series, holy shit) but collecting is half the fun for me.

Oh man I always hear the same digs on the young-uns but damn, weren't the baby boomers the first Deadheads in the 60's complaining about "why are the shows not free anymore!? Strike and boycott, protest, give us free shows again!" I bet the wax roll music recorders produced by Edison were the big complaint then! How come no one buys those anymore?

I offered my opinion, what I would consider fairly mild criticism. If you think that's harsh, I don't know what to tell you. You must lead a sheltered life.

Glad you like it--I hope they make some available outside the subscriptions, there are some I'd like to get.

Dear folks at dead.net, I'm sure you're all very busy at this time of the year. But it seems to me that the question of how these are packaged is one quite a few fans on this forum are wondering about. Will the singles come in unique paper picture sleeves? For me, that would definitely be a reason to subscribe. However, if in the end I have a bunch of singles in red, white, blue or green, the next series in purple, pink, brown and yellow, and then more of the same the other way round, all living in clear plastic sleeves, I'm out. If you could provide some insight, we would all very much appreciate it. Cheers from Germany Romas

I'm a 35 y/o fan and have been into the band for 20+ years. As recently as 10 years ago, while living in NYC, the Dead were still not considered cool, save a few notables like Greg Davis and Radar and Arthur Magazines. I frequently had to defend the group against those who had no basis for their antagonistic opinions. Fast forward 10 years, I no longer live in Brooklyn, but I was there recently, visiting a hip record store where a friend works and I couldn't believe how many people were browsing the Dead bin and bringing their records up to the register. My friend said it's very common now. Music fans of all ages finally seem to better appreciate the band's free-form musical expression and democratic process, probably the result of tastemakers, like all the bands who contributed to the Day of the Dead tribute album, signing off on the Dead as cool. So it's definitely true many people want it free or close to it, but those who buy music are buying the music.