Big day, history-wise. 60th anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. 36th anniversary of the Tate-LaBianca murders. And the 10th anniversary of the death of Jerry Garcia.
Seeing as how I don't want to get into my feelings about whether or not the bomnbing of Nagasaki was justified (it was), or whether Axl Rose is an asshole for wearing that Manson shirt on MTV (he is), and seeing as how this is a blog dedicated to pop culture related smart-assery, let's talk Jerry.
First of all, I'm not a fan of the Dead. Their music just never grew on me like it did some of my friends, including my sophomore roommate "Iggy." Iggy still managed to convince me and our other roommate to go to Houston for a Dead show in 1988, which we attended in an acceptably...enhanced fashion.
I have few memories of the show itself, except for walking out of the concert area of the Summit at one point and barreling into a troupe of people swirling around me. I bravely offered up my wallet before I realized a mugging wasn't imminent. After the show, however, as we were making our way back to the parking garage, Iggy realized he'd lost his car keys. Attempts to get back into the Summit were fruitless, so we shlepped dejectedly to the parking garage, wondering how the hell we were going to get back to Austin. It wasn't until we'd gotten to Iggy's car that we realized he'd left the keys in the trunk. His comment? "Only at a Dead show could you leave your keys hanging from your car and not get it stolen."
My retort? "Only a Deadhead would be so stoned that they forgot the goddamned things in the first place." Still, he had a good point. I doubt our luck would've been as good had we just come out of a Slayer concert.
That bout of feel-goodism aside, the Dead always seems to turn some people into obsessives, and this same thing happened to Iggy - he became incapable of playing anything else on our stereo - and several of my friends at UT, who did the truly original thing and followed them around on tour. I hooked up with them when on a swing through Texas and it was one of the most pathetically hilarious experiences of my life. Pathetic because I was also dealing with post-graduation unemployment. Hilarious because I knew I had the drop on these patchouli-smelling goofballs who'd spent the last 6 months cultivating body hair and destroying brain stem function.
That's all I've got. Oh, I never much cared for his ice cream, either.
I'm with you, Pete... I could never figure out what everyone seems to see in that band or what the hell was so special about them. As a spokesman for the counterculture, Garcia was acceptable I suppose... but that band just isn't worthy of the adulation showered upon it.
I think you have to be stoned to "enjoy" it.
Wow, you guys are hilarious- ignorant as hell too! Stick to mainstream radio and MTV...you'll connect to that crap easier- the music of the Dead is obviously beyond you. It's ironic too knowing you're from Austin! Don't yap about things you know nothing about...makes ya look kinda stupid in the eyes of folks that do!
"If you get confused, just listen to the music play!" -J Garcia
Stagger Lee:
"Don't yap about things you know nothing about..."
OK, so, Mr. Music Genius, 'splain it to us so we can understand.
Maybe I am just too thick skulled, but I never really got The Dead. "Too much space", as my Dead Head wife would say. Solos and musical interludes can be great. It just seemed to me that the solos never really went anywhere.
Maybe with your vast knowledge of music theory, Stagger, you can show me what I missed.
And I remember that all that was played at your apartment was the Dead, Zappa, and the Residents.
The Residents? No shit?
Don't yap about things you know nothing about...makes ya look kinda stupid in the eyes of folks that do!
Gee, thanks dad. Maybe you could criticize my haircut next. How about those no-good bums I'm spending all my time with?
If you're going to be mad at anybody, "Stagger," be mad at your boy for not taking the needle out of his arm more often. He might still be around.
I grew up in Sonoma County and lemme tell you...the Dead SUCK. Bill Graham built what is possibly the shittiest music venue on earth (The Shoreline Ampitheater) for all the Dead Heads to have a place to converge. However, soon after he did that, all parking lot sales, drinking and BBQing was called off. It still is. What a nic homage to self sufficient hippies. The Dead also started suing hippies who were making and selling Dead merch. How very peace, love and understanding of them.
Then the Dead started charging $50 a pop for their shitty concerts. They were the first to start charging way more than they were worth and still sell-out shows so I blame them for the rise in ticket prices. Well, them and Clear Channel. The Dead were the forefathers of modern day selling out. F them and their lame ass hypocrisy.
I am starting to kind of like their music though. Don't tell anybody.
I went through my oh-so-brief Dead phase sometime in my mid-twenties in Austin, but I suspect it was the drugs that lured me more than the actual music. Actually, my favorite Dead song isn't even by them- "So Long" by Ween, which is a tribute to Jerry Garcia, in my opinion, out-'Dead's the Dead. I played it to a rabid, foaming at the mouth diehard fan and he openly wept. Then I played "Sketches of Winkle" and laughed my ass off as his head exploded....
Don't yap about things you know nothing about...makes ya look kinda stupid in the eyes of folks that do!
Pretty good advice there, Stagger. Perhaps you should have stuck to it.
...the music of the Dead is obviously beyond you.
Yes, I believe I pretty much said that myself in my comment. You know, when I said "I could never figure out what everyone seems to see in that band or what the hell was so special about them." I guess maybe you were just confused and letting the music play during that part.
Stick to mainstream radio and MTV...you'll connect to that crap easier
Of course... because obviously, it's an either/or choice: Grateful Dead, or Maroon 5 - and there is no in between... they're mutually exclusive, y'see. It's not possible to reject the Dead and yet still enjoy other non-mainstream music... you're right. Silly me, what was I thinking?
Keep your tie-dyed hemp shirts, your broken down VW van and your brick of Mexico's finest -- clearly, I am unworthy of them. But I do have a good suggestion as to what you can do with your hackeysack.
OK, let me defend the Dead in language that many will understand...
In terms of musicality, the Dead, for all their excesses, were one of the few bands that actually understood modes and scales. Jerry was able to move gracefully from the mixolydian mode to the phrygian (his two favorites). Weir actually understood how to change the chord structures to work better underneath those leads. And they were able to do it on the fly, which takes amazing musical skill.
Quite simply, they were without a doubt in my mind the most musically literate band on the planet.
That said, they never met a riff they couldn't play into the ground. Even as a one-time jazz drummer, I thought their 18 minute drum solos were boring. And their performance was somewhere past uneven. If you caught them on a good night, they were sublime, trading off musical improvisation like Chick Corea without the boredom. If you caught them on a bad night, they sounded like a garage band of your buddies that you sorta feel like you HAVE to go to, since they are, after all, your buddies.
I understand Dead worship. I saw them over 15 times, only once or twice chemically enhanced. Either Shoreline in '93 or Radio City in '78 is the best concert of any type I've ever seen by one band. (It's not fair to compare it to a daylong festival like the Bridge School shows; it's only one band.)
I also understand Dead hatred. I saw what may well be the worst dead show ever - New Years Eve in Oakland in 1994 - and swore I'd never shell out my hard-earned bucks again on what was really a lottery ticket, with the odds seamingly stacked against me. At least the neighbor's cats never charge me to listen to them wail when they were in heat.
But for all that Stagger comes off as an asshole, he's half right. The musicianship of the Dead really was a cut above most pop acts. Hell, it was a cut above most jazz acts.
You don't have to like them. I can't STAND Pat Metheney, and he is undoubtedly one of the best living jazz guitarists, and he has enhanced music theory profoundly with his play. But you really ought to at least respect them for their ability to play.
Oh, and deadheads, by and large, suck. They have about the same ability to understand the musicality of the band as a chipmunk. If you're going to give up your life for music, at least pick up an instrument and give it up to learn how to make more and better music. Give me something from yourself. Instead, if they play, they play an unending litany of bad covers. I don't need another version of Brokedown Palace; Garcia's is just fine. I really don't need an excuse to do drugs; I can do them on my own.
At least, that's my $.02.
I mentioned in an earlier entry that, while I loathe Phish, I understand they're a very talented group. Same with the Dead, except - as you say - I'd be willing to bet 99% of their fans have no idea what the hell "mixolydian" and "phrygian" mean. Hell, neither do I, but I appreciate your feedback.
Ron: thanks for the more civil -- and obviously more informed -- explanation. I still don't like 'em, but I have a better sense of what people think was special about them. Thanks!
Yes, the Dead were talented (if sometimes sloppy) musicians. Yes, they sold out big early on in the game of selling out big. Yes, the "scene" turned into a bad self-parody. But, do not confuse the "scene" with some great albums, some great live recordings, and some great shows.
Oh yeah, ditto what Ron said about Metheney. Truly talented, but I hate that crap so much.
I remember when you went to that show. I passed on going because you guys were buying scalped floor seats and I didn't want to shell out, I think, $65 for a ticket. I figured I'd catch the Dead their next trip through Texas. Oops.
And I remember that all that was played at your apartment was the Dead, Zappa, and the Residents. God, was it monotonous. Or it was the acid...