I’m a deadhead from pretty far back
I bought the first Warner Bros record with Trips in the Uncle Sam top hat in 7th grade which came with a glossy poster of that album cover and one of the Electric Prunes and Van Morrison and others....
I was intimately familiar with the legacy of Kesey and Bear and La Honda and Robert Hunter and Jerry and so forth to the point of having my own direct line to Nick Sand and TBOEL....I’m just i really lived that cultural era
I saw many shows from 71-78......all over the southeast and Texas....
I helped with a show at the Mississippi Arts festival in 78 where even though a smallish crowd in a cavernous coliseum they played over three and a half hours and were extremely considerate of the audience given it was their one show there ever
And I still listen to them.....I listened to Death Have No Mercy from Live just last nite while searching for their version of Just like Tom Thumb Blues on Napster
I prefer the Pig era and consider Workingmam and Beauty perfection
My interest wanes after Terrapin....really after Mars to be honest and I like the 60s to mid 70s archive.org shows best.....after Mars they got jazzier and less bluesy
That translates to more Phil .......
Anyhow....best fans ever but best Rock band ever I dont agree
They weren’t really a rock band......more Americana music ....psychedelic blues to start but then more folk blues and almost Leadbelly on acid music
Garcia loved country and bluegrass and Bob loved Marty Robbins storytelling country
If you only buy one dead album....toss up between Skull and Roses or Europe 72
One studio album.....has to be Beauty .....their most accessible work but Axomoxoa captures the uncle Sidney feeling better....St Stephen.....man I still recall that mood like a fall afternoon outdoor trip...peaking just like the leaves
I get it....trust me....my oldest boy gets it too
If you saw the goosebumps sprint up my arm as I read this, you'd laugh. That was a long time and several worlds ago, but it'll always be right...there! (long, wistful sigh...)
Trips in a Flag hat indeed. He always looked better with the beard. 71-78 means you saw the best of the best, as did I. Though I was all Northeast, and was around for Spring of '78 from Boston Garden through Ithaca... epic!!!! And you know what I mean when I refer to the musicality of the artists involved. Well done. Truly well done.
Without a doubt the Dead’s album peak was ‘69 - ‘72 -— Live Dead, Workingman’s, Beauty, S & R, Europe ‘72. McKernan gave them a blues edge they haven’t had since. But still, they remained a formidable force on stage long after that era. Last time I saw them was in ‘87 in Ventura, and they still had it going on.
I agree with your characterization — Americana music, not rock. lol @ Leadbelly on acid. I recently burned a Leadbelly CD by using this YouTube to MP3 program: http://www.youtube-mp3.org
It’s easy. Just copy any YT URL, paste in it in field provided, and click on “convert video.” Only limitation is that the vid has to be under 20 min. in length. No problem if you download one song at a time.
FReep on!