Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Today after listening to my podcasts for the week, I whirled through three CDs. It’s been fun traversing the basement and randomly selecting CDs out of the pile. Up today were:
- Trevor Pinnock: English Concert: Handel’s Water Music Suite In F
- Shadowfax: The Dreams of Children
- Henry Mancini: All Time Greatest Hits
Water Music was a purchase in the late 80s/90s to help add to my classical selections. I don’t have much, but thought it would be good to have some of the biggies. I’ve always liked this version. I find it soothing.
Shadowfax is yet another group I learned of from my time at the Mad Batter. This disc was one of the ones I truly enjoyed. It has a new age feel to it. It also has that 80s sound, a precursor to Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time (that may be a reference only meaningful to me).
In a bit of serendipity, I pulled out Mancini’s Greatest Hits. I picked this up in the mid-90s for my classroom. Mancini penned the theme to The Pink Panther. We were working on a mystery and I thought it would help set the mood. Well, just Wednesday, one of my students mentioned The Pink Panther. The movie has been re-done, apparently with Beyonce. So, when the disc appeared in my blind grab, it seemed appropriate. Mancini definitely was a sound of movies from my youth. Good stuff!
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Reinvigorated, I loaded some new music for today. I have decided to work my way through my commercial CDs . . . at least for a while. For today I put on Bob Weir’s Heaven Help the Fool and David Sanborn’s As We Speak. Both offerings remind me of college.
The first time I heard Heaven Help the Fool was my freshman year at the ‘Berg. I liked it. I always thought some of this should have shown up in the Dead’s roatation, but alas . . .
What really struck me today was how short albums used to be. I don’t listen to a lot of commercial stuff as I primarily put in complete shows. Three hours is normal for me to complete an offering. By contrast, the eight songs here came in under 35 minutes. Sheesh . . . I completed this before I made it to work today.
Some of the songs sound dated. Bobby did not record another Ace here. The album has a produced sound to it with some tricks along the way. But good songs are good songs despite the post production.
The first six songs are decent. Track seven, I’ll Be Doggone is the weak song and the closer, Wrong Way Feelin’ doesn’t do much for me. I’ve always liked Bomb’s Away and it gets the album off to an upbeat start. I actually quoted a verse of this for a geocache I placed four years ago.
The ballads, however, seem to be what I like most out of Bobby’s stuff here. Easy to Slip and This Time Forever are good. While neither is more than the requisite 4:09 for radio play, both are structured for a big Jerry solo in the middle. Oh wait . . . that’s not going to happen. Hmmm . . .
Salt Lake City, Shade of Grey (predates Touch of Grey), and the title song are all solid. Listening to this disk this morning had me easily seeing my dorm room, Craig, and the big stereo cabinet I used to have back then.
As I arrived at work As We Speak came on. This is another album from my college days. I kind of stumbled into this album and hence, Sanborn and jazz to boot.
It was circa 1984 and my friend Mike Rubinstein decided he was in need of a new pair of speakers. He asked me to come with him to Bryn Mawr Stereo. Back then, Bryn Mawr was the place to purchase high-end stereo equipment. They were eventually gobbled up by Tweeter.
We drove out to the Whitehall store. At the time I was a fan of Polk Audio and Rubes was taken by a big set. Soon enough someone came to help my buddy. We went into a private listening room to test out some stuff. This was pre-CDs folks. The salesman put on a record and then began his spiel about the speakers. I was right there, but not being the one putting out the cash, listened to the music. Things were crystal clear. I interrupted and asked what we were listening to. The guy told me a bit about David Sanborn and handed me the album cover.
This began my move to liking jazz. I even played the alto sax because of this album. There is a humorous story associated with that, which I will share some other time. Sanborn has played with all sorts of folks over the years and he was definitely it at this time. The restaurant I managed during this period played a lot of Sanborn and other kewl jazz. Fast forward a couple years and I purchased my first CD player. As We Speak was one of the first five CDs I purchased.
It’s been a while since I listened to this, but it never takes long to get into it. Port of Call moves! This is no Kenny G, folks. Sanborn lays down some serious grooves with his band here. Of course, George Duke makes an appearance on this opening tune.
The band includes Omar Hakim, Marcus Miller, and Micheal Sembello. among others. This is a fine band for Sanborn to rip his saxophone. Back Again is the highlight of the record followed by the aforementioned Port of Call and the title song.
This morning was a nice trip down memory lane. I don’t regret much in life and I don’t really want to go back in time, but I wouldn’t mind slipping into my 30″ Levis again. 
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Saturday, March 8th, 2008
It seems like I have been walking around with the same tunes all week. I finally finished the rotation and am preparing Silver for the weekend. Coming off are the following:
Grateful Dead
72-08-27: Old Renaissance Faire Grounds - Veneta, OR
There are legendary shows in the band’s 30-year history. This is one such show that I have listened to many times over the years, although it has been a while. The sound on this is excellent.
The set list is nice. Sunshine Daydream is interesting in its infancy.
92-03-02: The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Another show I attended. After Brent’s death, the band changed again. There was MIDI and Vince Welnick. I don’t listen much to 1990s Dead and this is why. While this is not as bad as the ‘94 show, in hindsight the band’s sound is not what I usually think of when I think of my favorite band. To be sure, I enjoyed the show. It just doesn’t hold up well with the rest of the catalogue. No standouts, but I enjoyed Hornsby helping out.
94-03-21: Richfield Coliseum - Richfield, OH
This show is highlighted as the show from 1994 to listen to. Somewhere I read that this was the last great Dead show. Hmmm . . .
Obviously, one thing that stands out is the Lovelight –> Stella Blue –> Lovelight. Everyone talks about it. On paper (in binary?) in looks wonderful. Forgetting just what this show was when I listened to it, my thoughts were that Bobby does a poor imitation of a blues singer with Lovelight. The song seemed forced. Stella is one of my favorites. It was good until the end where Jerry moaned offkey. Then to come back to Lovelight was a nice touch, but there was something about Bobby on this night . . . it just didn’t do it for me.
Peggy-O I thought was well-played. Another thing that occurred to me was how songs mature. I really liked West L.A. Fadeawy. When this song first came out, I was not thrilled. It was okay, but nothing I ever said, “Wow, they play West L.A. tonight!” This version smoked and had a nice jam in the middle. The song improved in the eight years since I first heard it. He’s Gone including the jam coming out of it was well done, but I am a huge fan of the song to begin with, so the standard is low. 
Once again, New Speedway was unrecognizable until Jerry began singing. The band’s sound is radically different than the band I grew up with. While there are moments late in the career that are nice, the MIDI sound is just not interesting to my ears. I am not a musician, but it sounds lazy to me.
Jerry Garcia Band
80-02-28: Wilkens Theatre, Kean College - Union, NJ
Robert Hunter guested for a few songs at the end of the second show. Hunter, longtime lyricist for Jerry, adds a different sound altogether.
This show is good. It’s a simple JGB band without Merl or Melvin laying in heavy keys. I like the sound of this band, even if it is not as mature as other incarnations.
83-12-04: Gym SUNY Stony Brook - Stony Brook, NY
I’ve been listening to a lot of ‘83 JGB recently. This is a short show, but my goodness it shines!
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door is up-tempo with a reggae feel, much like Dylan played it in ‘78. I really liked this version. Really, this whole set soars, particularly from Knockin’ on. A very good Mission in the Rain and Rhapsody in Red then a stellar trio of Don’t Let Go –> Deal –> Tangled Up in Blue. Awesome! It just smokes.
I was just about to type to make certain you download it, but I just found out my favorite site has just received a cease-and-desist order from Rhino Records. The Dead have outsourced their distribution to them. Not much has happened since. :( But to shut down sites sharing free music . . . errr . . . GD Productions is going to loose a lot of customers.
It looks like it will be the Archive only for a while.
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Saturday, February 16th, 2008
I’ve haven’t listened to my iPod much the last couple days save the Valentine’s Day show from 1968. Today I knew I was going to be on the trails, so I made certain the iPod was loaded.
Loaded onto the iPod right now are the following shows:
Grateful Dead
68-02-14: Carousel Ballroom - San Francisco, CA
73-06-22: P.N.E. Coliseum - Vancouver, BC, Canada
standard 1973 show, which is to say awesome! The jam from Truckin’ into The Other One is worth the listen alone.
77-04-23: Springfield Civic Center Arena - Springfield, MA
This show is perfect for someone like me who generally abstains from ‘77 shows because they are so over-played. Yes, awesome playing and great sound (thanks Betty), but over-played. This was recommended to me and it is a fun listen to. Pre-May the band was on fire. All most ever listen to are the May shows.
79-11-05: The Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
I love the November-December run the boys played this year. The 1 November show has one of my favorite Scarlet-Fire. The late placement of Lost Sailor-Saint of Circumstance is interesting. Brent was really fitting in by now and I love the jamming.
86-03-25: The Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
I attended this show. The first Desolation Row was played as well as Phil belting out Tom Thumb Blues. The GDTRFB sounds flawed. I always enjoy It Must Have Been the Roses. I sang it loudly (and I am certain out of tune) hiking today.
Legion of Mary
75-05-22: Keystone - Berkeley, CA
When I was turned onto LoM 20+ years ago I fell in love. Absolutely the perfect mix of jazz and jamming for me. I ran into this show twice recently and both times the folks highlighted Little Sunflower. I was unfamiliar with this tune. Holy smokes! It is nice to stumble across something so new and beautiful, even if it was recorded 33 years ago. I love this song. I played it several times today and at over 16 minutes, that’s saying something. There is also an upbeat Road Runner here too. I highly recommend this show.
Johnny Cash
03-07-05: Carter Family Fold - Hiltons, VA
I had seen lots of video of this previously, but had not listened in some time. In retrospect, one can hear how fragile Cash sounded that day. I always enjoyed Big River, big surprise. Cash handled his standards just fine.
Jerry Garcia Band
78-11-03: Keystone - Palo Alto, CA
The sound on this isn’t the finest, but I love So What? I recall when I first heard Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue album. My employer at the time played great jazz and blues for the diners. I got turned onto a lot of good stuff. If I am not mistaken, Kind of Blue was my first purchased CD (even before I had a player) given that my cat Butterscotch threw up on the borrowed copy. It’s possible that was another CD. If so, this was the second.
Anyhow, So What? is awesome. I will listen to any show that includes it.
Merl Saunders Band
78-10-03: Shady Grove - San Francisco, CA
This was another recommended show. Jerry sits in with Merl’s band. I am not a huge fan of this show. Others love it, so go figure. Come Together is rather well played, however.
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Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
Since receiving my iPod at Christmas, I have been listening to much more music than I have in recent years. I used to keep a database of all my shows and CDs. Each time I listened to something, I updated the database. It was a drag. To head that off, I installed last.fm, which I thought would handle the process. It does and it doesn’t. It does keep track of the different tracks I listen to. The issue is that most of what I listen to is live music. These shows are not catalogued like a studio album. When the band plays a song, last.fm sees the name of the band and the name of the song and attributes it to the studio album that the song appeared on. Those familiar with the Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia understand this is severely lacking.
Until I come up with a better way, I thought I would document what I am listening to here. It would be great if I could write a detailed report of each show. That is just far too time-consuming for me, so it’ll just be a list and maybe some notes somewhere along the line.
Loaded onto the iPod right now are the following shows:
Grateful Dead
73-05-20: UCSB Stadium - Santa Barbara, CA
73-05-26: Kezar Stadium - San Francisco, CA
73-06-10: RFK Stadium - Washington, DC
92-03-03: The Omni - Atlanta, GA
Jerry Garcia Band
81-02-06: Tower Theatre - Upper Darby, PA
87-08-30: Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA
93-11-03: Knickerbocker Arena - Albany, NY
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