EuroDead i.e. Le Grateful Dead au Château d'Hérouville

Time to get back to some shows 'round here!

Grateful Dead June 21, 1971 Château d'Hérouville Hérouville, France

1st Set: Jerry interview, Hard To Handle, Deal, Morning Dew
China Cat Sunflower-> I Know You Rider, Playing In The Band,
Big Boss Man, Black Peter, Bertha

2nd Set: Casey Jones, Cryptical Envelopment-> Drums->
The Other One-> Wharf Rat, Sugar Magnolia, Sing Me Back Home,
Johnny B. Goode

This recording is crap at the beginning, unfortunately. Pure garbage. An interview conducted with Jerry sounds interesting on the face of it... but someone is translating in French what Jerry is saying. That overlay doesn't allow us English speakers to truly hear all that's being said. Of course, if you speak fluent French (mine isn't that fluent) then you might be able to understand all that Jerry is talking about and all that the translator dude says afterwards. The interview quality isn't so bad compared to the first song of the show.

A patch from AM radio was used for the first few songs and Hard to Handle just sucks every kind of ass in the world. Seriously, you're better off not even listening to it. The quality drastically improves with Deal (still not great but better.) The following Morning Dew would probably be worth positively noting... except that what's here is just a fraction of the song. The same is true with China Cat and Rider. Oh well, I mean, what are ya gonna do? These songs may not even be in the Dead's vault today so this is probably all we have. It happens.

A nice Playin' -- "A song in a semi-philosophical vain" -- kicks off the better sounding part of this recording. Don't worry, if you don't speak English then Bobby translates for everyone: "Semi-philosophique."

Big Boss Man and Black Peter are excellent before the set-closing Bertha which has some minor lyric flubs but I'm really diggin' it thanks to this nice mix, good Jerry on guitar, nice Phil on bass and Pig on that Hammond B-3 of his! Quick and to the point, this is pretty cool capper to this four-song run which ends the set/starts the very good quality portion of this show.

A straight-forward Casey Jones kicks off the Set 2 but the following 18-minute Cryptical-> Drums-> O1 has got to be the highlight of the show for me. Add onto that 10½ more minutes of Wharf Rat and that's a pretty sweet almost half hour of music.

Bobby whiffs on some of Sugar Mag but it's still a nice little smokin' version. Before the almost encore of Johnny B. Goode -- "a rock and roll classique" -- the quiet beauty of Sing Me Back Home helps wrap this up the Dead's second set of tunes.

A Grateful Dead show on the first night of summer at a castle built in 1740 in the French countryside... what a beautiful time this must've been!!

found at: http://paris70.free.fr/auvers71.htm ”The group's most exotic gig in 1971 was a one-shot in France. "We went over there to do a big festival, a free festival they were gonna have," Garcia said. "We went over [at the promoter's expense], but the festival was rained out; it flooded. We stayed at this little chateau [Chateau d'Herouville] which is owned by a film score composer who has a 16-track recording studio built into the chateau, and this is a chateau that Chopin once lived in; really old, just delightful, out in the country near the town of Auvers, which is where Vincent Van Gogh is buried. ... "We were there with nothing to do: France, a 16-track recording studio upstairs, all our gear, ready to play, and nothing to do. So, we decided to play at the chateau itself, out in the back, in the grass, with a swimming pool, just play into the hills. We didn't even play to hippies, we played to a handful of townspeople in Auvers. ... We played and the people came — the chief of police, the fire department, just everybody. It was an event and everybody just had a hell of a time — got drunk, fell in the pool. It was great." --Jerry Garcia-- "The Dead started to play just before the sky got dark, but their entire set was illuminated by bright lights from the Paris socialized television station Link Two, which rebroadcast the event the next week. Their film technique was flawless, as one would expect from a French film team; the camera people were completely unobtrusive on the musicians; the lights bugged Phil a little. Pig Pen just barely recovered in time to sing after downing his two bottles of duty free Wild Turkey . . . Weir was in fine primal scream voice, and Garcia settled into his trancelike lassitude from which emanates the famous electronic genius that is particularly his. They played for three hours, and during this time the workers and the fire department and little children lit hundreds of candles and placed them around the pool as if it were a religious shrine . . . a Lourdes or place of healing waters. As the party progressed, the candles were extinguished by the bodies of of various drunken celebrants being thrown in the pool by other drunken celebrants. The Dead played louder and louder; the locals had never heard anything like it before and they were delirious." --Hank Harrison-- The Dead Book: A Social History of the Grateful Dead

source
Soundboard Master Reels> ???> DAT> CD
beginning thru Rider patched with AM master reel> reel> cassette> CD

sound quality
starting with Playin' it's a pretty solid sweet A!
there's some minor noise (hiss) in between songs
but some might even still say A+

6/21/71 Chateau d'Herouville at Archive.org:
you can listen to the SBD

-or- Download the Soundboard Right Here Grateful Dead - June 21, 1971, Herouville, France - Part ONE Part 2 of Chateau d'Herouville - 6/21/71 (SUBSTITUTE THIS) I Know You Rider (FIXED FILE)

6-21-81 aka 06-21-81 aka 6/21/71 aka 06/21/71 aka 71-06-21 setlist 320 kbps mp3 SBD download

Jerry at Château d'Hérouville

Toothopolis 2: Return of the Cavity Creeps

Toothopolis?

Today's dead show is all about those Cavity Creeps gettin' blasted dead by the Crest Gel Team which in charge of protecting Toothopolis!

Actually, the Cavity Creeps just get repelled. I guess being killed dead would've been too violent. Oh well. I suppose that leaves the story open-ended to be continued in a Part 2 someday? Maybe!

With any luck I'll post up a real Dead show soon. SOON! It's just a kinda crazy time right now. I've just been so tired. Last night was another late night and today's been filled with stuff to do... and more stuff this afternoon and evening. Shows soon, okay. All Good Things In All Good Time and some fun Dead and Jerry stuff will begin to regularly get posted here again... same Dead time, same Dead station so y'all come back now, y'hear?!?

Oh, and I've also got some Garcia in the queue to put up hopefully in just a couple days or so.

In the meantime... enjoy a video!

Grateful Dead - 6/26/94
Sam Boyd Silver Bowl, La$ Vega$, Nevada

"Ramble On Rose"

Monday Blondie Run without a Clever Title

Today was a day. Yes... it was. It was a day and that's all it was. Twasn't bad. Twas okay. Today was. What the heck am I saying? I'm not sure... and to speak like me -- sure is pronounced "shore." Have some cawfee? Tawk? Cawfee tawk? No, this wasn't a poem so that's why it didn't wrap up with any fancy rhyme. Actually, I've now got a craving for a margarita with lots of yummy lime.

Wow, I've got not a whole lot to say right now. I guess I could find something but Crickey, Mate, I'm tired! Hey, I ran, okay?! I got 'er done! Hellllllll yeah!!!

Only 82°F, overcast & thundery @ 6:50 pm

Monday Evening Run: 14 minutes 2 seconds

+ 44 sec

XXXXXXXXXXXX ·June :: -2 sec· XXXXXXXXXX

7 runs in July: approx: 2 hrs 11 min June: 1 hour 47 min May: 4 hours 46 min

Earlier it seemed like running would be certain death. All afternoon the temperature crept up to about 140... okay, just 96 or so. I didn't even wanna turn on the Weather Channel 'cause I knew the Heat Index woulda been just sick. SICK!

But then late afternoon thunderstorms popped up and the temp plummeted like the stock market today (down like 233 points?!?! CRAP!!!!!!! I lost 15 grand in the 2nd quarter, damn it all to hell that sucker better bounce back by the end of the year!!!)

Anyway.... the drop in temperature allowed me to re-adjust my Play List for longer then the originally planned 10 or 11 minutes of running. 14 or 15 minutes shoulda been doable, perhaps in two separate stints with a break in between -- and that's what happened. Maybe I need to get that out of my head, the thought of having a break and just go for it? I dunno. In any case -- I made my time. I was tired as hell at the end but I made it okay. The frozen Gatorade melted enough to give me some fluid intake during my break and that helped me finish up my time. Not easy as cake but I made it without any problem worse than some minor exhaustion.

Running tunes...
	Blondie (self-titled debut) 1976 [2001 reissue]

X-Offender
Little Girl Lies
In the Flesh
Look Good in Blue
In the Sun
A Shark in Jet's Clothing
Man Overboard
Rip Her to Shreds
Rifle Range
Kung-Fu Girls
The Attack of the Giant Ants

Out in the Streets (1975 Demo)
The Thin Line (1975 Demo)
Platinum Blonde (1975 Demo)
X-Offender (Private Stock single version)
In the Sun (Private Stock single version)

It has been way too many years since I've listened to Blondie. I've been pretty familiar with a couple of her albums... whoops, I said "her" 'cause for some reason I've always thought of Blondie being Debby Harry and not a band. Anyway, I've been familiar with a couple Blondie albums but have never heard this debut before. What's here isn't really as good as what followed to close out the 70's but there are a lot of hints of what's to come. It's fun but just doesn't have that same very cool feel that later Blondie material has.

I think my favorite songs here are Man Overboard which actually has kind of a Grateful Dead feel to it if you think Jerry-less (no lead guitar) but heavy on Bob's rhythm guitar...
also Attack of the Giant Ants.
I mean, how can you beat a song that goes:

Giant ants from space
Snuff the human race
Then they eat your face
never leave a trace
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
They shoot fire all around
Tokyo burns down
Everybody drowns
The moon falls on the ground
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
They can't be stopped at all
The buildings start to fall
Soldiers shoot all day
and then they run away
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
The world is holocaust
Everything is lost
Mankind is destroyed
Sprinkled in the void
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

The la, la, la, la is just perfect! Coupled with that, the song has such a fun, Latin la bamba samba salsa meringue happy feel to it!
HEY, curious? Have a listen here:

Blondie's 1976 debut: find a download @ La Columna Flácida

320 kbps mp3 download

tired so tired up all night mutterings

Well, I had meant to post this up this morning... but hmmm, I got a little occupied. Hopefully I'll still be able to post up a Dead show tonight but I doubt it. Maybe tomorrow. Yeah, hopefully tomorrow... that is if I'm not staying up until like 3 or 4... or 5 in the morning... again! Not that I'm complaining, I'm not! What's most important is what's most important(!!!) ... and so other things can happily take a backseat and not matter as much right now.

Still I'll keep on trying to bring this blog back up to the level of "normality" that it once had -- so hopefully that'll mean more than 1 show posted a week!

For now...

Unconscious Mutterings

a free association game -- I say :: and you think ... ?

1. Memory :: bank

2. Original ::	Sin -- song by INXS.
	Have a listen, if you please

3. Exclusively :: Available ... at Williams-Sonoma, for example.

4. Listings :: new home ... or job

5. Bucket ::	The Bucket List -- recent movie with Jack and Morgan
	... then I was [DUH!] reminded of the Grateful Dead song
	"Hell In A Bucket" ... have a listen!

6. Knight ::	Ray -- 3rd Baseman for the
	1986 World Series Champion
	New York Mets

7. Dusty ::	"the bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean"
	... from the Grateful Dead song
	"Brown-Eyed Women" ... have a listen!

8. Choice :: Fielder's Choice -- defensive play in baseball

9. Sunglight :: misspelling -- 2nd in 3 weeks

10. Change of plans :: Life!

Yeah, it was like a million years ago
but still a GREAT moment for us Mets fans!!!
Thanks, Bill Buckner!

Tired, Untitled Saturday Run

There's a Chinese proverb that says:

If I am dreaming let me never awake,
If I am awake let me never sleep.

Why do we need sleep? I mean when you spend the entire first four or five hours of the a.m. occupied with something so very enjoyable, doesn't it just make sense to stay awake and begin the new day? By that time the sun will soon begin lighting the sky -- so why do we need sleep!? It really kinda blows, I'm tellin' ya, especially when sleep just completely cuts into living! What a waste of time!!!!

If those Zzzzzz's weren't so important so that we are able to properly function, then this morning I wouldn't a-been like I am again now -- sooo freakin' tired!!! Ay caramba, I was half wiped out after I woke up well past 10 a.m. If I didn't drag myself outta bed so that I could start downloading some tunes, (probably very) easily I could have stayed asleep right up to (and maybe beyond) the noontime hour. Why didn't I just sleep longer? Got stuff to do! Got life to live!! But that damn sleep thing -- what an annoyance sometimes!!!

90°F, partly cloudy, sun comin' out @ 1:35 pm

Saturday Early Afternoon Run: 13 min 18 sec

+ 43 sec

XXXXXXXXXXXX ·June :: -4 sec· XXXXXXXXXX

7 runs in July: approx: 1 hour 57 min June: 1 hour 47 min May: 4 hours 46 min

Oi. I'm so tired now, I don't know how I'm typing up this post. I had planned a Running Time just over 15 minutes... but that was when I thought of running earlier in the A.M., when the temperature would be lower and running would be easier.

The morning went on, Sugar Magnolia played in my ear... and the temperature outside rose steadily toward and (yet a-freakin'-gain) past 90. Oh joy. Knowing that while running the heat would yank so much of the energy out of me, and I didn't have a full supply of energy this morning to begin with(!), I had to re-adjust the Play List on my mp3 player to shave off some time. At 80 degrees with the sun not yet shining brightly overhead, 15 minutes -- and probably 20 minutes and probably even 30 minutes -- woulda been a (relatively not-so-difficult) piece of cake!!! But at 90 with lots of sun -- yeah right.

I had to split the run into two parts in order to achieve my goal for the day. I'm not entirely happy with that but I made it. A frozen bottle of Gatorade I had brought with me, so that helped. When I took a break, as I sat and sipped, I thought I might fall asleep... and then I probably woulda woken up covered in ants or something. Might not a-been a good thing, eh? Fortunately I was able to feel replenished enough to get to running once more to finish up.

At sunset it's still hot, not as hot but not much better. I've really gotta start doing this [getting out to run] at dawn so I can work on 20+ minutes!! With so many late, late nights, I'm just not sure how I can do that. I'd MUCH rather have the late nights so I'll keep it in mind to be satisfied with shorter running times when the weather's just so damn hot.

Running tunes...
	Queens of the Stone Age Rated R 2000

Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret
Leg Of Lamb
Auto Pilot
Better Living Through Chemistry
Monsters In The Parasol
Quick And To The Pointless
In The Fade
Feel Good Hit Of The Summer (Reprise)
Tension Head
Lightning Song
I Think I Lost My Headache

I've heard of this band before but I'd be willing to bet an arm or two that I've never before heard an entire song from Queens of the Stone Age. Additionally, I'd be willing to bet, oh, a leg, maybe, that I could never recognize any music of theirs... none. I just have so little care for new music (meaning just about any new and popular band from the late 90's through the 2000's.)

Thanks to my addiction to using something [music] that's new (to me) when I head out for a run, I Pressed Play on this odd album.

There are probably some really interesting lyrics here but what makes it odd for me is a few songs are really rockin' with searing guitar and complete with screaming... while other tunes are quite mellow, one even being an instrumental and one having a lot of Miles Davis-ish horn and a somewhat jazzy sound to it.

Overall I'm not super-impressed. This music doesn't really do much for me. It served its purpose in helping me with my run so that's cool. Maybe someday I'll give another album of theirs a listen but I don't think I'll ever listen to this again.

find a dload @ Walldill

320 kbps mp3 download

Everything will be okay

Walk into splintered sunlight
Inch your way through dead dreams
to another land
Maybe you're tired and broken
Your tongue is twisted
with words half spoken
and thoughts unclear
What do you want me to do
to do for you to see you through
A box of rain will ease the pain
and love will see you through

-Robert Hunter-

"Box of Rain"
Grateful Dead, March 24, 1986
The Spectrum, PHILadelphia, Pennsylvania
(doesn't start until about 1:25 ... wait for it!)

Jerry Garcia Phil Lesh Bob Weir 3-24-86 3/24/86 86-03-24

The Zoooma needa sleep! (But feels Great!)

Well, in less than 24 hours since my last post, the Mets won 2 games -- a night game last night and a day game today -- against the despised Phillies.

The whole first half of the season was just a pathetic drag... but now it's getting exciting. Finally. Baseball's hardly important to me but ya know, some people dig their American Idol, some people dig their Grey's Anatomy or Lost or what-have-you... maybe a little Jerry Springer?! Aside from great music and some good books, I dig a little baseball. And when your team's in 1st Place, hey, that's pretty sweet!!

National League
East	W	L	Pct	GB
New York Mets	55	47	.539	--
Philadelphia Phillies	54	48	.529	1.0
Florida Marlins	53	48	.525	1.5

Speaking of good music...
I've still got a couple Grateful Dead shows uploaded and ready for people to download so perhaps another show oughta go up here on Friday! Yeah... that sounds like a great idea... but no promises 'cause I've been up so late for a whole lotta days now and add in a run today and I'm soooo tired! But to anyone looking for a new show 'round here and reading this -- Stay Tuned!!!

92°, sunny, Heat Index: 96° @ just about 3:45 p.m.

Thursday Afternoon Run: 12 minutes 27 sec

+ 2:11

XXXXXXXXXXXX ·June +38sec· XXXXXXXXXX

6 runs in July: total time about: 1 hour 43m June: 1 hour 47 minutes May: 4 hours 46 minutes

Warm. Been worse but still way warm. Okay -- hot. I was probably too tired for a run under the bright sun but I felt determined. Even if I couldn't finish the whole Pre-planned Run Time without stopping, I was determined to get it done with a walking break in the middle, if needed. If needed I was determined to get it done with a walking break and sitting down for 5 or 10 minutes with some ice-cold Gatorade -- and that's what I needed. Not easy because of the heat but at the same time, I finished up pretty much just fine. My right calf feels a little strained but eh, not too bad. With a day off, or two, I'll be good to go again.

Like a week or so ago, I had sort of set a goal for the next 30 days, I think. Now, whatever that goal was, I'm not so sure about it. This summertime heat of South Carolina is really kickin' my butt. But I'll keep tryin' to run every few days, keep tryin' to improve and get used to 90+ degrees. It's important to me that I not give up and keep pushing on with running. I wanna get to a place of even better health, to burn away excess fat, have better fitting clothes... and build better stamina!!!

Onward!

Running tunes...
	Third Day Come Together 2001

Come Together
40 Days
Show Me Your Glory
Get On
My Heart
It's Alright
Still Listening
I Got You
I Don't Know
When The Rain Comes
Sing Praises
Nothing Compares

The more music I listen to, the more music I realize I've never ever Pressed Play on before! The same is true (yet again) here with Third Day. Once upon a time I spent some time listening to a Christian music radio station and I have heard a few songs from this band, but never a whole album before now.

Coming from Marietta, Georgia (outside of Atlanta,) this band has some great songs here. The southern influence seems to run through it but not overly so. Also not overly present is the calling on God or Jesus directly. I didn't read along with the lyrics (I almost never do with any music) but I know God is here all over the place. In this way of writing, though, the person who has nothing to do with Christianity in any form whatsoever could listen to this music and never once think this is Christian music. That seems to appeal more and more to me and part o' the reason why is it has more room to rock and to be different... not that praising God in every song is a bad thing... that just gets a little old after awhile so it's nice to have something in my ears that goes against the grain!

Check out a great review at Jesus freak Hideout

find a dload @ Música Cristã MP3

320 kbps mp3 download

Flushing Away First

What's that huge sucking sound
in Queens?

Same old crap it seems
as 1st Place was flushed away
in Flushing last night.

National League
East	W	L	Pct	GB
Philadelphia Phillies	54	46	.540	--
New York Mets	53	47	.530	1.0

I guess it could be worse -- I could be a Washington Nationals fan... or a Seattle Mariners fan. 23 games out of 1st place? Whew. Thankfully, even when they look just downright pathetic like blowing the lead (and a sure win) by giving up 6 runs in the Top of the 9th Inning, the Mets usually have the ability to hang in there. They did win 10 in a row recently. Not sure if they can pull that off again but their nickname ain't The Amazin's for nothin'!

Tonight's game (in about an hour from now) against the hated Phillies will be on ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball - Nationally Televised. That's just sweet! It's practically playoff baseball in July!

While I dig the game, I don't normally sit and actually watch... but the Mets on TV when I'm no longer livin' in the NY-NJ area, oh yeah, I'll be watchin'! And again, it's a great thing I'm a Mets fan 'cause I mean how many times a year do the Texas Rangers or the Colorado Rockies get Nationally Televised? Suckers!!

A Hot & Manic Sunday Run

Man, I don't have much to blog about today. Well, I do... like at least mentioning how stoopid that "IRS" thing was -- I'm here to help my dad as he recovers from open heart surgery... and then there's that? It's an intrusion, it's uncool and uncalled for.

Also uncalled for is the temperature in South Carolina. I'm not an indoor person! What I mean is I don't like to stay inside all day and not have a care in the world for going outside. Just going down the driveway to the curb to get the mail can be a mini-adventure in Hell. That's not right! So why won't the government control the weather already?! Turn the heat down!! I can handle in excess of 85 just fine. I can handle 95. But there's just something so wrong about beginning to sweat through your clothes just from walking out the door. It's a good thing me being here to help take care of my dad as he recovers from his heart surgery... but I'm just not liking this heat so much.

Ahhh, well, I don't want to be everyday secluded inside where there's air conditioning, ceiling fans, and oscillating fans -- even with the high heat it's nice to get some exercise OUTSIDE. It might only be just 30 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of running... but that's better than sitting on my ass all day!

93°, sunny just before walkin out the door @ 12:50 p.m. Could be worse but still way warm in the SC Lowcountry

Sunday Run, early afternoon: 10 minutes 16 sec

- 3:54

XXXXXXXXXXXX ·June +11sec· XXXXXXXXXX

5 runs in July: total time about: 1 hour 31m June: 1 hour 47 minutes May: 4 hours 46 minutes

Today's run was HOT!! And not like sexy or erotic hot... like body temperature nearing, oh, about 140 degrees HOT. Not really that high but it felt like it.

Also so tiring. Maybe I shouldn't have run but I had planned to and was eager to. Not enough sleep last night (or the night before) took a bit of a toll on me. But I still put the clothes on and the shoes on and got out there.

This morning I worked on a new playlist for the heat, one that would give me about ten minutes of running and one with each song consisting of a low Beats Per Minute count. Too many BPM would be a distraction and could possibly wear me out too soon. So I set up a mellow pace and an abbreviated time to match how I anticipated feeling out there. To go longer (and faster) than that in this heat would NOT have been a good thing.

My time was accomplished but not easily. A song and a half in I gave up and headed for some shade. I didn't stop moving (yet) but relief (in the form of very slow walking) was needed. Back to the start of the trail is where I headed, back where I had my frozen Gatorade waiting for me. For around ten minutes I sat in the shade, enjoyed cold sips as well as putting the bottle on my wrists and neck to help cool me down, and soon decided that I'd finish my run.

Walking down the trail again, I began listening to the song that I stopped [running] on and at about that moment I started running for the second time. My rest recharged me enough to finish my planned playlist. Immediately I turned around and was on my way back to the rest of my icy (but quickly melting) Gatorade. That was some sweet relief but what I really wanted was to collapse asleep and wake up sometime later, magically transported back to Terry Ave where I could turn the fan on high, lay my head, cool down, and forget there's that weather outside.

After a long, mostly cold shower here I am, typing this up and still sweating. Soon I'll be back to normal but pushing myself in the heat like that, I dunno.

Running tunes...
	Manic Street Preachers Lifeblood 2004

1985
The Love Of Richard Nixon
Empty Souls
A Song For Departure
I Live To Fall Asleep
To Repel Ghosts
Emily
Glasnost
Always/Never
Solitude Sometimes Is
Fragments
Cardiff Afterlife

Once again, here's a band that only recently entered my ears for the very first time. Nope, I'd heard Manic Street Preachers before. I'm not sure why. Maybe if I living in Wales I'd know who they are but somehow they escaped me.

Pretty good music. Apparently this album is a lot different than other stuff for them. They were punk(-ish?) once upon a time? I believe it but you'd never know it here. This is more like Echo & The Bunnymen or something along those lines. There's no edge here but it's some good music; I dug listening to it.

Check out the allmusic review: Instead of being the return to form it was clearly intended to be, Manic Street Preachers' sixth album, Know Your Enemy, sucked the life out of the band, collapsing in a heap of bad reviews and ill will. It was such a wrong move that even the band acknowledged that things went wrong, so they took some time off to regroup, issuing a hits collection Forever Delayed in 2002, with a B-sides and rarities comp Lipstick Traces following in 2003. The decks being suitably cleared, the band eased back in late 2004 with their seventh album Lifeblood, a record that takes the MOR/AOR inclinations of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours to heart. Gliding by on smooth surfaces of synthesizers and lightly sequenced beats, Lifeblood is simpler and hookier than the lumbering Know Your Enemy, which is a relative blessing: it results in a record that's easier to enjoy, even if its smoothness doesn't gloss over memories of what the jagged, visceral band the Manics used to be. Even on the grandiose, arena-ready Everything Must Go, they sounded like a tense bundle of nerve and ambition, a clear byproduct of punk, but here they sound not far removed from the legions of po-faced, sincere but dull groups that stumbled through the colorless aftermath of Britpop at the tail-end of the '90s. Apart from a sense of craft that thoroughly identifies them as pros, what separates them now are what have always been their hallmarks: Nicky Wire's perpetually adolescent literate literariness -- which, at this point, is either endearing or infuriating (though as lines like "so God is dead/like Nietzsche said" and titles like "The Love of Richard Nixon" pile up, it's hard not to tip toward the latter) -- and James Dean Bradfield's keening, earnest vocals. When the music hit harder, Wire's words made more sense and Bradfield's singing tugged on the heartstrings, but with music as slick and seamless as this, they seem a touch anachronistic, the lone holdovers from when the band lived with abandon, giving their music an invigorating, reckless edge even when it was incoherent. But growing up was never going to be easy for the Manics -- they were either going to break up, embarrassingly ape their former glories (which they came perilously close to doing on Know Your Enemy), or they were going to deliberately, somberly enter adulthood, as they do here. Since they craft solid records, Lifeblood is a pleasant listen, but once you peel away the keyboards, sensitively strummed guitars and tasteful harmonies and concentrate on Bradfield's nakedly open voice and Wire's terminally collegiate lyrics, it's hard to escape the unintentional pathos that winds up defining the album and, conceivably, the band's latter-day career.

find a dload @ Back On The Road

320 kbps mp3 download

Happy Birthday, Zoooma!!!

In his post today, my friend Zoooma featured a mind blowing show from this date in history and he mentioned that it was Keith's birthday. What he neglected to mention was his own birthday, which is today, July 19. Happy Birthday, Chris!

P.S. The next time a lame fake IRS agent calls you, tell 'em Chris had a sex change operation and has changed her name to Christina.

Dead Bday

"All you folks out there with fireworks, hold your fire, will ya, please, 'cause the fire marshal don't dig it."

Bob Weir, 7/19/74

July 19 -- 201st day of this year, 2008...

and it needs to be said: Happy Birthday, John Stamos!!!

Actually today's not his birthday. I always thought it was. I celebrated this day as a National freakin' Holiday because of that!! Hmmm. I just don't know why I thought it was Uncle Jesse's birthday. Well... let's see here... he is on ER, though... not at the same time as Dr. Mark Greene was... but speaking of Dr. Mark Green -- Happy Bday, Doc!!!!!

(That was convenient. But I don't think I'll keep today as National freakin' Holiday anymore. Uncle Jesse is one thing... but some dude from ER who's not the ultra-dreamy George Clooney? Nah.)

Anyway, in addition to Dr. Greene, I would be a pathetic human being, just a downright horrible person if I didn't wish Ilie Năstase a Happy Birthday, as well. Everyone knows who that that is, right? RIGHT? No?! Neither do I so don't worry about it!





The past is (<--back that a-way) is behind us...
and the future (up ahead there-->) is lookin' pretty sweet and pretty bright, some might say so bright I gotta wear shades... but ya know, I do that anyway 'cause it makes me look just so damn cool!!

Anyway, HEY!!! I be thinkin' tis time to get back to regularly postin' some shows 'round here, get this joint jumpin' again, get it reelin' and a-rockin'!

So how about some music? You know... music... tunage... bass, drums, keys, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals, and Donna screaming?

(Aside from Uncle Jesse not actually turning a year older...)

On This Day In History... Ladies & Gentleman:

Grateful Dead July 19, 1974 Selland Arena Fresno, California Keith Godchaux's birthday

Soundcheck: Jam ... 1st Set: Bertha, Mexicali Blues, Deal,
Beat It On Down The Line, Row Jimmy, Me & Bobby McGee,
Scarlet Begonias, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Playing In The Band

Set 1.5: Seastones ... 2nd Set: Brown-Eyed Women, Me & My Uncle,
It Must Have Been The Roses, Jack Straw, He's Gone-> U.S. Blues,
Weather Report Suite Prelude & Part 1-> Let It Grow-> Spanish Jam->
Eyes Of The World-> China Doll, One More Saturday Night

by ZOOOMA:

Since it's not too common, it's often a cool thing when a Soundcheck is included with a recording and here for July 19, 1974 -- Keith Godchaux's birthday -- we, you, me, us, all Deadheads who appreciate these tunes, we're treated to a pretty neat Jam. At times I feel I recognize some of the bars they're playing... or whatever that technical musical terms is... but mostly it sounds to me like they're just making it up as they go along. Not everyone's perfectly together on the same page throughout the ten+ minutes but this is still an interesting listen.

Everything in the First Set is perfect or darn near close to it but my major highlight is Scarlet Begonias. The jam just flies and is so perfect!

Playin' is also so sweet with tons of Phil right out in front and in the lead so much of the time. This just jams away for nearly a full 30 minutes including drifting away into more of a Spacey-land than a jam. Jerry is seemingly on his own for awhile as everyone else fills in the sound around him. Down to another level this Spacey Jam goes, taking those lucky enough to be in Fresno's Selland Arena 34 years ago to some undiscovered corners of the Milky Way! Eventually they meander back and into something sounding once again like the Playin' In The Band we all know so well. What a sweet wrap-up! Mmm!!

Okay, so maybe Scarlet and Playin' are my two highlights for Set 1.

After a few fine numbers, the 2nd Set has a He's Gone that you oughta just close your eyes to, let everything in the world melt away and just allow the Grateful Dead to completely take over your soul for 15 minutes in time. Oh... so nice!!!

That just might be an understatement for Weather Report Suite into Spanish Jam. Wow. Holy crap-a-moli! And with Eyes following -- absolute sweetness!

Pretty much an all-around great show that you can't go wrong with!

I'm just a fool, aren't I, for not playing more early 70's Dead? This is the first '74 (GD) show I've posted so yeah, I'd concur! Time to start mixing it up some more!!!

by SIMON FRIEDMAN: Here's yet another '74 show with a long, exciting jam based on Let It Grow. After happening in the usual fast and fluent mode for a while, the rhythm dissolves and the sound seems to disperse from the center. The music hangs out in space for a bit, with seemingly random bursts of sound from each instrument. Phil then brings it back to earth with a slow, heavy beat, leading soon into a wailing, lengthy Spanish Jam. This evolves smoothly into a potent rendition of Eyes of the World with an extra-long Phil solo. Phil is also more out front than usual during the WRS Prelude and Part 1, offering creative counterpoint to Weir's vocals. Also notable about the jam, and other parts of the show is the unusually aggressive, at times even dominant, presence of Keith Godchaux. This was his birthday, and he seems to have risen to the occasion. DeadBase IX [out of print]

Keith Godchaux

July 19, 1948 - July 23, 1980

(this was written before the "modern day" mostly full Soundboard recording that we have to listen to in the 21st Century!) by HUGH BARROLL: The July leg of the 1974 summer tour starts with another classic show. The soundboard section is essential for any tape library. The audience tape suffers for sound quality and some painful chops, but it also includes amazing music. The first set features a very hot "Bertha," and a high energy "Scarlet Begonias." "Scarlet" is played quite differently than on the June tour, though it definitely remains a Jerry-ied jam. The set closes with another incredible "Playing in the Band." This may be my favorite of the year, despite some stiff competition. Phil kicks off the jam and is a very strong force throughout. A painful chop cuts off one early embellishment. Later, Phil leads the band into deep space. The space jam crests as Phil extends one high note while Jerry's lead pushes the band. This breaks down to a quiet space that passes through a blues jam reminiscent of "Smokestack Lightning" before the return to "Playing." "Seastones" returns to the drone/assault pattern of early versions. Phil is dominant. The second set kicks into gear where the soundboard starts, with a glorious "He's Gone." It is beautifully sung and jammed. Jerry's solo is stellar. Like the June Boston show, "Weather Report Suite" and its jams are the centerpiece of the show, even though the jams are totally different. The song is performed superbly; Phil gives us perfect placed fills. Phil and Jerry launch a fast jam that develops into an eerie, angry space dominated by Phil and Keith. Phil then opens the "Spanish Jam" and presents one of his finest leads on tape. Unlike the Miami "Spanish Jam," Phil and Jerry trade leads until Jerry drops the chords from "Eyes of the World" into a Phil lead. Stunning!! "Eyes of the World" is well played and includes more excellent work from Phil, though it can't match the power of the "Spanish Jam." "China Doll" is an appropriately spiritual end to a very intense trip The Deadhead's Taping Compendium, Volume 1: An In-Depth Guide to the Music of the Grateful Dead... [out of print]

source
Soundboard Master Reel> Cassette> DAT> SHN> FLAC

mastered by Charlie Miller, March '06

a mildly crappy AUD source supplies two small patches
plus all of Seastones and Saturday Night
(Audience Cassette Master>Cass>Cass>Dat>CD)

sound quality
a smokin' hot A all the way; some would say A+ and hey, why not!?!

7/19/74 Selland Arena, Fresno at Archive.org:
you can Listen to the SBD
-or-

Download the Soundboard Right Here Grateful Dead - July 19, 1974 - Fresno- Part ONE Part 2 of Selland Arena - 7/19/74 Selland Arena, Fresno - 19th July, 1974 - Part 3

7-19-74 aka 07-19-74 aka 7/19/74 aka 07/19/74 aka 74-07-19 setlist 320 kbps mp3 SBD download