Saturday, May 31, 2008

Zoooma's (Somewhat) Random Old Postcard & Photo Hour

Well, I don't think I put up many shows in the past week but oh well. Yikes, aside from that 1966 stuff, nothing? I don't remember, I'm not gonna check, but hopefully 3 or 4 shows next week so it'll be a busy one.

Now, just some mostly random old postcards and photos of mine.

The postcards are ones my grandma had kept/collected. She's since passed away and I'm keeping a few but most I don't have any personal connection to so I've been wanting to auction them off on ebay to old postcard collectors... but before then I thought I'd post or two from time to time...


As always, click to see bigger, if you want

Nürnberg postcard, 1954Nürnberg
(Nuremberg,)
Germany

1954


Nürnberg postcard, 1954 (back)

Sister Bay,
Door County,
Wisconsin

1961
Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin (old postcard, 1961)


Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin (old postcard, rear, 1961)


Me. Date Unknown. Circa 2000.

picture of me in B&W


backyard:
the white thing in the middle
is my dog sleepin
and the orange thing in the garage

is my '73 VW bus (Westfalia camper)

my backard, Missoula, Montana, VW bus in garage, dog in the yard


Shhhhh, he's still sleepin!

Cassidy the wonder Samoyed sleepin

Grateful Dead - Greek Theatre, University of California at Berkeley - 1982

Grateful Dead - Greek Theatre, 1982

And God said Let there be great guitarists: and there was Jerry

GD-church-sign

Friday, May 30, 2008

Move over Cherry Garcia

The other day I was talkin with my good friend Sugar Mag about ice cream... and of course the craving for some arose... I fought it off.

Ice cream is purely an unneeded luxury expense in life, one which a huge part of me just does not like to make -- A) it's unhealthy and it contributes to America's obesity epidemic and B) when so many in this world have nothing, a conflict boils within me concerning spending on myself versus giving to those in need. Which is more important? Certainly the lives of those who suffer.

But sometimes I've just got to spend on myself, a little bit at least -- I caved and I went to buy some ice cream. It's always just plain old desire that takes me over. Happy I will not be until I have a carton in my freezer... or in my fridge softening up and waiting for my spoon.

I swear I could eat this stuff morning, noon, and night... and set my alarm clock to wake up at 3 a.m. for another helping.

Problem in the store is there are too darn many great flavors to choose from.

This is what I got today...

BREYERS REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP ICE CREAM

Mmmmmm.... soooo good! But as great as that is, I was looking for something else. Couple days ago, I think while watching the FOX NEWS CHANNEL, I heard about a brand new flavor from Ben & Jerry's...

Move over Jerry Garcia, it's John Lennon's time - Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace

Imagine Whirled Peace ... damn, not in stock yet. Damn! That was about how long I was upset until I just grabbed the Breyers Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream and split. I'll be keeping an eye out for the new B&J flavor 'cause who wouldn't want to eat some peace?! Plus ain't it finally time for that Jerry Garcia guy to just fade away already!

One question, though -- who's this John Lennon dude?!?


PHONOGRAPHTuneage...
Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign To Save Darfur - CD cover (2007)
Instant Karma - U2 Instant Karma - U2

Imagine - Avril Lavigne Imagine - Avril Lavigne

Give Peace A Chance - Aerosmith Give Peace A Chance -
Aerosmith featuring Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars

Imagine - Jack Johnson Imagine - Jack Johnson
Instant Karma:
The Amnesty International Campaign To Save Darfur
Save Darfur - PLEASE CLICK and at least sign a petition if you never have before.  Please help.


Grateful Dead Steal Your Face peace sign Earth
Phil Lesh & Friends

10/27/00 Strawberry Fields P&F - Strawberry Fields 10/27/00 @ Archive

12/19/04 Imagine P&F - Strawberry Fields 10/27/00 @ Archive
Phil Lesh & Friends NBA kinda logo dealie

Visualize Whirled Peas

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Crow Run

A frequent Dead show downloader here at Inspiration, Move Me Brightly commented that he's having surgery on Friday morning... I don't know if you'll read this beforehand (or ever at all) but still I wanted to send along my best wishes for a GREAT outcome... and hey, why not a smooth recovery, too!!

Okay, now with the day off I've gotta figure out something to do. I feel like I have to do something. I'm not gonna hike, I ran. Could read. Maybe plan my conquest of Earth. I'd play video games all day but I don't play video games. Although some old school Donkey Kong or Space Invaders (the latter being practice for taking over Earth) would be pretty cool. Since I don't have my Instrument Rating yet it's too cloudy to go flying. I just don't know. I do know I can't veg out in front of the computer for the rest of the day while maybe watching something or two on TV. Yoly moly, no way.

For the moment, I'm just gonna enjoy my coffee, enjoy knowing I got another run before the end of the month, and just relax.

The North Face trail running shoe -- good for use in the Appalachian Mountains ... but seriously, they are rather small compared to the Rocky Mountains ... Sierra Nevada are sweet, too.  Would definitely use 'em in the Alps, that's for sure.  One thing's for sure -- Jerry Garcia or Bob Weir or Phil Lesh or Blaise Compaoré probably never went running in Paraguay, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Pyongyang, 평양 직할시 조선민주주의인민공화국 平壤直轄市 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國, Türkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Кыргызстан, Киргизия, Uzbekistan, O'zbekiston, Ўзбекистон Республикаси, Tajikistan, Тоҷикистон.  Probably the same with Brent Mydland.  At least that's my gut feeling.  I could be wrong.  I mean, there were a lot of drugs at Grateful Dead shows and the good Lord above, He knows I did my share!outdoors -- 45° @ 9:15 a.m.
Thursday Morning Run: 21 minutes 1 second+8 sec
XXXXXXXX+++++++++ ·03 sec· +++++++++XXXXXXXX
Run Time May:4 hours25 minutesSMILEY SUNNY
April:3 hours51 minutes<-failed to pass March SMILEY THUMBS DOWN
March:3 hours57 minutes

Broke the 21 minute barrier this morning. For me, each new minute is a new level of achievement. Every run between 20 and 21 was a mini-achievement as will each run be a mini-achievement on the way to 22 minutes. But there's something about hitting a new minute that seems more like a cool plateau that I've reached.

These times are still pretty lame, in a way... but I'm workin' on it. Onto today's run -- my first in like 3½ days -- I added another 8 seconds. That's not bad. Better than 3 or 4 or 5. Now that I've turned a mini-corner, I'm already looking forward to 22. Could take awhile but that's fine, for the most part, because at least I'm getting this exercise!

After hitting that 4 hour mark for May, I've kind of slacked... almost put off my last run(s) until the very last day or two of the month. Ahhhh procrastination. Could be a dangerous thing... so I got a run in today and I'm glad I did. Hopefully one more this month and then 5 hours in June.

Feelin' good!!!


PHONOGRAPHRunning tunes came
from the album of the day...
Sheryl Crow - Detours [CD cover] (2008)Sheryl Crow

Detours

2008

God Bless This Mess
Shine Over Babylon
Love Is Free
Peace Be Upon Us
Gasoline
Out Of Our Heads
Detours
Now That You're Gone
Drunk With The Thought Of You
Diamond Ring
Motivation
Make It Go Away (Radiation Song)
Love Is All There Is
Lullaby For Wyatt
Rise Up
Beautiful Dream


I dig Sheryl Crow, have since her first album in the mid-1990's. Had one of her CDs once upon a time (actually now that I think about it I think it was an ex-girlfriend's that somehow came to belong to me but that's long since been pawned off for money needed for something.) Through the years, from time to time, I've heard the singles on the radio and so I thought I'd check out her newest studio album -- Detours.

Unfortunately the very first song on here is just wrong and I hate to think about how many devoted fans of hers now believe what she says because they heard her sing it.

"I heard about the day that two skyscrapers came down.
Firemen, policemen, people came from all around.
The smoke covered the city and the body count did rise.
And the President spoke words of comfort with teardrops in his eyes.
Then he led us as a nation into a war based on lies."

Whatever. The sentiment starts out fine (and incredibly sadly) but the lies part is just wrong, or at least completely unprovable. You don't go around accusing people of something you cannot prove. That's just not right. Sheryl Crow, you molest children and lie about it. I can't prove it but then again you can't prove anyone lied about why we went to war. Can you? No. (She never has, neither has anyone else otherwise the Democrats in control of Congress would have ousted him by now.)

Mistakes (and there were MANY and from many different sources that told an entirely different story about Hussein's immediate capability to wage war) are not lies otherwise everyone on Earth would be a pathetic and horrible liar.

Damn, I hate when music makes me rant. I believe in separation of tunes and state. Leave the politics out of the lyrics!!! At least don't spread the extreme left-wing talking points/propaganda. Having an opinion that's to the right or to the left is one thing... accusing someone of lying when you have no evidence to back up what you say, that's just not right.

Anyway... some pretty good songs here. Love Is Free has an earlier Sheryl Crow sound and while it's about Hurricane Katrina, Mrs. Armstrong, err, umm, I mean Ms. Crow doesn't start accusing people of wrongdoing and just sticks to good music. Gasoline is another earlier sounding tune and I think kind of reminiscent, at least near the end, of The Stones' Sympathy for the Devil.

Diamond Ring is a sad and angry song which references her sexcapades (well, making love all day) with Lance Armstrong and I guess his not to wanting to get hitched? She must've been bitter!

Another one I like a lot on here is Love Is All There. Good stuff.

I think I'll listen to this again someday but that first track -- delete, buh bye.

320 kbps mp3 download MUSIC NOTE find a dload @ music update 320 kbps mp3 download MUSIC NOTE

Video Time
March 12, 2008 on Jimmy Kimmel Live: "Love Is Free"

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Not quite a date with Botticelli's niece... but still pretty cool

Tis a strange thing not knowing what's happened in the world over the past half a day. Half day? Half a day? I must've been absent that day.

Since 9/11, it's seemingly been a part of me to know what's big in the news. I don't know why this is. If I'm home and not reading or listening to music or watching a movie or The Office or The Simpsons or whatever (which isn't often) then the news is on. When I'm here on the internet -- the news is on... actually not always, like now; sometimes I like the silence to help me get the thoughts through the fingers and onto the screen without distraction.

But in general, no matter what my situation is (working, traveling, whatever,) I want to have a news source in my hands, in my ears, in my eyes, something, to know if a nuclear war has started... or, since that's highly unlikely, if a terrorist attack has happened, something that's going to change the world in some rather significant way. Obviously, considering there've only been a few such events since and including 9/11, this tremendous "need to know" isn't that that important. Still, I want to be a person who is aware of what's going on in the news, things that affect us on a national level, things that affect human beings on an widespread level in Costa Rica or Brazil or Romania or Iran or Myanmar or anywhere.

Most often, what can I do about it? Nothing. So what does it matter if I know? And if a terrorist attack happened, wouldn't you somehow know anyway? Not necessarily.

This afternoon I watched the Cubbies on ESPN. Good game, an exciting comeback win for the Cubs. While I watched, I made some hamburgers to put in the freezer (a lot more work than just forming patties what with the ground up walnuts and steel cut oats mixed with dried parsley and black pepper and red pepper flakes, an egg with some Worcestershire sauce and milk, plus the super-minced onion and garlic with olive oil ... ohhh yeah, that's the good stuff. I had one hot off the grill (no ketchup, just onion and lettuce) and even after being frozen, they ain't bad.)

Anyway.... wow, talk about being distracted, I don't need the TV on for that! Anyway... watched the game, made burgers, grabbed a needle and thread and sewed a small hole in some shorts, more watching the game, yada yada yada... hopped in the truck and drove an hour and 15 minutes out to Chena River Rec Area, hiked for 3 hours, drove the hour and 15 minutes back, showered and here I be. Now it's just after 1 in the morning and I haven't had the news on since around 2:30 in the afternoon. What's happened in the world since then? Nothing, I hope. Sure, lots and lots of stuff has happened (something bad happens just about everywhere and all the time) but nothing major, I hope. The world could be on fire or taken over by Tim Burton's attackers from Mars, for all I know.

Being out of the news loop for so long (close to a half a day... or a half day) somewhat bothers me. How do people live their lives not giving a damn at all about the world around them? Talk about crap that boggles my mind. People live their lives so self-absorbed -- they could tell you who won American Idol or the plot twists in Lost (holy crap, there are fan sites galore for that show) but which senior U.S. senator was recently diagnosed with cancer, or which nation Iran wants to wipe off the face of the Earth, or the name of the country that is so tremendously suffering because their "government" doesn't want outsiders to help victims of a horrible cyclone that struck there, these things, important things, real things, they have no clue about.

Wow, the rants they are in me! I wasn't expecting all of this to come out of my head tonight. People just perplex me more than than they please me.

Interestingly, I fully support a person's right to be ignorant and uncaring and so wicked self-absorbed that they don't even know who their own mayor is ... but that just doesn't seem right to me.

Anyway... I had a GREAT hike tonight... last night, technically, but I'm still awake and I only got back to my house an hour and a half ago... so it feels like tonight still. Anyway, it was a good day off from work! I don't put in a bazillion hours a week (44 on average) and sometimes work consists of sitting and watching Baywatch while waiting for a call... but a lot of the time it's quite taxing and so having a good amount of time off (36 hours) between shifts, that's pretty sweet. Love the time to rest and/or seek out something nice to do like... like go for a hike in the wilderness! Great way to forget all about the crap in the world and enjoy life for awhile!! STAN SMILEY

HIKING BOOTS
Tuesday Night Hike

It was a good thing, nay, a very good thing that I packed me some stuff one should take along on a day hike. This was my second trip out to Angel Rocks this year and holy smoked salmon, Smokey The Bear, as the sun dipped further and further below the horizon, so did the temperature.

I pulled into the parking lot at just about 8:00 p.m. and within a minute or two I was at the trailhead and on my way. The weather was gorgeous -- mid-50's and a partially cloudy sky. The stroll up to Angel Rocks allowed the sun to hit me just as it was sliding down below the horizon. In my long-sleeve hiking shirt, the rays of sun warmed me right up. On down the trail I went. After a good 45 minutes or an hour or so of hiking, I made my turn around in the hot springs parking lot. The sun by now was well below the horizon... well below according to how far it dips below the horizon this time of year at such a northern latitude. Sunset: yes. Darkness: no. Warmth of the day going bye bye: yes. A frigid "night" approaching: fast!

In no time at all I went from being a little bit warm in long-sleeves to needing a light fleece jacket. Some mighta gone with hat and gloves, too but me no wimp, me man, me take it! I did have hat and gloves in my backpack, just in case, as well as the zip-on pants legs of my hiking shorts and thermal underwear if need be. One twisted ankle could have stranded me out there overnight. I'm not sure if there's cell phone reception out there but oh wait, I don't have a cell phone anyway! Actually I do have one for work which isn't mine but it's in my possession; I could have brought that for a just in case moment but carrying a cell phone hiking I'm generally against, unless it's up Mt. Hood or something where you could get reception in the event of impending tragedy. Then again, that's not exactly hiking, that's mountaineering. Tonight out along the Chena River was just hiking. Still... emergencies could arise. Ugh... I'm getting myself into the cell phone while hiking debate. Don't wanna go there now.

Coldness set in and at one point on the way back down the trail, when I stopped to grab a granola bar (and have some water) I checked the tiny little thermometer keychain dealie on my backpack -- 36° (about 2 C.) I was so surprised. Low 40's is what I was thinkin -- not mid-30's. Mannn... wow. That's just like 50 or 60 miles east of Fairbanks. I'm not surprised now, after the fact -- it gets that cold at night here, even this close to June. It's just something I haven't totally gotten used to yet. Ooops, using the word "yet" kinda makes it seem like I probably will get use to it as more years here go by... but I'm not so sure that's gonna happen. My mind is often elsewhere, meaning not in Alaska but in New England or Jersey or somewhere else Outside. Maybe I won't even be here this coming winter? Don't know.

Anyway....... the cold on the trail made it interesting. While I had my fleece jacket on combined with warmth generated from hiking, my legs in shorts did just fine. I resisted the gloves so my fingers were chilly, my face was nearing freezing, but for the most part -- energizing and refreshing, that's what it was! I was alive!!!

Hell yeah!

I don't know how I did it but my time on the trail was just about at 3 hours even. After an hour+ drive back and another listen to the music below, here I am at like 2 something in the morning. Sleep soon? Not sure. All I know is my dog's happy I'm home and now sleeping on the floor a few feet away, Nelson, Constanten and Flast are once again coming out of the speakers, and life ain't too bad at this moment.

Hopefully the world around me is still there. I'll get the news on soon.

PHONOGRAPH Tunes...
NELSON, CONSTANTEN, FLAST ... related to the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia but not quite.
Dead Ringers (CD cover)Dead
Ringers

1993

256 kbps
Dead Ringers (CD)Dead Ringers (1993) - Part 1

Dead Ringers (1993) - Part Two

if you want, you can click SMALL RED SPEAKER to listen and/or dload @ 128 kbps
Deep Elem Blues - DEAD RINGERSDeep Elem Blues

--Great American Music Hall, Dec 1992
Mountains Of The Moon - DEAD RINGERSMountains Of The Moon

--The Wetlands, NYC, May 1993
Rosa Lee McFall - DEAD RINGERSRosa Lee McFall

--Lone Star Roadhouse, NYC, May '93
Slidin' Delta -- DEAD RINGERSSlidin' Delta

--The Rafters, Crested Butte, Colorado, Feb 93
Cumberland Blues - DEAD RINGERSCumberland Blues

--Garton's Saloon, Vail, Colorado, Feb 93
Truckin' - DEAD RINGERSTruckin'

--Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, British Columbia, Feb 93
When I Paint My Masterpiece - DEAD RINGERSWhen I Paint My Masterpiece

--The Rafters, Crested Butte, Colorado, Feb 93
Deal - DEAD RINGERSDeal

--Garton's Saloon, Vail, Colorado, Feb 93
Dark Star - DEAD RINGERSDark Star

--La Luna, Portland, Oregon, Feb 93
Gotta Serve Somebody - DEAD RINGERSGotta Serve Somebody

--La Luna, Portland, Oregon, Feb 93
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - DEAD RINGERSKnockin' On Heaven's Door

--Oregon County Fair, Veneta, Oregon, July 1992

The question is -- why? Why not just listen to the real thing? My answer yet again (as I have asked this question before to albums kinda like this) -- curiosity.

from inside the liner notes...

Dead Ringers Got It Covered

How do you explain it when a bunch of San Francisco musicians get together and perform sets that predominantly feature Grateful Dead cover material? Well, there's no explaining it... but people love it!

In an era when more bands are trying to shake the "tribute band" stigma, Dead Ringers are breathing new life into some of the greatest music that has emerged from the psychedelic scene. The band's nucleus consists of Barry Flast (Kingfish), Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead), and David Nelson (New Riders, Acoustic Garcia).

With regard to the choice of material they've selected to perform, the original idea was to try to stick to the Golden Age material from Workingman's Dead, Aoxomoxoa and earlier, since TC and Nelson were on those records.

TC remarks, "We didn't learn it from the sheet music and off a record. We were in there when it was being constructed and when it was built, and furthermore, we know who we are, we don't have anything to prove. We don't have to play like somebody."

Very cool bunch of tunes! Knockin' appears to be an Aud or a Matrix source but it's inclusion is worth it -- a tribute to Bill Graham who died tragically the previous Fall.

Cumberland is pretty smokin', it was a first set closer and you could tell that wanted to go out on a rockin' note.

Truckin' might be the stand-out tune, at least for me. It's the longest song here and they head off into some pretty nice jam land.

Other musicians include: Brian Godchaux, fiddle on Deep Elem Blues and Barry Sless on lead guitar and pedal steel throughout the whole disc. Many know Sless from Phil Lesh & Friends as well as the David Nelson Band. Great guitar player who adds so nicely on Deal and his pedal steel is just beautiful on so many songs here.

TOM CONSTANTEN (Piano/Vocals), was the keyboardist with the Grateful Dead from 1968 till 1970, contributing some classic tracks to "Anthem of the Sun", "Aoxomoxoa", and "Live Dead" before leaving to pursue a solo career (which included: albums with the Incredible String Band and Moby Grape; live shows with Robert Hunter, Janis Joplin, Zero, David Crosby & Stephen Stills, Dan Hicks, John Handy, and many others; four solo C.D.'s... "Nightfall of Diamonds" on Relix Records being the most recent).

BARRY FLAST (Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar) was one of the original keyboardists of Kingfish (replaced by non-keyboardist Bobby Weir in 1975), rejoined the band in '77 just in time to help record and tour behind their second album "Live 'N Kicking", then left again, rejoining a third time in '80 only to watch what was left of Kingfish evolve into Bobby and the Midnites! Barry was then the driving force in re-organizing the group with Matt Kelly after the untimely death of founder Dave Torbert in 1983. he has contributed vocals and/or keyboards to four of the five albums Kingfish has released, and has worked as a session player with Jerry Garcia, Poco, Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul & Mary), Country Joe McDonald, Kim Carnes, Garth Hudson & many others; his songs have been recorded by artists like Bob Weir, Janis Joplin & Paul Butterfield, Paul Stookey (to name a few); and he's performed with Country Joe and the Fish, Bob Weir, Maria Muldaur, Hot Tuna, Rick Danko, Papa John Creach, John Cipollina, George Thorogood, etc.

DAVID NELSON (Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Mandolin, Lead Vocals) goes back in Dead history further than anyone on the planet. David, Jerry Garcia, and Robert Hunter made up the Wildwood Boys, a 1962 bluegrass group that was the seed that eventually flowered into the Grateful Dead. In 1967, David, along with John Dawson and Dave "Pre-Kingfish" Torbert formed The New Riders and continued with them until 1983 (along the way, he sang the lead vocal on their biggest hit "Panama Red"). His trademark guitar work was showcased on Grateful Dead albums "American Beauty", "Workingman's Dead", and "Aoxomoxoa". In the mid-80's, he appeared once again with Jerry Garcia in the "Almost Acoustic" Band and broke house attendance records at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre on Broadway in New York City (and was captured on C.D. and released a few years ago!)

Dead Ringers (rear cover)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The judge decreed it, the clerk he wrote it... and Jerry taught it

Do people actually have parties on Memorial Day? 4th of July, sure. What about Memorial Day? Is it really a day to have a fun picnic, barbeque, pool party, etc? Do people do that?

I had to work on yesterday's Memorial Day holiday anyway. Holidays always get special treatment at work because it's understood that's when people like to leave town for a few days. Who can work? Who can't? A schedule is amicably made and if need be, sometimes someone's ordered to work or else. Me, I just volunteer -- Memorial Day, New Year's Eve, Easter, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Christmas and my birthday, too. Don't really bother me none.

So many in the world have no reason to celebrate anything on holidays... or on any day. Many have their human rights stripped from them so there's no way for them to attain a better life that's full of reason to be happy. Many governments don't do a damn thing for their people... or next to nothing. And in my eyes, most Americans (as well as citizens in many other nations) wish to ignore these things and go with their lives like suffering doesn't exist. That saddens the hell out of me. Having fun and celebrating on a holiday, that just doesn't seem right.

Memorial Day isn't even a day to do that, is it? Seems like a day when people should be volunteering to shine the boots of soldiers and buy them a meal or something... not have coolers full of beer and music playing with hamburgers and hot dogs for all (which I'm still not even sure people do on Memorial Day like on the 4th of July.) Instead of enjoying oneself, a person, perhaps, should spend the day being thankful for those who've honorably served in the military in order to help give others a better life free from tyranny and abuse.

This is, without a doubt, a subject that is nothing but depressing to me. Suffering in the world should not be tolerated... and it should not be ignored... by anyone.

But even for those of us who do give a damn, every now and then we need some sweet relief... and I know that, in the words of our friend Bobby on that horrible day in August 1995, "good music can make sad times better."

And there's a lot of that to get to so on Dasher, on Prancer, on Pigpen, on Phil. On Cupid, on Blitzen, on Mickey, on Bobby... and our most faaaa-vorite one of all... [dah dump, dum dum] ... Jerry the Viola Lee Blues bandleader, had a wicked smokin' guitar....

okay, enough of that moronicness.... it's time for:

GRATEFUL DEAD -- SKULL AND ROSESVolume 5
in
the
Mostly Chronological (but not exactly entirely)
Adventures in Sound Related to the History of
Some Band Called the Grateful Dead?

Yep, it's been a week and a half, almost two weeks since Volume 4. Yes, it's going slowly. But it's going right? Better to go slowly than not go at all? I'd say so. If you're complaining, write your Congressman! Or woman. Or whatever you people in Germany have.

Not that I owe it to anyone to go faster but to make up for lack of speedily posted 1960's Dead, I'm gonna try for Volume 6 in a week or 8 days, tops. Plus I'll try, kinda soon, to put up something from '69, as well.

Anyway, Volume 5 -- Going exactly chronological didn't work out. That's easy for shows in like 1986... or if it was the Reverse Chronological History, but not easy for stuff from 1966. I'd done a pretty good job up to now and if I was just including shows, then it would go very smoothly... but there's other stuff.

"This would be a fuckin good group if
our drummer wasn't always jumpin off chairs and killin himself."

-Bob Weir, February 1966

Viola Lee Blues Rehearsal

· Date: unknown
· Location: unknown

The "setlist" looks like this:

01 - talk & tunings - "It's just Weir and his ass-holed guitar"
02 - Viola Lee Blues #1 verse 1 - aborted
03 - Viola Lee Blues #2 verses 1 & 2 - aborted - "watch it pig! b, man, b"
04 - talk & tunings
05 - Viola Lee Blues #3 with harmonica - aborted
06 - discussions
07 - Viola Lee Blues #4 with organ verse 1 & harmonica - aborted
08 - tape playback? more talk
09 - Viola Lee Blues #5 verse 1 - "same verse again" - verse 1 - aborted
10 - Phil comments
11 - Viola Lee Blues #6 verses 1 & 2 - aborted
12 - more discussions
13 - Viola Lee Blues #7 verses 1 & 2 & 3 - then stopped
14 - talk & tunings - "that's tasty" - "let's just play"
15 - Viola Lee Blues #8 verse 1 - aborted
16 - talk & wild comments & confusion
17 - Viola Lee Blues #9 verses 2 & 3 - aborted
18 - more talk - "I think you're against us" - "Pigpen's a conspiracy"
19 - "You may know by ..." passage repeated
20 - Viola Lee Blues #10 verses 1 & 2 & 3 ; jam ; tape cuts

47 minutes of the band working out one song, that's all this is, just one song. I'd estimate it's about 2/3 music and a third banter, maybe closer 50/50. No mic for Billy, mostly it's Jerry teaching, plus Bobby being Bobby and lots of great Phil... plus Pigpen.

At one point we hear a mention of when this is [most likely] taking place. Phil says:

"As long as we get to L.A. in time to set and do the thing,"
"Saturday night," Jerry quickly says.
"Saturday night," Phil confirms/finishes his thought.


The "thing" is guessed to be the Watts Acid Test, Saturday, February 12, at the Youth Opportunities Center in Compton, California (essentially Los Angeles.) That would be right as the Dead began a stint in Southern California that lasted about two months. Since Phil makes it sound like "Saturday night" is so close, possibly the very next Saturday night on the calendar, this rehearsal could very well be from early February, say, Feb 6, 7, 8, 9, in there.

Sadly, there's an element of... well, sadness to this bit of... stuff. Near the end, the band gets fairly ticked off, to say it nicely, at Pigpen. Some jokes are made and Jerry tries to explain, Hey, man, we're in this together, we're tryin' to learn this song here. But Pig's too plastered by now to be a productive part of the rest of the rehearsal. Phil's frustration is most apparent; he was none too happy with Pig's drinking.

(To really hear it all up close and more personal, try listening with a pair of headphones while you're not doing anything else.)

Aside from those few ugly minutes, and even including that, this is priceless. The last track (at 15+ minutes and a whole third of this recording) is all music and is maybe some of the best Dead played in the entire first half of 1966 (that we have to listen to all these years later.)

Something Jerry had said earlier about the direction of Viola Lee is so telling of the band these guys were deep down, the band they turned into, and the reason why so many people dug their music, he said:

"we'll just see what happens;
we'll just let it do what it wants to do."

Here they are in 1966, early 1966, and Jerry summed up their entire history, well, a lot of it. Some songs, they're started, they're played, they're finished, just like that. But with the Dead on a gazillion occasions, they just let a jam go where it wanted. Like here at the end with this Viola Lee Blues. It's Pigpen-less, too... just a 4-man band at this point. What a far, far cry this is from I'm a Hog For You Baby or Stealin'. You wanna talk about Primal Dead -- this VLB is a perfect example.


for listening only
-or-
TINY STEAL YOUR FACE - Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Vince Welnick, Bruce Hornsby Download It Right Here TINY STEAL YOUR FACE - no Brent Mydland.  No Donna or Keith Godchaux or Tom Constanten or Ron Pigpen McKernan.  Songs by Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow and Bob Dylan.

X-XX-XX aka 0X-XX-XX aka X/XX/XX aka 0X/XX/XX aka XX-0X-XX setlist 320 kbps mp3 SBD download

Hang On!

There's one more

small bunch
of tunes...


GRATEFUL DEAD -- SKULL AND ROSES
"Pauley Ballroom #2"

(cuts in) You Don't Have To Ask
Viola Lee Blues
I Know You Rider
In The Midnight Hour


Here's another bit of music that is Date Unknown. Location is thought to be the Pauley Ballroom at the University of California, Berkeley. Phil gives a mention of moving to Los Angeles next week so that would probably place this within a week of the Viola Lee Blues Rehearsal. I'd have to say this comes a day or two later... maybe even the same day?! That's not impossible, so far as I know. They do an alright Viola Lee, not an unpracticed, unknown version. One could really think that maybe that Rehearsal was the 1st time ever for that song, the birth of VLB. So these few tunes would be later... but when? No one knows. Who cares. Still some nice music!

One note -- this could be the first (that we have to listen to) You Don't Have To Ask and Midnight Hour. I said that about those two songs for 3/19 Carthay Studios and 3/25 Trooper's Hall... and it's true, in a way, those are the first we have in a known show setting... not that this, Pauley Ballroom #2, isn't a show setting but what's the date? Ahh, anyway, these two are probably the first.... if the guess is correct that this date is early February. Then again, You Don't Have To Ask is severely cut into here and Midnight Hour.... well, it has a funny ending that you've just got to hear and it's not really a version at all...

Enjoy!

TINY STEAL YOUR FACE - Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Vince Welnick, Bruce Hornsby Download It Right Here TINY STEAL YOUR FACE - no Brent Mydland.  No Donna or Keith Godchaux or Tom Constanten or Ron Pigpen McKernan.  Songs by Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow and Bob Dylan.

-or-
for listening only

one says one number and the other another
but they were set at the same time. Hmmm...

i love you amy uzarski.  always!
 
Calvin and Hobbes in the snow -- animated