The Grateful Dead

Discussion in 'Music, TV, Movies & other Media' started by Le Chef, Jan 1, 2023.

  1. DEFinning

    DEFinning Well-Known Member Donor

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    Sorry to be turning this thread into more of a Beatles thing, than about the Grateful Dead. I promise my next post will more closely relate, at least, to the subject. But, as I'd only gotten to the middle Beatles, and I am mostly a fan of the later Beatles, let me try to tie up some loose ends. Among my offerings from Revolver, was Harrison's "I Want To Tell You," which I think is a much better song than "Taxman," though that was put on his Greatest Hits collection. So I will jump to the final Beatles album, to point to another injustice, on George's Best of album; this song should definitely have beaten out, "For You, Blue:"









    Encore:


     
  2. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    I like all sorts of classic rock but I never could get into the Dead.

    In my opinion the best thing about them is all of the artwork associated with the band.
     
  3. Le Chef

    Le Chef Banned at members request Donor

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    Yes, I hear some echoes of And Your Bird Can Sing there. Something about Elvis Costello: he is very rhythmically precise. He came on a live TV show with a three piece band once and, while the song wasn't appealing, and whe his voice annoys me, I was taken aback by how tight they were. Whether it's him or McCartney or both in that song, it is more tight than anything I ever heard the Beatles do.

    For example, and maybe it was Ringo's fault, but Nowhere Man sounds sloppy to me now. It IS sloppy, though I think it's a memorable work of art.
     
  4. Le Chef

    Le Chef Banned at members request Donor

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    I disagree about Taxman. It is objectively better than I Want to Tell You, though the politics of Taxman are juvenile and annoying.

    I just listened again to I Want to Tell You and remember now why I don't care for it: the singing is a mess. I blame the producer. Someone should have told John and Paul that they were singing flat in the background, and also sounded like they didn't give a damn. Also I don't care for the way George slides up to the word "tell" in "tellllllll you," like he can't hit the note right off the bat so he slides up to it from way below. He was capable of it, but just didn't for some reason.

    Also, that acoustic piano they kept in the studio badly needed tuning. I'm sure they knew this and thought the dissonance quaint, giving an old dance hall feel to their songs, like on Oh Bli Dee, but I found it tiresome. Lennon's nauseating "Imagine" must have relied on that same piano, as out of tune as ever.
     
  5. Le Chef

    Le Chef Banned at members request Donor

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    Well, a lot to unpack there. Twist and Shout left me utterly cold when it came out, because it was boring, and later I got it: it's simple, and musically monotonous, yes, but it's raw and fearless sex, and they're giving it everything they've got, ESPECIALLY John. Also, the background vocals are right on the nuts, pitch-wise, unlike I Want to Tell You. I was in early puberty when it came out, and was more interested in guitar than girls, so I thought it was dumb, and I hated the Twist, but I think it was Ferris Bueller miming it in his "Day Off" that made me realize how overtly sexual it was, this without sounding coarse. "You know you got me goin', now" is flirtatious and on the edge of obscenity, without quite getting there.

    Drive My Car has an in-tune (for once) piano (electric, presumably) complementing the refrain, and I LOVE the guitar ride, as well as the matching bass and guitar riff between the verses.

    You Can't Do That is rhythmically interesting, "Oh," coming in on an that up beat, set up by the drumming, Lennon's voice sounds great, and he means every word of it, and the echoing background vocals by G & P are refreshingly precise.

    I am the Walrus is just so utterly original in its sound. Goo goo ga joob and more is stupid gibberish, and lazy, but I can't help liking the song. The cello is just divine and it somehow works with the rock and rollish drumming.

    Back in the USSR has a great intro, the words are compelling, "all the way the paper bag was on my knee" is a great visual without being disgusting (cf. yellow matter custard), and I like the off beat but precise singing at the end of the verses, and I love the guitar ride, by George. The supposed political controversy is utter rubbish. It's not pro Soviet, as the John Birchers claimed, and I knew it was a fun parody (but much more) the first time I heard it. I just read that Ringo was not on it, he having left with his feelings hurt. I feel badly for him, but I have to say I think the song sounded fine without him. Maybe better. Sorry, Ringo.

    Dr. Robert is great on several levels. It has no personal relevance to me, no, though my name is Robert, so there's that. The chord changes are utterly unique for rock and roll. The "well, well, well" interlude, with the harmonium, I thought frivolous at the time, but the way it sets up a return to the main rhythmic theme is wonderful ... encouraging, somehow. It slayed me the first time I heard it.

    I don't know what else I said.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2023
  6. edna kawabata

    edna kawabata Well-Known Member

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    Uh....back to the Dead, they were a drug friendly jam band, who had a cult like following that would trip and spin to their endless noodling. It is why, it is said, their studio albums can't compare to their live performances. I've only heard album cuts while straight and that's why I don't get them.
     
  7. Turtledude

    Turtledude Well-Known Member Donor

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    This is one of the greatest live jams recorded. The Eleven-and they stopped playing it after 1969 or so because it was so physically demanding to play. and yes, their live stuff was better than their studio albums though American Beauty and Workingman's Dead are masterpieces



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