tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post4032518378471857759..comments2024-03-17T11:10:04.872-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Guide: 1968 - The FiringLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-38475558061733234592024-01-08T14:07:21.023-08:002024-01-08T14:07:21.023-08:00Dave Davis found another news item from the time -...Dave Davis found another news item from the time - from the New York High School Free Press ("by and for liberated high school students") - issue 1, October 9. 1968: <br />"The Grateful Dead may or may not have broken up. Word is out that Bob Weir, Rod McKernan may eventually be leaving."<br /><br />Still boggles my mind that the Dead's impending breakup was so widely Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-48185137757097953872024-01-07T19:15:35.970-08:002024-01-07T19:15:35.970-08:00It's interesting what story the tapes tell vs ...It's interesting what story the tapes tell vs band members memories. Fascinating stuff. Many thanks! kingcrimson1973https://www.blogger.com/profile/07937322287162946085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-35159681471548322992024-01-05T12:20:44.866-08:002024-01-05T12:20:44.866-08:00I don't think I've seen that review. But s...I don't think I've seen that review. But some reporters could be confused about who was singing! <br /><br />At the time, it was still uncertain whether the Dead would stay together. One reviewer in January '69 said that "rumors of the break-up of the Grateful Dead have been floating around for over a year." (Thompson/Stanford Daily 1/13/69) And I think James Doukas in his Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-2430574051081044552024-01-05T11:45:10.783-08:002024-01-05T11:45:10.783-08:00Personally I find Pigpen's repetitive organ ri...Personally I find Pigpen's repetitive organ riff to be like a calming mantra in Dark Star, and Garcia himself had kind words for it in later years. As far as his feelings in 1968 - it was Garcia who put that riff in Dark Star, and he could have told Pigpen to lay off, but he didn't. Not only that, but when Tom Constanten started rehearsing with the Dead, Garcia insisted that he play it asLight Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-18180708350283125572023-12-30T16:32:13.629-08:002023-12-30T16:32:13.629-08:00Well, that, and Pig's repetitive organ riff (R...Well, that, and Pig's repetitive organ riff (ROR) in "Dark Star" was terrible enough to earn an acroynm. I find that version unlistenable.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-78350791265699424902023-12-30T16:30:55.641-08:002023-12-30T16:30:55.641-08:00After extolling the 12/20/68 Lovelight, which was ...After extolling the 12/20/68 Lovelight, which was "exciting, except for an embarassing, misled attempt at soul-singing", reviewer in LA Herald-Examiner says "the funky white blues voice and organ playing of Ron (Pigpen) McKernan, who recently left the group, was sorely missed" (Ross 1968). At a minimum, he's confused but he somehow came away with the idea that Pigpen was Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-85956604044974492972023-07-31T11:53:15.540-07:002023-07-31T11:53:15.540-07:00"It's one of my favorite articles on the ..."It's one of my favorite articles on the Guide. Not everything can be for everyone all the time."<br /><br />Spot on, and apropos given the subject we're all here reading about, over a decade after original publication :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-66042496675826778682023-07-19T13:25:31.849-07:002023-07-19T13:25:31.849-07:00It's one of my favorite articles on the Guide....It's one of my favorite articles on the Guide. Not everything can be for everyone all the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-44465756769080532322021-10-21T23:39:23.443-07:002021-10-21T23:39:23.443-07:00It's funny that this was widely reported, but ...It's funny that this was widely reported, but later sort of swept under the rug....since they didn't actually leave the band. Close call, though! Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-23670916667563140272021-10-16T09:45:48.613-07:002021-10-16T09:45:48.613-07:00"Pigpen and guitarist Bob Weir will be leavin..."Pigpen and guitarist Bob Weir will be leaving the Grateful Dead soon" -- Martin Arbunich's music column in the CCSF Guardsman, 11/13/68, p. 3. https://archive.org/details/guardsman19681969city/page/n17/mode/2up?q=%22Grateful+Dead%22Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-511682777755848202020-07-28T08:39:05.315-07:002020-07-28T08:39:05.315-07:00Time changed their perspective. The playing that a...Time changed their perspective. The playing that annoyed the rest of the Dead in 1968 didn't sound so bad in 1992. The '68 Dead were very picky about any perceived flaws and considered the show unworthy to release; but if any of them listened to Two from the Vault when it was finally released in '92, it probably all sounded like immature juvenilia to them at that point. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-45609695132704745822020-07-27T05:56:32.731-07:002020-07-27T05:56:32.731-07:00Hi.
I can't help but think about this Meeting ...Hi.<br />I can't help but think about this Meeting in the context of the "Two from the Vault" release, which falls squarely into this time period. Why release a show - especially so early in the vault release chronology - that reflects playing by Pigpen and Weir that is considered to be sub-par? Any insights or thoughts would be appreciated.THWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17353172021691992250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-4207814058397637122020-07-21T15:36:36.015-07:002020-07-21T15:36:36.015-07:00You had to write a whole book to say why they got ...You had to write a whole book to say why they got kicked out? SheeshRBMunkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13540287848672327220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-86067467488863343842020-04-14T17:03:45.319-07:002020-04-14T17:03:45.319-07:00Actually, the evidence points to Garcia's havi...Actually, the evidence points to Garcia's having been afflicted with his sleep problems at least as far back as the mid-'60s, as per Lesh's mentioning in his autobiography just how dramatically loud Garcia's snoring was when they roomed together in 1966, plus the rhythmic pattern of Garcia's snores does imply relatively lengthy intervals between inhalations and exhalations. 3243https://www.blogger.com/profile/13059586058341689787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-76728377397038186232020-04-14T12:18:29.998-07:002020-04-14T12:18:29.998-07:00True, sleep deprivation will make anyone more tire...True, sleep deprivation will make anyone more tired, cranky, unhealthy and depressed! And Garcia suffered from sleep apnea since at least the '70s if not earlier (later in life it seems he took a lot of naps to compensate). Mountain Girl said his sleeping problems got worse as he got older.<br />At the same time, we should allow that Garcia was just cranky sometimes, or had reasons to be Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-55508155690878027762020-04-14T11:56:18.143-07:002020-04-14T11:56:18.143-07:00It does, but the PERRO amalgam was pretty much a s...It does, but the PERRO amalgam was pretty much a studio-only phenomenon. Dead and Airplane members were happy to show up and jam at each other's shows, but actually sharing songs seems to have been a step too far. It's interesting that the one guy who did embrace the idea of "playing each other's songs on stage" was not one of the Airplane, but David Crosby in the Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-70749083262074112662020-04-13T22:22:30.659-07:002020-04-13T22:22:30.659-07:00And to the above post, I myself have sleep apnea, ...And to the above post, I myself have sleep apnea, and before I got a CPAP to help me sleep deeply and consistently, I was regularly tired, cranky, and also more depressed regularly. So I can relate.3243https://www.blogger.com/profile/13059586058341689787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-44488892294676004462020-04-13T22:19:31.642-07:002020-04-13T22:19:31.642-07:00re: Garcia's crankiness--I think it is also he...re: Garcia's crankiness--I think it is also helpful to remember that Garcia had lifelong obstructive sleep apnea, which greatly limited the amount of sustained sleep he could get at a time, since he would constantly stop breathing once he fell asleep, and thus would immediately awaken with a shock. And it is known that sleep deprivation does make a person more tired and susceptible to 3243https://www.blogger.com/profile/13059586058341689787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-67601486353088358352020-04-13T22:03:08.232-07:002020-04-13T22:03:08.232-07:00True, the Dead and the Airplane did not play each ...True, the Dead and the Airplane did not play each other's songs on stage, as Dryden had suggested they could. But his "it doesn't have to be that rigid format" quote does seem to prefigure the whole Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra era/paradigm.3243https://www.blogger.com/profile/13059586058341689787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-69187692741555349662020-02-19T15:51:48.061-08:002020-02-19T15:51:48.061-08:00Another news report on the firing!
This one from ...Another news report on the firing! <br />This one from Rolling Stone's "Random Notes," 11/23/68: <br /><br />"One can never be sure what is happening with the Grateful Dead, but for the past two or three months they have been deciding to break up and then not to break up. The latest word from them is that when they begin their next record, Pigpen (Ron McKernan) and Bob Weir (Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-55449971413973496112018-09-10T15:31:50.445-07:002018-09-10T15:31:50.445-07:00A couple listings for the Hartbeats shows from the...A couple listings for the Hartbeats shows from the San Francisco Examiner: <br /><br />From 10/8/68: "The Grateful Dead and Elvin Bishop, tonight through Thursday at the Matrix." <br />Note that the paper had no qualms about naming the Dead, despite the upcoming Avalon shows and the small size of the Matrix. No disguise about "Jerry Garcia and Friends" here, but people headingLight Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-78691428550973820462018-08-16T16:40:20.294-07:002018-08-16T16:40:20.294-07:00"It is only a matter of probably a short time..."It is only a matter of probably a short time before The Grateful Dead shuffles out Pig Pen and Bob Weir in exchange for a new keyboard man and maybe another guitarist. Pig wants to play The Blues, and that's where the Dead came from but not where they are going." <br />(from Jef Jassen's "Record Raps," the Berkeley Barb 10/18/68, p.10) <br /><br />Once again, the DeadLight Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-31062693151986634802018-06-29T12:43:25.772-07:002018-06-29T12:43:25.772-07:00Elvin plays harmonica? I'm sure that's not...Elvin plays harmonica? I'm sure that's not him. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-8120811173426086552018-06-28T23:50:29.992-07:002018-06-28T23:50:29.992-07:00You say that there is no Elvin Bishop on 10/10/68 ...You say that there is no Elvin Bishop on 10/10/68 but he is there. He sings and plays on "Look On Yonder Wall"SIRMickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10719346023154724154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-18345451612426983342018-06-22T14:55:09.913-07:002018-06-22T14:55:09.913-07:00... awesome reply brother!... awesome reply brother!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com