Playlist Week of 2015-09-19

* Geminiani: Concerti Grossi (after Corelli Op.5) (AAM/Manze) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)

* Sun Ra Quartet: The Mystery of Being (Horo/Klimt 3LP)

* Charles Mingus: Passions of A Man: Complete Atlantic Recordings (d.1-3) (Atlantic/Rhino 6CD)

* Wayne Shorter: Footprints Live! (Verve CD)

* Wayne Shorter: Alegria (Verve CD)

* Billy Cobham: Crosswinds (Atlantic LP)

* Larry Coryell: Coryell (Vanguard LP)

* John McLaughlin: Music Spoken Here (Warner Bros. LP)

* Pat Metheny Group: Offramp (ECM LP)

* David Torn: Best Laid Plans (ECM CD)

* David Torn: Clouds About Mercury (ECM CD)

* Masabumi Kikuchi: Susto (Columbia LP)

* Marcin Wasilewski: Trio (ECM CD)

* Mike Greene: Pale, Pale Moon (GRC LP)
* Mike Greene: Midnight Mirage (Mercury LP)

* Elephant9 with Reine Fiske: Silver Mountain (Rune Grammophon 2LP/CD)

* Flying Lotus: Until The Quiet Comes (Warp 2LP)

* Flying Lotus: You’re Dead! (Warp 2LP)

* Deuter: Silence Is The Answer (Kuckuck 2LP)

* Grateful Dead: Boston Garden, Boston, MA 1991-09-24 (SBD 2CDR)

* The Incredible String Band: The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter (Elektra LP)

* The Incredible String Band: Wee Tam (Elektra LP)

* The Incredible String Band: The Big Huge (Elektra LP)

* The Incredible String Band: Hard Rope & Silken Twine (Reprise LP)

* Roy Harper: HQ (Harvest LP)

* Goblin: Profundo Rosso (Cinevox LP)

* Goblin: Roller (Cinevox LP)

* Ricked Wicky: Swimmer To A Liquid Armchair (GBV, Inc. LP)

* Ricked Wicky: A Number I Can Trust/Small Town Underground (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Ricked Wicky: Poor Substitute/What’s For Dinner Uncle Aunty? (GBV, Inc. 7”)

* Anathema: We’re Here Because We’re Here (KScope CD/DVD)

* Enslaved: Ruun (Candlelight CD)

* Earth: Hibernaculum (Southern Lord LP)

* Sunn O))): Oracle (Southern Lord LP)

* Sunn O))) & Ulver: Terrestrials (Southern Lord LP)

* Expo 70: Where Does Your Mind Go? (Immune LP)

* Windhand: Grief’s Infernal Flower (Relapse 2LP)

* Ryley Walker: Primrose Green (Dead Oceans LP)

†=iPod/iTunes

‡=car

Commentary:

As part of the Grateful Dead’s 50^th Anniversary Sale-abration, there a number of books hitting the shelves, a couple of which are definitely worth an old Deadhead’s attention.

First is Billy Kreutzmann’s memoir, Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, And Drugs (St. Martin’s), and, as the title would indicate, it’s packed with juicy stories told with remarkable candor. Written with Benjy Eisen, the text has a chatty, “as-told-to” quality making for breezy reading—but his revelations of the bleaker moments backstage are also deeply saddening. It becomes abundantly clear that, by the 1980s, the band members really couldn’t stand each other:

We started off as a band of brothers—by music and by experience if not by blood. But toward the end of it, a lot of the time we didn’t want to see each other, much less have to interact on any real level…The “group mind” was no longer something we even thought about. I didn’t want to be in any of their heads any more than they wanted to be in mine (p.321).

Of course, everyone loved Jerry—even as his addictions (and otherwise chaotic personal life) were killing him right before their very eyes. And, to their credit, the band attempted several interventions over the years (if only to keep the gravy train going), but Garcia was unmoved. “There was nothing I could do” becomes a constant, pathetic refrain throughout the last half of Kreutzmann’s otherwise hugely entertaining tome.

That Garcia was the glue that reluctantly held the band together is further documented in David Browne’s So Many Roads: The Life And Times of The Grateful Dead (Da Capo). Drawing on fresh interviews and extensive research in the Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California Santa Cruz, Browne presents a respectful but clear-eyed account of the Dead’s ups and downs over the course of their career. The happy hippy days of psychedelics and pot quickly give way to harder drugs like cocaine and heroin as this band of misfits evolve into the most unlikely rock stars. Even in his darkest days, Garcia was able to pull off a brilliant performance from time to time—enough to keep the fans the coming and the machine rolling along.

Until, that is, he would collapse: from a near-fatal diabetic coma in 1986; a cancelled tour in 1992. And, every time, Garcia miraculously recovered. Then, on August 9, 1995, he finally expired, a month to the day from the final Grateful Dead concert at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Browne details the dysfunction and denial within the Dead scene, including fruitless studio sessions and a painful confrontation between Garcia and (temporary) keyboardist Bruce Hornsby between sets at the Boston Garden in 1991. “You’re just phoning it in,” he said to Garcia, “You’re not there. You’re not really delivering.”

With that Garcia’s friendly façade faded, and he muttered the phrase that would haunt Hornsby for decades afterward: “You don’t understand twenty-five years of burnout, man” (p.390)

Hornsby’s little talk did seem to have some effect. I was at that show in Boston, and it was a re-energized Jerry who walked onstage for the second set—and the rest of that run of shows. From my perspective in the audience, blissfully unaware of the backstage drama, the band seemed to be on a roll. Sure, Garcia looked older than his years, but he still sang and played with soul and spirit. And when Garcia was engaged, the rest of the band could still catch fire. I managed to see more than a few good-to-great concerts during those final years, but the machine ultimately ground Jerry Garcia to dust. I should not have been surprised when he died, but I was.

And with Garcia’s death, whatever was left of the Grateful Dead was in ashes. The final chapters of both Deal and So Many Roads attempt to put a positive spin on subsequent reunions and tours, but the proof lies in the music itself, which I think everyone involved would admit is a pale imitation in the absence of Garcia’s living presence. I don’t really blame them for trying to carry on—what else are musicians supposed to do? But I will emphatically not be seeing the latest iteration of “Dead & Co.” when they come to Nashville next month.

Both of these books are worth reading for Deadheads and the merely curious alike—but it’s not a pretty picture. Bottom line? Heroin is bad news, kids.

Playlist Week of 2015-08-08

* Dowland: Complete Lute Works Vol.3 (O’Dette) (Harmonia Mundi CD)

* J.H. Schmelzer: Unarum Fidium (Holloway/Assenbaum/Mortensen) (ECM CD)

* Andrew Hill: Lift Every Voice (Blue Note CD)

* Herbie Hancock: Sunlight (SME CD)

* Herbie Hancock: Future Shock (Columbia/Legacy HDCD)

* Billy Cobham: Shabazz: Recorded Live In Europe (Atlantic LP)

* Dorothy Ashby: Afro-Harping (Cadet/Verve CD)

* Pat Martino: Joyous Lake (Warner Bros. LP)

* Pat Martino: Starbright (Warner Bros. LP)

* Charles Gayle/William Parker/Rashied Ali: Touchin’ On Trane (FMP CD)

* Susie Ibarra: Flower After Flower (Tzadik CD)

* Exploding Star Orchestra: We Are All From Somewhere Else (Shortwave 2LP)

* Grateful Dead: Boston Garden, 1994-10-01 (SBD (3CDR)

* Van Morrison: Common One (Warner Bros. CD)

* Van Morrison: Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast (Mercury CD)

* Van Morrison: A Sense of Wonder (Mercury CD)

* Love: Love (Epic/Sundazed LP)

* Gary Higgins: Seconds. (Drag City LP)

* Alexander “Skip” Spence: Oar (Columbia/Sundazed CD)

* Caravan: In The Land of Grey And Pink (Deram/Universal 2CD+DVD)

* Placebo: 1973 (EMI/Music On Vinyl LP) †

* Placebo: Placebo (EMI/Music On Vinyl LP) †

* Chrome: Half Machine Lip Moves (Siren/Caroline LP)

* Chrome: Half Machine From The Sun (King of Spades 2LP)

* David Muse: Tonal Alchemy (Deva LP)

* Michael Hedges: Breakfast In The Field (Windham Hill LP)

* Wally Badarou: Echoes (Island LP)

* Earth: Primitive & Deadly (Southern Lord 2LP)

* Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group: Los Suenos de un Higado (Rodriguez Lopez LP)

* Kylesa: Ultraviolet (Season of Mist 2-45RPM LP)

* Montibus Communitas: The Pilgrim To The Absolute (Beyond Beyond Beyond LP)

* Padang Food Tigers/Lake Mary: Crabbing King Sappling/White River (Scissor Tail 7”)

* Windhand: Soma (Relapse 2LP)

* Ecstatic Vision: Sonic Praise (Relapse LP)

†=iPod/iTunes

‡=car

Commentary:

It was twenty years ago today that Jerry Garcia died, at the age of 53, in a rehab facility in Marin County, California. And with his passing, the Grateful Dead died. I was utterly devastated and now it's hard to believe so much time has passed--in another year, I'll be the age as Jerry was on that day twenty years ago. It just doesn't seem possible.

Over the years, I continued to buy all the official product: 33 volumes of Dick's Picks, the complete Road Trips series, all the box sets, DVDs, and a subscription to (the unimaginatively titled) Dave's Picks, now at 15 volumes and counting. I didn't bitch about the artificially limited editions, the "bonus discs" or the steadily escalating prices. And I eagerly devoured every volume of Pure Jerry and Garcia Live along with the solo DVDs and box sets. I was a fan and I was happy.

Until now.

It also happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead and the surviving members have decided to celebrate--by cashing in big time. 

First there were the handful of "Fare Thee Well" shows last month, with Trey Anastasio taking the lead guitar role. Aside from my general dislike for Phish, the ungodly expensive ticket prices and ginormous venues struck me a nothing but a cynical money-grab from the get-go. Having watched some clips on YouTube, I can confirm that it was as musically disastrous as I feared it would be. To be honest, Trey acquitted himself quite well. He had obviously been practicing, knew the material, and comported himself with an understated dignity that I wasn't expecting from him. So, bravo, Trey. His bandmates, however, were apparently content to forego any serious rehearsals and just bash out the old songs in as perfunctory way as possible. Somnambulant tempos, disjointed rhythms, train wreck transitions, and truly atrocious vocals made a mockery of the Dead's rich catalog of songs. Watching these clips made me profoundly sad and I couldn't even make it all the way through any of them.

The second thing that pisses me off is the seven-hundred-dollar asking price for Thirty Years Around The Sun, the upcoming 80-disc box set containing one complete show from every year of the Grateful Dead's touring history. Don't get me wrong: I want it. I want it bad. And it's not that can't afford it, necessarily. It's just that it is massively--ridiculously--overpriced. I happily paid around five hundred bucks for the 72-disc Complete Europe '72, which included luxurious packaging, a hardbound book, and a facsimile of the tour program. How can an additional eight CDs (and a seven-inch single) add another two hundred freaking dollars to the price? Does it include a bit of Jerry's DNA? An unwashed black T-shirt? Otherwise, no, not for me.

And Garcia's estate continues to release the most unnecessary things, the latest being all thirteen nights from Jerry's run on Broadway in 1987. This was, of course, an historic occasion, featuring his specially assembled "almost acoustic" group along with his usual electric band and is well represented on seven CDs released in the Pure Jerry series back in 2004. Given the restricted repertoire and less-than-spectacular sounding soundboard recordings, the last thing I need is more from this run. Again, it just smacks of laziness and contempt for the fans. What are we? Flesh and blood cash machines?

So, after a lifetime of being the Dead's best customer, I am calling it quits. I will not be going to Madison Square Garden to see the ersatz Dead shows with John Mayer (and, notably, minus Phil Lesh). I will not be buying Thirty Years Around the Sun. I will not be buying the Jerry on Broadway series. One more volume of Dave's Picks is due later this year and, unless it is truly revelatory, I will not be renewing my subscription for 2016. It makes me sad to find myself in the place after a lifetime of being a devoted Deadhead. 

As the years pass, I have often wondered what this stuff sounds like to someone who never heard them live, in person. Ask anyone who was there: Grateful Dead shows were shamanic rituals, a happening in the now. What was captured on tape is just a mere approximation of the experience, a signpost to possibilities not yet achieved. The Dead could be transcendent or horrible, moment to moment, within the same song, because it wasn't really music as we normally think of it. It was about a real experience, not entertainment, correct notes and professionalism. Now that Garcia is gone, what is left, really? Memories--and a bunch of recordings which don't even come close to getting at what it was really like to be there. Well, I have enough of them to last the rest of my life and more of them won't bring those days back. So, "Fare Thee Well," indeed.

Playlist Week of 2013-06-15

* Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Recordings 1964-65 (d.1-2) (Mosaic 7CD)

* Charles Mingus: The Great Concert of Charles Mingus (Verve 2CD)

* Herbie Hancock: Directstep (CBS/Sony CD)

* The Spanish Donkey (Joe Morris/Jamie Saft/Mike Pride): XYX (Northern Spy CD)

* Slobber Pup (Joe Morris/Jamie Saft/Trevor Dunn/Balazs Pandi): Black Aces (Rare Noise 2LP)

* Paul McCartney & Wings: Wings Over America (Best Buy Exclusive) (MPL/Concord 3CD)

* Grateful Dead: May 1977 (GDP/Rhino 14HDCD)

* U2: Zooropa (Island CD)

* Queens Of The Stone Age: …Like Clockwork (Matador 2-45RPM LP)

* Opeth: Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner HDCD/DVD)

* Opeth: Watershed (Roadrunner CD/DVD)†/‡

* Kylesa: To Walk A Middle Course (Prosthetic/Alternative Tentacles LP)

* Kylesa: Time Will Fuse Its Worth (Prosthetic/Alternative Tentacles LP)

* Kylesa: Static Tensions (Prosthetic/20 Buck Spin LP)

* Kylesa: Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist LP)

* Kylesa: Ultraviolet (Season of Mist LP)

* Torche: Meanderthal (Hydra Head LP)

* Torche: Harmonicraft (Volcom LP)

* Intronaut: Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones) (Century Media 2LP)

* Akron Family: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey of Shinju TNT (Dead Oceans 2LP)

* Akron Family: Sub Verses (Dead Oceans 2-45RPM LP)

* Riverside: Shrine Of New Generation Slaves (Mystic/InsideOut 2CD)†

* The Sword: Warp Riders (Kemado CD) †/‡

* Pelican: Pelican (Hydra Head CDEP)†

* Russian Circles: Empros (Sargent House CD)†

* Wild Nothing: Nocturne (Captured Tracks CD)

* Wild Nothing: Empty Estate EP (Captured Tracks CDEP)

* ASG: Blood Drive (Relapse 2-45RPM LP)

* Deafheaven: Sunbather (Deathwish 2-45RPM LP)

†=iPod

‡=car

Commentary:

When asked, many longtime Deadheads would point to Spring 1977 as one of—if not the very best—tour ever. In fact, the May 8 concert at Barton Hall at Cornell University is so highly regarded that the Library of Congress selected it for inclusion in the National Recording Registry in 2012.

There are good reasons for this almost universal acclaim.

For one thing, the band had just concluded recording sessions for their Arista debut, Terrapin Station, whose high-powered producer, Keith Olsen, demanded the sort of discipline and precision the Dead were not at all accustomed to. When they hit the road at the end of April, they not only had a bunch of new songs to premiere, they were as tight, polished and professional as they’d ever been (or ever would be). The performances during this period are almost universally strong, if not always downright inspired.

Another big reason this tour is so highly revered is the extraordinarily nice sound quality of the tapes. Recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson, these so-called “Betty Boards” are not "soundboard" recordings at all (that is to say, taken from the PA system), but a separate mix constructed from a direct line feed from the on-stage microphones. Without a doubt, her tapes are amongst the best-sounding two-track concert recordings ever made—and have circulated widely amongst tape-traders since the digital revolution of the 1990s.

Not surprisingly, the Spring 1977 tour has been heavily mined by Grateful Dead Productions since the inception of Dick’s Picks back in 1993, with Volume 3 and Volume 29; To Terrapin: Hartford 1977; the Download Series Volume 1; Dave’s Picks Volume 1; and the Winterland June 1977 box set all deriving from this remarkably fertile period. 

Nevertheless, the Cornell show has never been officially released.

Why? Well, the master tapes are not in The Vault—but are, instead, being held ransom by some individual who purchased the contents of Cantor-Jackson’s storage unit back in the late-80s, when she was on the outs with the Dead organization, destitute and forced into foreclosure (for the sordid details, check out the interview with Cantor-Jackson in The Taper's Compendium). This person not only has the master reels from Cornell but also the following night in Buffalo (which is, in my opinion, even better) as well as a bunch of other stuff that is not in The Vault. Supposedly, s/he wants a million bucks for this cache of priceless (and rapidly degrading) master reels. GPD refuses to pay—and I don’t blame them.

As a result, the new May 1977 box set is something of a misnomer, in that it does not represent a true picture of that magical month. However, we do get five consecutive concerts, picking up at the St. Paul Civic Arena on May 11. And it is typically solid, with a strong “Scarlet Begonias>Fire on the Mountain” sequence and a spine-chilling space-out after “Uncle John’s Band.” The following two shows from the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago on the May 12 and 13 have never previously circulated from Betty’s masters and are substantial upgrades from the lousy radio broadcasts and audience tapes that are out there. However, aside from the outrageous “Other One” on the 13^th, they are unremarkable—despite the lovely acoustics. But then the St. Louis concert from the 15^th is almost as legendary as Cornell, with an over-the-top, disco-fied “Dancing in the Streets” that goes on for nearly 20 minutes and the very first (and smoothly seamless) pairing of “Estimated Prophet>Eyes of the World.” But, for me, the May 17 performance at the Memorial Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the highlight of this box set. The Dead rarely played the Deep South and here they are quite obviously on their best behavior, delivering a generous 14-song first set that concludes with a 25-minute “Scarlet Fire” plus a solid second set featuring a magnificent jam of “Terrapin Station>Playing in the Band>Drums>Wharf Rat>Playing in the Band.”  It doesn’t get any better than this, folks.

My only quibble with this era of the band's history is the noticeable decline of Keith Godchaux. At times, he could still be mellifluously inventive on the keyboards but mostly he drifts off into a somnambulant plod, mindlessly banging on the piano, repeating simplistic rhythmic figures in dull, root positions. This regrettable tendency would only increase in the coming months, eventually leading to his forced departure from the band in January 1979. By the same token, his wife (back-up singer Donna Jean Godchaux), was not an altogether positive element of the Dead’s sound, with her wordless caterwauling during songs like “Playing in the Band” and “Scarlet Begonias” bordering on the embarrassing. Still, I have to admit she probably is at her very best on this tour, providing tasteful harmonies on the slow ballads and country-inflected numbers that peppered the repertoire. Despite their ups and downs, Spring 1977 is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of the Keith & Donna era.

So, is this latest box set the last word on Spring ’77? Unless and until the master tapes from New Haven, Cornell and Buffalo are recovered, it probably is. Then again, it’s unclear whether the entire Palladium run in New York is even in The Vault. The Download Series Volume 1 (now defunct) was taken from the April 30 show—and the commonly available second set from May 4 is definitely one of my favorite Dead sets ever. Otherwise, none of this stuff circulates in remotely decent sound quality. Now, that would make for an interesting release!

While May 1977 is also available as a (very expensive) FLAC download, the gorgeously crafted 14-HDCD box set is a numbered limited edition and will surely sell out—especially given the downright reasonable price of ten bucks per disc. Last I heard, fewer than 3500 of the 15,000 boxes are still available from Dead.net; if you want it, you better grab it fast. Trust me: you won’t regret it.