Which band did you first see live and when? And how old were you? For the purposes of this question, the musicians in question are Garcia, Weir, Pigpen, Lesh, Kreutzmann, Hart, Constanten, the Godchauxs, Mydland, Hornsby, Welnick. (Haynes, Russo, Anastasio, Mayer, et al. were never members of the Grateful Dead. Period. Special guests do not count.)
My Answer: Grateful Dead, 9/2/77, 14 years old
Mother McRee's The Warlocks The Grateful Dead Garcia bands (JGB, Old &, in the Way, Legion of Mary, Reconstruction, Garcia and Saunders, etc.) Weir bands (Kingfish, Ratdog, etc.) Phil bands (PLQ, Phil & Friends, etc.) Kreutzmann bands Mickey bands Keith & Donna NRPS (with Garcia, of course) Furthur (the festival) The Other Ones The Dead Furthur (the band) Fare Thee Well Dead & Company. Other (omitted in oversight)
#78 Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead - Truckin' https://youtu.be/cAd3MwDRq1U
Well, I guess I can check another one off the list. One step closer to Maggot Brain in a few weeks. That's scaring the shit out of me, haha. 10 minutes of crazy effects laden solo. Really don't know how I'm going to approach that one, AND remember it all. We'll see how it goes when I get to it. Today fortunately, something a little easier.
Now I can't shit on Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead (I like The Grateful Dead) but I WILL shit on the editors of Guitar World Magazine. I seriously don't know why this song is included on the list. There's no solo in it. There's lots of guitar (3 in fact) and lots of little licks here and there, but there's NO solo per say. I personally would call them "fills" because that's exactly what they are, guitar fills. not solos.
Now there are solos on this list that are not difficult and that's fine. They're iconic. Everybody knows them, they are part of a hit song that everybody knows. I don't think one could put Truckin' in that category either. Truckin' was never a "hit" though it is one of The Grateful Dead's more famous songs. The guitar fills that Jerry Garcia disperses throughout the song are not famous as far as I can tell. It's pretty basic blues licks. Nothing that really sets it apart from thousands of other songs with little blues lick fills throughout. I'm really puzzled over this one. Didn't really know what to do with it at first.
Then I figured that I'd go all in on it. Play every one of them until they stop at about the 3:30 mark of the song. I figure that should cover the "solo" aspect of it. The backing track that I used didn't have any guitars on it, so I put them all down. Acoustic, blues riffs and the main with the licks. The backing track musically was great but I can't say much for the dude singing Bob Weir's part. A bit shaky at times to say the least.
So basically Truckin' is a blues song in E major. The majority of the licks are E major pentatonic with a few following the chord changes to A and B. Like I said, it's pretty basic stuff. Nothing too complicated here. Now don't get me wrong, I actually like this song very very much. One of my favorite Dead tunes. I just don't personally feel it should be on a list of the Top 100 guitar solos of all time, but hey, that's just me. I can't agree with them all.
Edit: damn it sure sounds like Bob Weir singing during the verses on this backing track, but during the chorus he can't h
... keep reading on reddit ➡Basically what the title is asking. I was on Instagram and stumbled upon the NOLA Dead account and ending up like what they had so much that I purchased some of their Masters x Dead collab merch. I was looking for other vendors who do cool Dead collab merch
- 10/12/68: Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > New Potato Caboose > Jam > Drums > Jam > Feedback
- 3/2/69: Alligator > Drums > Jam > And We Bid You Goodnight Jam > Jam > Caution Jam > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Feedback > And We Bid You Goodnight
- 11/8/69: Dark Star > The Other One > Dark Star > Uncle John's Jam > Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Jam > Main Ten Jam > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Feedback > And We Bid You Goodnight
- 2/13/70: Dark Star > Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Turn On Your Lovelight
- 9/19/70: Dark Star > St. Stephen > Drums > Not Fade Away > Darkness Jam > China Cat Jam > Jam > Not Fade Away > Turn On Your Lovelight
- 11/6/70: Alligator > Drums > Jam > Not Fade Away > GDTRFB > Mountain Jam > Not Fade Away > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Turn On Your Lovelight
- 2/18/71: Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star (aka Beautiful Jam) > Me and My Uncle
- 4/29/71: Alligator > Drums > Jam > GDTRFB > Cold Rain and Snow
- 8/14/71: Truckin’ > Drums > The Other One
- 12/10/71: Truckin' > Drums > The Other One > Sittin' On Top of the World > The Other One > Not Fade Away > GDTRFB > Not Fade Away
- 4/14/72: Dark Star > Sugar Magnolia > Good Lovin' > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Who Do You Love? > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Good Lovin' > Not Fade Away > GDTRFB > NFA
- 5/11/72: Dark Star > Drums > Dark Star > Sugar Magnolia > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Who Do You Love? > Jam > Truckin' > Uncle John’s Band
- 5/26/72: Truckin' > The Other One > Morning Dew > The Other One > Sing Me Back Home
- 10/18/72: Playing in the Band > Drums > Dark Star > Morning Dew > Playing in the Band
- 3/24/73: He's Gone > Truckin' > Spanish Jam > Dark Star > Sing Me Back Home > Sugar Magnolia
- 3/31/73: He's Gone > Truckin' > Drums > The Other One > Spanish Jam > I Know You Rider
- 6/22/73: He's Gone > Truckin' > Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam > Bass Solo > Jam > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Sugar Magnolia
- 10/25/73: Dark Star > Mind Left Body Jam > Dark Star Jam > Eyes of the World > Stella
Hello. I hope you all are well. I have a friend traveling out here at the end of the month from a few thousand miles away and they want me to make a live Grateful Dead playlist for them to listen to on their flight. Is there any chance I could pick your brain on how to set this up sorta like a concert and some song choices?
I want to use the official releases as my source material if possible. Below is a list of songs I would like to draw the playlist from. The starred stuff are my top preference. Obviously, not everything can make it, but whatever help I can get from you all would be greatly appreciated.
- Althea
- Bertha
- Brokedown Palace
- Brown-Eyed Women
- China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider
- El Paso
- Loser
- Me and My Uncle
- Morning Dew
- Mountains of the Moon
- Mr. Charlie
- Simple Twist of Fate
- St. Stephen
- Stella Blue
- Tennessee Jed
- The Other One
- The Wheel
- Throwin’ Stones
- Uncle John’s Band
- Wharf Rat *Jack Straw *Mission in the Rain *Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain
Bird Song Box of Rain Cassidy Cold Rain and Snow Dark Star Deal Deep Elem Blues Dire Wolf Dupree’s Diamond Blues Estimated Prophet Franklin’s Tower Friend of the Devil How Sweet It Is It Must Have Been The Roses Let It Grow Mississippi Half-Step Peggy-O Ripple Stagger Lee Sugar Magnolia Sunshine Daydream Touch of Grey Truckin’ West L.A. Fadeaway When I Paint My Masterpiece
Can you imagine that? Every day just creating music and playing it to the people. Man
I was listening to Diamond Lil from the 1972 Demons In Disguise Album by David Bromberg. Jerry, Donna, Keith, Phil and Bill appear on this album. The bridge in Diamond Lil is a piece of musical art.
Wondering if there's a single complete or close-to-complete site for guitar tabs of the Dead, Jerry or Bob solo stuff, etc
Bob Weir is a singer, songwriter, and founding member of Grateful Dead, This is the group we last see Lindsay Weir setting out to take on. Sorry if this is common knowledge among fans, I was unaware and found it very interesting, We had a major plot point in our face the entire time!
/u/sineofthetimes just asked about average ages of the Dead. I did a quick bit and came up with 60/69 depending on how you count age and who you include.
I wrote the list of members on intuition, and that intuition ended up including Bruce. I never really thought too much about the question before, so figured it would be interesting to hear whether or not I'm alone in this, excoriated for it, or if others feel somewhat similarly.
I included Bruce because temp or not, 'unofficial' or not, he was integral to their carrying on. He wasn't just sitting in for a few shows here or there, he toured and played over a hundred shows. I caught a number of Brent shows, but since I got on the bus in the late 80s, Bruce's tenure was square in my formative years---so to me, in my gut, he was more than just someone sitting in. I get that there's an asterisk in there, too, but still. To me, he's part of the fabric.
(On this note, now I'm looking to find the 'best' Bruce show I can. Any suggestions?)
Here are a couple of open ended questions that could parallel a good conversation
- In what way(s) did you become empowered to become a musician professionally?
- How exactly did you become engaged with the Grateful Dead? or how did the Grateful Dead engage you?
- How has your experience with the Grateful Dead changed your life? for good? for bad?
- What was your most memorable moment while on tour with the Grateful Dead?
- What song, if any, really embarks something special within you that you play? with or without the dead?
- If you could change or reverse one thing that happened along your long strange trip what would it be?
Seems like a few of these pop up every year. Am looking to spend a few weekend out and about this year.
Do you guys know of any beyond FramilyFest?
Dude loves to get super weird in a way that the other surviving guys dont anymore. He exists to make weird noises on percussive instruments. Billy is a fine drummer, dont get me wrong and there is definitely a needed tightness to Billy that Mickey doesnt have, but Mickey keeps shit weird as hell after 50+ years and I love him to death for that.
