I never "got" the Grateful Dead ...

[Chicago Sandy]

Originally Posted by GibsonGuy

How about other groups "I don't get" (I love the Dead) I am of the age when they were new and extremely relevant when I was a part of the scene!

1. U2 (The lyrics and poetry are OK, but the music.......)
2. Smashing Pumpkins
3. Neil Young and Crazy Horse (that ought to do it!)

Let the flames begin!!!!

Wow! You might just have managed to offend three generations of rock fans in a single post!!!

Gotta tread carefully here, for a former bandmember is my neighbor, but Smashing Pumpkins put out a pretty good album's worth of music.........just took them a gazillion albums to do it--from which maybe 10-12 good songs can be gleaned. Corgan's micromanaging (aw, what the hey, controlling) tendencies vis a vis his bandmates and seeming inability to objectively edit his own output made the retrospective of the entire output a muddied and disjointed mess. But there were a few standouts--"Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Today," "Disarm," "Tonight, Tonight" and "1979" will probably go down as post-grunge classics. Too bad they had to be excavated from so much dross. (I wanted to use a different word beginning with "dr..." but I will be a bit more charitable). FWIW, their current lineup is a snooze. Had Corgan not pitched a hissy, the lineup of him, Iha, Chamberlain and Auf Der Maur could have gone on to produce some brilliant stuff. (Or even before that, if he'd have let Iha and D'Arcy write their own parts).

U2? Sorry to disagree, but their greatest stuff (through "The Joshua Tree" and quite a bit of their later stuff as well) is not only lyrically but melodically stirring, even iconic. I've seen them several times in concert over the years, and they get better and tighter with age--losing nothing but hairlines.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse? Ah, that's a tough one. Gotta be about the songwriting, the ethical principles, and the fact that though he may not have been a virtuoso (and CH may have been as sloppy a live band as the Dead) he spawned or helped spawn at least a couple of genres--grunge and Americana-rock, respectively. Not to mention the work he and Pegi did for the Bridge School and Farm Aid. Oh, and did I mention the songwriting?

And for the record, I never did say I HATED the Dead--I love (and often play) many of their best-loved songs. It's just that there could have been musically better bands to have been so emblematic of the ethos of their time as to spawn an entire lifestyle. I never got into following them around or being as passionately a fan of theirs as I am of Springsteen & the E Streeters, the Who, or even Joni Mitchell (who captivated me in my youth, lost me when she began to venture further afield from folk and rock, and is beginning to reel me back in again--she's got a new album out, at 62! I spent the first 10 years of my career trying to sound like her, the next 10 trying not to, and the rest trying to discover what I actually sound like).

[Bluepoet]

I felt the same way about U2, until one day, I was riding in the back seat of my sister's car, cruising around Lake Tahoe, and she put on, "Joshua Tree"...that CD is now definitely on my list of ones to buy! I'm still not a big fan of Bono, but I do now "get" the signature sound of the guitar player (The Edge?), and I like the thunderous bass, too...lives up to their name

Smashing Pumpkins didn't do anythign for me, except the one song they had about a rat in a maze...hey, I gave 'em a shot!

Neil and Crazy Horse were great, so I don't get the complaint there...I do much prefer Neil in acoustic settings, though.

To get back to the Dead...I'll reiterate--two of the best recordings of all time were "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty/Reality"....they also had several really bad ones, and many pretty good ones...I kinda like "Shakedown Street", "Blues For Allah", and their two double live albums.

They were much more enjoyable in concert, though...magical, even...

[bagelsgirl]

I just happened across this thread, which I started in March of this year.

Funny how when reading it back it seems like I was really coming down hard on them.

I didn't even re- read the thread tonight (I remember following it for a bit after I started it.) but I was just thinking that if someone had said the same stuff about a band I like, I'd think they were being pretty mean.

So, sorry if I offended any deadheads!

[GibsonGuy]

Just "different strokes for different folks!!"

[ELK]

Sometimes I'll hear a song I've been hearing for years and finally find out it's by the Dead. Once in a while, I'll even like the song. I just never really paid attention to them, so I guess I'm kind of neutral on them.

Now Neil Young, that's a different question. I love his lyrics, and he had an excellent sense of melody, but during those Crazy Horse years, he just insisted on sounding like a garage band. I' would love to ask him some day: Why all that distortion, Neil? We're not talking nice, warm overdrive here, but really dissonant fuzz that made it sound like there was something wrong with your stereo. I'm sure he must have been going for a "rawness" in his sound, and it he got it . . .

[DeadHead]

Let my inspiration flow
in token lines suggesting rhythm
that will not forsake me
till my tale is told and done

While the firelight's aglow
strange shadows in the flames will grow
till things we've never seen
will seem familiar

Shadows of a sailor forming
winds both foul and fair all swarm
down in Carlisle he loved a lady
many years ago

Here beside him stands a man
a soldier by the looks of him
who came through many fights
but lost at love

While the storyteller speaks
a door within the fire creaks
suddenly flies open
and a girl is standing there

Eyes alight with glowing hair
all that fancy paints as fair
she takes her fan and throws it
in the lion's den

"Which of you to gain me, tell
will risk uncertain pains of Hell?
I will not forgive you
if you will not take the chance"

The sailor gave at least a try
the soldier being much too wise
strategy was his strength
and not disaster

The sailor coming out again
the lady fairly lept at him
that's how it stands today
you decide if he was wise

The storyteller makes no choice
soon you will not hear his voice
his job is to shed light
and not to master

Since the end is never told
we pay the teller off in gold
in hopes he will come back
but he cannot be bought or sold

[DeadHead]

I woke today...
And felt your side of bed
The covers were still warm where you'd been layin'.
You were gone...
My heart was filled with dread.
You might not be sleepin' here again

It's alright, 'cause I love you.
And that's not gonna change.
Run me round, make me hurt again and again.
But I'll still sing you love songs
Written in the letters of your name.
And brave the storm to come,
For it surely looks like rain.

Did you ever waken to the sound
Of street cats makin' love
And guess from their cries
You were listenin' to a fight?
Well, you know...
Hate's just the last thing they're thinkin' of.
They're only trying to make it through the night.

It's alright, 'cause I love you.
And that's not gonna change.
Run me round, make me hurt again and again.
But I'll still sing you love songs
Written in the letters of your name.
And brave the storm to come,
For it surely looks like rain.

I only want to hold you.
I don't want to tie you down.
Or fence you in the lines
I might have drawn.
It's just that I've gotten used to
Havin' you around.
My landscape would be empty
If you were gone.

[DeadHead]

All the years combine
they melt into a dream
A broken angel sings
from a guitar
In the end there's just a song
comes crying like the wind
through all the broken dreams
and vanished years

Stella Blue

When all the cards are down
there's nothing left to see
There's just the pavement left
and broken dreams
In the end there's still that song
comes crying like the wind
down every lonely street
that's ever been

Stella Blue

I've stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel
Can't win for trying
Dust off those rusty strings just
one more time
Gonna make em shine

It all rolls into one
and nothing comes for free
There's nothing you can hold
for very long
And when you hear that song
come crying like the wind
it seems like all this life
was just a dream

Stella Blue

[PaulData]

I never "got" folks that tried to "get" the Grateful Dead...

[Earthworm]

Certainly, there is no denying that Robert Hunter can write a few decent lines.

[Bluepoet]

Originally Posted by bagelsgirl

I just happened across this thread, which I started in March of this year.

Funny how when reading it back it seems like I was really coming down hard on them.

I didn't even re- read the thread tonight (I remember following it for a bit after I started it.) but I was just thinking that if someone had said the same stuff about a band I like, I'd think they were being pretty mean.

So, sorry if I offended any deadheads!

(Sound of deep intake of breath, followed by coughing fit)...

Uh, that's alright Elizabeth, don't worry about it...what was it you said?

[Bern]

Originally Posted by Bluepoet

(Sound of deep intake of breath, followed by coughing fit)...

Uh, that's alright Elizabeth, don't worry about it...what was it you said?

[Yoder]

Originally Posted by Earthworm

Certainly, there is no denying that Robert Hunter can write a few decent lines.

There are just a few who are up there with him, folk like: Van Morrison, Lennon & McCarty, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, et al. A wonderful group of musical poets.

[RickI]

Dont understand why anyone is hammering on them...

The Dead are/were whatever...

I sure liked some of their songs...

Rick

[ksj]

Before anyone questions Jerry's skills on the guitar listen to the Pizza Tapes with David Grisman and Tony Rice. The Jerry Garcia Band albums are wonderful examples of his talent as well.

The Dead were a phenomenon and were amazing in concert if you got them on a good night. Almost all of the nights I saw them were at Red Rocks and they were "on" every time.

As for Bob, well, I saw him in Vail many years ago as "Bobby and the Midnights", and that was a fantastic show as well.

I guess you had to be there...