November 2, 1969 Family Dog, SF CA and December 26, 1969 at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium University Park, Texas
**** out of *****
The eye grabbing headline to this most recent Dave's Pick release is that this music comes straight from Owsley "Bear" Stanley personal stash. The tapes were found by archivist David Lemieux in the "banana boxes" that had sat untouched for years in the groups vault. The release covers two shows in late 1969 (November 2, 1969 at the Family Dog and December 26, 1969 at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in University Park, Texas) as the band moved from their acid test phase of Live/Dead into the acoustic based, song focused, cosmic cowboy years of Workingman's Dead and American Beauty.
There is a lot of music out there and some artists have massive catalogs which can paralyze new listeners with overwhelming choices. This Beginners Guide series will attempt to give new listeners entry points to some of these artists. Today we will look at: The Grateful Dead.
This post was very long so we are breaking it into two parts. This first offering will discuss the five places RtBE feels are the best entry points to the band. The follow up post will dive into the different eras of the Dead and pull out some well known and underappreciated shows for further listening.
In part oneRtBE discussed live shows and albums which will ease a listener into the band. The group has such a wide range of music/sound/shows that RtBE went through the years they were active and pulled out specific highlights. While this gets long, it is literally the tip of the iceberg. The Internet Archive is a digital gold mine for amazing Grateful Dead shows, but below are are choices throughout the years for highlights and further listening.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week... Bo Diddley - Jerry Lee Lewis - Chuck Berry - Little Richard
For November The Masters showcases the greats of early rock and roll
We close out our monthly showcase of the early rock and roll greats with this killer find, The Toronto Rock & Roll Revival footage from 1969. The greats were getting long overdue respect around this time and this video captures four of the best to ever grace a stage, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry.
These clips are so cool and this is the perfect way to wrap up this month's Masters series spotlight. The series will be taking a break next month, but will hopefully be back in the future, hope you enjoyed it.
Pro Shot and Pro Sound for 1969, this is some history right here. Enjoy:
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
When RtBE hears the term 'Rock Band' (not rock and roll mind you) The Who are always the band who jumps to mind. The group were heavy/hard before there was punk/metal. They were over the top, before there was prog. They were in touch with their feelings like folkies, but would make you start a mosh before that was a thing and they never backed down from a fight.
Pete Townshend, Roger Daltry, John Entwistle and Keith Moon were the perfect rock quartet. Each played their roles, were amazing at their craft and produced some of the greatest albums in rock history. They were not prolific in the studio, but each record we talk about today could be in talks for best ever.
Unlike a lot of other British Invasion acts, The Who didn't owe very much to the blues masters that came before them, they were much more influenced by the early American rock and roll inspired by those artists, almost a second generation influence. Unlike the Beatles and the Stones they kept the "roll" out of it and went more for a blasting, the already mentioned metal/punk/prog approach to their songs as they grew as a unit.
Townshend as a songwriter also tapped into constant themes of childhood abuse, teenage angst and mental confusion. The best part about his songs is that he somehow managed to keep a sense of humor about him and his lyrics. The Who were fun, deep, exciting and a kick ass band so let's dig into their top 5 studio albums....As a reminder, this list is meant to start discussions, not end them....
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
For August The Masters focuses on the great Neil Young.
This month we already chatted about Neil Young's best studio albums, his best live work and now we tackle his studio work with Crazy Horse. The reason we broke all of these up is because if we didn't, the records below would have dominated all of our lists; there is no doubt that RtBE likes Neil Young best when he is backed up by Crazy Horse.
With a new NY&CH album coming soon we couldn't be more excited to revisit these great records. As always this list is a discussion starter, not a final statement on the matter. Let's dip into it as the top album on this list is our favorite thing Neil has done and I guess could technically top all three of our previous lists.
As always this list is a discussion starter, not a final statement on the matter. Let's dig in...
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
For June The Masters focuses on the great The Grateful Dead.
Live music is the best thing out there. Being caught in the moment is religion. Palpable vibes of healing and energy are transmitted and shit...gets...real. For this month's focus, The Grateful Dead may be more tied to the live show than any other rock band in history. They developed a literal touring mini economy and because of the bands massive structure, had to be on the road almost constantly.
The group had many phases and multiple lineup shifts, but the stage is where they truly succeeded as a collective, playing in the moment and without net. The group soared more than non-fans give them credit for and that thrilling collective experience is what kept fans touring the country with their musical heroes.
For other entries in The Masters, when it comes to live albums there were some limits, with the Dead it is just the opposite, there have been so many live releases it is hard to limit this list to "official" releases as prolific taping, the Internet Archive and tons of other sites have made obtaining a certain night in the bands history incredibly easy.
However, since we have been using official releases for other entries of The Masters, we will stick with that for this post and move to personal "Go-To" shows at a later date. We know that times have changed and while One From the Vault and Hundred Year Hall were instrumental to our love of the Dead, these days people do not need official releases to get soundboard quality and are much more likely to just stream a solid show then purchase an "official release".
With Dicks/Dave's Picks, the criminally underrated Road Trips series and various completest Box Sets being offered up seemingly every month (their whole history will be officially released soon) it is hard to keep track of which shows are officially out there and which are still in the hands of tapers, so for this list we are skipping all of those and just going with live albums released officially by the band. Going to be tough, but we will give this a shot, below are our top five live albums from the Grateful Dead.
As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them.
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
For August The Masters focuses on The Grateful Dead.
While the other months of The Masters series has allowed RtBE to focus on artists we love but haven't had the opportunity to highlight, this month is a bit different. Before the Monday Dylan Cover Series began, we used to focus on Grateful Dead shows every Monday for the first year or so of the site. Here is one example from the past as we have written a good deal about them for the site, but really wanted to include them in this new series.
It is no coincidence we are focusing on the Dead during July, they are this sites vote as America's best band and they were the ultimate summer attraction with their touring hoards of Dothrak...err Dead Heads. While in the past we have spent time on individual shows (which may come up when we get to the live album post) today we are going to tackle studio albums which according to every fan of the bands (except the sites friend Lindsay) agree is not their strongest work.
The truth is, even from their earliest days the Grateful Dead always over did things in the studio, whether from the producers idea (#5 on our list) or by their own choice (#4 and #3 on our list) the band just couldn't control themselves. Some would argue they couldn't control themselves out of the studio either, but that is a different post.
That said, the band had a long and winding career with many musical phases and it was fun to go back and listen to their studio albums to put this list together. So let's start "Truckin'"....As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Jimi Hendrix!
For June The Masters Focuses on Jimi Hendrix
Jimi was a whirlwind of sight and sound when he took to the stage in the second half of the 1960's. There was literally no one like him before and many imitators since. Today we go to Stockholm Sweden in 1969.
We actually focused on this show once before during our Full Show Friday feature, but that source was removed and this is a new video with much cleaner visuals then the original post. While it isn't the best Experience or Jimi show, it is a great visual capturing of his style and the music is pretty damn solid to boot even if Jimi was reaching the end of his first trio days.
Enjoy:
Jimi Hendrix - Guitar Noel Redding - Bass Mitch Mitchell - Drums
01 Killing Floor
02 Spanish Castle Magic
03 Fire
04 Hey Joe
05 Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
06 Red House
07 Sunshine Of Your Love
Bonus: "Popside" Radiohuset Stockholm May 24, 1967
08 Wind Cries Mary
09 Purple Haze
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Jimi Hendrix!
For June, The Masters Focuses on Jimi Hendrix
Jimi was a whirlwind of sight and sound when he took to the stage in the second half of the 1960's. There was literally no one like him before and many imitators since. Today we go to Newport June 22nd 1969.
Hendrix had just been arrested for drug possession by Canadian Police right before the weekend so things started off poorly and got worse when The Experience headlined he fest Friday night. Mitch Mitchell thought it was one of the worst shows the band ever played, even insinuating Hendrix was drugged:
“I think someone spiked Jimi,” said Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell in Johnny Black’s Eyewitness Hendrix book. “Or maybe he’d taken something of his own and then someone had spiked him on top of that. It was a disaster. I kept thinking, ‘This is weird, all this money…’ One of the worst gigs we ever played.”
This lead to Hendrix coming back to jam on Sunday to close the festival and that is the video below as he plays with Buddy Miles on drums. This is rare footage of an impromptu outing, very cool. Enjoy:
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Jimi Hendrix!
Let's kick off this month of Full Show Friday's celebrating Hendrix with a rocking gig from Royal Albert Hall in February 1969. This video is top notch and you get to watch and hear the Experience play with some "Fire". One of RtBE's favorites, "Hear My Train A' Comin'" is the clear highlight but the whole set rips. More info and set list below.
Enjoy:
Amazing concert with archive video footage featuring The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1969.
February 18th, 1969, the Experience' played the first of two shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The band had played the venue previously, on 14th November, 1967, on a bill with Pink Floyd, the Nice, the Move and a few other bold bands of the time.
This time however, The Jimi Hendrix Experience would be the headliner, playing on the 18th and again on the 24th to a sold-out house.
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
The Godfather himself, James Brown joins The Masters series here on RtBE. He is the visionary artist who helped invent funk and hip-hop as he moved through the amazing funky waters of time and his mind. Mr. Please Please Me is iconic and moved from The Famous Flames to Soul Brother #1 to the Godfather with ease as he aged.
He however joins the likes of Miles when RtBE is conflicted about the art and the artist. Longform collected just a few pieces on him, but it is safe to say that Brown's actions makes it tough with our love for the mans music. That said, we wrote about our feelings on Brown when he passed away for Glide as he had a huge influence on our musical ears and he won't be the first or last artist we are conflicted about loving.
Today we are going to dive into his studio output and rank our favorite studio albums by Brown. Perhaps not shockingly, but like Elvis Presley, Brown is a mega artist who does not have definitive studio albums. His early albums were almost random collections of singles, his later albums were scattered, many didn't even have the title songs on them or were mixes of live/studio/overdub Frankenstein's (looking at you Sex Machine).
Some of these actual records are out of print and honestly people aren't losing much because of that. Live albums, box sets, greatest hits, he checks all those boxes, but a definitive studio effort is hard to find...let's give it a go anyways...
As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them.
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
For April The Masters focuses on The Rolling Stones.
Live music is the best thing out there. Being caught in the moment is religion. Palpable vibes of healing and energy are transmitted and shit...gets...real. For this month's focus, The Rolling Stones are one of the best live bands in the world, but their studio albums get more respect than any live records and with reason.
While the the group has released a bunch of live records, throughout their career they acted more as stop gaps and contract fillers than devastating/must hear shows. Moments may feel transcendent but this is a group who managed to get the most out of their premier studio work and a lot of their live albums fall into the "release so we can stave off a studio record" category.
However, things have been changing over the last ten years as their archives have opened up and some great sets/shows/performances have been officially released to the world through the vault series and other venues. Longtime fans have had bootlegs of these for years, but now they get better quality and blessings from the band.
Below RtBE ranks their best five live albums, so let's get to it.
As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them.
RtBE loves listening to new music and prides itself on keeping tabs on up and coming artists but in 2019 we are also going to have a monthly spotlight on legendary artists who we really love. We are calling this series The Masters. It will focus on the best albums, live records, transcendent shows and other odd ways we appreciate the artists and their contribution to music, culture and our formation.
A few months ago we focused onThe Beatles and when you think of best rock and roll bands of all time, they and the Stones are usually somewhere near the top of the list. What is truly amazing is that the Rolling Stones are STILL getting after it. You can buy tickets to see them in 2019 and RtBE will be catching them twice, once in Jersey and once at NOLA Jazzfest in just over a month! (Update: With Mick Jagger's Health Issues, the Stones have canceled their tour with the hopes to reschedule). With the Stones set to tour we figured April would be a good time to focus on them for The Masters series.
Unlike The Beatles, who I loved upon first listen, I was a late bloomer to The Stones. I knew the hits (they were impossible to miss) but never dove into any of their records with much passion. During the early 00's when I was downloading a lot of live recordings from bands like Phish, Gov't Mule and The Grateful Dead, I stumbled upon a bootleg called A Few Hearts Broken, A Few Strings Busted, I downloaded, burned it and put it in the case with other live shows.
When I listened to it a few weeks later I was blown away by the power of the group. This was the high point of the Stones to these ears (and continues to be years later). The band officially released parts of these shows as Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones on DVD. When I next saw my Uncle who is a massive Stones fan, and played him this bootleg he turned to me and said this is the best Stones he had ever heard. I was hooked and dove in, hard. In fact, when it came time to personally play and write music in my own band, Angels & Vagabonds, The Stones were our collective rallying point, covering their songs live and writing a bit in their style.
The group has had many eras and a few lineup changes, but the core and their overall sound has remained pretty solidly intact. They are a great bar band who just happened to become one of the biggest and best bands in the world. Today lets go to what RtBE considers their top five studio albums.
As always, these lists are designed to start conversations, not end them.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...The Doors!
This is from 1969 and is a PBS television capture of the band. RtBE aren't huge Doors fans, but we love PBS. To be fair, The Doors live was not just a concert it was an event. Without the crazy crowd though the PBS show is a bit more tame.
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's.
These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so
enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every
which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still
playing)...This week... Sly & The Family Stone!
This is week is amazing. It feels like this was home video, or an unreleased recording/movie of Sly & The Family Stone live at the Harlem Cultural Festival, Mount Morris Park, Harlem, NY June 29th, 1969, only a few months before the band played their faces off at Woodstock. Really fantastic to dig into this funky offering to start this Friday series for March.
The recording isn't perfect, but this one feels a bit more like a bit of history rescued and the performance is kick ass.Enjoy:
We love the fest and the posters are iconic but this trip back through the years to see how they evolved is pretty telling to just how massive this event has become. The 1969 Pencil drawing shows you the roots and this years 3d image proves just how far the art has progressed, not necessarily improved though.
Our personal favorites? 2007 Jerry Lee Lewisshall hang on our wall one day.
1991 has a cool vibe to it and we love the 1978 edition.
All of this fantastic art makes us more and more anxious for the festival...which starts tomorrow. Enjoy if you are there for those of us who can't make down yet, here are some tunes to get the party (mentally) started:
We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Jefferson Airplane!
We got a short one today but it is of the highest quality as back in 1969 Dick Cavett let the Jefferson Airplane take over his television show for about 15 minutes playing 3 songs in their psychedelic SanFran fashion.
They were there to promote their Volunteers album and even slip a "Mother Fucker" past censors but they also include the biggest hit of their career. Sure it's cheating but this is technically a full show and it is spring time, so listen to this quick trip from the past in the sunshine and move on to the next thing!Or go back and check out this jam from earlier in the week if you want a full killer show...
Last year we searched the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts
and posted them to the site monthly. That was all well and good but this year RtBE
is upping the ante with a show every week to celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for
long so enjoy them
while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way,
but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Blind Faith!
Here comes a famous show from the swinging heights of the 60's in London. Here's the super group Blind Faith doing one of their very few concerts. Before the show you actually get a bit of background about the players in the band if you don't know about the4 members past.
Highlights include all of the amazing outfits worn in the crowd...plus some playing. The show proper doesn't get started til around the 11 minute mark and the first full visual performance is "Sea of Joy". "Can't Find My Way Home" is a great tune and Clapton plays electric on this live version which is cool, even though I have never been a big fan of Slowhand. A majestic offering of their excellent "Presence of the Lord" is dope and "Had To Cry Today" which closes things is amazing. The band was obviously a bit nervous as this is the bands first ever show which just happened to be in front of 100,000 people.
A quick and hot country/folk studded first set takes place for us on this Monday, way back on July 3rd 1969. Listen via that link, or even better, stream it right here:
The group lets there folkie and frontiersmen come to the forefront on this night in Colorado. What needs to be addressed first is the amazing quality of this recording...it is an A++ thanks to Charlie Miller, Rob Eaton and company. It sounds perfect, there is no two ways around it. While this isn't a complete show, the quality of playing and sound won't disappoint anyone who wants to take this trip with me.
The other neat-o thing about today's show is the rarity of the songs played during this first set. Starting off we get Cowboy Bobby going to town on Claude "Curly" Putman Jr's country tune "Green, Green, Grass of Home." It seems like every classic country star covered this at one time in their careers, I am going to post the best dressed man in Country musics version, Porter Wagoner:
Both are dynamite versions and the Dead only played this tune a handful of times in 1969 and early 70. Bobby is loaded up and hunting a pesky huge bear in the classic "Ole Slew Foot" written by Manney Hausey. Here is Johnny Horton ripping a killer version out from back in the day to compare the Dead's version too...
That is another rare one from the fellas having only been played a couple of times in 1969. The next country/folk number to get an airing is the bit more familiar "Sittin' On Top Of The World" a classic penned by the Mississippi Sheiks. Here is the original to check out:
The first three songs almost act like a history lesson from the group. Then comes the cosmic freak out folk of the fan and band favorite "Morning Dew". This version is raging all over the place with huge crescendos a quick tempo and what could be sheets of metal getting played about midway through, this is a fun sonic journey.
What shows up next is an amazing Jerry Ballad worth every second it is played, "High Time" aches with pain making Jerry sound older then his years on the vocals, and the group supports him well, Lesh in particular plops in with some creative bass lines. A quick and cut off "Me and My Uncle" keeps the cowboy vein a flowin' for Bobby and has some nice keys from Pigpen. Then comes the highlight of this short first set, the wandering long version of "He Was A Friend OF Mine". Turns out this tune is actually a combo of a traditional ballad and a piece of Mark Spoelstra's song titled "Just a Hand To Hold", there is a pretty good round up on the tune here. Also some more discussion here on it. Whatever it's origin the Dead make it their own on this night with a spacious jam section that finds Garcia soaring.
This version seems to be the longest the Dead ever recorded of this song and the guitar intro is pretty magical all around. The band strolls and takes a leisurely walk in the summer night with this one watching the sunset and contemplating life as Jerry plays on and Phil starts the musical conversation that Bobby picks up as well. This is a unique track and one worth checking out if you never heard the Grateful Dead play it.
Hope you enjoy this set as much as I did, thanks again to the production team as this sounds pristine and will obviously get many return visits. Vaya Con Dios Amigos.
Actually will be spending the morning listening to the amazing danah boyd speak on youth and social media, so it will be a fun and productive Monday AM.
But I won't leave without a show, and today we dip back into 1969 for some magic with 2-18-1969 which found the Dead Playing Modesto College in CA. Listen to it by clicking on the date, or listen to the full show right c'here:
This show's a fun one and since youth was the topic of the speech I heard today, how about we hit up a ripping "Good Morning Little School Girl" to start things off. The band was all ready playing when the tapes were rolling, but that doesn't kill the vibe at all. There are a couple of recordings on the Archive, but I think this version is the best.
Pigpen starts off super loud during "School Girl", but by the "Dark Star" the levels work out nicely, and holymoley it's just in time as this is a fun sonic adventure. The cosmic crusaders where all over the map of deepest darkest space here with Captain Trips leading the way.
Some of the early "Dark Stars" are quick jaunts, but '69 showed the band slowing down and exploring the outer reaches with the tune and this is an excellent psychedelic version.
I am a bit short on time, so I will just point out some of the other highlights. "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is a beast, as is "The Eleven" some great singing in the first and playing in the second. Garcia is really the MVP here. I am not a fan of the super long "Lovelight" but otherwise this is a great slice of Grateful Dead entering their 60's prime during the last year of the decade, enjoy, and feel free to share your thoughts.
.png/800px-Grateful_Dead_(1970).png)
.png)
.png/1024px-Grateful_Dead_(1970).png)
.jpg)
