Was the Grateful Dead REALLY that good?
 

I've listened to their music and never really found anything interesting in it. Same goes for Pink Floyd. I can't see how/why there are cult followings for these bands. I know a guy who dropped out of Brown to follow the 'Dead back in the late 70's and now he's a call center clerk for Home Depot making $12 an hour. Good choice in life, dumbass.

Can someone explain to me the allure of these bands? People that follow them say its a lifestyle. I agree, hungry and no place to sleep is a lifestyle. It's called the lifestyle of the homeless.

I never much cared for their music either, especially Pink Floyd, though the Dead does have some good songs. The real magic in the Dead is the concert experience itself. I only went to one, but from begining to end it was definately one of the greatest experiences I have ever enjoyed. I think it would have to be experienced to truly understand the allure. From the characters outside the concert venue to the unique instruments and music sets to the super high peoples walking around inside to the 40 foot high beachball that rolled around the thousands of fans...it truly was an awesome social experience...

The old hippies liked them..I like a couple songs..never really was into them

The Dead is an experience.. Its hard to understand without seeing a show. i dont think there will ever be a festival show like it again.. I am fortunate to have gone to a couple of them.:2 cents:

I don't know, but I do know that my friend's sister used to be married to Jerry, she is the chick in the bikini on one of the album covers.

Same with Pink Floyd

I myself have a collection of Dead songs that I truly enjoy.

No, not really.

I bet the guy who followed the dead had amazing experiences. Not everything is about money.I never liked them myself.

Well being that the Dead and Floyd are my 2 favorite bands I need to chime in. Having been to around 15 Dead shows during the 90s, I can say it is definitely a life-altering experience... at least it was for me. Plus I love the music.

But unlike your friend, I have always managed to be a capitalist at my desk, while playing a sweet Europe '72 show in the background.

Was the Grateful Dead REALLY that good?

No.

Pink Floyd, Fan here!

How old are you guys?

You had to be stoned while listening to them live for the full effect :thumbsup

Who? :) heh

Grateful What?

I never understood their popularity and hated their music.

So true... Nobody will understand what you are talking about.. The music makes you recall your concert experience.. Was incredible!!

People that say it sucks, wont get it without living the experience. There is nothing you can even compare it to. Its kinda sad..:2 cents:

Yes, they were really that good.

I've never saw a Grateful Dead show and I love them, by far my favorite band.

first of all "WERE the grateful dead.."

Anywho yes, very talented i saw them live with Garcia in 95 :)

you just don't like jam band music if you don't like them, I'll put on some Terrapin Station now since you reminded me.

Actually I am a major lifelong Deadhead, and I don't really like "jam band music." I've seen Phish live, Widespread Panic, Moe and dozen other of their contemporaries. Never could get into it.

I think the Dead stand on their own. Floyd too.

i preferred the Ronettes ...

gooney bird
 

It helps to take LSD to listen to the music.

they're pioneers

A musical combination like Hunter and Garcia, will only come around once in a lifetime! The ability to breath life into the words and hear the sound it makes when it takes its first breath, release that thru an amplified source, and share it with thousands of people.... was just a fraction of the magic they carried. As it has been stated, not everyone was expected to see what they were doing. Those lucky enough, most likely never looked at music the same way again.
Sorry ya missed it.:thumbsup

It's all about the Experience. I have seen the dead a few times and pink Floyd 1 time. Floyd put on the most incredible light show ever, and the dead, well all I can remember was it was a great time...LOL.. Times (and people) were different back then it was an error all of its own for sure.:pimp

apparently you haven't lived till you've seen dark star live. but, no one will ever know cuz it's over.

They're my favourite band by far. They wrote a ton of great songs, and never played them the same way twice. When playing live they create a magic that is more than just the music. It can't be explained.

I have a good buddy who, although we didn't experience the Dead together, still both love their music. We agree that when we hear Jerry noodling away, we'll feel relaxed and somehow more peaceful, while everyone else in the room just hears it as average background music or 'whatever'. I think you just need to 'get it'.

For some reason I hear the song 'Touch of Grey' almost every time I'm in the grocery store, and it always puts a smile on my face.

I lit out from reno, I was trailed by twenty hounds
Didnt get to sleep last night till the morning came around.

Set out runnin but I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight.

Ran into the devil, babe, he loaned me twenty bills
I spent the night in utah in a cave up in the hills.

Set out runnin but I take my time, a friend of the devil is a friend of mine,
If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight.

I ran down to the levee but the devil caught me there
He took my twenty dollar bill and vanished in the air.

Set out runnin but I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight.

Got two reasons why I cry away each lonely night,
The first ones named sweet anne marie, and shes my hearts delight.
The second one is prison, babe, the sheriffs on my trail,
And if he catches up with me, Ill spend my life in jail.

Got a wife in chino, babe, and one in cherokee
The first one says shes got my child, but it dont look like me.

Set out runnin but I take my time,
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine,
If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight.

I ve seen the Dead 15 plus times.The best times were sober believe it or not. It takes an open mind of sorts to get into the solos and the drum solos. The times I took acid at the shows were cool too. Some very weird people came out of the woodworks to trip me out. I still can't explain some of the "reading my mind and thoughts" these hippies were doing to me. oh yah that one I didn't even make it inside the show. I just stayed in the parking lot Long Beach 85'

Pink Floyd 1987 was good. I brought some thumb sized fatties to enjoy my floor seats. "Comfortably Numb" was dope.

I'm a Deadhead, and have been since way back in the day. I went to a bunch of Grateful Dead shows, including many of their fabled New Year's shows, both stone cold sober and also tripping my balls off. Pretty much a magical experience every time...

While I was a Deadhead, I never had a "Deader Than Thou" attitude. I liked lots of other music too, and I never chronicled every show that I attended, etc.

One really fun and memorable show though was at the US Festival in 1982. The Dead kicked off one of the days of the 3-day concert, with a session that was referred to as, "Breakfast In Bed With the Grateful Dead."

One of my favorite Dead songs is "Estimated Prophet" - I have to play it every time I return home to California after traveling abroad...

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Oh, and if you have never tried Ben and Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" ice cream, you are missing a treat...

http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/8...231-slarge.jpg

ADG

Ditto. And I'm not a big Floyd fan... their music was great if you were tripping, but straight it sounds like aural valium.

They were true musicians, no back tracks and synth crap they all wrote lyrics and arranged music, they all knew their instruments back to front. They could play 4 songs that took 2 hours with all the jamming and improv that turned out some amazing music.

I'm not 100% into them, I have a few faves but I appreciate and understood them as true musicians that loved to play in front of a crowd.

If you were ever at a live Dead show, and remember it.... you didn't do it right. :D

Floyd is of a more intelligent brand of prog rock, so I can understand why they're being berated here.

No. But the drugs were!
:pimp

I prefer

http://www.hypereall.com/images/acid...plastikman.jpg

and that is EXACTLY what I hated about them

don't get me wrong, they were amazing musicians, but getting fucked up and jamming isn't the greatest thing for us non-jam band up folks

their music wasn't great but pop-idol status didn't come from their music

Awesome song. we used to sing that at camp all the time. Good memories.

Band camp? :D

The Dead were one of the greatest live outfits ever, never played the same show twice (which meant some nights were better than others) and wrote and sharpened material on the road, from show to show. I actually heard "Touch Of Grey" a few years before they recorded it, in Saratoga, the first time they played it (I think).

Their improvisational skills for such a huge outfit (couple drummers, couple guitars, 12-string bass, keyboards, and more) were unparalleled.

On a good night, when the crowd/scene vibe and the band vibe were all in synch (and copacetic) it was an experience second to none; some of those bootleg show tapes are among the great live performances I've ever heard.

To be honest, they sucked in studio and never really mastered the art of recording separate tracks or doing studio sessions until their last album.

Live, it definitely was better when straight and sober, though the experiences I had on 'shrooms and Acid were high-end and pure too. Oh, and I was always partial to Red Stars Blue Moon blotter myself, before the stuff went commercial/speedy.

I followed the dead with a buddy over four summers or so. Even ended up interviewing Garcia for Banjo Newsletter Magazine, and can chalk it up to an overall pretty amazing period in my life.

Floyd is a completely different experience; I never saw them with Roger Waters, but still caught a few of their shows post-break up and really appreciated them. To me, they're more an album/concept rock outfit than anything else.

Goofy was pretty popular in the Bay Area for a long time...



ADG

lol. It was a canoe tripping camp. None of this pussy band camp they have in the suburbs.

At the risk of pissing off the DeadHeads here...I have to share a joke...

What did the DeadHead say when he ran out of pot at the Grateful Dead concert?


"Dude...this music sucks!!!"

-- Bill

The 30+ dead shows I went to in the early to mid 90's were a blast. There is really nothing quite like it, nor will there ever be. The scene was crazy, the music was good , but to truly appreciate the quality of the band you need to get a hold of some live shows in the 70's. That's when the band peaked artistically. If u want to get a feel for how good they could be start out with 5/8/77 Cornell University. Also listen to some other of my favs such as 9/3/77 Englishtown , NJ or 8/27/72 Veneta, Oregon. After u listen to these shows, I am confident the the Dead doubters will most certainly change their minds.