Grateful Dead Album by Album Uncut Magazine May 2007
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Transcript of Grateful Dead Album by Album Uncut Magazine May 2007
8/13/2019 Grateful Dead Album by Album Uncut Magazine May 2007
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/grateful-dead-album-by-album-uncut-magazine-may-2007 1/2
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The Deadwere H thelast greatAmerican adventure",JerryGarciaalwayssaid.Their legendary four-hour concertsencompassedrock'n'roll,jazz, blues, aciel folk, musique concrete, even reggae.
ob eir - Garcia'sprotege, Deadguitarist from '65 to '95, writer/singer
Iofmany oftheirkeynotesongs - talks us through SL'Xoftheirbest albums...
• - ·- ·
ANTHEM OF
THE SUN VlARN[R 8R<» J%8
TileOead'ssecomlalbumcombinedstudio andlive material ina psyclledelfcau ralcollage.TheIntention: tolmproveon an undistinguisheddebut, whlle slmulatingtheeffectsofan LSO tr ip.BOB WEI R:Wejustwentnuts.Pureandsimple.We
wereInastudowithaneight·track,andwecoulddo
anvthingwewanted.ttwasn'tamatterofcarefully
layeringandstacking.The recordingprocessbecameabitmorelikeJacksonPolockthan,say, Raphael.It tookWll',waylonger tomake thanour firstalbum.Wewerehostwithourownpetardforquiteawhilethere.It wasmonthsinthemakng.Werecordedawholebunchofgigs,andcotlagedthemoverthestudioperformances.
Themixingtookforever,aswehadsomanyoptions Iwas19A hatpoint it wass tartingtoseern likethe
onlyll eI'deverknown. I'dbeen at itsincel was 16.That swhenImet JerryGarciaandwestartedworking
togetherforthwith.Fora19-year'old,I'dbeenaroundtheblock,musicatlyspeakingat least. Icou ldtalktheory.Icou ldspeakinltalianterrnsandInbopterms.That was thespokenlanguageinthosedays,
Whatthat albumlacked,isthat tnesorgst ndn't haveallthat well-definedathread.Wewerelookingrnore
for "foundart" thanforpreconceivedstuff.Onceyoustart clockingintothestudio- nightatternlgtu.formonths- theendeavourgetsalin letooworkmanlike,andtheflashesofinspirationtendtobecameabit moremuted.We didn'tdoanoth errecordIikethatone.It'sastand -alonerecord.andamonumenttoitself.
I ·_I-..· ·i ; 'i'"ililii i -
LIVE/DEADW RNER BROS, 197Q
Onthis celebrated doublealbum,theOeadmarked out theirterritory. Highlightsincludedthe23'minute " Oark Star", theself-exp lanato ry" Feedback , and Pigpen's Rn'B showboating.That record,of course,happenedalotIasterthanAntfJemOTheSun.Therewasnooverdubbing.We
onlyrecordedoneortworuns[oftileproposedtri/cklisting ],oneattheAvalonBallroomandoneatTheCarousel.Hlenwejust listenedtoeverythingfairlycarefuIII'anddecidedwhichtrackstoinclude.
Youcan 't reauvnearrne audience,butthey'rethere.TheLive Deadsetwasbascalyacondensationof
ourliveshow,Ourshowswereonlya11hour-and-a
half.maybeapproachingtwohours.Cometothinkofit.no,theywerefourhours- that'sbecausewewerestretchingsongsoot "DarkStar"waswond erfully
representativsotthatday Itwasarealaptrendition,butaswebecamemoreskilledonour nstruments,wewereabletotakethatsongtonewplaces.It'samatterofspirit:howrnuchdoestile muscmoveyou?
Pgpenwasourshowman.Hewaspretty damngood ,but1e hadacongeni talliverdiseaseandhelosthisstrengthastheyearswent on. I healcoholdidn't
help.lit f irst,Pgpenledtilechargeandtherest ofusweremoreor lesshissidemen.Ashisstrengthbegantoebb,theres of usstartedsteppingup,Butwekepthisnichecosy forhirn,becauseweknewit wasntgongtobelong. [P igpen.realnameRonMcKernan.diedin1973 1
WORKINGMAN SDEAD ~ R O S I 9 7Back to nature. TheDeadrelocate from SanFranciscotoMarin County,saddleup their poniesand deliver acountry-rockclassic.AftertheSummerOfLove,andthesummerafter that.
thecityhadbecomesomewhatuninhabitableforus.The Haight-Ashburyhaddegenerated.Therewerea lotofbaddrugsgomgarouao.andalotofpeoplebengwastedbythem.Sowealimovedout totheCourr v
I'dworkedonranchesasakid,andIenoyedgoingbacklOthatlifestyle.Iwaslivinganaself,inflicteddustbowl,raisnghorses.trvingtobeafarmerandmusician. I
It stretchedmepreuvthin.but therewasa lotofthatcountryaestheticinourmusicalroots.
Therewasthisculturaldividebetweenredneckswhowerepro-A merica, loveit or leave it - andpeoplewhowereagainst theVietnamWar.Thewholegettingback-to-the-countrvdecisionwaspartlyagesuretorneettheredneckshafway ' OK,we'lltrvvourwavoflife.We'll respect,andeven revere, yourmus icalheritage. We'lltrytoget realgood atit: I\nditworkedforawhile,too.Ame ricafell pretty"whole"when wegotoutotvietnam,andIt had alot to dowiththemeldingofpopularmusicandcoun trymusicidioms.
RobertHunterwrotelyricsforWork ingman 'sDead.Hecoudusefewerworos.andsavrnore.thananvone. Areyoukind? [on"UnceJohn's8and"]was, lassu med ,aso-rtalluson."Kind"meaning"mykind"."humankind",InthecontextofWorkingman sDead,itmeant:"Areyousimpatico...insolidaritywithotherworkingmen?"
I
8/13/2019 Grateful Dead Album by Album Uncut Magazine May 2007
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/grateful-dead-album-by-album-uncut-magazine-may-2007 2/2
VintageDead:Bob weir(pa.leshirt, centre)with
Jerryandtheboys
EDROP '72Yi4Rt lFR BROS,J?72
TheDead commemoratethe ir1972Europeancampa ignwit triplelivealbum( )contalningoldfavourites , inspirationalensemble playing,andstunnngnewsongs , includ ingWe ir/Hunter'stimeless "JackStraw".Wealwayshadahugecrewandorganisation.Itworkedtoouradvantagefor themostpart- evervonefeltaspiritofcommun ity,andfeltwonderfulgoingtowork,Butthatmoreor essinsinuatedthatwnenwewenttoEuropein'72,thewholeentouragehadtocomewithus,Itbecarnea great biggallival1l throughEu ropewithmaybe< \0 peopleontwobuses,Itwas importantforyoutogotoYOl/rbuswhentheydidtheheadcountseverydaysothatyouwereaccountedfor.'Neweretouristsonourdaysoff.but mostofthetimewehadajobtodo.Wedpull intoatownanddoasoundcheck,thentakeiteasyand marshalresourcesIor theshowSowsdidnt getout toomuch,Butwehadfun,andtheaudienceswerehighyreceptive,
Alotof thosesongswereneverstudio-recorded,"JackS raw" Istillsingtodaywithmyband.Ratdog.tdontwatchmuchTV,butonenight Iwashome.itwaslate.andanoldversionofSeinbeck'sOMiceAndMencameon. lwasmesmerised ,WewerecomingoutoftheWo rkingmansDeadphase.andHunterhadthislyric.Igrabbedit.andwecameupwithalittlesketchofheartlandAmericana,aballadabouttwone'er-dowells,Itwas patternedonOfMiceAndMen.butwetriedtoputatwistortwoonit.Samestory,differentcontext.
TERRAPIN STATION
usingFleetwood Mac's producer, Ke ithOlsen ,theDead move intoAO Rballads, slick fusiontexturesand bombastic orchestration sontheslde-long titletrack,Atruecurio inthecanon - andonethatpolarises opinion amongDeadheads about whetherit rocksorsucks,
Weweredonerecordingandreadytomix.AndKeitllosensaid. "No,waita rnnute," Andhegotonaolane.IlewtoLondonandrentedanorchestra.r nswasetimewhenthedollarwasstrong,andyoucould renttheLSO realcheap ,PeopleintheUS musicsceneweredoingtil isleft.rightandcentre,Wehadanorchesrantachoronthatalbum,Whentheproducerplayedit
tous,wewereof mixedfeelings,butwewerelockedintoadeadlinebythen,soitgot releasedlikethat.
Whattilefanswouldratherhaveheardwasusplavingtnosetunesonthefirstside- "SamsonAndDelilah","Dandn' In TheSreets" - youknow,cowboysimple,Butwhenyou 'remakingastudiorecord,youkindofoweittoyourself toexperiment.Sometimes
cowboy-smpleisgrea.Butsometimes, now.ifthere'sanorchestrathere., IgotalongwithKeithOsenfine.Iadmiredhisacui ly,hisacumen,And thereweregoodsongsandthevwerewef-retorded.tt sodrelalivelywell.Wewerealwayssemi-realisticthatwe
weren'tgongtobeasrnainsr
reamasFeetwoodMac.asou rsubject matterandapproachwerenowherenearasprosaic.Itwouldhavehadtheunmistakableshallowringof falsehood ifweweretotrytodothat.
IN THE D RK.'.RIS1,\,19$7
Afteralongbreakfromstudios,duringwhichJerryGarcia hadserious drugproblems,theDead returned withastrong,oftenemotionalalbum-andasurpriseMTV·backedTop lOUShitwith TouchOf r y .We'dhadourupsanddowns.Jerryhadbeeninacoma.Butwewerestillplayingconcerts,Ourattendance hadincreasedby20or25percent.andweweremakinggoodmoney,weweren't allthatenthusedaboutgoingintothestudo,Yknow,youcou ldgoinandmakeapolishedrecord,butyou'dhavetoworkwitil aproducerand thef nishedeffectwasn't real fulfilling.
ButwehadanotionthatIn heDarkwassoundinggood,We'dbeenplayngalotof thosesongsfor iveorsixyears,Theyweremature,readytogo.whereasonmostof ourotherstudioreco rdsthesongswererelativelynewWthin l e rk,weknewthosesongs,wewerentjustdiscoveringthem.Songsarelivingcritters,tnevhaveaninfancy,achldhood.theygetrambunctiousandthentbevhitamaturephase,50itwasn t thateye-poppingaconceptwhenthealbumdidwell.
Bythe'90s,wewerecreepinginexorablvtowardsastuatonwherethereweremoreof usdeadtl analive,Pgpen .KeithIGodchauxl,l3rent IMydlandJ, thenJerry,Butstill.tothisday,there'salanguagethatwespeak thatnohodyelsecanfullycomprehend,Andwemighteven getaroundtomountinganother tourlnthefuture. ( )