UKC

Phil Lesh has left the building - here's a great one from the Phil Zone.

RIP

https://youtu.be/VDazxOynlAI?si=8_WJOBIo_wOE-biy

Pride of Cucamonga

One of the greatest, most innovative bassists to grace rock/jazz/Americana. Saw the Dead with the titanic Wall of Sound set up way back in 1974. For Deadheads who want to recreate a little bit of the magic it's worth checking out the tiny, extremely chilled and rather lovely Playing on the Farm festival: https://www.facebook.com/p/Playing-on-the-Farm-100086965023558/?_rdr

And in memory of Phil here's the opening track to one of the truly great albums, a track he co-wrote with lyricist Robert Hunter for his dying father, the gorgeous Box of Rain from 1970's American Beauty. It's one of the few to feature Phil on lead vocals and for once, he isn't playing bass!

youtube.com/watch?v=nxjvo4BRf-Y&

A remembrance: 

https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-grateful-deads-phil-lesh-the-patron-sain...

It must have been amazing to see them playing on the Wall of Sound! I saw Ben Bransby climb the route with the same name at Stanage!

The closest I've been to seeing the Grateful Dead was watching a tribute band called Wild Flower Seed with Graeme Jackson of this house playing Phil's part on bass and they were really good!

I've been a massive Dead fan for over 50 years now and they were awesome - and loud! -  back in 74. I never saw Wildflower Seed but I've seen the Grateful Dudes a couple of times in recent years. They're well worth checking out if you get the chance. Favourite haunts are the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden and the Hare & Hounds in King's Heath, Birmingham, which is fairly local for me. 

Wall of Sound at Stanage sounds desperate!

Well I've only been a Deadhead for 25 years but probably listen to a show or two most weeks.

These are a couple of my favourite shows:

https://youtu.be/RrtkbEv4oFQ?si=NVyXbHI5TRlnh2Lu

https://youtu.be/TAe4SJ7TRNA?si=bAO9vc_tGHvTJnd8

Have you got any favourite shows?

I will definitely keep a lookout for the Grateful Dudes!

Another:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/27/phil-lesh-obituary

Favourite shows: Cornell 77 for sure;

Plus two from 1972:

The Spectrum, Dick's Picks 36, a contender for best show ever, for me, with an awesome Dark Star into Morning Dew:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr8I89cnvIukJozppvPfIac6XO_1ZQgS8&si...

And the famous Kesey benefit concert at Veneta Oregon, available on CD with a great DVD as Sunshine Daydream:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIJmYQvaDU3GGGv8DpWjYAg0hIzg_daWN&si...

And a late career highlight, featuring fantastic jamming with Branford Marsalis on sax, Nassau Coliseum 1990,  issued as Wake Up to Find Out:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nVYHeNk9mueoy5bMjknMW7f8vqjbgLxMk...

My first show was quite literally life changing. 1990 Halloween, Wembley Arena. I was deep into the burgeoning London House scene at the time. Meet a bunch of America's at Uni who were following the Dead on their European Tour and decided to tag along to see what the buzz was all about. 

They opened with Help Slip Franklin with Werewolves of London as the encore. The energy and freedom from all the Deadheads swept me along and I ended up moving to the US, studied there, travelled around in a 1971 VW, went to many more shows, met and married my girl. 

Had the pleasure of diving deep into Jam Band culture, following Phish, The Allman Brothers, Widespread Panic and recently Goose, Billy Strings and Dead and Company. All their sounds have a common ancestry. The Dead will live forever.

Thanks for the show recommendations - I've watched the Kesey benefit concert, it's great. It's the one with lots of naked people dancing, enjoying the music, the sunshine and probably some really good acid!

Thanks also for the recommendation of the Grateful Dudes - I asked them on Facebook if they are planning to play in the north west and they are trying to secure a gig in Glasgow and asked about venue's en route - hopefully they might play somewhere near me!

Another favourite show of mine is Dick's Pick's vol 7 from Alexander palace, London 74 - the Not Fade Away is incredible https://youtu.be/MUjTAyBQwug?si=3aLKNsV-x7VxPlKk

That's quite a story! 

I just discovered Billy Strings - he's amazing and nails his dead covers. I really enjoyed his music of Doc Watson concert too https://youtu.be/Nk4SWmDbMNI?si=2yOpWNmiWdQXXrjn

Great story - and what a testament to the power of music!

You might enjoy Daniel Donato - another young player.

Billy's at his dizzying best with his own band but can absolutely lay it down when called upon. Here he is grooving with Bill Kreutzmann  youtube.com/watch?v=b4NZkG9FXx8&

Yes, the DVD is great fun - though I do worry about where some of those dancing Deadheads are getting sunburnt!

I hope you get a chance to see the Dudes. I shall be at Playing on the Farm next year so I'll catch them again there.

I was in the crowd at Ally Pally. I also love the Dark Star on that DP7. You're probably well up on this, but for me the must-listen DPs are 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, 31, 33 and 36.

Over the last couple of nights I've been playing Believe It If You Need It, a 3 CD collection (afraid I'm addicted to old technology) from the 73/74 Pacific Northwest tour. If you don't know it, the 45 minute Playing in the Band is quite something.

I will check those out! I'm terrible at keeping track of which shows I've listened to so I'll just have to listen to them again!

You should definitely check out the 1980 show I linked - it's a real stand out show that doesn't seem to be on many Deadheads radar. Acoustic first set then two amazing electric sets - it's got my favourite Rain and Snow rendition in it!

My son and I are listening to vol 36 ATM. China Rider was excellent 👌 

I'll make that 1980 show my next listen. Glad you're liking DP 36. I never tire of it. I think the other DPs from that tour are also excellent: 11 and 23.

We're really enjoying Vol 36, we're heading to Lancaster wall and going to listen to some more now. The basslines on Cumberland Blues really highlight how great Phil Lesh was!

This one really got me, though he had a long and fascinating life. I grew up listening to The Dead with my father and the music has always been a point of connection for us.

Thanks for the music Phil.