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. ( )