Volume 4, Track 7
“U.S. Blues” by The Grateful Dead (10/9/1976) From Dick’s Picks, Vol. 33, recorded at Oakland Coliseum Stadium, Oakland, CA If you live in or near any U.S. metropolitan area you most likely have a specialty liquor store, be it of the one-off, locally-owned or chain variety (for Chicagoland, the major chain is Binny’s), that constantly [...]
Volume 4, Track 6
“Greatest Story Ever Told” by The Grateful Dead (5/7/1972) From Steppin’ Out With The Grateful Dead: England ’72, recorded at Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England Between the title of the song and the opening lyrics—”Moses came riding up on a quasar/His spurs were a-jingling, the door was ajar”—it would be easy to think that crass irony [...]
Volume 4, Track 5
“They Love Each Other” by The Grateful Dead (10/19/1973) From Dick’s Picks, Vol. 19, recorded at Oklahoma City Fairgrounds Arena, Oklahoma City, OK Dick’s Picks, Vol. 19 is what I affectionately refer to as the “hi-hat show” as it seems drummer Mickey Hart was especially fond of that particular cymbal that night. Because of the [...]
Volume 4, Track 4
“Playing In The Band” by The Grateful Dead (4/6/1971) From The Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses), recorded at Manhattan Center, New York, NY It seems that almost every version of “Playing In The Band” that features Donna Jean Godchaux deteriorates into a dreary, coked-out jam that features, to me, Donna Jean’s uninvited orgasmic moaning. Thankfully, [...]
Volume 4, Track 3
“Me & My Uncle” by The Grateful Dead (4/26/1972) From Hundred Year Hall, recorded at Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany The lyrics of “Me & My Uncle” reek of mountain and Western folk but done so in a fashion of how people who did not participate in the Western expansion think the West was like. As a [...]
Volume 4, Track 2
“Iko Iko” by The Grateful Dead (3/27/1988) From Download Series, Vol. 5, recorded at Hampton Colisseum, Hampton, VA As I stated in the introduction, I am a Dead newbie and, therefore, I have not really moved beyond 1977 in terms of Dead live performances. Of the thirty four live performances I have, twenty five of [...]
Volume 4, Track 1
“Samson and Delilah” by The Grateful Dead (12/31/1978) From The Closing Of Winterland, recorded at Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA When I first thought of doing a live Dead-only list I could not think of a better song to start it out than with this version of “Samson and Delilah,” the track that starts the [...]
Volume 4 Introduction
The Grateful Dead may be one of the most polarizing bands in rock history. To say that you like the Dead implies, to some, that you are a drug user; that a liberal worldview is implicit; that you only like jam bands; that you begin and end thoughts with “man”; that you could not possibly [...]
Volume 3, Track 14
“Rainy Day, Dream Away/Still Raining, Still Dreaming” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968) [Technically, these two tracks are one cohesive song so I am counting it as one song. The tracks are broken up by "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" and "Moon, Turn The Tides... Gently Gently Away," two of the weirdest [...]
Volume 3, Track 13
“What Goes On” by The Velvet Underground (1969) As I have stated before, The Velvet Underground can be essentially separated into two eras–the Groundbreaking and the Songwriting. “What Goes On” may be the best example of the Songwriting Era; which is odd because its lyrics are intrinsically meaningless (or at least appear meaningless). Yes, the [...]
Volume 3, Track 12
“Sheep” by Pink Floyd (1977) I mean, with a list like this there has to be the requisite ten minute plus rock song from the seventies, right? I would be remiss if I did not include at least one. In any event, “Sheep,” the penultimate song on the Orwellian Animals, informs us that the dogs [...]
Volume 3, Track 11
“Blackout Of Gretely” by The Gonn (1966) For a myriad of reasons, the box set The Nuggets made an indelible impression on me. It is one of the greatest box set compilations ever produced and a fantastic walk down all sorts of musical roads less traveled. “Blackout Of Gretely,” a song by the Iowa-based garage [...]
Volume 3, Track 10
“Esther” by Phish (1988) On the surface, including a Phish song on this list seems like a bit of a given but with the exception of a few other songs, “Esther” is really the only Phish song that I still enjoy listening to. Yes, the song is over nine minutes long but it is in [...]
Volume 3, Track 9
“Hey Jack Kerouac” by 10,000 Maniacs (1993) I have already written about the 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged performance from a technical aspect in full so there is no real need to jump head first into that pool again. This will probably be the longest rambling of the bunch so you have been forewarned. Best/Funniest Story Associated [...]
Volume 3, Track 8
“Don’t Worry About The Government” by Talking Heads (1982) The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads was in its original vinyl incarnation a double album consisting of seventeen songs culled from various live performances from 1977 to 1981. (The 2004 CD reissue of the album–yes, you had to wait almost twenty years for the [...]
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