Grateful Dead

Truckin’

Grateful Dead – Truckin’

Similar to the difficulty of picking a single James Taylor record for this challenge, picking one Grateful Dead album is kind of impossible. I did some spot checking of the tracks on the albums I remembered but in the end, I decided American Beauty was probably a better representative for my early Dead exposure than the others.

As I mentioned once before, my oldest sister was, and still is, a Deadhead. For a while I contemplated whether to include the Grateful Dead at all in this list of albums that made an impact on my musical tastes because in some respects, they didn’t make a long-lasting impression. I didn’t likewise become a Deadhead, I am not a fan of the long guitar solo, I didn’t go on to really love jam bands. There are these bands that play around here fairly frequently that are wearing their tie-dye proudly and I am always blown away to see them sell out. It’s just not my thing.

However, I think the impact that the Grateful Dead really had on me was their touring. The whole Deadhead culture of just hitting the road to follow your favorite band, seeing as many shows as you can and trading bootlegs with other fans, that is something I could get behind. The Dead placed an importance on their live show that I then came to expect from bands when I was old enough to spend my money on concerts. It was never going to be the same show twice so going to multiple shows was not some crazy idea or a waste of money. You could meet people at the concert who were equally devoted fans, get to talking, and leave the show with an address and an offer to trade tapes.

I can’t say that the Grateful Dead are responsible for my love of concerts and my willingness to travel significant distances to see a band I love. But I feel sure that watching my sister’s dedication to her band, and then going to a Dead show myself with friends, experiencing the parking lot before the show, seeing the tapers at the show, definitely set an example for me.

If you’re a Deadhead maybe you’re sitting there thinking, so live Dead is what influenced you but you’re not using a live album here? I was looking at Europe ’72 because I for sure remember that one, but that version of Truckin’ is nearly 13 minutes long and this one will do just fine.

U.S. Blues

Grateful Dead – U.S. Blues

I had a really hard time picking one Dead song for today but hey, it’s the 4th of July weekend so this one, with its bicentennial video, seemed appropriate. Plus it’s one with Jerry Garcia on vocals and as tonight is the first of the three 50th anniversary Grateful Dead concerts in Chicago – which are also commemorating 20 years since they played their last shows before Jerry died – I thought it was fitting.

My oldest sister was (is still) a Deadhead. I don’t remember not having the Dead playing around the house as a kid. She put a “Honk if you like the Grateful Dead” bumper sticker on our family station wagon and much of the time it would be my mom driving around with a bunch of us littler kids in the back. She went off to college in 1979 and my next oldest sister and brother carried the torch for a while too but never to the same extent. I’m sure she toured as much as her money and available transportation allowed but it wasn’t like she ever dropped out and followed the band exclusively.

When we moved up to Maine, lots of the kids in my class were Deadheads. I was instantly welcomed by them as I knew all the songs and could sing the higher vocals in their basement jam sessions. And when a friend found himself with an extra ticket for the second show at the Augusta Civic Center in October of our senior year, he offered it to me. I was sure my mom would let me go, even though I was asking about going just hours before the show. To be honest, I didn’t have any of their albums myself and I was more interested in newer music but there’s no denying that the Grateful Dead helped shape my tastes, and I felt like one ought to go a Dead show at least once in life.

I can’t say I remember a whole lot about the show, not because I was high (although is it possible to not have at least a contact high at a Dead show?) but just because it’s been 31 years. I remember it being an unseasonably warm, sunny day and wandering around the parking lot before the show to buy a t-shirt to change into since I hadn’t had time to go home and change and my yellow and white striped button-down shirt really made me stand out. For all the concerts I have attended over the years though, this may be the one at which I saw more people just totally into being there. Completely immersed in the experience. It’s almost impossible to imagine a concert in 2015 that would have people that dialed in to a collective musical event.

My oldest sister lives in San Francisco now and she just went to the two shows in Santa Clara. Trey Anastasio is filling the Jerry Garcia role for these shows and even though I’m not a Phish fan, I can’t help but marvel at the way this has come full circle. One of those guys I was friends with in high school, went off to college where he became an early Phish fan, and subsequently became their manager. Small world.

Happy 4th of July and Happy 50th Birthday to the Grateful Dead!