In the spring of 1971, Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, along with the band Touchstone, produced and performed the music for an off-broadway show at the Circle in the Square in New York City.
The performance was called Tarot and the music was later recorded and released in 1972 on United Artists. The performance and resulting album both fell into obscurity and is now highly sought-after by collectors of rare prog and psychedelia.
I had an epiphany at a Sammy Hagar concert. That’s right; I had a “sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something” in the middle of a Red Rocker show. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s the only way I can describe my moment of clarity amongst thousands of screaming metalheads full of alcohol, pumping their fists in the air.
Try not to hold it against me, but I’ve been a Hagar fan since the first time I heard “Heavy Metal” over a camp counselor’s transistor and “Your Love is Driving Me Crazy” the following summer. When Sammy jumped in as the lead singer of Van Halen, I thought he kicked ass; as a red rocker loyalist, I sided with him when he exited VH the first time, which is why I was at the Universal Amphitheater during the summer of 1997 with my brother, Budd.
Hagar was touring in support of his album, Marching to Mars, his first solo outing since leaving Van Halen. It’s a tight, well-written collection of songs featuring some inspired work by guest musicians like Slash, Ronnie Montrose and Mickey Hart. Budd and I decided to drive to the show and scalp tickets, upholding an American tradition passed down through generations. We scored seats 18 rows back, smack dab in the middle of diehard redheads: Aging bikers, balding frat guys from yesteryear, and plenty of cougars on the prowl. Together we all witnessed Hagar and his newly formed band, the Waboritas, blaze through a set that reached back to his days with Montrose and covered every period of his long career, including several Van Halen classics. (more…)
The 2009 Dead made their last stand on July 4th at Rothbury. The second year of the Michigan festival was a rousing success and the Dead’s solid show was a definite highlight. While the band got off to a shaky start on their spring tour, they proved their mettle beneath the Independence Day sky rockets.
Now if there was only a fall tour to start getting fired up about.
You can get the boards of the Rothbury show at dead.net and you find several excellent audience recordings on Etree.
Today we’re looking at some rehearsals and soundchecks from the ’90s, but I do have some pretty remarkable recordings of Jerry Garcia in the studio from 1969 for your downloading pleasure. Enjoy.
Sherman, set the wayback machine for September 1990. (more…)
Babatunde Olatunji – Drums of Passion (Legacy Edition)
Columbia/Legacy has just released a glorious two-disc edition of Babatunde Olatunji’s 1959 masterwork, Drums of Passion, one of the most profoundly influential records ever. Before Passion there was no such thing as “world” music, just the industry of “exotica” records from guys like Les Baxter and Martin Denny, who created the music and ambience of “faraway lands” in an air-conditioned recording studio. There were scholarly field recordings for anthropological purposes, but when John Hammond signed Olatunji, a Nigerian drummer, it opened a portal to an entire world of beat, rhythm, passion, spirituality, and movement.
Babatunde Olatunji – “Baba Jinde (Flirtation Dance)”
Babatunde Olatunji – “Shango (Chant to the God of Thunder)”
Olatunji made a string of albums for Columbia through the ’60s; the Legacy edition includes 1966’s More Drums of Passion and a slew of bonus tracks. He became an ambassador of African drumming and culture, and his acolytes include everyone from Cannonball Adderley to Afrika Bambaataa, Carlos Santana to Mickey Hart.
The Dead wrapped up their 2009 tour with two solid shows back home at Shoreline Amphitheater and then an end-of-the-tour barn burner at The Gorge in Washington. The tour started a little ragged back in April, but after the band worked out the kinks, they appeared to be in fine form. Each night of the tour featured a “dream show”-worthy setlist and made me almost nostalgic for an old school predictable setlist – devoid of such treats as “Viola Lee Blues” and “New Potato Caboose.”
All kidding aside, Warren Haynes has proven himself to be truly the hardest working man in show business. He became the nucleus of this new Dead machine, and his playing could be gently delicate in an “ice petals revolving” kind of way one moment and then full-on warp-drive ferocity the next. Also Jeff Chimenti proved himself night after night sitting at the keys. His tasteful, crystalline playing was spot-on. Hope he’s got good life insurance.
You can get soundboard recordings of the tour from Dead.net and finally the “core four” have allowed the Live Music Archive to host Audience recordings of concerts from the 2003-2004 incarnations of The Dead as well as the Barack Obama benefits last year. There are some sweet sounding AUDS out there and its fun to have access to those ‘03 and ‘04 shows with Jimmy Herring and Joan Obsourne.
Perhaps one day some soundchecks and rehearsal tapes will also surface, but for now, let’s look at the following bits of archaic lore… (more…)
The Grateful Dead collection at the Live Music Archive contains not only thousands of Grateful Dead concerts, it also holds a good number of band rehearsal, soundcheck, and studio session recordings. As the latest incarnation of The Dead kick off their 2009 tour, I wanted to take a look at some of these hidden gems.
Today we’re looking at a couple soundcheck jams from the ’90s, and a rehearsal from 1976. In future installments we’ll look at some of Keith Godchaux’s first rehearsals with the band, some more backstage antics in the later days, and a look at what studio outtakes are still in taper circulation, ie: the stuff Rhino left off the studio album reissues.
March 17th, 1995, The Spectrum, Philadelphia
Of course by now, virtually no stone has been left unturned in the Dead’s back catalog. Between Phil Lesh and Friends, Ratdog, and Mickey and Billy’s various projects, we’re pretty far removed from the days when rumors of “they soundchecked ‘St. Stephen’!” ran like wildfire over motel payphones, archaic BBS systems or in actual Grateful Dead fanzines.
When the Grateful Dead had settled into a fairly rigid template for songs and sets, any deviation from the formula or “break out” of an old tune was cause for much celebration and a renewed enthusiasm within the group-mind of band and audience. The best-known example of this is the great Hampton Coliseum ‘Dark Star’ breakout of 1989. The band’s signature psychedelic showcase had fallen in and out of the repertoire since the 1970s and was back in rotation throughout the early 1990s.
But while fan favorites like “St. Stephen” and “Cosmic Charlie*” never reappeared, in the otherwise bleak year of 1995, the Grateful Dead did blow collective minds when they broke out “Unbroken Chain” at the Philadelphia Spectrum on March 19th.
“Unbroken Chain” originally appeared on the band’s 1974 sleeper From the Mars Hotel — a proggy Phil Lesh composition with lyrics by his longtime collaborator Robert M. Petersen. The song was one of the handful of songs on the album that were never performed live. It’s a complex tune filled with unusual chords, myriad changes and a funky, funky bridge.
This remarkable tape recorded two days prior to showtime illustrates Phil’s enthusiasm and intensity for teaching his bandmates the material. He even uncharacteristically bitches out a roadie at one point. Even Jerry is on-board and enthusiastic about breaking out this long, lost gem. (more…)
Now is the time of year when thoughts turn to the warmer days of spring and summer just ahead. It’s also the time of celebrations. Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is celebrated between January and February. The old Celtic holiday of Imbolc on February 2nd marks the halfway point between the Solstice and Equinox. February is Black History Month. Valentines Day, Presidents Day. We have a lot to occupy ourselves while we wait for spring. Robert Nesta Marley’s birthday is February 6th, and so today’s Test of the Boomerang features a Bob-inspired mix of music to warm up with during these waning cold days.
There are some cuts from Bob himself, as well as Stephen “Raggamuffin” and Damien “Jr. Gong” representing the rest of the Marley family. You’ll hear from the great Bill Laswell (born Feburary 12th) with the Algerian band Maghrebika, as well as a cut from Laswell’s brilliant Bob Marley tribute, Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub. I’m also sharing with you some music by the lost great band Catalyst, whose essential collected discography set, The Funkiest Band You Never Heard Of, seems to sadly have gone out of print yet again. If you find it at a decent price, definitely pick it up. Some brilliant stuff there.
Last on the playlist today is a live recording from the Grateful Dead, taped on March 21st, 1991. This is a improvised jam on “Stir It Up” that appeared in the second set out of “Fire on the Mountain” and leading into the “Drums” portion of the night. The inclusion of new keyboardists Bruce Hornsby and Vince Welnick in 1990 infused some new energy and a renewed sense of adventure to the band, and this is a good example of that. A lot of fun.
Enjoy the tunes, folks. Stay warm. Beware of black ice, and I’ll meet you all back here next week. (more…)
A 2-DVD set and 24-page hardcover book featuring Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann (Grateful Dead), Mike Gordon (Phish), Steve Kimock, Sikiru, and Jen Durkin (Bomb Squad, Deep Banana Blackout). The ultimate jam band! With original material from Robert Hunter along with their own compositions, this experience is unlike any other concert. Sit back, relax and take a magic ride through time and space. Recorded at The Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL, and The Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ. Book includes photos, lyrics, and artwork.
Back in 1979, Grateful Dead beat-meisters Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann created a soundtrack of exotic percussion and jungle ambiance for Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. The subsequent album, The Apocalypse Now Sessions, was released under the moniker Rhythm Devils.
(In the 80s, the Dead’s second set drum workout was frequently referred to as “Rhythm Devils” before taper lists shortened the mid-set improv to simply “Drums,” followed by “Space” – an improvisational freak-out by the rest of the band.)
Billy and Mickey decided to join forces in the spring of 2006 with a solid band consisting of Mike Gordon of Phish on bass, Steve Kimock on guitar, Sikiru Adepoju on talking drum, and Goapele on vocals – soon to be replaced by Jen Durkin of the band Deep Banana Blackout. (more…)
