Conference rdvax::grateful

	This is a question for 60's, 70's and early 80's heads-

	I have been seeing deadshows on a regular basis now since 1985.
	It seems as though in 85, 86, and 87 the band was leading up to 
	some sort of massive peak.  I felt as though in 1987 spring tour
	the band was on fire, performance peak seemed to be occuring,
	In The Dark was soon to be released and Ger was on a recovery from his 
	illness.  I remember how there would be speakers in the halls 
	around the venue and the scene was extremely positive.  The sound
	was also noticably louder.  Now things seem to be very different, theres 
	not as much energy and the vibes don't feel as bone chilling as 
	they did then, not to mention todays problems with some ignorant fans.

	Has this sort of peak happened in the past and do you think 
	it will happen again? 

	

    This has been discussed somewhere before I think...
    I've only been goin to shows since the 80's, but from time and from
    tapes I tend to agree with ya, Jerry getting sick seemed to mellow the
    ole man out a little IMO, I like what the boyz are doin today, esp now
    that Vince is gettin it together, but the "hotness" of 70's and early
    80's shows , I think, is a thing of the past. The new dead are bluzy
    and jazzy....as the Vegas shows/tapes/ attest, no complaints %^) 
                                                                    rfb

>In The Dark was soon to be released and Ger was on a recovery from his 
>illness.  I remember how there would be speakers in the halls 

Ger had to recover from an illness??  You didn't tell us, Ger..  ;-)

    I made that mistake once too! why can't G/Jers all be like daves
    (as far as spelling goes, that is! ) %^)
    
                                           rfb

    This topic deserves a note of its own, if'n there isn't one.
    
    re:      <<< Note 90.2261 by EBBCLU::SMITH "gota make it somehow" >>>
    
>	I have been seeing deadshows on a regular basis now since 1985.
>	It seems as though in 85, 86, and 87 the band was leading up to 
>	some sort of massive peak.  I felt as though in 1987 spring tour
>	the band was on fire, performance peak seemed to be occuring,
    
    While I agree about '87 (and I'd say the peak lasted 'til around '90),
    I think the period from '84 (when I started going to shows) to Jerry's
    collapse was dreadful.  Sure, there were inspired moments
    insturmentally, but Jerry's voice was completely shot.  I remember
    being at shows and wondering if he was going to make it through a
    verse, or dreading the end of a solo when the next verse came in.
    
    A lot of tapers really like '84-'85 tapes because there are a lot of
    crispy soundboards around.  If you listen, you can always hear Healy
    punching up what we called "Jerry's helper," lots of echo and
    processing to try to make that croak musical.  BTW, I think Healy gets
    much more credit than he deserves; I still resent all the crap he pulls
    with the mix.
    
    Without a doubt, the best shows I've ever seen were at Hampton in '88. 
    Jerry's voice lead his guitar and became another instrument.  Plus,
    Hampton's a somewhat magical place.  :^)  I've never heard him sing
    that well again, but he hasn't completely reverted to the croaking
    phase.
    
    IMHO, of course.  :^)
    
    Jamie

    IMO, the "croak" was from doing "too many days in a row" runs. 
    snow prob. didn't help much in those days either, his voice that is
                                                     rfb

OK.  I'm ignorant.  I admit it.  But I'm learning to live with it!

So who exactly is this "Healy" dude who get's talked about so much...
And why does he get talked about so much?

Dave

So who exactly is this "Healy" dude who get's talked about so much...
And why does he get talked about so much?

the short answer is that he runs the soundboard...

>    I think of Jerry as being much like Matt Young (Red Sox pitcher).  Very
>    inconsistent, brilliant one night and awful the next.

Roz (my wife) has compared the Dead to a brilliant chef who never uses
recipes.  You may get excellent surprises...but may get flops as well.
In any case, it ain't McDonalds!

	~dave

>>    I think of Jerry as being much like Matt Young (Red Sox pitcher).  Very
>>    inconsistent, brilliant one night and awful the next.
>
>Roz (my wife) has compared the Dead to a brilliant chef who never uses
>recipes.  You may get excellent surprises...but may get flops as well.
>In any case, it ain't McDonalds!

..kinda like Bush's attempts at getting his poularity rating up 
  (like by getting hisself tear-gassed in Panama)..   :-)  Tee hee.. 

re: -1	Good analogy probs!

	My first show was in '79, January something in Providence.
	Don't remember much about it really.   Took me a while to
	get the show-bug, but getting tickets was the main problem.
	As in run to Sears Ticketron to a huge line, too late.	

	10/20/83, the first Worcester show, I got it bad ;-)  Real bad ;-)
	Hot show, well played, though flawed with mistakes, I didn't
	notice *-)   After that I tried to see as many shows as possible.

	I think '85 was one of the hottest years.  Not because of the
	great sounding tapes (qualitywise), but for the playing.  Though
	Jerry drooling at the mic was a sore site, there was some hot playing!
	For example, 6/14/85, the "20th Anniversary" show.  Great!  

	But '86-'88 I though dragged a lot.  Not many great tapes from
	that era...    And too many Brent tunes that didn't do much for me.

	'89 got much better.   Hampton, Meadowlands, Dark Star, long winding
	Playin's.    Branching out.  Then Brent died :-(

	1990 speaks for itself: one of the best years in years IMO.  9/16/90.
	9/19/90, 9/20/90.  3/28/90, 3/29/90. The list goes on and on...

	As for '91, I can only attest to the few tapes I have, but it seems
	like the ratio of shows played to hot shows is getting bigger...
	which is why I bagged my chance to see 1 Albany show.   I can't 
	afford to see 5 shows to get the majical one.

	But when they're hot they're hot!

	Ken

    >>    I think of Jerry as being much like Matt Young (Red Sox pitcher). Very
    >>    inconsistent, brilliant one night and awful the next.
    
    Hmmmm....I don't know......I'll bet Jerry can throw to first base
    without putting the ball in the right field seats ;^)
    
    Hogan

    I don't think Jer could reach the right field seats :') but I could be
    wrong :')
    
    Chris

    re peaks and valleys
    
    	Generally,.. each line up has peaked right before someone has died.
    There was a peak in 71 when Pig was still around in good form. Some
    of the Fillmore 71 tapes are my all time faves. Then there was a peak
    in 73/74 right before their hiatus and after Pig had finally died,...
    
    	There was another peak in 77-78 at the thright of the Keith/Donna
    era,... Another peak around 87 at the height of the Brent era,..
    
    	Another peak is starting to happen with Vince finally falling into
    place. After seeing them in Albany I do believe we have some excellent
    vocals to look forward to for the coming years..
    
    	All in all,. and IMHO,. the best peak was 77-78. The spring/summer
    and fall of 77 is where the ratio of hot shows to shows played was the
    highest.
    
    	The "peaks" are definitely getting lower in terms of chemically
    fueled mind bending jams from hell,.. but higher in terms of emotional
    intensity and vocal soulfulness...
    
    	They are getting older...
    
    								/Willy
    

>>All in all,. and IMHO,. the best peak was 77-78. The spring/summer
>>and fall of 77 is where the ratio of hot shows to shows played was the
>>highest.

	I sure wish I were able to see this period of
	shows.  I was only 8 years old, wish my parents
	were Heads.

	87-90, definitely wild.

	I have a tape I've been listening to alot lately
	and was one of my favorite shows.  If you don't have
	this tape I would be glad to make one up for you.
	I taped the show with a primitive device that proved
	to be excellent (and sneaky)		

	4/3/87.....the lineup is typical but the perfection
		   is truely impeccable, quality, no errors!		
	

	Hell				China		
	C.C. Rider			Rider
	Sugaree				Womer R Smarter
	Must'v Been The Roses	 	Crazy Fingers
	All Over Now			Sampson & Delilah
	Big Railroad			Drums
	Let It Grow			Space
	Don't Ease Me In		The Other One
					Wharf Rat
					Throwing Stones		
					NFA

					U.S. Blues

I've been going to shows pretty consistently since summer '87.  For that
reason, I can't comment on whether they were "peaking" at that time or not.  I
do know that I thought the 2 shows I saw in '87 were great.  As for '88, I
thought this was a down period in terms of Jerry's voice.  Sorry, Jamie, but I
have to disagree.  Jerry's voice isn't everything the band's about, though. 

Around '89 and definitely by '90 they appeared to be tighter than ever compared
to the 2-3 previous years I had been seeing them.  Vocals were much smoother
(in fact I think Jerry was better than Bobby, FWIW), and the general sound was
excellent.

After Brent died, it took a while for Vince to integrate into the band (having
Bruce around didn't help this I'm sure), but now I think they're back up to par
with '89 and '90.  Vince's keyboards are finally audible in the mix, as well as
his vocals.  

The fact that they wrote some new songs (including Vince) indicates that they
will be around for a while longer, now that they have some new tunes to evolve.

adam

In recent years, I would reckon that Spring '90 was the hottest.  I saw a
Hartford show and the Saturday Albany show and they were very hot.  The band
was tight, and jamming was abound with no burden placed heavily on any
particular member of the band.

Then Brent passed away.

After this, the band went through a rebuilding period and I still believe they
are in this phase.  A very heavy burden was placed on Bob and Jerry (Bob more
so) to backfill for Brent's vocal loss on the music.  Passing the jam around
just did not go off very well - sometimes Hornsby & Vinny would completely
miss their cue to jam and Jerry would have to pick it up.  I saw them in
MSG in September of 90, then they went to Europe.  After seeing them in
December 90 in Colorado, I noticed a significant change.  Jams were coming off
better, there was some vocal support, etc.  All in all, some great improvements
occured between Sept. and Dec.

I still believe they are doing some heavy work on the band's chemistry,
trying to rebuild the fluidness the band had in spring '90 - where the music
flowed with what appeared to be little effort.  I still see them struggling
up there, but I also believe that they will become hot once again as long
as everyone sticks w/ it.

IMO, all the way.