So, without further adieu, here are a handful of my favorite Dead tracks.
"Scarlet Begonias" - This is such a happy carnival of a song. The lyrics describe a random encounter, presumably at a hippie gathering, with an unknown woman with flowers in her hair. She had "rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes. And I knew without asking, she was into the blues." This song has so many lyrical gems. Best line: "Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right." I must confess: One of my favorite recordings of this song was done by Bruce Hornsby, who toured with the band for a few years in the 1990s.
"Althea" - The groove carries along this conversation about a conversation with Althea. I'm not really sure what the lyrics are going for, but they suit Jerry Garcia as a bachelor.
"Tennessee Jed" - Gotta love the rhyming couplets about Jed, who is out of his element anywhere outside Tennessee. "I woke up, feeling mean, went down to play the slot machine. The numbers turned around and they said, 'you better head back to Tennessee, Jed." Bruce Hornsby does a great version of this song too.
"Cassidy" - This ode to beat icon Neal Cassady (yes, different spelling from title, which was coined after a friend's daughter) is one of guitarist Bob Weir's best songs with the band. The song builds and soars to the chorus about a freewheeling spirit who was born to be what he became.
"He's Gone" - I like the version on "Europe '72." Only recently did I learn that this song is an ode to the band's former manager who ripped them off. Aside from the mellow-but-melancholy pace, this song is chock full of interesting one-liners about a sneaky guy: "Rat in a drain ditch, caught on a limb, you know better but I know him" and "Nine-mile skid, on a ten-mile ride, hot as a pistol but cool inside." And of course, "Cat on a tin roof, dogs in a pile, nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile."
"Help on the Way" - I'm really digging this version from 1976, which segues into "Franklin's Tower." I just love the main riff and the jam explorations:
It's funny how popular the Grateful Dead were in the 1980s. My high school was filled with Deadheads who traveled to shows and collected bootleg tapes, as if it were 1968 instead of 1986. I never became a true fan, but I had a much different reaction to Phish. I have most of their CDs, and though they're often compared to the Dead, I find them to be so different musically.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Phish and the Dead are alike in terms of their willingness to stretch the jam. Phish seemed more Zappa-esque while the Dead were more folky.
ReplyDeleteI am ashamed to say I don't own any Phish albums, but always liked what I heard. Got any suggestions for a live recording?
Also, thank you for being the first to comment on this blog.