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Grateful Dead (Proggiest Live?)

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    Posted: January 23 2022 at 00:50
I'm curious about the Grateful Dead.  
Anyone have a suggestion for the 'proggiest' live album by them?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 01:13
Steel Your Face is pretty prog in a 'My god when will this be over' sort of way,  but both Europe '72 and Reckoning / Deadset is a better double package.

Frankly the most prog the Dead were live was whenever you happen to be there.   What was prog about them was the experience of seeing them, and realizing what an amazing band they really were.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 01:47
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Steel Your Face is pretty prog in a 'My god when will this be over' sort of way,  but both Europe '72 and Reckoning / Deadset is a better double package.

Frankly the most prog the Dead were live was whenever you happen to be there.   What was prog about them was the experience of seeing them, and realizing what an amazing band they really were.


Clap

absofùckinglutely

having seen them live 9 times, from +/- 78 to 85 (not exactly their best era for studio recordingLOL)  they were great. One of the rare (only?) band I'd crossed Lake Ontario to go see them in Upstate NY  (than band rarely played north, because of the kling-on crowds hanging around them) - usually in Syracuse, Rochester or Albany.
Oddly enough, I don't remember the Dead playing Buffalo (then the armpit of North Am), though.
I only saw them once in Toronto (Mosport race track) - the only time they played in Ontario during those years.

As for historic live album, they're all pretty good during the 70's: from Live/Dead to Europe to Dead Set, so it's a bit of take your pick between those as "Da Best"


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Syzygy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 02:07
One From The Vault is maybe the most overtly prog live album, a 1975 concert to launch Blues for Allah, probably their proggiest studio album. Europe 72 is my favourite from that era, though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Man With Hat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 02:25
Eh. I'm no deadhead, but it would be quite difficult to find them being proggy for an entire album. The best thing to do is go for their long songs from live albums, Europe 72 The complete Trip is probably the best bet. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Saperlipopette! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 02:43
This is the perfect topic for me to follow as I'm quite fond of several Dead-albums (most of Blues For Allah, From the Mars Hotel, Wake of the Flood, Terrapin Station, American Beauty...) but always heard from die hard fans that live Dead is where it's at. I have hundreds of live jazz-albums, but I'm just not that interested in sitting at home listening endlessly long live rockjam sessions. I suspect there's a lot of 'My god when will this be over' for someone as myself among many of the fanboy-favorites. But now I'm certainly gonna check out One From The Vault... and the rest.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 04:09
Originally posted by Saperlipopette! Saperlipopette! wrote:

This is the perfect topic for me to follow as I'm quite fond of several Dead-albums (most of Blues For Allah, From the Mars Hotel, Wake of the Flood, Terrapin Station, American Beauty...) but always heard from die hard fans that live Dead is where it's at. I have hundreds of live jazz-albums, but I'm just not that interested in sitting at home listening endlessly long live rockjam sessions. I suspect there's a lot of 'My god when will this be over' for someone as myself among many of the fanboy-favorites. But now I'm certainly gonna check out One From The Vault... and the rest.


Those four albums could be seen as prog-related - especially Terrapin (AB not really, it's too rootsy/countryiqh for me)


But TBH, I always found that most of these lengthy jazz jams were not very interesting - at least not more so than the rock jams. I guess it's fine live if you're in the crowd, but even then if you're not trippin' along...

It's like drum solos, as a rule - be they jazz or rock -  they're Sleepy


let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
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prefer lifting our pen
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Saperlipopette! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 06:02
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Originally posted by Saperlipopette! Saperlipopette! wrote:

This is the perfect topic for me to follow as I'm quite fond of several Dead-albums (most of Blues For Allah, From the Mars Hotel, Wake of the Flood, Terrapin Station, American Beauty...) but always heard from die hard fans that live Dead is where it's at. I have hundreds of live jazz-albums, but I'm just not that interested in sitting at home listening endlessly long live rockjam sessions. I suspect there's a lot of 'My god when will this be over' for someone as myself among many of the fanboy-favorites. But now I'm certainly gonna check out One From The Vault... and the rest.


Those four albums could be seen as prog-related - especially Terrapin (AB not really, it's too rootsy/countryiqh for me)


But TBH, I always found that most of these lengthy jazz jams were not very interesting - at least not more so than the rock jams. I guess it's fine live if you're in the crowd, but even then if you're not trippin' along...

It's like drum solos, as a rule - be they jazz or rock -  they're Sleepy

I know/agree regarding those of my favorite Dead-albums. American Beauty is in a style normally dislike, but there's just this handful of very beautful songs on it - that sort of makes it trancend my usual problems with the "style". It depends but I'm not normally into lengthy live jazz jams either - and that's not the sort of live jazzalbums I collect. Directionless jamming aint for me no matter what the genre.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 10:36
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Steel Your Face is pretty prog in a 'My god when will this be over' sort of way,  but both Europe '72 and Reckoning / Deadset is a better double package.

Frankly the most prog the Dead were live was whenever you happen to be there.   What was prog about them was the experience of seeing them, and realizing what an amazing band they really were.

Hi,

+2

+3

It is kinda sad in a way, but the GD were likely to have influenced a lot of progressive music without the noise and pyrotechnics, by simply working on the musicianship of things. And I'm not sure that folks that defined "progressive" really ever heard different things that spoke a different kind of "language" than the show off kind of thing. The GD did not have to show off ... and their life over the years showed the immense pleasure and amount of music they left behind, some of which is still not released, a lot of it being very long cuts that are just too far out there. 

And this was the massive value of the GD bootlegs ... folks just wanted to trip out even more, something that "progressive" lost in exchange for lyrics and banal musicianship based on the definition of 3 or 4 bands.

It's really hard to not appreciate the incredible ability and musicianship of someone like Jerry, and specially his duets in various bars for fun with one other player, and their ability is just off the charts. Of all the "progressive" players, NONE of them ever showed that kind of talent, with the exception of Mr. Fripp who did a lot of experimental material going way back to Brian Eno. 

To me, the GD deserves a lot more attention than they ever got ... but they will never get it, because their show was not about the idiocy of the ego, but the beauty of the fans and their dancing and their appreciation for the music ... not to mention the amazing drum circles they used to do in some places where everyone could join in with any instrument and have fun! 

Name a "progressive" band that gave as much to their fans as this one!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HolyMoly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 18:14
Originally posted by Syzygy Syzygy wrote:

One From The Vault is maybe the most overtly prog live album, a 1975 concert to launch Blues for Allah, probably their proggiest studio album. Europe 72 is my favourite from that era, though.
agree, re One from the Vault.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HolyMoly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 23 2022 at 18:18
In general I think the live albums aren’t prog exactly, they’re in their own space. Prog-wise, you’re best off checking out these albums:

Anthem of the Sun (proto-prog/psych)
Blues for Allah (jazzy prog-Influence)
Terrapin Station (side 2 - title track)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cosmiclawnmower Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2022 at 13:47
Of the Studio albums its got to be 'Wake of the Flood' 'Mars Hotel' and 'Blues for Allah'. All the live shows have the rootsy, folky, country R&R elements as well as the Jams and jazzy psych-outs.. and there is SO SO much live material out there.. from 72-77 shows are all pretty fantastic but i only got to see them live once around 1990 sadly. If its got a good, long 'Playing in the band', 'Franklins tower', 'Sugaree', 'Shakedown street' 'weather report suite' and 'Scarlet begonias' then i'm a very happy man! 

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