tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post9200721613493020610..comments2024-03-26T23:10:34.814-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: Vintage Dead Album ReviewLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-77542581184199783612015-06-17T02:11:06.794-07:002015-06-17T02:11:06.794-07:00And as a sidenote: though Frith mentions that this...And as a sidenote: though Frith mentions that this was recorded "at a time when the trust was still being established" within the band, before the Dead had the individual freedom to explore new paths in the music, he does single out Garcia as being a virtuoso even at the time, and implies that the rest of the band was just backing him. But the Dead did not go down the route of "superstars plus backing," instead melding into a group expression - Frith says that "if Jerry Garcia had been in a different sort of group," he would have been considered a top guitarist for years now. An interesting implication.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-86562029289849917052015-06-17T01:55:41.621-07:002015-06-17T01:55:41.621-07:00Frith was an English reviewer, far removed from Sa...Frith was an English reviewer, far removed from San Francisco, and it's notable that he finds the Avalon Ballroom "mythical" and the Grateful Dead "legendary"...and 1966 ancient history.<br />The Vintage and Historic Dead albums were shoddy albums, as he says, and the Dead didn't approve their release - Frith also criticizes the sound. He tries to listen in historical terms (what did the Dead sound like in 1966?), but has a largely negative reaction ("very ordinary...complete monotony...actually embarrassing"). <br />These tapes were recorded in December '66 - just a month before the Dead did their first album. It's probably an average show for the time - not as strong as, say, 11/19/66. But the Dead were playing a lot better here than they did earlier in '66, and they would be playing far better just a few months later. But Frith didn't have a bunch of tapes to compare to, so he didn't know that 'Midnight Hour' or 'Dancing' would improve drastically the following year, or how much worse they'd sounded in early '66. He does compare them a little to other groups, though not very specifically.<br />It's funny that he says 'Schoolgirl' sounds like the Butterfield Blues Band on a bad day, considering what Michael Bloomfield said about it: "I don't dig 'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl' by the Grateful Dead. I don't Pigpen trying to sing blues; it don't sound like blues. It sounds like some white kid trying to sing blues. It drags me; they're not funky. They don't have a good beat....it's not the real shit and it's not even a good imitation. It's not even like the Stones." <br />Frith does praise the Dylan cover and likes a couple of the other lighter tracks, and he rightly points out 'The Same Thing' as the strongest track, one that took him on a trip. <br />But aside from what he thought of the music, he also uses the review to analyze just what made the Dead special. He's clearly a Dead fan - he mentions their "magic" and "glory" and recommends the Live Dead album. His thoughts here are interesting, on the social framework of their playing and how "their music achieved the dream." The end of the review is a bit rushed, though, as it's a little hard to tell what he's saying at the end. <br />Given that just a couple archival albums were enough to send him on a rant about mercenary record companies releasing "buried treasures, long forgotten tapes," I wonder what he'd make of the dozens of Dead live albums available today! Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com