tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post6903680670705428132..comments2024-03-26T23:10:34.814-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: 1967: Album ReviewLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-91972564151603240902018-06-20T14:37:44.517-07:002018-06-20T14:37:44.517-07:00One jazz column in 1968 included a few words about...One jazz column in 1968 included a few words about the Dead's first album in a discussion of Frank Zappa's album Freak Out and his social satire: <br /><br />"The Grateful Dead, on the other hand, don't believe in explaining their music. Instead, they pen songs like Good Mornin' Little School Girl and Cream Puff War - both of which express just as succinctly the new awareness of American youth... <br />In 'Downbeat,' their first album was rated five stars...and they have been described as the most musical unmusicians going today. <br />Their album, titled simply Grateful Dead, is not a logical progression (or retrogression) as is that of the Mothers. It is rather a collection of thoughts, helter-skeltered around in gay abandon. <br />They don't appear, on first hearing, to be as destructively critical as the Mothers. This is possibly because they are more subtle - one doesn't know whether to treat Beat It On Down The Line as solid rock or giant-size tongue-in-the-cheek... <br />[What this] has to do with the accepted definition of jazz is an arguable point. There are those who will say that the Mothers of Invention and the Grateful Dead are merely teeny-bopper beach boys growing up and, as far as I'm concerned, they're entitled to their opinions... <br />But it's my guess that those who dismiss the MI and the Dead as crabby and banal either haven't listened to them as they should, or have no understanding of contemporary American youth." <br /><br />(Kevin Hamilton, "Youth's Say," in The Age (unknown city), April 27, 1968) <br /><br />This is a curious attempt by another jazz reviewer to recommend the Dead (and Zappa) to traditional jazz listeners. Granted, it's written in haste for the limited confines of a newspaper column, but it seems to avoid mentioning anything about the Dead's album that might interest a jazz fan. No word about their folk & blues covers (he says they wrote Schoolgirl!), no mention of the lengthy Viola Lee. He seems to be a lyric-focused reviewer who's more concerned with the Dead's social "awareness" and sees the album as a statement by "contemporary youth" - whereas on the album lyrics were secondary, the Dead reveled in the songs of a former age, and the "contemporary" aspect was mostly limited to the electric rock arrangements. <br />Listening for an album that isn't there, he's a little puzzled by the lack of overt social comment, and concludes that the Dead are just very subtle, or perhaps even a put-on. So much for understanding contemporary youth! <br /><br />It might not seem even worth quoting such an off-the-mark review, were it not a good illustration of the perspective of the older generation in the '60s, wondering what's going on in this new music and putting it in entirely the wrong framework. Also, "helter-skeltered around in gay abandon" is a great line. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-59394274396315965472018-03-08T19:54:40.159-08:002018-03-08T19:54:40.159-08:00A positive, detailed, and prescient review of the ...A positive, detailed, and prescient review of the first album. <br /><br />This was actually the very first review of a rock album in Down Beat magazine. As a jazz magazine, it took tentative steps into rock reviewing - I'm not sure whether picking the Grateful Dead as the first step was just chance or an inspired choice. But in April '68, Down Beat offered a free copy of the Dead album to new subscribers! <br />Matt Brennan's book When Genres Collide reports that Down Beat had trouble adding rock reviews "without alienating the existing jazz readership. [Editor Dan] Morgenstern wanted to get writers who were conversant with jazz to the extent that they could make references or comparisons and put rock into a context which made sense to jazz fans... But none of the staff at Down Beat were interested in rock music themselves... [Morgenstern] did not listen to rock music himself, [and admitted that the rock coverage] 'probably could have been done better if we had been a little more knowledgeable about rock, but we were not.'" <br />As a result, the lack of interest & knowledge among the editors meant that rock coverage in Down Beat was rather spotty and erratic, with some far-fetched attempts to appeal to jazz fans on their terms; most rock albums were just ignored and live rock-show reviews were rare; but they did find some regular rock reviewers and there were a number of in-depth reviews and profiles over the years. <br /><br />Anyway, this review definitely caters to jazz fans who need "a good introduction" to rock music, so the Dead are picked as a fine example. Their links to blues music are emphasized (as they are on the album), and the instrumental work praised. The lyrics, in contrast, are just noted for their "simplicity," with the music more important, but the reviewer notices how some of Garcia's cover songs "tell a story." The band's "unity of effect" is noted, though you can tell how early the review is since it's said the band doesn't have an individual "star." (This was already not true.) The reviewer also says the Dead's sound was captured "wonderfully well" in the studio - he mentions the group's reservations about this, but hasn't heard them live himself to compare the album with. <br /><br />I was surprised this reviewer had found several quotes from Garcia, from different sources - unusually well-researched! - but it's likely the articles he quoted from were included in the Warner Bros. press-release kit, so he didn't have to go digging for them: <br />https://recordmecca.com/item-archives/grateful-dead-deluxe-press-kit-for-1967-debut-album/ <br /><br />I have not found the Ramparts article mentioned, but I believe it's this article by Jann Wenner (date unknown) which was reprinted in other papers: <br />https://deadsources.blogspot.com/2017/04/early-1967-dead-praise.html Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com