aquariumdrunkard:

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Dead Notes #1 :: Good Lovin’ (4/17/71 Dillon Gym / Princeton)

Welcome to the first installment of Dead Notes. There is a raw stigma that runs parallel with the mention of the Grateful Dead. Far too often the circus surrounding the band trumps the actual music, instead placing more emphasis on skeletons, dancing bears, hacky sacks and other vestiges of the ‘parking lot’ scene. Not to mention Bobby’s shorts. But all these images, these tye-dyed pre-conceptions, are the unfortunate characterization of the last 20 years of the Dead’s history. Countless tomes have been written about the birth of the Dead, so no need to rehash at length here, save a few words. The band began as an awkward knock-off Rolling Stones inspired garage band, playing electrified blues, traditional folk and r&b rave-ups. Slowly, they morphed into the so-called Acid Kings of Ken Kesey’s La Honda with long drawn out jams that heightened the visual roller coaster their soundman (and in-house chemist) Owsley Stanley dropped upon the crowd. Emerging from that technicolor daydream they transformed themselves into psychedelic cowboys, hashing out a new set of songs over several releases that nodded heavily to America’s mythic past. Lassoes in hand and hearts on their sleeves they rambled into Europe in the spring of 1972, fusing seven years of identity crisises into a powerful set of music later christened Europe ’72. Arguably, amongst many, this was the peak of the band before they once again transformed themselves. Dead Notes are an opportunity to share some of our favorite moments of the Dead (off-the-beaten-path and otherwise), from their inception in 1965 to that epic spring tour.

Continue Reading: Dead Notes #1: ‘A buck and a Quar-tah’ – The Selling of the Brooklyn Bridge