Just reading some Furry Freak Brothers comics, and Gilbert Shelton I hear did a Grateful Dead cover...

In an ideal world, I imagine them to make massive, experimental, sprawling, avant-garde, psychedelic, free-jazz influenced, stoner-rock groove monsters.

In reality, I imagine they just sound like a jangly sixties guitar band.

Which is right?

I bought their first 6 albums as they were issued[stopping with Terrapin Station] and liked them. #1 is rock covers of jug band and other roots music and isn't too great. The others are pretty good. Workingman's Dead and American Beauty are acoustic for the most part and are good.
If you can get a cheap "Europe '72" that'd be a good place to decide is you like more or not.

I count myself a fan but not a deadhead--ie, you'll not catch me wearin a tie-dyed teddy bear shirt.

Live/Dead, Workingman's Dead, American Beauty, and Blues for Allah are pretty essential, imo.

With the release on CD of countless live sets, they are now essentially not the band we once thought they were, if you get my meaning.

ps Miles admired Garcia

I was nearly converted by the sheer enthusiasm of my guests when I ended up playing host to two young american Deadheads* who'd followed them all round Europe and turned up on my doorstep the night before their last run at Wembley. They brought all their live cassettes with them and laid them out on the mantelpiece, I thought any band who inspires this level of devotion and dedication must be worth hearing, but I've not got them yet.

*incidentally, the last I heard, 15 years on, they're both now lawyers.

They're not total shit, but by no means are they "massive, experimental, sprawling, avant-garde, psychedelic, free-jazz". Listen to Sun Ra or Albert Ayler instead. You won't be hippier, but you'll be happier.

No, certainly not. It's more like a country-tinged jazz-rock group that does a hell of a lot of improvising -- and these are the sequences that some of us like most. At their height, they could play for up to two hours on just three or four songs.

I don't mind the Dead but I'm not really interested in their studio recordings. Live/Dead is well worth hearing as a prime jam band performance and I'm yet to explore too much after that other than some occasional streams from the archive.org. American Beauty and Workingman's Dead are ok but feel throw-away to these ears. Other bands do that sort of stuff much better IMO.

not a big fan but blues for allah and amoxomoxoma are both great

my second favourite band after The Fall.

I hated them when I first listened to one of their records.

Should be some recommendations from me somewhere - will try and dig 'em up.

Ok so The Grateful Dead are one band who've completely passed me by and, rightly or wrongly, I'm going to attempt to rectify this. I vaguely remember hearing something by them many moons ago and hating it but a little, and slightly stoned, voice in my head is telling me that I should really like them.

Anyone else here got a good starting point? and am I right in thinking that there's an onlone archive of live shows somewhere?

Cheers :)

I'd start with Live/Dead (which is a double live LP) which was recorded in 1969 or even better Two from The Vault which is a 1968 live album (the latter I picked up really cheaply)

Much better to get the live stuff than the studio albums in my opinion... and though I've picked two early ones to start with, there are some great later ones too.

Not sure if this and the likes of Strawberry Alarm Clock and Mothers Of Invention etc was all while I was embryonic so I haven't dabbled with The Dead.

Good advice. I probably prefer the 1968 one.

I've stated this before, most certainly on this forum as well: Try with Live/Dead, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. The former for the live Dead in top form, the two latter for the songwriting Dead in top studio form. If you don't find anything to like on these three albums, there's no need to go any further. If you do - well, your savings and your spare time are the limit.

Cheers for the input folks :beer:

And I've just found the 8000+ live gig archive

I downloaded lots of shows from the Archive yesterday. Previously, It's been more than enough with the official retrospective live sets.

I wonder if this means that I'm about to turn into a Real Deadhead. :unsure:

toally agree

I'm no Deadhead but Live/Dead is phenomenal.

I'd also add Blues for Allah to your list.

I have one Grateful Dead CD, "Grayfolded" and it is bobbins.Many people I know have one album by them, which they never play.

"Good on paper" I think the expression is.

Most of those people will have the wrong album. (I consider most of their studio albums, and non-retrospective live albums, to be "the wrong album".)

I think Live/Dead is the only regular album that captures their unique thing. (Whether you like that thing, or not, is another matter.) There are other decent albums as well, as the ones mentioned above and a couple more, but... as much as I like "Workingman's Dead", it's not unique. There are other groups who did that equally good or better. Most of their regular albums were disowned even by the group members, already when they were released.

What is that unique thing, then? The ability of jamming as a group. Where everyone are, more or less, soloing at the same time, without stepping on each other's toes, but contributing to the whole - and all the better for it. Add to that their great musicianship, not least the fantastic bass playing. (They weren't great singers, though.) All in my humble opinion, of course.

There are many retrospective live albums that are much, much better than most of what was released during their active years. Too many, honestly. Which once again leads me to the question - why do I feel the need to download unofficial recordings? Was it the final step crossing the border into Deadheadland?