You may or may not know of my love for the music of the Grateful Dead. Though I never had the opportunity to see them live being from western Canada where they hadn't played since the early 70's and only 18 when Jerry died in August of 1995 when I was just getting into their music I truly feel that they were one of the greatest musical groups ever. (I did see one show of the simply re-named The Dead's 2003 summer tour and three of their 2004 tour and though there was no Jerry, they were great shows played by a phenomenal group of musicians that I thoroughly enjoyed.) I actually even managed to tie them into my undergraduate honours thesis, which was entitled "A Critique of Adorno's Theory of Popular Music: On Improvisation, the Realization of Difference and the Grateful Dead" in which tried to work out of the possibility of a truly progressive "popular" music practice using the model of the Dead's live music ethos.
I'm working on an article that I'm going to try to get published in Bass Player or Musician discussing the bass playing of Phil Lesh, which is to me one of the fundamental innovations of the Dead's music and once it's done I'll post it here or link to it, but in the meantime I found this discussion of their uniqueness to be a worthwhile read so I thought I'd pass it along.
http://www.crecon.com/davidwomack/dead.html
Key quote:
...the Grateful Dead were perhaps the most artistically sublime of units, with band interaction that must be equated with genius given their unflagging devotion, prodigious output and unparalleled resourcefulness. The trick was in absorbing influences from absolutely every direction imaginable, from the "simple" forms of country, bluegrass, rural blues, pop and soul, to the esoteric realms of avant garde, classical, jazz, and cultural music from around the globe. Channellers with gates wide open, spirit, music and life flowed forth. Beatific and reverent, unplanned and contrived, sloppy and perfect, erratic (day to day) and consistent (ultimately), clumsiness only enhanced their high wire act. Analytical rigor mortis was held at bay by refusing to chart destinations; simplistic redundancy was eluded by big, complex, ideas. Communication was clear, if elliptical. The Grateful Dead were a stunning mixture of the hearts of simple music lovers with the minds of self-conscious, ambitious aesthetes.
In the words of Bill Graham, they weren't the best at what they did, they were the only ones who did what they did.
1 comment:
Great article. I've loved the Grateful Dead's music for years, and Phil's bass playing always intrigues me. I've been looking for technical explanations of what I hear, so this is wonderful.
My nephew is learning bass, and is already getting a bit bored with his lessons in that typical Rock material is very predictable. He's 14, so he's into all the so-called indy rock, modern stuff, which, to me, sounds pretty much the same and indistinct. He seems poised to learn more.
I'd like to prepare a playlist for him of good bass players. Who else besides Lesh do you suggest?
I read about McCartney, Jack Bruce, Entwistle, but who else do you suggest, and what songs? Allman Brothers? Suggestions?
Thanks for your work.
Mark
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