I’m underwhelmed by the GOTV artist lineup compared to recent years to be very honest. I’m hoping the schedule is not complete as Sunday July 22nd is very weak without a major artist anchoring that day. The Gathering of the Vibes has been known to add more major acts as the festival gets closer so I am hoping Ken Hays has some aces up his sleeve for Vibes 2012.
I was turned on to the music and positive chemistry of the Grateful Dead by an article I read in Circus Magazine in 1968. The author made a profound impact upon my consciousness by describing his concert experience in the California desert at a Grateful Dead concert. He articulated well what the concert felt like for him, how karmic the Dead were live. I went to the record store the very next day and bought Grateful Dead, Anthem of the Sunon vinyl for $2.79. It proved to be one of the best music values I would buy in the initial phase of my record collection.
I played that record on my hi-fi system in my bedroom. I would leave the selector arm over to the left-hand side so that the needle would pick up at the end and replay from the beginning again.
I must admit my first few plays of Anthem of the Sun did not exactly click with my mind. I found the tracks densely layered and I couldn’t concentrate on what they were trying to communicate to me. But by the fourth full listen I had a couple of breakthroughs and I was forever hooked on the acid sound of improvisational psychedelic jamming.
Adding to the psychedelic madness on the album was Tom Constanten, a friend of bassist Phil Lesh who joined the band in the studio to contribute piano and prepared piano (influenced by John Cage) tracks; Constanten would formally join the band in November 1968. His contributions to the band’s sound were always much more clear in the studio than in their live shows, and Anthem of the Sun was no exception. Constanten made it so that the piano pieces seemed like three gamelan orchestras were playing all at once. He even went so far as to use a gyroscope set spinning on the piano soundboard.[6] (Courtesy wikipedia)
My favorite track on Anthem of the Sun is “That’s It for the Other One”. I liked its four-part interwoven thematic interpretation.
"That's It for the Other One" – 7:40
I. "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia)
II. "Quadlibet for Tenderfeet" (Garcia, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir)
III. "The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get" (Kreutzmann, Weir)
IV. "We Leave the Castle" (Constanten)
It’s been said that Ace is less of a solo album and more a derivative of the Grateful Dead as Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann all perform on the recording.
The song was first performed on 19 October 1971 by the Grateful Dead, and first appeared on Bob Weir’s Ace album (May 1972) and The Grateful Dead‘s Europe ’72 live album.
Its become a set staple and crowd pleaser ever since. It gets played often on Saturday nights somewhere on the planet…
I was upset to learn of Owsley “Bear” Stanley‘s untimely death last night. I had just come home from Brooklyn, logged into Facebook when I picked up the R.I.P. Bear discussion threads taking place with Sam Cutler and Bill Kreutzmann.
It hit me like a thunderbolt…. sigh…
As one of many extended Dead family members my heart goes out to Bear’s family, Sam Cutler, the members of the Grateful Dead and all who knew him in San Francisco, Australia and elsewhere.
My purpose in writing this blog post today is to pay tribute to Owsley “Bear” Stanley. He made significant contributions to our counter-culture as a chemist, genius sound engineer, band manager, and music archivist.
I just read Bob Weir and Phil Lesh‘s thoughts about Bear and wanted to share them with you from dead.net
Bob Weir wrote:
I met Owsley at the age of eighteen. I had just left home, having run off with a Rock&Roll band. Bear, as we knew him, was one of my all-time biggest influences. Always, when I think of him, I think of the endless stuff he taught me or somehow made me realize, all stuff that I’ve been able to use to the benefit of countless people who probably don’t know much about him or how deeply he influenced me and the rest of the band. Most important was the approach he taught me and us: Always be open and engaging – always critical and questioning, but not negatively so much as playfully. He taught me to take myself and my interests out of the picture and work with the subject under consideration so that the best deductions or conclusions are made. I guess this means working from the point of view of the higher self, though that term never came up; it was always just assumed…
-Bob Weir
From Phil Lesh:
A Beautiful Mind
I received a text in the middle of last night that Bear Stanley has died in a car accident in Australia. Bear, for me, was a true kindred spirit; when we first met, it was as if I had met a long-lost brother from another lifetime. I am heartbroken and devastated at his passing.
He was a friend, a brother, an inspiration, and our patron at the very beginning of our creative lives. We owe him more than what can be counted or added up- his was a mind that refused to accept limits, and he reinforced in us that striving for the infinite, the refusal to accept the status quo, that has informed so much of our work.
He never gave up his quest for pushing the limits of whatever he was working on. We had just been discussing his concept of point-source sound reinforcement in relation to a new project of mine, and his vision incorporated the latest developments in technology and perceptual research.
My heart goes out to his family, for whom he had such love and pride- his wife Sheilah, his children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren- who have lost their patriarch.
A mind like Bear’s appears very rarely, and it’s been my privilege and honor to have known and loved two such minds- Jerry and Bear. I always laugh when I think about what Jerry once said about Bear: There’s nothing wrong with Bear that several billion fewer brain cells wouldn’t fix.
I am eternally grateful for all of the gifts that Bear brought to the scene and to the music.
Fare you well; I love you more than words can tell.
I was reading the March 2011 issue of Relix Magazine last night when I noticed that the 7 Walkers, Bill Kreutzmann‘s new band had placed at #1 on the Jambands.com Radio Chart. This took me pleasantly by surprise so I investigated the band and the situation further. Sure enough they sound rhythmically righteous. 7 Walkers has held the top spot on Jambands.com’s Radio Chart for three solid months now.
I think you’ll find their music infectious and I hope you’ll do as I did, buy their music
Jay Blakesberg 2010
7 Walkers consists of the following collaborators:
The song, “
and I hope you’ll do as I did, buy their music 
