Has it been 10 years (& 2 days)?
"Like a steam locomotive,rolling down the track,
he's gone, he's gone and
nothing's gonna bring him back.
He's gone."
By now, you may be tired of the tributes and praises that have been given to Jerry Garcia, who died on Aug. 9, 1995.
I don't think of Jerry as the next coming of the Messiah or attribute anything else that mystical to him. He was a guy that really liked making music and having fun. He met some other like-minded guys, people liked listening to them and we had the Dead and Deadheads.
But here's one view you may not have considered:
Jerry Garcia was closer to Rush Limbaugh than Al Gore in his outlook on life. Jerry was one of the first people I ever heard discussing personal responsibility. He expressed the view that individuals are accountable for their own actions and should deal with the consequences of those actions themselves.
Now, when I heard that, the discussion was over the "recreational" use of drugs like pot, coke and LSD. So of course, I was on his side. Leave me alone if I want to be a burn out.
But I wonder how many of us never considered that it also pertains to planning for old age, deciding how and where to educate my kids, what kind of car I want to drive, who I vote for (or whether I even vote).
It's your own deal. Take care of it. Or not.
I enjoy listening to the dead and Jerry's other stuff. If you haven't ever heard them, you should check 'em out.
posted by Kurt at 11:14 AM
7 Comments:
Eyes of the World
Grateful Dead
Wake of the Flood
Lyrics Robert Hunter
Lead vocal Jerry Garcia
Right outside this lazy summer home
You ain’t got time to call your soul a critic no.
Right outside the lazy gate of winter’s summer home,
Wond’rin’ where the nut-thatch winters,
Wings a mile long just carried the bird away.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world,
The heart has it’s beaches, it’s homeland and thoughts of it’s own.
Wake now, discover that you are the song that the mornin’ brings,
But the heart has it’s seasons, it’s evenin’s and songs of it’s own.
There comes a redeemer, and he slowly too fades away,
And there follows his wagon behind him that’s loaded with clay.
And the seeds that were silent all burst into bloom, and decay,
And night comes so quiet, it’s close on the heels of the day.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world,
The heart has it’s beaches, it’s homeland and thoughts of it’s own.
Wake now, discover that you are the song that the mornin’ brings,
But the heart has it’s seasons, it’s evenin’s and songs of it’s own.
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own,
And sometimes we visit your country and live in your home,
Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone,
Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world,
The heart has it’s beaches, it’s homeland and thoughts of it’s own.
Wake now, discover that you are the song that the mornin’ brings,
But the heart has it’s seasons, it’s evenin’s and songs of it’s own.
Check this site
http://deadshow.org/Dan/
It's got a recording of the 77 show at the Civic Center that you would have been at. Just wish I could find a recording of the show at the Springfield Civic Center from 73-74. The show was after the release of Wake of the Flood and before Mars Hotel. It included a number of songs from both those albums and stuff from skull and roses and the 69-70 era blended together. It was one of the few nights when Garcia and Weir were on the same page as the Godchaux's. Some incredible jams!!!
Wish I knew how to load an audio link....I'm listening to the show from New Haven May 5 77 right now and what a nice jam on Sugaree to open the show....
Ask and it shall be given - THIS LINK goes to a site that will stream the show to you so you don't have to wait to download the whole thing. There is a link on the left to select for a Hi-Fi connection. Windows should prompt you to save a *.m3u file. Save that and then import it into i-tunes and you are going to be listening to the show from March 28th, 1973 @ Springfield Civic Center. The reviews and song list from that site look impressive. I plan to check it out.
I first saw the Dead in May of '78 (also in Springfield). It is listed on the archive site, but is no longer available because it has been released on a CD (Dick's Picks 25). Did you miss one of my birthdays ;-p
Awesome! The link seems to just jump right into the music missing the beginning of the song, but so what, the music is great. This may not have been the exact show I was at, but from the length of the set list it could be. The Dead played 4 or 5 hours straight that night.
I love 'em!
The June 1974 in Springfield MA is the show I was at (besides Watkins Glen) --- 4 solid hours of some of the "jazziest" Dead you'll ever hear. Especially check out the Uncle John's Band jam. If you like these shows, check out Robert Randolph and the Family Band in the July 2005 archive
If you haven't seen it, rent "Festival Express" - a 1970 tour with a lot of good Dead footage both playing & behind the scenes hanging out with other bands & people like Joplin. You'd like it.
Is Festival Express the movie about the concert tour that went across Canada by train? While I spent that summer as a counselor at a camp, my next door neighbor spent his summer working that tour as a roadie. His older sister was married to one of the promoters. Interesting 2 house neighborhood in the middle of nowhere we had growing up. We weren't hip or cool and knew nothing, and yet there we were with people from the NY music scene and their entourages dropping in. Everyone from the guys in Dylan's band (not THE Band) to Hell's Angels. Wish I'd been old enough to understand who these folks were so I could have had different conversations with them. Stuff besides asking them where they got the gun they used to shoot the snapping turtles... that was the crazy musicians "fun" - I never saw the Angels carrying any weapons. Seems Ted Nugent wasn't the first guitarist with a penchant for shooting up the neighborhood. Thanks for letting me do a little name dropping.
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