The Good Ol Grateful Dead Podcast and cool random anecdotes...post 'em here

[John A]

For a few years now, a couple serious Deadhead buddies have implored me to listen to these. It's not that I didn't agree I both should do so and would dig them, it's just that there wasn't really anywhere beyond the car it would be conducive for me to do so. And I no longer have a commute. But last week I finally had a perfect opportunity - a solo drive to Santa Barbara which is about 5 1/2 hours each way. I made my way through about 9 hours the podcasts, getting through season one (Workingman's Dead song by song mostly) and diving a bit into season two (same deal with American Beauty).  And indeed, this is by and large some damn cool stuff.

 

I thought it would be fun to relate some random anecdotes I learned, and that this could be a thread for others to do so as well. So to get things started with a few tidbits...I got a bunch more, but I'll start with these:

 

●To illuminate how pedantic these things get, I'd known that Dire Wolf was a reaction to a movie Hunter watched with Garcia, the Sherlock Holmes vehicle Hounds of the Baskervilles.  Hunter has been quoted as saying the song was written the morning after they'd seen the film, which we know was sometime in mid 1969.  Well, they researched the two evenings the movie was shown on the local Bay Area affiliate, and one of those showings was when the Dead were on the road. So based on the other date, it can be deduced the exact day the song was born.

 

●The first few versions of Dire Wolf wrere sang by Bobby, which always made me scratch my head. Why would that be? And the answer is simple - Garcia played pedal steel on stage for those versions, and one can't really sing and play that instrument simultaneously.  It requires both hands, both feet, and even your knees! So Weir needed to take the vocals.

 

●Most (all?) of the songs from Workingman's, and some from American Beauty, were written in the house Hunter shared with Garcia and Mountain girl in Larkspur, a small town in central Marin (this is shortly after the band has relocated north from Haight Ashbury). One of the podcasts revealed the address, that Janis Joplin lived near by, and that one could get there by crossing a creek then via a trail.  Well, that is Lark Creek, and the trail is the Piedmont Trail, dirt that I've hiked on countless times. And here is said house now:

 

https://www.compass.com/listing/271-madrone-avenue-larkspur-ca-94939/7880713512714033/

 

You know you're hardcore when despite the wealth of awesome stuff you're learning you occasionally yell into your empty car, "wait, they need to mention this or that fact while in this deep discussion they shouldn't have omitted."  🤣

 

 

[John A]

No one is listening to these podcasts?  Or is it just that the other current  thread "crickets" is carrying the day?

 

Ok then, I'll trickle out one more...

 

●Box of Rain, recorded in the summer of 1970 for American Beauty, didn't debut live until 1972. BUT, it was played once, in the acoustic set, on 9-17-70 at the Fillmore East.  There are no recording for photos documenting the show, but Gary Lambert (of Sirius XM's "Tales From The Golden Road" fame, among other Dead universe stuff) was at the show and distinctly recalls the musicians in the same configuration as they were in the studio for the American Beauty sessions.  Phil played the acoustic guitar, and Garcia played the piano.  Love hearing the kind of shit!

 

That's the kind of shit Eaton would be under the hood of, should DSO ever recreate that show. Barraco on bass!

 

[DesertDead]

Not a podcast guy, regardless of the absence of a commute.  I always trail off from digesting what they’re saying haha. 

 

But am really enjoying your written summaries of some pieces, John.  Please keep it coming.

 

Drive back to SB! 😝

[Brian NJ]

John I love this podcast. Greyhead turned me on to this a while ago and I've had a chance to listen to some of it starting at the beginning then skipping around some. Great info on the inner workings of this music and scene!

[John A]

Not sure if folks clicked the link for the Garcia / Hunter '69-'70 Larkspur home, and I'm sure it's been completely updated since, but we're talking about a damn nice property.  I stopped to investigate on my way into the canyon to park for my hike last week and took a few photos. Unfortunately my pics don't reveal much, due to the great landscaping/foliage in the front.  Plus, the listing in my link only shows a single photo of the outside. We're talking well set back from the road with great landscaping, gorgeous redwoods throughout the property, and a back that butts up to a creek.  Sold for $3M in 2014, and estimated at a value well north of $4M today.  Welcome to exceedingly attractive Marin property in 2022.  😬

 

But when our heroes were renters back in the day I'm guessing their monthly nut was amazingly low.  

 

But to the podcasts, Sam Culter was interviewed in a few episodes. He stayed in the city after being fired from The Stones in the wake of the Altamont disaster. He was briefly homeless, and Garcia invited him to stay with them for a while at some point. He related having many intense conversations with Jerry about band management and organization, which Garcia was wanting to get under the hood around. After all, this was the period where The Boys had just realized "the reverend" Lenny Hart had swindled them. Cutler's point was that whether one want's to deal with it directly or not, this was all critical stuff. And playing great music alone was not sufficiently sustainable.  When the band finally had to vote a member for the role of ultimate sign-offs, Garcia obviously demurred - so not his bag!  They ended up going with Phil, because everyone agreed he was the pickiest dude in the band, and if he signed off they'd all be good with it. 🤔

 

But the point to my post is that Culter made a point of how modest the house was. Of course this was in part stemming from his experience with how the Stones rolled... How could he have known he was in what would be a $4.5M home 50 years later? 😂