Grateful Dawg

[dobrodawg]

Has anyone seen David Grisman and Jerry Garcia's Dvd "Grateful Dawg"?

I loved it!

What does everybody else think about it?

[mandofiddle]

I saw it. I loved it. I actually saw it at an Independent Film Festival here in Denver a while back. Gillian (sp?) Grisman was there and had a little Q&A after the movie. One thing I thought funny... She said that for the tune Grateful Dawg, which they tout as a collaborative effort between their styles, is that David actually wrote all the parts (including Jerry's part).

[Samando]

Really?? Cool!! I saw it and LOVED it. David Grisman is SOO good, not to mention entertaining to watch!!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[John Flynn]

I have the DVD. It is great. You have the option of watching it all the way through or navigating directly to the performances by tune name, which is cool. Also, there is a lot of candid stuff, which provides a "fly on the wall" window into one of the great musical collaborations of our time.

[Rich]

The "not for kids only" recording sessions was my favorite part. Where you watched them recording that album. I love playing those songs and the Dawg's solos are soo very tastful.

[Martin Jonas]

For those here that are based in the UK, you may want to know that the MusicZone shops are selling the Grateful Dawg DVD for 2.99 Pounds (around $4.50) at the moment -- I got one last week. Nice enough, but too much talking over the music for my liking. Now, the Doc Watson/Dave Grisman DVD, on the other hand...

Martin

[Ranger]

saw it on home vid a couple years ago. LOVED it! particularly the home "basement" video at Grisman's pad. relaxed, fun, kids goofin off in background. no pressure, just friends jammin. that's what brought me back into the fold. used to play alot of music 20 years ago.
last Christmas a friend handed me his b**jo, MADE me play (honest, i swear! ;) )
but that one night made me tune my guitar, repair my damn b**jo, and buy that mando! plus practice whenever i have time.
Ranger
(Thanks Fritz!)

[J. Mark Lane]

Well, I hate to sound a sour note, but ....

Yes, it is a great collection of footage, and Gillian should be commended for a really fine effort. And there are some wonderful scenes there.

But... it is also depressing. Seeing Jerry in that condition has never been very satisfying to me (as a pretty serious "Dead Head" from many years ago). And there is no doubt in my mind that in the majority (perhaps all) of the scenes, he is, well, pretty messed up. He slurs his words at times. He forgets the lyrics to songs. He sort of babbles nonsensically. In one scene he picks up a guitar in David's basement and someone asks him what he's doing, and he says something odd and then just sort of fumbles around. The man was a basket case by then.

I thought the world of Jerry Garcia. The day he died is a day I will always remember. And I would not want to have missed this footage of some of his better moments (at least late in his life), and the time he spent with Grisman (which I do believe was among his happiest time). But it still irks me to think what he did to himself, and in a sense, what those around him did to him.

OK. Soapbox off....

Mark

[Samando]

Mark-
You have a point… yet I’m not sure if I agree with you totally. I think what Gillian was trying to do in this video was not only to make a tribute to Jerry, but also to try and portray to the audience that even when he was a bumbling old man with bad eyes, and a bad memory, he was still able to come back and play the music that everybody loves, and everybody can play. Acoustic / Bluegrass.

So in conclusion, the video wasn’t really made to be a sigh of regret from his family, friends, and fans, but really, to celebrate him and the music that he played.

Okay!! I’m done.

[duuuude]

I didn't see him that way at all, just the "as normal as he gets" Jerry, goofy & playful. I took the part with the guitar as something coming to him at the moment that he wanted to get out on the guitar before it went away. Maybe I'm just an optimist.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[doanepoole]

I saw it on the Independent Film Channel.

I am not a fan of Grateful Dead music, and never thought much of Garcia as a musician before seeing this movie. #I think the Dawg and Garcia were a great pair, and this movie really opened my eyes and gave me a new appreciation for Garcia's style of musicianship.

I didn't really view it as a degraded version of Garcia...just Garcia in his older years havin fun playing music, with an undertone of finally escaping the fame and "patriarchal" status to all the dead heads that had defined him most of his life.

[J. Mark Lane]

Hm. FWIW, Jerry was 53 years old when he died in 1995. He was hardly an old man when the film footage was made. That's not old age. It's heroin.

[doanepoole]

Mark, I had no idea Garcia was so young. He looks like he's in his late 60s or 70s in that movie. I guess age should be measured in more ways than just years.

[wah]

It's not just heroin. Jerry smoked cigarettes since age 13. He died of a heart attack. Risk factors for heart disease are tobacco use, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol. Jerry smoked, was overweight, and had diabetes. I don't know what his blood pressure or cholesterol numbers were but I'll bet they weren't good. Not that heroin use is good for you, it certainly took its toll, but Jerrys' death had more to do with these other factors than heroin.

[J. Mark Lane]

Well, maybe. I'm no doctor, and I wasn't there. But he died in his sleep after checking into a heroin detox center. I'm sure it all contributed.

[mandolooter]

Well, he's gone now so whatever. I think the important thing is to remember the goodtimes he helped us have, and let him and his habits, good or bad, rest in peace!

[Dioptase]

Yea, it was sad about Jerry in the end. No doubt. I've seen men cry over it, even today.

But what great music on his albums with Grisman.

Martin--
You should throw a few of those cheap Grateful Dawg DVDs in the classifieds and make a few dollars for yourself and save the rest of us a few.

Micah

[wah]

Yep, what a life he lived and what a legacy he left behind. I hear him play and I gotta smile, smile, smile. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[dobrodawg]

And what an interesting voice! I love the song "Friend of the Devil," it fits his voice perfectly!

[Samando]

My goodness!! I was reading back over this "thread" and wondered..
What is it with mando pickers?? We sure all must like controversy!!

[Samando]

My goodness!! I was reading back over this "thread" and wondered..
What is it with mando pickers?? We sure all must like controversy!!

[Samando]

Whoa!! What happened There??

[garyblanchard]

I actually came to mandolin through the Garcia/Grisman "Shady Grove" CD. There is no doubt that the two worked well together. While it was sad to see Garica in some of those clips, it was how it was. It can perhaps be a cautionary tale for all. Fame and talent don't guarantee happiness. We need to find that within ourselves. Maybe if so many people didn't pin so many expectations on Jerry things might have been different.

I see the the damage of drug addiction every day in my work. Seeing it in a celebrity is no more or less sad.

[OdnamNool]

I liked the music.