But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I've been playing with some Deadheads for the past year; lots of GD material in the set lists
Alabama Getaway
Althea
Bertha
Big Railroad Blues
Cassidy
Cold Rain & Snow > I Know You Rider
Eyes of the World
Fire On The Mountain
Friend of the Devil
Franklin's Tower
Iko Iko
Jack Straw
Jack-a-roe
Me & My Uncle
Row Jimmy
Run For The Roses
Scarlet Begonias
Viola Lee Blues
In according with Deadhead ethics; they try to record all the gigs; some of these have been put online:
https://archive.org/details/2014-10-11_HempenHillBBQ
https://archive.org/details/140315_DelRio
Got a gig in Winchester, VA next Sat. night if anyone's in the vicinity. http://www.thewindowpanes.com/
Grateful Dead are probably the most jammed-on rock band of all time for campground pickers, street buskers, and picking parties. There's something so convivial about their approach to music and their aura of camaraderie with their audience - as well as their connection to the hippie ethics of sharing, good vibes,and freedom. Not to overlook free music. A lot of the songs they wrote and covered lend themselves well to jamming, be it due to their chord structure, lyrical content, familiarity, or just general vibe. Some of them are so well entrenched in the general public's common consciousness that other players and listeners alike will recognize them within seconds of starting them up. "Friend Of The Devil" is practically required material for mandolinists looking to jam - I've joked it's in the fine print in the contract when you buy a mandolin - and its album mate, "Ripple," is also popular. So are "Truckin'," "Casey Jones," and others, as well as cover songs such as "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad," "I Know You Rider," "Not Fade Away," "Deep Elem," and many others - obviously done by plenty of other people, but often associated with the Dead. It may just be that so many people associate their music with good times, partying, getting a buzz on, stuff like that, but striking up a Dead song does put a smile on people's faces most of the time - nothing wrong with that.
Other popular rock bands that serve as sources for jamming include The Band, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, but my experience leads me to believe Grateful Dead are at the top of this list. YMMV, naturally, and the prevalence of a song like "Wagon Wheel" may lead you to think otherwise - but once you search for another OCMS song to jam on, you'll see why I'm sticking with this.
If you are interested in looking through the Grateful Dead catalog, check out dead.net. It's an exhaustive compendium that lists every song they've ever done, even just once - complete with lyrics, how many times performed, when, even with whom. It's a labor of love, well worth browsing. Thank goodness they have had so many fans paying attention, keeping notes, and contributing - they're really deadicated, and I'm grateful for them. You'll be amazed at some of the songs they've rambled on through.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
And I have to add, there's really no escaping them. (As the bumper sticker says, "Who are the Grateful Dead, and why do they keep following me?") Out of the blue yesterday, a couple of the guys in my band called "Friend Of The Devil" - a song we'd never practiced, and hadn't run across in ages. Fortunately, our new lead singer knew the words - really fortunately, he knew all the words, and the right order for the verses (boy, do these two "details" get lost all too often). It went all right - the fiddler took the first lead, I took the second, with my carefully crafted lead coming back as if by muscle memory, complete with the way it brings it back to the bridge for the singer - and he threw it to the cello player. Ho hum. Why don't people pay attention to the mandolinist and do things his way? Oh, well, it's The Dead. Things just sort of happen, you know?
And then, the other band that three of the guys are in ran into an emergency situation. Their guitarist quit the band, just four hours before their gig last night - texting the drummer during our gig - leaving them with the impossible task of replacing him with a guitarist - on a Saturday night, when anyone with enough talent to fill in on such short notice would already have a gig. I offered to fill in if they were stuck, more as a gesture of friendship than a real offer, helping-out kind of guy that I am. But they ended up taking me up on it. Their material is more based on bluegrass and old-timey music than I'm used to or feel comfortable with, and there were a couple - OK, a few - songs I had to figure out on the spot, and passed on taking leads on a couple, knowing what a train wreck they would be if I had tried them. And somewhere in between songs, tossing around ideas for what to do next, the bass player suggested "Friend Of The Devil." There was only one mike, for the fiddler, who didn't know the words, and though I do (and in the right order ), I wasn't about to offer to do it, not with my foghorn of a voice. So the idea got dropped. Still, it was interesting to see how the song pops up - it's part of the shared experience. Whether this holds true mostly for musicians of a certain age range, and whether it will stand the test of time, is anyone's guess, and remains to be seen. In the meantime, what a long, strange trip it's been, and continues to be.
Last edited by journeybear; May-17-2015 at 11:06am.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
Just last Thursday I played an open mike w/ my friend and we did 6 Dead tunes (some were covers) + 1 original.
I've been playing Loser and Sugaree a bunch lately. Maybe I'll try to make some new videos to upload?
Search this forum for the Ripple thread and you'll find my tab and youtube video for it.
I love the song Lazy River Road too, but have only played it on guitar so far.
But seriously, their music really lends itself to mandolin if you want it to. Even "Space" ;-)
Paul
Weber Custom Vintage A
Alvarez A-100
'82 Fender Bullet (USA)
'55 Harmony Master Model
'62 Harmony Tenor Guitar
I used to play lots of Dead tunes but gave up on my decades-long practice when I realized I was feeding into stoners doing what stoners do - getting stoned. After working hard to get sober and stay sober I did not want to do this anymore. I Realize a lot of people will disagree with me on this and that is fine. I just know it is easier to be sober if I stay away from the things that brought me down for so long. Good old Jerry, Pigpen, Brent and Keith would maybe still be with us if they could have escaped the clutches of drugs and alcohol. All these years later I can still see Brent singing I Will Take You Home to his little girl - a promise unkept and unfulfilled thanks to Dear Mr. Fantasy and his chemicals. I still struggle to see why so many people do not see the downside to Grateful Dead culture...
Sam Lyman
Moscow, Idaho
My CD: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/samlyman
My YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...A_Ph_qw/videos
Found Leftover Salmon playing this yesterday ...
... not all those who wander are lost ...
First time I ever played "Friend of the Devil" was busking in 1980, in Sachsenhausen, FRG (suburb of Frankfurt aM). I was playing a 12 string, Randy (last name lost to antiquity) on mandolin and "Granny" on 6 string and vocals. Great memories...great beer.
http://rukind.com/
This site has an extensive collection of chord charts for the songs. Look under Grateful Dead Tabs........it's funny just typing that!
Althea, Loser, Black Peter, Candyman, Bertha, Brown-Eyed Women, Cumberland Blues, Deal, Dire Wolf, Mission in the Rain, Mississippi Half Step........they have a lot of mando friendly tunes. Pretty much bluegrass plus A@id.
2005 Rigel G5 #2196
2005 Phoenix Jazz #400
1988 Jeff Traugott Acoustic #4
2012 Eastman 905 Archtop Guitar, BLOND!
Remember to grin while you pick, it throws folks off!
A bump is need to note the passing of the FTW shows in Santa clara and Chicago.
2005 Rigel G5 #2196
2005 Phoenix Jazz #400
1988 Jeff Traugott Acoustic #4
2012 Eastman 905 Archtop Guitar, BLOND!
Remember to grin while you pick, it throws folks off!
I went to Fridays show,but couldn't get in to Saturdays. Instead I sat around and played Dead Tunes and bluegrass with a banjo picker (my new friend Chris!) outside Soldier Field. My mandolin got exposure to good vibes and I got to do my favorite things, listen to and play good music.
Friday's Chicago show was the best of the run, IMO.
Larry
A club downtown here that caters to the hippie and wannabe set carried Sunday's show on its three big screens with the audio pumping. The place was packed so I hung around outside. I missed the start with "China Cat Sunflower" into "I Know You Rider" because there was some sort of soccer game on and it was pretty exciting. Besides, i knew the scene downtown was going to be less than optimal. It was - lots of really annoying people jacked up on whatever and wanting to talk while I wanted to listen. Stuff like that. Also there were several signal glitches. I went home at intermission, but somehow managed to talk myself into going back for the second half (the match looked well in hand). Missed the start of the second set again - "Truckin'." Sigh. Then the power went out, two separate times. It was getting ridiculous. But I persevered and hung on till the end - had to. That "Attics Of My Life" was sweet and unexpected.
I'vegone online and gotten the setlists. I don't know about the performance quality, but the setlist for the first Santa Clara show blew my mind:
6/27/15 Santa Clara, CA
Set 1 Truckin’, Uncle John’s Band, Alligator > Cumberland Blues, Born Cross Eyed, Cream Puff War (Trey singing), Viola Lee Blues
Set 2 Cryptical Envelopment> Dark Star> St. Stephen> The Eleven> Lovelight> Drums>What’s Become of the Baby>Space> Other One>Morning Dew
Encore: Casey Jones (Bruce Hornsby singing)
I mean, for an old hippie, learning they did that second set just makes me smile. That's three sides of "Live/Dead," plus stuff from "Anthem Of The Sun," ending with one of my all-time faves. "Morning Dew." Great old stuff. Send me boots of that!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
For anyone in southern Oregon or northern California who might like to sample the Grateful Dead songbook as interpreted on acoustic instruments (mandolin, octave mandolin, fiddles, uillean pipes, Irish harp, guitar bass, percussion, harmony singing) with a Celtic twist (jigs and reels inside the jams), the bay area's Wake the Dead is venturing out of our usual bailiwick for a few gigs:
Friday, September 18: Ashland, Oregon
Saturday, September 19: Arcata, California
Sunday, September 20: Brookings, Oregon
Details: http://www.wakethedead.org/events/
Come say howdy.
Just one guy's opinion
www.guitarfish.net
This is the newest song by Playing For Change, in honor of Grateful Dead's 50th Anniversary. What a great project - connecting people from all over the world with, through, and by music. I love everything I've seen from them. There's even a little mandolin content at 2:00!
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!
I may have missed someone mentioning it, but I've been having a lot of improvisational fun with "Eyes of the World". Rhythm part for that tune is great on the mandolin, too. Being in jams in the Bay Area for the last couple of decades as the only mandolinist in a sea of guitars has exposed me to most of the GD song list, lots of interesting chord progressions. Even played the "Elevens" once at a jam!
Steve Lavelle
'93 Flatiron Performer F
Customized Eastwood Mandocaster (8str)
I figured out Deal a while ago. Lot of chord changes, but it is a fun song to play.
I can only play half as much as I want, because I only play half as much as I would like.
Decades ago I started playing guitar. One of the many songbooks I bought then was The Grateful Dead Anthology, came out mid-70's. Most of the songs were in keys I couldn't sing along with and at the time I didn't know how to transpose.
I stumbled across this book recently in my old music stuff and have been transposing several tunes to add to my sets. Favorite new adds are "Brown Eyed Women", "Jack Straw" and especially "He's Gone" which I sing for my friend and musical partner Tom Gnoza who passed away last March.
Always fun to see this thread exhumed!
Not currently in a band, but every time I'd bring up a new song I wanted to do, my bandmates would say "which Grateful Dead album is this from?"
To be honest, nine times out of 10, if it wasn't actually a Dead tune, it WOULD have been song that the Dead (or at least Jerry Garcia) covered at some point.
Just this week I found a used copy of "Pickin' on the Dead". If you aren't familiar with the "Pickin' on" series, they are bluegrass style versions of songs by different artists. The "Pickin' on Santana" is a great album. This "Dead" one is mediocre, but still fun. By far, my favorite Grateful Dead tribute album is "Deadicated". If you like the Dead and don't know it, you should try it.
Just found this thread. A little late to the party. If anyone in central Virginia wants to get together and jam some of these tunes I am very open to it. I would like to get a small group of acoustic players together to work out some dead I do mandolin and guitar and some banjo and some tenor.........
Its not a backwards guitar.
One favorite of ours is Dark Hallow. We play this for our city's Train Day. Lead vocalist is our fav deadhead Will in this recording:
https://www.reverbnation.com/kentlan...78-dark-hollow
The thread has been fallow for too long now, so I thought I'd revive it, if only briefly, with a shameless plug for a new release of Grateful Dead songs with plenty of mandolin and octave mandolin content:
Deal is Wake the Dead's fourth CD mingling songs from the Dead's songbook with traditional acoustic instruments with an Irish twist: fiddles, uillean pipes, harp, mandolin, OM, guitar, acoustic bass, percussion, and lots of harmony vocals. This time 'round we're also exploring material from the Buffalo Springfield, the Beatles, the Youngbloods, and Bob Dylan.
Check it out. If you want even more Dead in an acoustic vein, explore the first three releases.
Just one guy's opinion
www.guitarfish.net
I am interested in any GD mando resources. Any new ones to add?
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