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Long Haired Logic's look at the Grateful Dead

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That's My Gov't Mule!

The Concept of an Outlaw: Willie Nelson

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Grateful Dead: Debut Article
by Mike Hiler

There are few things in this wonderful world that are as satisfying and liberating, to me, as great music. Add a bit of buzzy-eyed late night and a splash of tasty beer and what you pull out of the old gray matter oven is...well, I suppose we'll just have to wait for the timer to ding.

Tonight's music comes in a package with sinister looking skull. A phoenix of flame rising from a blazing red heart banded by yellow roses. The letters G and D stand guard on either side. The Grateful Dead is the band and "Reckoning" is the album. The beer I'll be using to lubricate my synapses is brewed and packaged by Legend Brewing Company, in Richmond, VA. It is their Brown Ale style and it is ever so tasty.

I've placed the Grateful Dead's "Reckoning" on the stove tonight because the Grateful Dead presents the kinds of music that have fallen to the wayside a bit in the last ten years, or so. Now, I hear people say somethimes how they can't stand the Dead. What they cite as reasons are the drippy hippie image, the peace and love debacle of the sixties, the drugs, Jerry Garcia is dead, and on, and on. Very rarely do any of these "haters" cite the music itself. Two reasons come to mind. First of all, in most cases, aside from the occasional radio-play of "Truckin'" of "Casey Jones," they've never really heard anything by the Dead. Second, and probably most important, is that to hate the music of the Grateful Dead is to hate every style of American music. So what we're left with are people who just don't like the superficial image of the Grateful Dead.

Every true Deadhead has a single thing in common with all other Heads. That is the music. Period. Outsiders can say that pot or acid is the common thread that runs through parking lots, camp grounds, and bootleg trading. There are several Deadheads who have never dabbled in drugs, or, they have experimented and then quit. But quitting drugs doesn't require someone to turn in their Deadhead card. They, as everyone, are always welcome.

The music that the Grateful Dead plays is an amalgam of every style of American music. They play pure bluegrass, folk, blues, country, jazz and rock songs, and they also blend these styles to create a completely new style that is unique to the sound of the Dead. Listening to "Reckoning," a person can really hear them play some of the different styles that influence them. They open with "Dire Wolf," which is a decidedly country-influenced song. Other country style songs include Don Rollins' "The Race is On", and Jesse Fuller's "Monkey and the Engineer". Both come from the golden age of country music. The Grateful Dead also have a great deal of fun playing old traditional songs from Appalachia. "Been All Around This World" and "On the Road Again" fill out their bluegrass requirements. "Deep Elem Blues" is their nod to blues music. The CD also includes some Grateful Dead originals. Recorded in 1980, from shows at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, and Radio City Music Hall in New York, "Reckoning contains fifteen tracks of balmy live acoustic music. For anyone who has never given serious consideration to the music of the Grateful Dead, this album is a good start to understanding what motivates the Deadheads and the band itself. It also serves as a great jumping off point for exploring true American music. The music here is a wonderful example of the diversity of music that Americans have developed in their own little pockets of the country.

I admit to never being interested in country or bluegrass music until I listened to the Grateful Dead. Now, I count myself a fan of both of those genres. Influenced by my Dad and uncle, I developed a great love and appreciation for blues music and blues-based
rock and roll long before I listened to my first Grateful Dead album. By exploring the Dead's music, I ended up exploring most of America's folk music. Without hesitation, I will listen to a Bill Monroe album or a Merle Haggard album. My apprecitation for all types of music has grown over the years to include most forms of music that is written and performed by regular folks. I call it "people music."

People music is the kind of music that can be played anywhere at anytime. If it can be plugged in and electrified, then that's great. Those songs, though, can be played acoustically as well, and they can be just as entertaining and powerful. It's the kind of music that transcends all the separative obstacles among people and tickles the common bone. The same way that all people bleed when they're cut, so it is the same way they are touched by insightful and entertaining music.

One of the greatest joys of life, for me, is the never-ending cache of great music from all over America. There are so many styles to explore and so many bands and musicians within each style, that it is impossible to hear it all in one lifetime. That's fine with me. That only means I'll spend the rest of my life exploring and discovering music. That will be the purpose of this "ramble through the brain forest." Every installment will feature a band or musician that I'll listen to while writing. I'll pass along the enthusiasm and encouragement to check out music you've never heard or music you need to hear again.

I invite your comments on what I have to say about things. I also invite your suggestions on what you think I should hear. I suppose I should also accept rants and diatribes concerning what I don't like and what I refuse to write about. More on that later. In keeping with the intentions of this website's owner/operator, this page of mine, which has been generously offered and gratefully accepted, will operate under the premise of a free exchange of thoughts and ideas. Please spill those thoughts and ideas onto my table. I'll be spilling my thoughts and ideas onto yours.

The music selection for each night's writing extravaganza will simply be what I listen to while I write. As the title suggests, this will be a ramble through the brain forest. My columns will be about any and all things, whether it is current events, religious epiphany, activist sermonizing, or fictional bullshit. I suppose a lot of what comes out of the gray matter oven depends on the ingredients that go into it. Welcome to the soul kitchen, boys and girls.

DING!

end #1
9-12-2k