News Briefs 02/15/07

Grammys: A Wasted Oportunity

The great journalist Paul Liberatore (who writes about the Dead quite often) had this to say about the 49th Grammy Awards:

"Wouldn't you rather have heard Joan Baez sing at least one song than listen to Mary J. Blige sing what felt like every song all night?

The same goes for our own Booker T. Jones, his partner in the MGs, the great guitarist Steve Cropper, and Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead. They were all there to accept lifetime achievement awards. They haven't retired. Why not have them actually perform instead of just sitting on their hands in the audience?"

Good point, Paul!

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Shakedown Street

The Summit Daily News had a piece about the tribute band coming to the Silverthorne Pavilion:

Calling all Deadheads to Silverthorne
Summit County, CO Colorado

"The Silverthorne Pavilion welcomes Grateful Dead tribute band Shakedown Street featuring Melvin Seals, former musical director and keyboardist for the Jerry Garcia Band, on Thursday.

Shakedown Street, which consistently draws large crowds in the Rocky Mountains, has garnered a national reputation as being the mother of all Dead bands. The band has been performing for over 19 years and still includes original member Ted Galloway from Manitou Springs on guitar and vocals, David Recker from Evergreen on guitar and vocals, Joe Weisiger from Denver on keyboards, organ and vocals, Trevor "Bones" Davis from Salida on drums and vocals, Jim Allard from Denver on bass and vocals and Jake Wolf from Denver on drums and vocals.

Melvin Seals has been a powerful presence in the music industry for over 30 years with a long-established reputation as a performer, recording artist and producer. He has played with legends such as Chuck Berry, Charlie Daniels and Elvin Bishop. But perhaps Melvin is most revered for his powerful and high-spirited Hammond B-3 organ and keyboards in the Jerry Garcia Band, adding his gospel-soul touches to the rhythm and blues base of the JGB. Melvin continues to treat music lovers to his unique brand of melodic flavor with his latest projects, Vitamin B-3 and The Mix, Melvin Seals JGB Band and Melvin Seals Rhythm Factory.

Doors to Thursday's show will open at 8 p.m. with music beginning at 8:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $15 and available at the Silverthorne Recreation Center by calling (970) 262-7370 or at Affordable Music in Dillon. Tickets will also be sold at the door. The concert is open to all ages."

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Let Phil Sing!

Speaking of shows, Mr. Lesh will be playing in San Fran on February 17th:

Phil Lesh. 8 p.m. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St., San Francisco. (408) 998-8497

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Talking To the Kids

Speaking of Phil, Michelle Euganks wrote a cute article about how she spoke with some 5th Graders about her experiences being a journalist. She wrote:

"Although they had no idea who Phil Lesh or David Sedaris were, they all were pretty taken aback when I told them I often cry with people I interview if the story they're sharing with me is particularly touching."

That got me thinking - how cool would it be if David Sedaris opened for Phil. Opening acts don't have to be bands (remember the Flying Karamazov Brothers?).

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Lessons From the Dead

Brain Fuller wrote a piece called "Steve Jobs and the Grateful Dead." Here's the Dead part:

"The older I get, the more the lessons of the Grateful Dead resonate in our hyper-technological era.

What do the Dead have to do with this? Decades ago, the Dead actually let tapers into their concerts and set aside a prime spot in the venues to set up their mics. From the back it always looked like a congregation of alien robots. Into these mics flowed Dead tunes which flowed out into the world at large through bootleg cassettes. As long as bootleggers didn't profit, all was good. Didn't hurt Dead record sales; didn't hurt Dead concert ticket sales. They were always sold out, and by the time they broke up after Jerry Garcia's death in '95, they were one of the highest-grossing bands in the history of American music. The lesson? It's not the technology that's throttling the music industry. Today's music is throttling the music industry: it sucks. It's soulless, violent and misogynistic, and, yes, I am over the age of 35.

How did you know?"

We Need Your Help

Last week I blogged about my desire to make a site for Grateful Dead Show memories and stories. I got some great responses. With the help of some new friends, the idea has evolved into a Wiki-Grateful Dead project. The goal is a site where there'd be a page for each show that includes the setlist, photos, reviews, stories, etc. All of these things can be found on the web, but never all in one spot. And the stories are real hard to find. We're working on the format first. I'm going to try to get permission to reprint some stories from books, magazines, and other sites and permission to display at least thumbnails of photos, tickets, posters, etc. Then we are going to need people to contribute by inputing the info for the many, many Dead shows. The hope is that, once the ball is rolling, folks will get inspired and hop on the bus. Wouldn't be cool to be able to pick a date and have everything about that show right there in one place? Please email me at slclibraryboy@yahoo.com if you have any ideas, materials, stories, or want to offer help. And thanks to those who have sent stuff already. I'm keeping it all safe...