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Bill



Last Updated: 12/3/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Swinger
Age: 22
Sign: Capricorn

City: Kansas City & Schererville
State: Indiana
Country: US
Signup Date: 11/19/2005

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 

Category: Music


There is much to be said when a band hits their 'peak.' Usually it's when the band themselves are playing on a level unheard of in their careers. Much of the time, fans won't notice this until way later when they look back on the material they were left with. Phish had theirs in the mid 90's. The Stones in the early 70's, and Clapton with Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos. But none compare to what the Grateful Dead did in May of 1977.

Ask any knowledgeable dead head and they will tell you only one show to start with to find out what the Grateful Dead were all about: Cornell University, May 8th, 1977. This show is so revered as the best Grateful Dead show ever played that two years ago, the city of Ithaca (where Cornell is located) actually began celebrating May 8th as 'Grateful Dead day.'

Now what makes May 1977 so great? Well to be honest, there really isnt much that stands out. The setlists all look the same from that year, nothing major really happened to them, but there must have been something in the air because for that month, and only that month, the Dead were clicking on unheard of cylinders. Jerry's solos were phenomenal, stretching eight nine minute songs into twenty minute masterpieces. Bobby's rhythm was trance like, keeping pace with everything that Jerry was doing with surprise and vigor. Phil's bass was finally coming into it's own, starting to become what is now known fondly as the 'Phil Zone.' Billy and Mickey's drumming was so in sync, so connected, that its hard to tel that there were actually two drummers. Finally Keith's piano playing brought it all back home with that soft mellowness that is commonly associated with him. 

But my favorite show isnt Cornell (although it is up there) my favorite Grateful Dead show is May 28th, 1977 at the Hartford Civic Center. Again nothing really 'stands out' as far as the setlist goes. It's a typical show for that era with the first set being a few jams but nothing spacey, and the second set really letting loose to go into unknown waters. Except this show is different with a Bertha->Good Lovin'-> Sugaree all melting into one another with no rests. Already three songs deep and the Dead establish their dominance with over half an hour of nonstop playing. The rest of the set contains the classics like Jack Straw and Row Jimmy as some other highlights. A few more regulars end up finishing out the first set but the second set is where all the magic is.

In Grateful Dead terms, the second set is considered the gold of any show. It's where the band flexes it's jamming muscles and goes into deep jams, and this show is no different. It starts with an amazing Estimated Prophet that slowly blends into Playin' in the Band. What makes this so different is that they are both Bobby songs, usually Jerry and Bobby trade off singing but you can feel Bobby is taking the lead and bringing it into Playin', a signature Dead jam.

Then, just as the jam feels like its about to take life, they switch it up and go into Terrapin Station (my favorite Grateful Dead song). This song is the staple of the whole show, with Jerry singing to PERFECTION and soloing that makes your heart beat faster and faster. Out of nowhere, Billy and Mickey take over with their awesome drumming and lead us into a very different Not Fade Away. It has an R&B feel in it, with very long solos and funky piano sounds. You really can't tell its Not Fade Away until 'I'm gonna tell ya how it's gonna be' comes rumbling out of some jam forest. By the time you start to let yourself get use to it, the opening notes of Wharf Rat start.

Wharf is the 'Homeless man's lamenting song' as Jerry once called it in an interview and once it starts you can tell its gonna be killer. Jerry turns into August West and starts to tell his tale of love and 'doing time for some other fucker's crime.' Just when the jamming starts to happen, you can feel Bobby take the reins and go right back into Playin' in the Band, as if nothing has changed. All the sudden the beat gets quicker and quicker until they finish with a thunderous ending of the second set. All in all it is almost and hour and a half of nonstop precision that is the Grateful Dead.

What made me really excited to write this is the fact that the Grateful Dead are actually releasing a mastered version of this show called 'To Terrapin' coming out next month. They are using Betty Cantors 7 inch reels that she is famous for using to record shows with. But you can check out the whole show here:

May 28th 1977: Hardford Civic Center

Anyways thanks for reading and hopefully I'll see you out on the Dead tour this summer.







Currently listening:
Dick's Picks, Vol. 24: Daly City, CA, 3/23/74
By Grateful Dead
Release date: 2004-08-31
10:27 PM 
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Wednesday, May 02, 2007 

Current mood:  restless
so its been a little over a year since my grandma died. ive really had mixed feelings since my last blog about her. its been extremely hard not having her around now and just missing her in everyday life. i will tell you this though: not a day goes by that i dont think about her, hear her voice, or see a picture of her. the one thing that really plauges me is how she would feel about my life now. i mean the last time i saw her, she was helping me pick things out for prom and promising me she was gonna be there taking pictures with my mom and aunt. a few days later my brother woke me up really early one morning and told me that our cousin had told him grandma had died. i really couldnt believe it. it felt that my life had really shattered. i mean my senior year up to that point was watchin her go in and out of the hospitial and always come out of it better and better. but really it just makes me wonder what life would be like if she was still here. i guess ill never know and thats not the point i wanted to get across with this. what ive learned since her death is that you cant let anything hold you down. she had cancer, had a lung removed, and always made it to every practice, concert or play any of her grandchildren were in. she wasnt afraid of being independent or driving or even working. she really never slowed down no matter how many operations, hospitial visits or medical drugs she needed to take. she did it all for her grandchildren and i really respected it. im still coping with life without her, i thought i wouldnt feel like i feel a year after her death, but i sometimes still wake up in the morning thinking shes alive and that ill go up to the hospitial with mom and visit when she comes home.

of couse music helps me cope. its always been like that but really the only song that really reminds me of her is a song by the band The Early November. its called Never Coming Back and its just hit me when i first listened to it. but the reason i wrote this and brought all those memories back is that i think that almost everything ive done during the past year is really something that i think would have made my grandma smile and ill never forget her voice, or how she would always come over with dinner (even if she was sick) if my mom was working late or she just wanted to catch up with us.

love you grandma

Never Coming Back- The Early November
I just came to say I love you and see if you would be needing anything. 
To say thank you and how grateful I am for everything you taught me. 
It's those long talks I won't forget. 
Just to see you smiling brings me right to them. 
So I'll sit here now and hold your hand. 
It's these few long hours that make me what I am. 
We laugh about the times we laughed so hard until we fell asleep this evening. 
And then I watch you there alone in fear, wishing I could speed your breathing. 
And all the wind blows through the trees. 
I swear they're angels talking back to me. 
And I scream, "Please don't leave me here tonight. 
I need you now, I need you in my life. "

But you're gone and you're never coming back again.
But you're gone and you're never coming back again.
But you're gone and you're never coming back again.
But you're gone and you're never coming back again.
But you're gone and you're never coming, you're never coming back.

Currently listening:
The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path
By The Early November
Release date: 11 July, 2006
8:51 PM 
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Friday, May 05, 2006 

Current mood:  depressed
Category: Writing and Poetry

so yea this last week or so has been the worst of my life. the reason i can come to such a conclusion: the greatest person i had ever known died on April 30th, 2006 at 10:58 a.m. my grandma. She was seriously the best person i had ever known and i know that i have to get her story off my chest just to show how great she really was and idk maybe i can grieve better by writing it.

it all started in the summer of 1998. my grandma was a firecely indepent women. if she wanted to do somethin, she would do it. that summer tho, alot changed. She was diagnosed with lung cancer from years of smoking. (a little funny side story was that when i was 6 i got a book on how bad smoking was and just came out and asked my grandma to please stop smoking. as hard as it was she did stop all because a little 6 year old asked her once.) the only way to get the cancer out was to remove her lung. it was a risky operation and thankfully she got through it all good and by the time school started back up she was back home.

everything was going good until late 2001-2002 my grandma would develop pneumonia every winter. thankfully every winter she got through it and everything would be alright.

Then in December 2005, she was readmitted. i remember that night clearly bcuz this time it wasnt for pneumonia. my grandmas heart started going. the only way for her to get better was to get a pacemaker. she wasnt sure if she wanted to get one bcuz of all the constant goin into and out of the hospital had really taken its toll. but the one thing my grandma lived for was her grandchildren. one night me and my cousin jon went to her and begged her to get the pacemaker. After some thinkin she told me mom and aunts that she would get it. The day of her operation my brother and i got to stay home and go to the hospitial and wait for her to get out of surgery. that was a few days before winter break and the only thing on our minds was if our grandma would pull through and not of what kind of gifts we would get and what we would do while we were off. the operation took about four hours to get through and she made it. i as able to go in and see her (another thing i forgot to mention was that becuz she only had one lung, she couldnt be put to sleep durning any operation bcuz if that lung went the doctors could nothin about it) and she was so happy she had gotten it done.

on december 24th, xmas eve, my grandma was told by doctors that she would be going home. it was such a great gift for her bcuz every xmas was always spent in the lounge in the hosptial. me and my brother went down to my dads house in cincinnati but the min i got there at about 4 in the morning i called to make sure everything was okay.

then about feb. my mom got a call from my grandma saying she needed her to come over. i had nothin goin on that night so i came over too. the minute we walked into the house we could tell she needed  medical attention. her legs had swelled so much that she couldnt even put her shoes on to go to the emergency room. we finally got to the hospital and we ended up staying there till about 3 in the morning. i desperatly wanted to stay home from school but my grandma wanted me to go so i listened to her and even tho i was tired as hell i knew that i couldnt stay home and make her angry. the next few months was a rollercoster of her coming close to death and then springin back. it was hell on both my aunts and uncles and my mom as well as me who would go up almost everday to see her.

about a week before spring break my aunt had to take her to had a pacemaker checkup and see if anything was ok. the min my grandma got out of the car she fainted and her 74 year old face landed with a smack on the pavement. when the paramedics came to pick her up (she was only about 40 feet from the hospital) she apoligized endlessly to them for all the work. i think after that everyone in my family knew it was the end or at least close to it.

the last time i saw my grandma alive was last wed. she had a face mask on and couldnt talk but the day before she was asking me what kind of tux i was wearing to prom so i assumed that when i saw her next everthing would be fine. i dont think words could express how much my grandma meant to me and all my cousins and aunts and uncles. today and yesterday was the wake and the funeral i had to be a paulbearer. and there must of been about 300 people there.

she was a big influence on me and whatever i did. she would never miss anything i did as fall as baseball,basketball and band concerts. she would tell me all the time whever i spent the night at her house (which was alot) she would take me out to dinner and ask me how everything was. i could tell her stuff that i would never tell my own parents or anyone that close to me. so if u read this all the way though thanks. the next few days will def suck but if i know my grandma she would want me to go on and she would apoligize for all my rambling i just did.

p.s. on a side note im listening to a song called "Time Turn Fragile" by Motion City Soundtrack and a lyric just hit me that reminds me of my grandma: "One day ill fail to breathe, and all you'll have are memories." idk i felt that was important....

 
Currently listening:
Commit This to Memory
By Motion City Soundtrack
Release date: 07 June, 2005
1:39 AM 
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