Completely Conspicuous

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November 2018
S M T W T F S
     
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Syndication

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's first official live album, Live/Dead.

Show notes:

- Recorded at CompCon world HQ

- Live/Dead was released in 1969

- There weren't a lot of live albums released then

- The band did it as a make-good to the label after some poor-selling albums

- Recorded at the Fillmore West

- Songs evolved in live setting

- At the time, it was unusual to play extended jams

- Music fans really focused on albums back in the heyday of vinyl

- The first thing you hear on the album is 23-minute "Dark Star"

- Now for the tuning section

- Phil: Have listened to 250-300 Dead bootlegs

- Bootleg tape trading was huge in the '70s and '80s

- Archive.org, Nugs.net have tons of Dead shows

- On a lot of '70s-era live albums, bands went in and re-recorded songs or parts of songs

- Some bands perfectly recreate their studio sound

- "Death Don't Have No Mercy" is reminiscent of Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You"

- When this album came out, FM radio was in a very experimental place

- Some stations would play album sides or even entire records

- "St. Stephen" is a standout

- Jay: I've been impressed so far

- Phil explains the Dead to his kids

- Seeing a dude doing coke off his dashboard at a Dead show

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_499_112018.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 4:48pm EDT

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's third album, Aoxomoxoa.

Show notes:

- Recorded at CompCon world HQ

- Aoxomoxoa was released in 1969

- A big year for rock music

- Tons of legendary albums came out: Zeppelin, Who, Beatles, Neil Young, Stooges, MC5, Stones

- First two Dead albums were commercial failures

- Went way over budget in studio, stuck to their guns

- Very experimental sound

- Robert Hunter contributed lyrics to most of the album

- Songs featured eccentric characters, way out lyrics

- Plenty of drugs were part of the process

- The old West, the devil, the rose were recurring themes

- First album ever recorded using 16-track technology

- Band spent $180k on the album

- Jay: A lot to like about this album

- "Dupree's Diamond Blues" sounds like a Kinks song

- "What's Become of the Baby" is 8 minutes of weirdness that should have been left off album

- When bands release unnecessary hits compilations

- There was a definite '60s resurgence in the mid-80s that led to growth in popularity of the Dead at colleges

- And then jam bands really caught on: Phish, Allman Brothers, Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic

- Iconic Dead skull and lightning bolt logo was released in '69

- Phil: Band was very good at mobilizing fanbase

- Dead merch is so unique and well-known

- The confounding popularity of "Africa"

- "China Cat Sunflower" is a Dead classic

- Some songs evolve in concert, some don't get played at all

- Aoxomoxoa sounds like the Dead

- Jay: Jams can be fun, but you don't necessarily want to put them on a record

- We'll listen to more live stuff vs. studio albums going forward

- Next up: Live/Dead

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_498_111318.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:04pm EDT

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's second album, 1968's Anthem of the Sun.

Show notes:

- Recorded at CompCon world HQ

- Anthem of the Sun was recorded in 1967, released in '68

- Very experimental, similar to Zappa's song splicing in the '70s

- Studio and live performances mixed together

- An early concept album

- Songs would evolve through the years in performance

- Robert Hunter makes his first appearance as a lyricist on this album

- Producer grew frustrated with the band and left during the recording

- The sound of "thick air"

- Triple kazoo attack

- The Dead must have been a shock to fans of bubblegum pop

- Live, the Dead mixed up their shows every night

- This album sounds more jammy, like you would expect a Dead album to sound

- A lot of covers of bluegrass, country, jug bands, blues

- Pearl Jam adopted the Dead practice of releasing official bootlegs of shows

- The Dead used to do more audience banter, but recent incarnations of the group just play with minimal talking

- Anthem of the Sun was the next step in the evolution of the band's sound

- Next up: Aoxomoxoa

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_497_110518.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:06pm EDT

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