Rob Conroy

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Member Since: 1/22/2001
Total Mixes: 629
Total Feedback: 9267

Billy Sunday & His Shotgun Ragtime Band (Disc 1)

Artist Song
The Grateful Dead  The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) 
The Grateful Dead  New, New Minglewood Blues 
The Grateful Dead  Viola Lee Blues 
The Grateful Dead  Born Cross-Eyed 
The Grateful Dead  Dark Star 
The Grateful Dead  That's It for the Other One: Cryptical Envelopment/Quadlibet for Tender Feet/The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get/We Leave the Castle 
The Grateful Dead  St. Stephen 
The Grateful Dead  Mountains of the Moon 
The Grateful Dead  The Eleven 
The Grateful Dead  Dark Hollow [live at the Fillmore East, 2/13/70] 
The Grateful Dead  Uncle John's Band 
The Grateful Dead  High Time 
The Grateful Dead  Dire Wolf 
The Grateful Dead  Black Peter 
The Grateful Dead  Box of Rain 
The Grateful Dead  Friend of the Devil 

Comment:

This is the first of a three-disc, chronological set covering the seven years (1967-74) by this band that matters to me. Although I really can't stand much of anything that they or any of their side projects did (live or studio) from 1975's Blues for Allah until the present and absolutely detest the uber-lame jam band culture that they spawned, I absolutely *love* their early work. Despite the fact that I have plenty of live shows from this period, for the purposes of this mix, all of the versions here are the "standard", officially-released versions from that time.

Feedback:

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doowad
Date: 11/15/2007
I like a few of their singles off AB & UJB, but I do think the "scene" gets in the way of my enjoyment of their music. As a cosmic convergence, my quad buddy Steve (the Wad) happened to be in San Fran the weekend Garcfa died. He and his brother, in true punk spirit, set out as their goal to get a hippie to spit on a gimp. So Steve launched into a barrage of insults and jokes about deadheads just to piss people off left and right. Although he never actually got spit on, one chick did slap him. The only joke I remember though (or that he remembered through the haze) is the one I have posted before, what do you call a deadhead who just broke up with his girlfriend?
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anthony lombardi
Date: 11/15/2007
well, rob, you already know my stance on this band, so i won't get into that - however, i commend you on your passion, as always
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hemizen
Date: 11/15/2007
Nice S.A.M. Rob. Uncle John's Band and China Cat Sunflower are particular favorites.
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Pop Kulcher
Date: 11/15/2007
Well, for the period you covered, I think you hit most of the studio highlights. I might quibble a bit around the edges (i.e. trading some of the Weir Ace material for, say, "Cosmic Charlie" or "Sugar Magnolia" or Garcia's "The Wheel"), but otherwise I'm with you.
I do have two bigger disagreements. First of all, I think Blues For Allah (the atrocious title suite aside) is one of their best albums, perhaps second only to American Beauty, and I'm hard-pressed to tell why you dislike it so (certainly "Franklin's Tower" is among their finest studio tracks). Yes, they took a decided turn for the worse after that (though I find a couple tracks to like on most of their later subsequent albums), but I wouldn't slight them entirely.
Second, while I understand the tendency among many of us to slag "uber-lame jam band culture," I'll be the first to admit that some of the best times of my life were spent at Dead shows. Whether this was musical, cultural, social, or (most likely) chemical I can't say, but however crappy they may have been in the later years, Jerry's death made a major dent in my happiness level that's never quite been replaced.
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tornadoZ
Date: 11/15/2007
this will be an education for me. of course, they're an institution in the sense doowad mentions, but it'd be nice to try to push the Grateful Dead bumper-sticker mania out of your head and listen to their music for its own sake.
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Sister ZoT Jarvis
Date: 11/16/2007
an education for me as well...
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SwankQueen
Date: 11/16/2007
I'd like to know what all the hype is about, but never dared to ask a Deadhead.
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RetroJoe
Date: 11/16/2007
Fell in love with a Deadhead once... Caused me to buy a few of their albums including their 3 LP set entitled Europe '72 which I still possess (survived me parting with most of my records during a recent move).One of my favorite experiences was attending a performance by the Jerry Garcia Band at The Warfield in San Francisco in the early '90s. Another was a free concert in Golden Gate Park, where The Dead performed (along with CCR, The Airplane, Santana, and Crosby, Stills & Nash) for the 20th anniversary of the Summer of Love.Looks like a fine compilation and I look forward to seeing the rest of the collection.