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From: mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (SIMON)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: RE: Their Music: Grateful or Dead?
Message-ID: <294@mhuxr.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Apr-85 08:29:20 EST
Article-I.D.: mhuxr.294
Posted: Tue Apr 16 08:29:20 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Apr-85 01:01:47 EST
References: <2463@fritz.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 42

> John Gilbert:
> Marcel describes "those jams! In a word, SLOPPY!!!".  Well, I suppose I can't
> disagree.  But, there are other words too ... like TWISTED, OBSCURE, LOST,
> BEAUTIFUL, SPACY, INCREDIBLE, SLEEPY, SPICY, DELICATE, ABSTRACT, PERFECT (as
> well as imperfect, as Marcel points out).  Some shows are better than others.
> ... Very few bands are willing to jam this way in front of a crowd.  My experience
> is that it is well worth their effort.  To me, they have a winning record.
> 
You (and a couple of other folks who have responded to my posting) are missing
my point. I don't disagree with the concept of jamming, but with its execution.
If you are going to improvise, do it right. A sloppy jam is bad music,
no matter how noble the intentions

> Marcel, you state: " ...too often they just mark time while waiting for someone
> to have a decent idea that the jam can coalesce around."  What is "too often"
> for you?
More than once per concert. This has been the case at every show that I have
attended.

> I guess much of what you say could be percieved by some.  But, thank God,
> there is a strong, large group of individuals, DeadHeads, who like the Dead
> as they are, for what they are.  That should validate what they do
> sufficiently.

The gist of this posting seems to be: "it's not the music that counts, but
the experience" (whatever it is) and "all we deadheads like it, so it's OK".
Those are some pretty lame justifications. The first implies that the
Dead are interesting because their concerts are an occasion to shed social
inhibitions, scream, go crazy and other adolescent behavior. I hope
that is not the case. I am trying to find out what in the Dead's MUSIC
holdds such attraction. If the music is unimportant, then where's the beef?
I like the Dead's music; I often find it sloppily executed. I have heard
no valid reason for such sloppiness yet, and I am not convinced there is
ever a reason for sloppiness. I deliberately used examples preserved on
vinyl because these do not become lost in the memories of "an incredible
concert experience", but can be re-examined later, with some objectivity.
I feel my questions still stand: what is in the *music* that can command
such fan loyalty? why do deadheads accept the proposition that a concert
will be successful purely because of chance (the band members are collectively
hot *that night*)?

Marcel Simon