The One That Got Away

Doctor Fantasy is in. I'll handle the store for today. Tonight's little story is a Rock and Roll fable. There was this guy named Dan whose parents had a garage sale with some neighbors. One of them came over with a crate of records. Dan went though them and came across a copy of "The Kingsmen in person - featuring Louie Louie." He thought it looked interesting but didn't buy it. His younger brother bought it for a quarter. By the time he figured out that the album was worth a lot, it was no where to be scene. Flash forward around 30 years later, Dan found himself at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, WA. They have a display featuring music from the Pacific Northwest area. The Kingsmen are from Portland, OR. Behind the glass is another copy of the same record that he once held in his hands. It could have been his, but he let it get away.



So to honor this song, let's sing to it's praises: Louie Louie.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
September 20, 1993
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY
listen here


Grateful Dead
April 26, 1969
Electric Theater
Chicago, Il
released as Dick's Picks Vol. 26

Grateful Dead
December 28, 1969
International Speedway
Hollywood, FL
listen here

Hunter S. Thompson

Recently, I was reminded of this renegade gonzo writer with the recent release of the group The Band of Heathens. They dedicate the song "LA County Blues" to his memory. I was introduced to his writings when I was around 18 years old. He set for me an example of not putting up with the hypocrisy of governments and institutions. This of course put me in a course that was ripe for strife. Some things are are worth fighting against like the falsehoods put out by a corrupt entertainment system. Motivational posters have made an impact to some. Here are some based on famous sayings of HST. I saw him lecture back in 1988. He was late, of course, but he came out with a quart bottle of Chivas Regal and a toy that he picked up at the airport. He rambled incoherently for a hour and half. He was exactly as portrayed in his books. You can't be more out front than that. It is a real shame that he ended his life the way he did though.

The strange connection between Hunter S. Thompson and the Grateful Dead goes back to two different books both written at the same time: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolf and Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs by Hunter S. Thompson. The two authors met and arranged a meeting between the Hells Angels and The Merry Pranksters at Ken Kesey's place at La Honda. This party forged a bond that continued for many years after the fact. The meeting of Bikers and Hippies took a huge thumping at Altamont, but you will always count on some bikers as being deadheads.

Music for today:

Bob Dylan
February-March 1961
East Orange, NJ
Gleason Tape

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
November 30, 2008
Kahului, Maui, Hawaii
listen here (lots of christmas music throughout performance)

Fleetwood Mac
January 30, 1970
The Warehouse
New Orleans, LA
listen here (put in the search engine Fleetwood Mac)

Hot Buttered Rum
November 20, 2008
East Hartford Community Center
East Hartford, CT
listen here (not the same recording that I have)

David Hidalgo & Louie Perez
November 29, 2008
State Theatre
Minneapolis, MN
listen here (Put David Hidalgo in search engine on site. It will come up as the first show.)

Grateful Dead
March 28, 1993
Knickerbocker Arena
Albany, NY
listen here

A Good Reason to Clean

I found a couple of good reasons for cleaning today. I got my PC back from the shop, but I need to find a few discs of important programs that I have to reload onto it. I found two out of three. I have to go out and buy the third one tomorrow. The rest of the day was spent getting the place ready for a visit from a friend. She spent a couple of hours this evening then needed to leave. It all that work cleaning tired me out something fierce. I didn't get much of a chance to listen to a lot of music today, but I did have some play in the background. I would like to share some more though of the that compilation that I put together. Here are six more entries: Money; Eggs and Sausage; The Number of the Beast; So Long and Thanks for All the Fish; Willin'; Roll Over Beethoven (this is the best version, and is better than the one posted earlier)



Music for today:



Grateful Dead
September 19, 1990
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY
Matrix
Released as Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 1

Music for the Car

The music in this blog so far has been stuff I have been listening to at home. I have a collection of tunes that have been making a regular rotation in my CD player in my car while I am out and about doing stuff. It is a seven disc set of tunes that I culled from the Internet. I will share some of these songs as we go along starting with the very first ones on disc one: Science Fiction/Double Feature; Time Warp; and I'm Waiting for the Man.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
March 19, 1990
Civic Center
Hartford, CT
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 21, 1990
Copps Coliseum
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
listen here

Grateful Dead
July 16, 1990
Rich Stadium
Orchard Park, NY
listen here

Grateful Dead
September 18, 1990
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY
Matrix
released as Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 1

Billy McLaughlin

I was channel surfing tonight, and I ran across a special on my local PBS station featuring Billy McLaughlin. He is an amazing guitarist that had a crippling disease. This disease caused him to have to relearn how to play the guitar. I had the good fortune of meeting him in grade school. While in high school, I was in the musical "Godspell", and he was in our orchestra. After high school, he moved to California to pursue his career. I run into him every now and then. He is worth checking out. Here is his website. Here is a link to one of his videos. Here is another song: Fingerdance.

Music for today:

Grateful Dead
December 31, 1989
Oakland Coliseum
Oakland, CA
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 16, 1990
Capital Centre
Landover, MD
listen here

Grateful Dead
March 18, 1990
Civic Center
Hartford, CT
listen here

A Plan Is Coming Together

With today being the beginning of December, my thoughts are on the end of the year. I will down in the sunshine of Florida wearing shorts and tee shirts and soakin up the warmth. By that time of year, I will need it. Here in Minnesota, it real cold during the winter monthes. I will have monthes more of cold weather to endure, but at least I will have the memory of the warmth.

Though the song "A Long December" is based on the geographic nature of California, the feelings of the song are something I can relate. I visit the hospital often for my treatments, and it more of a chore at times though it is helping tremendously.

Music today was a continuation of the DSO file:

Dark Star Orchestra
March 25, 2007
The Crystal Ballroom
Portland, OR
they recreated: October 26, 1985 Sun Dome, University of Southern Florida, Tampa, FL
filler Birdsong> The Weight
FOB Audience recording by myself

Dark Star Orchestra
March 5, 2008
Jannus Landing
St. Petersburg, FL
They recreated: December 28, 1991 Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA
filler: We Bid You Goodnight
FOB Audience recorded by myself

Dark Star Orchestra
July 23, 2008
10,000 Lakes Festival
Detroit Lakes, MN
I listened to my own recording, but there is another very good recording on LMA. listen here

Dark Star Orchestra
December 28, 2008
The National
Richmond, VA
They recreated: December 2, 1981 Assembly Hall, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL
listen here

Map of the Human Heart

There was a series on the History Channel where they showed colored film that was found of World War II after a an extensive search. It reminded me of a film that came out in back in 1993 called "Map of the Human Heart." It is very moving movie that spans the lives of tw very different people from their first contact as children through their adulthood. It also takes place during WWII. It has one of the best endings of a movie I have ever seen. There have been other movies with similar endings, but not this romantic. I am a romantic at heart, but I only do it in small doses for now. That could change. Here is a brief rundown of the movie.



Music for today:



Dark Star Orchestra
November 11, 2008
Capitol Center for the Arts
Concord, NH
Audience Recording
Set One:
Not Fade Away>
China Cat Sunflower>
I Know You Rider
Jack Straw
Lazy River Road
Mama Tried>
Mexicali Blues
Bird Song
Let Me Sing Your Blues Away
Minglewood Blues
Tangled Up in Blue

Set Two
Viola Lee Blues>
Playing in the Band>
Help on the Way>
Slipknot>
Franklin Tower's>
Jam>
D/S>
St. Stephen>
William Tell Bridge>
The Eleven>
Attics of My Life>
Playing in the Band
Encore:
Box of Rain>
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds


Dark Star Orchestra
January 21, 2007
Val Air Ballroom
West Des Moines, IA
Soundboard recording
Recreated April 5, 1989 Crisler Arena, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
filler: On the Road Again*
*dedicated to the crew


Dark Star Orchestra
January 24, 2007
The Cabooze
Minneapolis, MN
recreated: February 17, 1973 St. Paul Auditorium, St. Paul, MN
Filler: The Race is On
(I was able to figure out what show this was by the odd combo of Here Comes Sunshine>China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider. The Grateful Dead only played that combination once, and it was at this show.)

The last two shows were recorded by myself. I don't know how to upload them to any of the servers. There was a vine started concerning these. Here is a link.