General discussion

Yesterday I offered copies if the Playboy After Dark DVD set to the first two readers who could tell me what instrument Tom Constanten played on “Mountains of the Moon.” The correct answer is harpsichord – not just on Playboy after Dark, but on the Aoxomoxoa album as well, by the way. The winners are … Read more

Listening closely to the first segment of the Dead’s appearance on Playboy After Dark, you hear Jerry, ostensibly offering party chatter – the conceit of the show is that it’s a party in Hugh Hefner’s penthouse apartment – saying: “So there we were. There were seven of us, armed to the teeth with Buck knives, … Read more

I’m going to play live on Kevin Vance’s “Patchwork Quilt” program on KALW 91.7 (San Francisco) Saturday, July 14, at 5:00 pm PDT

I just got the DVD set Playboy After Dark, Collection Two, featuring the Dead’s January 18, 1969 appearance. Everyone is in very colorful clothes – Jerry in a serape! and sans eyeglasses. First song is “Mountains of the Moon,” with Jerry playing a slotted-head Martin acoustic – with nylon strings, I’m pretty sure. “St. Stephen” … Read more

After spending an hour and a half on the phone with them (and signing a document), I can confirm that I’m going to be working as a programming consultant for the new Grateful Dead channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. Beyond that, it’s not for me to reveal the details. Pretty much everything I suggested was … Read more

Michael Bell posted this on the Grateful Dead Hour mailing list; I repost it here with his permission. I listen to a fair bit of classical music and have studied music. I just got the Dead Symphony CD a few days ago and have listened to it twice now. As noted, most other orchestral versions … Read more

Bob Weir interview with Bill Lynch in the Charleston Gazette: “Jam bands occupy a place that’s ground zero in the file-sharing demographic,” Weir said. File sharing, he said, is not to be confused with tape sharing, which was never the same thing. From the ’60s through the ’90s, bands like the Grateful Dead encouraged fan … Read more

I have a habit of buying Vanity Fair only for reading on transcontinental fights; I don’t know why I am not a regular subscriber, because every issue I read is full of great stuff. The August issue is no exception. I read a piece by Buzz Bissinger on the life and death of Barbaro that … Read more

JUST CONFIRMED: Hookahville, at Legend Valley in Thornville OH (just east of Columbus). eKoostik Hookah, Dark Star Orchestra, and others. I play Friday, August 31 1:00-2:30 pm and Saturday, September 1, noon to 1:00 pm.

Jon Winer posted this on the GD Hour mailing list; I repost it here with his permission. My sets and the Zen Tricksters‘ sets, and others from the festival (although not DSO’s and probably not Keller Williams’), will be available for download from digitalsoundboard.net From: Jon Winer Subject: GratefulFest 2007– Day 1 Date: Thu, 5 … Read more