More commentary on the sad situation

Peter Braverman pointed me at a blog called Cullen Sweeney, American Dreamer. In an entry titled “Requiem for the Dead,” Sweeney writes: In a lot of ways, the Grateful Dead were more of an idea than a band. Which is a clumsy way of saying that the fact they played musical instruments really, really well … Read more

Bob Weir speaks

Bob Weir gave an interview on KBCO in Denver, and the subject came up: Listen to it here. It’s a little jerky, with pieces missing, but I transcribed some of it… We had to cover our asses. What they’re doing is illegal, unless there are arrangements made… particularly in the case of covers – other … Read more

Yet another NYTimes story about GD/archive

Jon Pareles’ “Critic’s Notebook” column today is titled “The Dead’s Gamble: Free Music for Sale.” A few excerpts: The Dead did a quick turnabout – call it a half-step uptown toodleloo – this week. … The Dead’s pristine soundboard recordings, with minimal crowd noise, are no longer available for quick downloading, but can be played … Read more

GD on archive.org, cont’d, and Poor Me

Thoughtful post by Jesse Jarnow on the Live Music Blog… Over the summer, I interviewed Dead lyricist, Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder, and professional righteous dude John Perry Barlow for a Rolling Stone blurblet about archive.org. He mentioned that he and Grateful Dead Productions president Cameron Sears had recently spoken about the situation, with Sears none-too-happy … Read more

And they’re back…

This just in, from Relix: Grateful Dead Downloads Likely To Be Restored at Archive.org Complete recordings of Grateful Dead concerts should once again be available at the online Internet Archive (archive.org) – perhaps as early as tonight. According to Grateful Dead spokesman Dennis McNally, the removal on November 22 of all downloadable Dead recordings from … Read more

GD on archive.org, cont’d

The “Thanksgiving massacre” issue is a week old. The New York Times has covered it, and of course it’s been thrashed out all over cyberspace. Phil Lesh posted a message on his web site that has given many aggrieved heads reason for hope. Here is a post from The Well, by Craig Hillwig (reproduced here … Read more

Grateful Dead on archive.org

Yesterday the Grateful Dead’s archive was removed from public access at archive.org. From the announcement: …the Internet Archive has been asked to change how the Grateful Dead concert recordings are being distributed on the Archive site for the time being. The full collection will remain safe in the Archive for preservation purposes. Here is the … Read more

More Jerry Garcia stuff…

Lots of stories in the media today, on the tenth anniversary of Jerry’s passing. Daily Kos Sacramento Bee Paul Liberatore’s front-page story in the Marin I-J On the Al Franken Show today, they decided to start a campaign to get Jerry on a postage stamp. high Times piece by Mark Miller.

The Days Between

It’s been ten years since Jerry Garcia passed away. Robert Hunter posted this in his online journal at dead.net: August 3, 2005 Ten years since old Jer kicked the bucket? Seems more like fifty. Nothing about his passing seems like “only yesterday,” rather as long ago and far away as my childhood. From the sublime … Read more