Here is the latest news from David Gans, producer and host of the Grateful Dead Hour.
“Brokedown Palace” video
While David Gans is well known for his Grateful Dead reportage, his own musical career typically focuses on his well-crafted original material. However last year, as the Dead celebrated their 50th anniversary, Gans released It’s a Hand-Me-Down, which presents songs from the Dead catalog in a “solo electric” setting. Today, we premiere a video which features Gans’ version of “Brokedown Palace.” He explains to Relix, “Grateful Dead songs speak to the heart and soul on so many levels. ‘Brokedown Palace’ often feels to me like a song about death, about shedding the aches and pains of one’s aged body. So [filmmaker] Matt Mays and I thought it would be appropriate to use photos from my life in the video. Not that I’m in any hurry to leave this world!”
Berkeley Public Library benefit Thu 6/2
Join the Berkeley Public Library Foundation on June 2, 2016 at 7:00pm for a special gathering hosted by noted authors and chroniclers of the Grateful Dead, Peter Richardson and David Gans.
Richardson, an American Studies professor at San Francisco State University and author of No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead, will join David Gans, journalist and author of This is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, to share perspectives on the cultural milieu which shaped and was shaped by The Grateful Dead.
The event will take place at Spats on Shattuck, one of Jerry Garcia’s Berkeley hangouts in the 1970s.
Tickets are $40 with proceeds benefitting the Berkeley Public Library and can be purchased here. Appetizers and beer are included in the ticket price.
This event is part of AfterWORDS, the Berkeley Public Library Foundation’s seasonal series of up close events with artists, authors and thinkers. Proceeds support It’s Time for Central, a fundraiser for Berkeley Public Library’s new Teen Room at the downtown Central Library.
About the Organization
The Berkeley Public Library Foundation raises funds for and advocates on behalf of the public library. The Foundation provides funding for library innovation and to help sustain the excellence of the buildings, services, collections and programs at all five locations of Berkeley Public Library. The current focus is on the “It’s Time for Central” campaign for improvements to the first and second floors at the Central Library, including a dynamic new space for teens, improved lighting and technology, a flexible reference room for expanded community activities, a more welcoming entryway, and display areas for public art. The Foundation also works to increase public awareness in the wider community that the public library is a living, evolving institution vital to our diverse community.
Grateful Dead Hour no. 1443
Week of May 16, 2016
Part 1 25:14
Billy and the Kids 4/9/16 Warfield Theater, San Francisco
FEEL LIKE A STRANGER
Grateful Dead, July 1978: The Complete Recordings (Rhino)
IT’S ALL OVER NOW (7/5/78)
Part 2 29:40
Interview with Peter Simon 1975
Jerry Garcia part 1
Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead
EASY WIND
Interview with Peter Simon 1975
Jerry Garcia part 2
Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead
NEW SPEEDWAY BOOGIE
Mischief, from The Best of The Vineyard Sound (Rhino)
THE WHEEL
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:
The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. On Friday, May 27, The Cap celebrates Memorial Day weekend by waving that flag with Phil Lesh & Friends. Lesh will be joined by Warren Haynes, John Medeski, Eric Krasno, and Tony Leone. Events, information, and ticketing at thecapitoltheatre.com.
Dead and Company – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge – on tour from coast to coast June 10 through July 30. Complete details and ticketing at deadandcompany.com.
Grateful Dead Hour no. 1442
Week of May 9, 2016
Part 1 28:37
Interview with Peter Simon 1975
Jerry Garcia part 1
Grateful Dead, 30 Trips Around the Sun (Rhino)
TRUCKIN’ (9/28/75)
Part 2 26:51
Interview with Peter Simon 1975
Jerry Garcia part 2
The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack (Rhino)
GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELIN’ BAD
Interview with Peter Simon 1975
Jerry Garcia part 3
Chuck Berry, The Definitive Collection (Chess)
PROMISED LAND
Peter Simon is a photographer and writer who lives on Martha’s Vineyard. He has published many amazing photos of the Grateful Dead, which you can find along with his photos of the Vineyard and other wonderful stuff online at petersimon.com. I met Peter in Jamaica in November of 1982 and collaborated with him on a book called Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead, which was published in 1985 and which led indirectly to my getting into the radio business. He did this interview with Jerry during the time the Dead were not touring. Jerry was working on The Grateful Dead Movie; the Dead were working in Bob Weir’s studio on the material that became the album Blues for Allah; and Jerry was just a couple of months away from debuting the first edition of the Jerry Garcia Band. Peter was kind enough to allow me to use quotes from the interview in our book, and now he’s agreed to let me play the whole thing for you here on the GD Hour. The audio quality is a little bit funky, because he mixed some music in behind the talk in some stretches. But it’s always a treat to hear Jerry talk – he was as articulate and soulful in conversation as he was in his songwriting and performance.
Support for the Grateful Dead Hour comes this week from:
The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, a historic venue whose stage the Grateful Dead played 18 times in 1970 and 71 alone. Dark Star Orchestra will evoke the Grateful Dead’s musical spirit on On Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21. Events, information, and ticketing at thecapitoltheatre.com.
Dead and Company – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti and Oteil Burbridge – on tour from coast to coast June 10 through July 30. Complete details and ticketing at www.deadandcompany.com. That’s Dead and Company, on tour starting June 10th.
Capitol Theatre interview
This Is Why You Should Turn On Your Lovelight with David Gans
Shows are Wednesday, May 4 (with the Broken Angels) and Wednesday, May 11 (solo, with special guest Garrin Benfield). Both shows start at 8.
I’ll be signing books and CDs before and after the show.
More gigs and more info here.