I’ll readily admit it…I’m a deadhead.
Have been for a very long time…and I don’t believe it’s something I’ll ever “grow out of.”
At least, I hope not.
I woke early this morning with some weird Dead tune playing in my head…
I reflected for a moment and realized it was from the album Blues for Allah.
Actually, Blues for Allah was my introduction to the Dead, back in the late 70’s.
The tune in my head was one called The Music Never Stopped.
Blues for Allah is one of the Dead’s most esoteric and weird studio recordings…it’s a mixture of hard psychedelic jam infused with jazz and other genres.
The title track for the album is a eulogy to former Saudi Arabia King Faisal, a fan of the Grateful Dead who was murdered in the year the album was released.
You can get the album in its entirely here.
One of my most memorable live Dead shows was in Charlotte, N.C. I guess it must have been like 1985. I went with a couple deadhead buddies…driving an old VW van, of course.
I remember being molested harshly by the Charlotte police on the way in…for no reason other than we looked “hippie”, I guess.
We had dropped some really good acid (you could always get that at Dead shows) and I was tripping pretty heavily throughout the show. Towards the end, the band was playing a Dylan tune and either projecting, or I, along with the entire audience, was hallucinating, some grand image on the stadium ceiling.
It was, well, just plain weird and exuberant fun.
Our plan was to move on to the next show in Norfolk. We hooked up with some deadhead chicks heading in the same direction. However, I got sidetracked and ended up staying in Greensboro, N.C. with some girl I knew there. The others continued on.
And that’s how it was back in those days, when Jerry was still around.
Flash forward about a lifetime later and I remember my last Dead show, while I was a practicing lawyer, again in Charlotte…with my ex-wife.
No acid this time!
Jerry died that same year.
And suddenly the Dead were no more…at least not in the pure form that I had come to know and love over so many years.
So, why do I say that my life is like the Grateful Dead?
Well, if the members of the Dead were anything they were nonconformists.
And if I’m anything, it’s nonconformist. That’s why I find myself sitting here in the jungles of Costa Rica, typing out this post…rather than in Charlotte, being an elevator jockey.
The Dead was an eclectic mix, both in terms of the members of the band itself, and the music they played.
There has never been anything like the Dead. They played everything from heavy duty psychedelic, to folk, blues, bluegrass, R&B and country. One of my favorite Dead country covers is Merle Haggard’s Mama Tried.
In essence, with the Dead, there just weren’t any boundaries.
The Dead were musical scientists. They experimented with different mixes of sounds and genres. I’ve heard some crazy stories about their studio sessions. They liked to throw things together to see what might “work.” They weren’t afraid to take risks.
And, boy, do I ever do that. This blog is an experiment. My life in Latin America has been a continuous “risk.” Some aspects of my life here have proven disastrous for sure. But it has been worth it.
The Dead never thought of selling out, for any reason, especially not for money. I respect that and desire to emulate their example in what I do for the remaining days I have here.
I sincerely believe in what I’m doing right now. And I will continue to throw things out there into the world to see what might resonate…all consistent with my worldview, of course.
They were financially successful only because they attracted a loyal fan base, a tribe, who followed them to the ends of the earth.
I will readily admit that my world-view, the one this blog is all about, is heavily shaped by music, especially that of the Grateful Dead.
And I am sure they will continue to be an influence until the day I leave this Brokedown Palace.
They were Revolutionary Misfits for sure…
Long live the Dead!
image credit: cabalero5280 via Compfight cc
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