Grateful Dead - Wall of Sound

[BurningSkies]

Without getting into the years and shows and specific tours I like, or depending upon the mood, want to listen to, I really never understood a lot of the flack the Dead took. I have recordings back to the pre-dead era (62 or so) up until the late 80's when I finally was too sad to watch the decay of some of the players and some of the music. For those interested, here's a GD document that lays out some great info about the WOS.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[DeadHeadSF]

Two things I need when listening to the Dead:

I have to be in the mood.

It has to be a live recording, and they have to be "on".

So I guess that's three things. When these factors come together, it's a mighty tasty gumbo.

I'm so tempted to look into that Hard Truckers 2x15... couple of K140s installed to season...

Capitol Theatre, Port Chester NY, June 24 1970, second of 2 shows that day.

It is (in my opinion) the most ON show I've ever heard - and I've only heard it on audience recordings from archive.org. Wish I could've been there in person...

 

[Passinwind]

Capitol Theatre, Port Chester NY, June 24 1970, second of 2 shows that day.

It is (in my opinion) the most ON show I've ever heard - and I've only heard it on audience recordings from archive.org. Wish I could've been there in person...

That's a great one for sure. I had friends at that show, but tickets were really hard to come by and I got shut out. The Capitol was a great sounding room, I saw lots of killer non-Dead concerts there.

Invalid Link Removed was my first Dead show -- not too shabby.

 

[BurningSkies]

That's a great one for sure. I had friends at that show, but tickets were really hard to come by and I got shut out. The Capitol was a great sounding room, I saw lots of killer non-Dead concerts there.

Invalid Link Removed was my first Dead show -- not too shabby.

Fairly classic too. 71 had shorter songs, less jamming and more rocking...and more songs per set!

 

[Passinwind]

Fairly classic too. 71 had shorter songs, less jamming and more rocking...and more songs per set!

Yep, some of that show is on Skull and Roses.

 

[BurningSkies]

Yep, some of that show is on Skull and Roses.

Right up to about 1982 or so, I find there are great show of every tour and era. I have a great fondness for the sound of the boards from 76-78 in terms of actual sound quality. I also really like the 70/71 era and 73/74.

For me, I really have a hard time listening to most audience tapes. Once the stream of Betty's came available it was like night and day between the crappy washed out, old x-generation cassettes I grew up with, and the pristine clean boards that became available. I don't mind a matrix if it's done well either.

The WOS era tapes don't sound great to me...the vocals always sound compressed and nasal. Of course that's due to the fact that they weren't intended for recording, rather live sound.

I love the big lush sound of tapes of the 76-78 era, with some reverb on Jerry's sound and Bobby fairly present in the mix.

 

[millsbass5]

But that it was quite different and unique for its time. Line arrayed, each player with his own dedicated amps and speakers and a fairly sophisticated mic/amp setup...

Sure it was. But Mr.Sky,don't you remember the tonage of dummy cabs on stage back in the 80's?

 

[Passinwind]

Right up to about 1982 or so, I find there are great show of every tour and era. I have a great fondness for the sound of the boards from 76-78 in terms of actual sound quality. I also really like the 70/71 era and 73/74.

For me, I really have a hard time listening to most audience tapes. Once the stream of Betty's came available it was like night and day between the crappy washed out, old x-generation cassettes I grew up with, and the pristine clean boards that became available. I don't mind a matrix if it's done well either.

The WOS era tapes don't sound great to me...the vocals always sound compressed and nasal. Of course that's due to the fact that they weren't intended for recording, rather live sound.

I love the big lush sound of tapes of the 76-78 era, with some reverb on Jerry's sound and Bobby fairly present in the mix.

Yep, I'm with you Bill. I grew up with really grainy multi-generation reel to reel boots, so the Archive stuff is a huge improvement, to say the least.

By the mid 70s I was mainly into fusion and straight ahead jazz, FWIW. I did catch a few great post-hiatus shows though.

 

[BurningSkies]

Yep, I'm with you Bill. I grew up with really grainy multi-generation reel to reel boots, so the Archive stuff is a huge improvement, to say the least.

By the mid 70s I was mainly into fusion and straight ahead jazz, FWIW. I did catchh a few great post-hiatus shows though.

Obviously, the Dead aren't my main musical squeeze, and I grew up with fractured musical interests at best (Dead shows with a mohawk and Exploited T-shirt?), but I do slip back into it now and again. I have a big dusty box of old cassettes that have been following me around for decades...and once the Archives opened, things got a LOT more pleasurable.

I do feel bad that I didn't download More than the hundred or so shows I grabbed back when all the boards were fully downloadable. I am happy that I can still grab boards with Audio Hijack if I really want them, though its a bit more of a pain in the ass to get them to track properly. Back then, I thought they were here to stay...and as the remnants of the band keep releasing stuff, those great free boards keep getting pulled.

 

[Passinwind]

Obviously, the Dead aren't my main musical squeeze, and I grew up with fractured musical interests at best (Dead shows with a mohawk and Exploited T-shirt?), but I do slip back into it now and again.

Heh...somehow I got coerced into playing in a Deadhead band in mid-80s Seattle. There were some very famous grungers hanging at our shows and band house, truly bizarre that was. Maybe they liked the Ornette and Zappa interludes.

 

[joe vegas]

'71 was a perfect jewel of a year. the band at a crystalline high-water mark- confident, with the lysergic fires of 68-69 still burning in them, but tempered and sharpened in song structure by workingman's and american beauty... there's a grit, an edgy density and complexity to '71 Dead that, to my ears, is almost like a sub-category in their vast catalogue. '72 saw a shift that's evidenced by the europe canon, and each subsequent year has a certain set of signatures that identify them.. but man, 71 was tough and ferocious, and phil's tone and ideas were nonpareil.

 

[BurningSkies]

Heh...somehow I got coerced into playing in a Deadhead band in mid-80s Seattle. There were some very famous grungers hanging at our shows and band house, truly bizarre that was. Maybe they liked the Ornette and Zappa interludes.

Back in the 80's music wasn't 'formatted' like it is today. Many don't remember and some younger people may not remember, but you could turn on the radio and hear new music right next to music from the 60's. My first band was a combination of classic rock and punk stuff.

Oddly, of the 'classics' I've met Zappa, and a few of the Dead (Phil, Bobby and Billy) and that's it.

 

[BurningSkies]

'71 was a perfect jewel of a year. the band at a crystalline high-water mark- confident, with the lysergic fires of 68-69 still burning in them, but tempered and sharpened in song structure by workingman's and american beauty... there's a grit, an edgy density and complexity to '71 Dead that, to my ears, is almost like a sub-category in their vast catalogue. '72 saw a shift that's evidenced by the europe canon, and each subsequent year has a certain set of signatures that identify them.. but man, 71 was tough and ferocious, and phil's tone and ideas were nonpareil.

I really like 70, not for only their split acoustic/electric gigs, but also because they had some of the speed of the early days mixed with more rough-rockin' stuff with sharp edges, and retained the acid-jam without being all out.

 

[Passinwind]

'71 was a perfect jewel of a year. the band at a crystalline high-water mark- confident, with the lysergic fires of 68-69 still burning in them, but tempered and sharpened in song structure by workingman's and american beauty... there's a grit, an edgy density and complexity to '71 Dead that, to my ears, is almost like a sub-category in their vast catalogue. '72 saw a shift that's evidenced by the europe canon, and each subsequent year has a certain set of signatures that identify them.. but man, 71 was tough and ferocious, and phil's tone and ideas were nonpareil.

+1
Pigpen was still kicking hard in 71 too. This was the second show I saw, not too shabby either. The New Riders opened on some of the shows in 71 too, with Jerry on pedal steel. Good times.

 

[eban3]

I saw them with this system outdoors on 2 occasions , Watkins Glen music festival and Dillon stadium in Hartford , it was impressive I remember in particular anywhere you walked in Dillon it sounded like you had headphones on ...sonically perfect

 

[KJung]

Back in the 80's music wasn't 'formatted' like it is today. Many don't remember and some younger people may not remember, but you could turn on the radio and hear new music right next to music from the 60's. My first band was a combination of classic rock and punk stuff.

Oddly, of the 'classics' I've met Zappa, and a few of the Dead (Phil, Bobby and Billy) and that's it.

The cool thing is that satellite radio has brought that vibe back pretty nicely on the air.

 

[svtb15]

That is just about the size of my beloved Bag ends that i bought in 1983. The Bag End S-15D-B . Bag End also made me a custom 215 version.. I sold it a few years ago with its road case.. May be one of the finest 215 cabs that i ever heard....
I used a top box to get a more FR sound.. but the 115 and 215 just killed.
And like your spec they were DEEP.. about 24- 25" IIRC

PM TB'er Rusty the Scoob. He posted dimensions on another forum (25.5" deep x 20" wide x 30" tall) and mentioned that he was looking to build one for the Dead tribute band he plays in.

 

[BurningSkies]

The cool thing is that satellite radio has brought that vibe back pretty nicely on the air.

No satellite for me...the fewer 'subscription' services I have, the happier I am. I'm glad that there are places for people to hear music that isn't genre-ized. I grew up in the greater Boston area, and good radio was one of the perks. It meant the 'big' stations like BCN were still DJ/local chart driven and that there were also plenty of college radio stations to play stuff that was on the fringe.

Of course, it did mean that I got a fair amount of Aerosmith, J. Geils, Cars, and Boston, etc...which would make anyone a bit squirrely.

 

[KJung]

No satellite for me...the fewer 'subscription' services I have, the happier I am. I'm glad that there are places for people to hear music that isn't genre-ized. I grew up in the greater Boston area, and good radio was one of the perks. It meant the 'big' stations like BCN were still DJ/local chart driven and that there were also plenty of college radio stations to play stuff that was on the fringe.

Of course, it did mean that I got a fair amount of Aerosmith, J. Geils, Cars, and Boston, etc...which would make anyone a bit squirrely.

I grew up in St. Louis in the late 60's early 70's with KSHE 95, which was another one of the founding 'album rock' stations. Fun time to grow up.

Satellite is wonderful for me and worth every penny, since I play on the road so much, and can always get the same stations, whether I'm in Kansas City or Chicago or Louisville or whatever. No commercials either. Pretty cool.

 

[BurningSkies]

I grew up in St. Louis in the late 60's early 70's with KSHE 95, which was another one of the founding 'album rock' stations. Fun time to grow up.

Satellite is wonderful for me and worth every penny, since I play on the road so much, and can always get the same stations, whether I'm in Kansas City or Chicago or Louisville or whatever. No commercials either. Pretty cool.

That's cool. I have a stereo with a full USB/iPod/iPhone interface, have a 160g iPod for my car and use my phone for streaming music, so it pretty much equals the same thing!