Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia And The Days Between (Digital Only) (Rhino Entertainment Group) Album Review
Reviewed by Harry Kaplan
The Grateful Dead used to peg the concert length to the duration of an acid trip. The reason that Dead shows got shorter wasn’t because the band personnel got older and out of shape, but because the strength of the acid was diminished over time. We shouldn’t have asked for a better Dead, but stronger acid.
What a tragedy that could have been averted if only the chemists that made our LSD stuck to strong quality assurance standards. I blame the bloody chemists! A pox on you and your family! It’s all on your shoulders. You are the reason we had to endure 5 song first sets. We can do better. Tell your acid provider that you demand stronger acid. If enough of us complain, we can make a difference.
The two events are not exactly related, I just wanted a way to work in my theory. I thought this forum would work pretty well. These are the opinions of the writer and no one else. Kids, do not try this at home. We are professionals in a controlled environment.
This collection is quite a head-scratcher. Not that the music is bad, because it isn’t. In fact, the music is quite good. All of these songs are all widely available for free and of the same quality as this collection. These songs were taken from some of the most iconic Dead shows in history. Every Dead Head worth their salt have these songs already. Places like Barton Hall, The Richmond Mosque, The Boston Garden, and Winterland.
If the goal is to try to introduce the Grateful Dead to a new audience and this is seen as a good introduction to the Dead lexicon, then I agree with this strategy. I don’t think this will sell to any Heads unless they are the kind of people that like to own everything the Dead puts out officially. Other than that, I don’t see a whole lot of upside for sales.
I think it is difficult to expect many people to buy music that they already have for free. I think that going the collector’s item route was good one. But, if everything is a collector’s item then nothing really is. I do understand the conundrum.
I think the route now should be to make very specialized collections that take the time out of Heads doing the leg work themselves. For instance, an album called “Phil Speak” of nothing but Phil Lesh talking at concerts through the years, I would pay for that. I would pay big $s for that.
Also, they used a picture of the band with Pigpen, but none of the songs on this collection have Pigpen singing. None of the songs are even during the Pigpen era. Something is afoul here.
The music is really outstanding. If you want to buy it, rest assured the music is good.
Listen to Grateful Dead, Celebrating Jerry Garcia And The Days Between (Live)
Buy Grateful Dead, Celebrating Jerry Garcia And The Days Between (Live)