Jam Bands II

I took another trip up to New Jersey, and the soundtrack to the second half of the journey was Dick’s Pick #4, the Grateful Dead live at the Fillmore East in February 1970.  The Allman Brothers were the opening act at that show, but their famous live album was recorded at a headlining show the year after.  Much of this set was actually from Anthem of the Sun, including a 30 minute “That’s It For the Other One”, and a 14 minute “Caution: Do Not Stop On Tracks” – plus a 30 minute version of “Dark Star”.  The GF and her son were not impressed with the remainder of the set, which I played for them later.  Panda was also relieved, rather than upset, when I told her that I had purchased one ticket, not two, to see Widespread Panic at Coney Island in September.  “Music for men”, is how a friend’s wife described this type of music – although the audience typically has a good proportion of women.  Just not from China or Russia, it seems.

I’d last addressed this issue on 11/14/2008.  Since that time I’d heard more – while still listening to the others.  Here are revised comments.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB).  Robinson is better known as the singer for the Black Crowes.  Apparently he doesn't get along with his brother Rich.  He formed this jam band which sounds - hardly surprisingly enough - remarkably like the Grateful Dead.  They have three albums, Big Moon Ritual, The Magic Door, and Phosphorescent Harvest, with a fourth that just came out, Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel. I saw them in concert recently.  If you like jam bands, you'll probably like this one.  If you don't, you won't.

Skid Row.  The Gary Moore incarnation from the late 60s and early 70s, not the Sebastian Bach version from the 80s.  In Live and On Song, they play two extended jams (including an endless drum solo), “Christian Blues Brother” and “Felicity”.

Quicksilver Messenger Service.  Has John Cippolina, who I’d heard with Man.  I listened to Happy Trails and enjoyed it.

Allman Brothers Band.  I mentioned them earlier, but hadn’t heard more than Fillmore East.  Like the Dead, they have two drummers, Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson.   I chronicled them in more detail very recently.

Widespread Panic.   Based in Jawja like the Allman Brothers; they’ve been around since 1986.  John Bell is their singer-guitarist, i.e. their Jerry Garcia.  They sound very similar to the Dead and ABB. 

Phish.  Bernie Sanders fans, they’re from Vermont.  Their “Jerry” is Trey Anastasio, who played with the Dead on their most recent “farewell” tours.  These guys only have one guitarist and one drummer.  I’ve seen them twice in concert, in 2011 and 2013, both at Merriweather Post Pavilion. 

Frank Zappa.   We think of Zappa as a humorous artist, but his earlier material had some serious jamming going on.  Hot Rats is the go-to album for his jamming.  Sadly, I never got to see Zappa play while he was still alive – he played in Paris in 1984, shortly before we saw our first concert, AC/DC – but I’ve been making up for it by seeing Dweezil carry on with Zappa Plays Zappa. 

Santana.   Before he settled down to shorter, more radio-friendly songs, he was into long, spaced out jams, which he briefly revisits on his latest album, IV, with a tribute, “Fillmore East” – which clocks in at 7:44, the longest song on the album.  Neil Schon and Greg Rolie – probably more famous with Journey – return for that album.   As his later output has been substandard – aside from “Smooth” – I was pleasantly surprised at how good this album was.  Live at the Fillmore 1968 – before Woodstock, even – has a 14 minute “Soul Sacrifice” and a 30 minute “Freeway”. 

Fleetwood Mac.  Another band that jammed before they found fame.  The first three albums have Peter Green on guitar, and it was several albums later – long after Green’s departure - that Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks came around.  Green was a big fan of the Dead and loved to jam.   I got the Boston Tea Party live album, which includes both “Black Magic Woman” and “Green Manalishi”.  Fans of Santana and Judas Priest take note, neither of those songs came on the first three FM albums, so this live album was a good way to get the original versions – albeit in a live, jam band context – of those songs.  

PHISH

Last weekend I saw Phish in concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion, in Columbia, Maryland.  There was no opening act, and the band played two sets.  I enjoyed myself, as I imagined I would (although I did start getting tired towards the end of the second set).  Most of my analysis on this band, however, will have to involve the obvious comparisons with the Grateful Dead.

 This was a band I only got into very recently – just as it took me ages to get into the Grateful Dead long after having first been exposed to them.  The similarities between the two are far more materially significant than the differences, which are more superficial than meaningful:  missing one guitarist and one drummer, and from Vermont instead of San Francisco.  Both bands are jam bands, both bands play two sets per show, both bands play different sets each night, and both bands encourage taping and even release shows to the fans.  Trey Anastasio (a slimmed down, mellower Chuck Norris) and Jerry Garcia both play obscure custom guitars instead of well-known professional models from Gibson or Fender. 

            Even more than being structurally identical, is the substantive identicality as well. I solicited my Facebook friends to tell me about Dead covers performed by Phish, and the only example which came up was “Terrapin Station”.  By now I have a live album, Live in Brooklyn, and multiple nights on this tour, and there are no Dead covers to be found.  The reason for this seems to be mere redundancy:  musically, for all intents and purposes, Phish are a Dead cover band.  About the most tangible and articulable difference I can perceive in the music itself is that Phish are a bit heavier and more intense, sort of a Dead-on-steroids deal. 

             Having said that, Jerry Garcia is still dead, Jim.  I’ve seen “The Dead” (the post-Garcia reunited band) three times, Ratdog (Bobby Weir’s solo band) once, and Dark Star Orchestra (premier Dead tribute band) once.  My experience with Garcia-era Dead is limited to three shows:  Grateful Dead at RFK in 1992, again in 1995 (Jerry’s last tour), and the Jerry Garcia Band at the Capital Center (yes, I know JGB is different than GD).  All the post-Garcia shows were well-attended by an aging crowd which, from what I can see, consists of 70% Garcia-era veterans.  While I heard no complaints about the quality of the post-Garcia shows, I haven’t heard anyone claim they were just as good, or better, nor do I expect anyone to say so.  The Phish show was about 80% identical to all of these in sound, in experience, by every conceivable measure.  While I smell marijuana at practically every concert I attend – somewhere, at least ONE person is toking up within sniffing range of me – here I was surrounded by no less than 10 separate people in different parts of the audience, none of whom were hassled or arrested by security or police (of course, they were all discreetly puffing from an easily concealable pipe or rolled joint and not from a 12” bong).  Aside from some bitter resentment that Phish are somehow ripping off the Dead and claiming to be original – which I don’t share, as similar as they may be – I see no reason why any diehard Deadhead would choose to miss out on a Phish show, or why they wouldn’t enjoy the show if they chose to go.