Classical Composer Reacts to GRATEFUL DEAD: EYES OF THE WORLD (live in 1991) | The Daily Doug Ep 795 

Grateful Dead is the worlds deepest rabbit hole.

RU-vid needs a love button for when Doug smokes weed and listens to my favorite song ever.

"They aren't the best at what they do, they're the ONLY ONES who do what they do." ~ Bill Graham

It’s difficult to ‘react’ to the Grateful Dead music. Each version of a song is different. Each song takes you on a different journey. It’s about making the music in the moment and having a collective experience. If ‘you know’… you know. 😉 🌹 💀 ✌️⚡️

The version of Eyes of the World on the 1990 live album "Without a Net" is also HIGHLY worth a listen. It features Brent Mydland on keyboards and Branford Marsalis on tenor and soprano sax.

Serious Dead head here - this is by far the best comment section of any dead related video and I’ve read thousands

The beauty of the Grateful Dead is each member playing something different at the same time but it all fits together perfectly.

More Dead = more visits from this guy

Keep playing the Dead i'll keep coming' back!

Hey @Doug.Helvering , thanks for giving the Grateful Dead some long-overdue attention on your channel. There are 110 comments above this as I write, so if you see this I'll be surprised, but here goes: David Crosby once compared the Grateful Dead to an electric Dixieland jazz band - they have four lead instruments, and each improvises a separate melody line. The art of this band is the way these musical ideas interact in a live setting. Listen for that. A couple more thoughts to help get you pointed in the right direction with the Grateful Dead: 1) Just listen to their live stuff. It's where they shine brightest. 2) Eyes of the World is a very calming song, and this version a great example of the band playing well in 1991, but there's *a lot* more to the Grateful Dead than this. They wrote songs in many styles. Not all Grateful Dead songs are as tranquil or soothing as this one. They could do this, but they also did so much more than "just" this. 3) The Grateful Dead's infamous logo is a skull being zapped by a lightning bolt, and that's also their mission statement: they are coming for your mind, and they intend to leave a mark. The Grateful Dead were the original Godfathers of LSD-driven psychedelic rock, and it's important to state that they NEVER (!) stopped being psychedelic, and LSD (and other psychedelics) have always and forever been an essential part of the GD scene. I'm noy saying one should take drugs to enjoy this music, but I will say plainly that Grateful Dead music makes a lot more sense and assumes its full dimension when listened to on mind altering substances, especially psychedelics. Grateful Dead music is made with psychedelics in mind. 4) Lastly, the deepest end of the Grateful Dead's musical pool is their heavily improvised psychedelic classic, "Dark Star". I highly, *highly* recommend listening to this song soon, as it is the beating heart of this band's extensive songbook. There are many great versions, each gloriously different, but for a first listen I emphatically recommend listening the version that opens their 1969 live album, Live/Dead - imho it may be the single best thing they ever put on record, and it is the essence of why they matter so much to so many of us. Dark Star was this band's signature song, and it was played as if everyone in the room was going on a musical journey to the unknown together, band and audience alike. The version that appears on Live/Dead is an especially melodic version that is both very approachable (for this song) and yet will 100% take you to the most distant of galaxies if you let it. The Live/Dead performance, recorded live on 2/27/69, is *THE* touchstone version of a song that undoubtedly launched thousands of trips. This song exemplifies why they matter to so many of us. Imho, you have not heard the full range of this band until you have heard the Live/Dead version of Dark/Star. And turn up the bass! If you got this far, thank you for taking the time to read that, I hope you really get into this band and we get to see you review a more of their live material. Cheers! Edited for punctuation

"It's not about trying to be technical, it's about trying to be a human" - Doug Helvering

Doug is being taken away by the bus as he stares out the back window.😮

Doug, if I could like this more than once, I would. I can say with confidence that we will watch every Dead tune you listen to on this channel, likely several times over. Cheers.

More Dead!!! Love listening with ya Doug!

I miss the shows, lots, and community. Toured from 91, to 95. Greatest time period in my life. Alot has changed .

Probably my favorite Dead song. The bass drives the song. First saw them as the Warlocks. The last time I saw them was Jerry's last CA concert at Shoreline.

immediately taking note of bobby's shorts... we love it.

the Dead almost quite literally a trip. The music took you places. varied landscapes, colors, regions, feelings.

Major7ths are so floaty and happy. Thank you for exposing people to the beauty of the Grateful Dead, particularly live Dead.

The best versions of Eyes come from around 1974.

Bruce was a DEADHEAD, had his own Dead over band in high school. After losing Brent he really helped the whole community get through a difficult time, fulfilling a personal dream, but he wouldn't take the gig, he helped take pressure off of Vince for sure learning that vast catalog, finding your sound, he was in The Tube's, but this was the Grateful Dead. Brent was a huge loss though, a crater. Always feeling the outsider he carved his way into the band, powerful vocals, that B3 he was a beautiful mess, gone too soon. Listen to the finest version of BLOW AWAY 7/7/89 JFK, he's bleeding on stage, living every word. People said "everyone's hairs were standing on end". Watch it, he and his gal were split, could see his daughters picture on the keyboards, review it.

You should check out the version of this song at Nassau with Branford Marsalis

“It just makes you happy” EXACTLY!

Jerry was the son of a bandleader and knew music theory in depth. One of the things that set them apart was Garcia’s surprising compositions that perfectly accompanied Robert Hunter’s lyrics. Rare and beautiful.

I also forgot SO MUCH… Forget the Chords Doug… look at the interplay between Bruce and Jerry G…. Jerry was so thrilled to have him there and was having so much FUN!! Also the other Piano player is Vince Welnick from THE TUBES!!! These folks are accomplished in their own right!!! Btw, Phil L is a classically trained musician and picked up the bass to play with the Dead… So much here to absorb… ask your brother my man…. Enjoy the ride with these folks as I think you will love it… I hope you do, but it’s your call to get on the bus to Terapin my man!!!

My first show! Changed my life.

Jerry clearly loved Bruce's playing. See him smile at Bruce as he plays is so heartwarming :)

sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own😎

I love how Doug just picked out all the chords that took me forever to identify back in the 80s learning this song by ear off of bootleg tapes.

I WAS THERE!!!!

I just got back from Vegas and saw Dead and Company. They are playing every weekend at the Sphere. A new high in human entertainment. Got my Eyes of the World tank filled til next month going back for three more shows! Thanks Doug

Hi Doug ! When you said you want to JUST HEAR MORE - that is called" The moment you got on the the bus !" Welcome aboard dear traveler, Mickey Hart said" We're in the travel business, we take people places !"

"I'm enjoying the shit out of this". Haha me too Doug, me too.

One of the best things about a 48 track recording, you can really hear each individual musician very, very clearly. And like you said Doug, they are all excellent musicians. True professionals at work. Saw them on this tour and it was, as always, stellar. This is less than a year after Keyboardist Brent Mydland passed, hence both Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby are present, Bruce helping Vince learn the music.

Back in the 80's I went to a Dead show, and I met a man selling $5 oranges out of the back of his van in the parking lot. Mind you at the time, grocery store oranges sold for $0.35 each and naturally I was curious. Long conversation short: That was the best gosh darn orange I've ever had in my life!

Thank you for covering the Dead!

Glad you are exploring this band. They are an endless journey.

Great vid today Doug! Personally, I always preferred this song when it was paired "Estimated Prophet" and they jammed on F# minor in 7/4 heading out of "Estimated" into the intro to "Eyes" intro in E maj 4/4. Some of those improvised transitions were incredibly inventive. "Estimated" also does some very odd key changes as well. The verses were in F# minor and the Chorus is in G major. Back in the early 80's the band I was in during high school used to cover this song; "Eyes" is a great dance tune. I think, if you're going to do more Grateful Dead videos, they will probably need to be a little longer than usual; Deadheads tend to think by show (or at least first or second set of a show). Each set tended to make some kind of statement - in an offhand way. Be careful what you wish for! There really isn't anything quite like a well executed Grateful Dead concert. If you ask me, where the band really shined was in their ability to improvise their way from one song into a totally new song without any stops at all - often in very strange keys and meters. A good "Playing in the Band" jam is a good example; they typically go off into a middle section that contained some pretty cool 10/4 modal improv that acts as a springboard to jump to other songs. But at some point they would always do a recapitulation back to "Playing" - but in between there would be an entire set of other songs that would segue from song to song as well. Some of the more psychedelically tinged tunes aren't quite so mellow and placid as "Eyes of the World" is - usually a hard hitting version of "The Other One" was a good deal stormier - but in a really cool way. During the Brent years you would be sure to hear some truly hair raising B-3 organ during "The Other One". I think next time a good "Scarlet Begonias - Fire on the Mountain" or "China Cat Sunflower - I Know You Rider" might be a good choice for something reasonably encapsulated - that won't be an hour or more long.

This lineup was called the Magnificent Seven. These shows with Bruce and Vince were beyond outstanding. I remember these days well.... Jerry playing Rosebud which is the MIDI equipped version of his previous guitar Tiger led to a whole new era of sounds during Space.

Eyes of the World (Live at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ, August 6, 1974) - Jerry & band at their best! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bbdmg_IaTDM.htmlsi=aTunIIjfTxFturdj

I was at this show! It was the 3rd show in a row with my late friend. We saw 6/14/91 in DC, then 6/16/91 and 6/17/91. Good times. Other Eyes of the Worlds to also listen to: 7/8/90 in Pittsburgh (I was there, Crosby, Stills and Nash were the opening act!) and 3/29/90 with Branford Marsalis.

The wife and i love watching your channel... we had literally just said, "haven't seen Doug light up in a while..." 😂😂😂

I was there. Legendary Eyes and got to see it again two weekends ago at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Thanks for giving the Grateful Dead another go.

You sir, are a treasure. It's this kind of thing that make the internet so cool.

The double of Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain is a must by them.

Fantastic! Please more Grateful Dead!

Doug, Billy Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart are up there with Phil Collins and Chester Thompson for me in EXTRAORDINARY live drumming partnerships. Chieck out Space and Drums. One word: WOW

Welcome to what is probably the largest musical rabbit hole in existence! Been waiting patiently for you to really start this journey, Doug. So much music to absorb. So many concerts that have been lovingly preserved by us fans.

Really like what you do with your channel. My two cents: as someone who first saw the Dead in the early seventies and continued into the nineties and has play both guitar and bass in more than a couple of GD/Jamband,. What I always thought was unique to the dead was their use of polyphonic (as opposed to homophonic) texture. Each instrument is in constant conversation with the other. Yes, Jerry is first among equals but at any moment, you can be into what Phil, Bobby or the keyboard player(s) are doing. That and their deconstruction of form by the use of open ended jams that morph into songs and then dissolve back into openness made them truly unique and special. I know there are more than enough suggestions for what's next so here are mine: Playing The Band - dig the use of odd time signatures and the aforementioned use of song/open improv/song structure. I would suggest the studio version from the Bob Weir solo album ACE for it's relative short length and conciseness. Other examples of song -> open improv -> song: Help On The Way/Slipknot/Franklin' Tower - studio version (again for the same reason as above). China Cat Sunflower/Know You Rider - Can't go wrong with Europe 72 but versions from 73 usually feature a cool inserted section known as the "Feeling Groovy" jam Scarlet Begonias/Fire On The Mountain - Barton Hall 77 Personal favorite because I third row in front of Phil - Dancing In The Streets Springfield MA 78. Also, as I am writing this, I'm listening to 11/17.1971 Albuquerque, NM. Pretty awesome! (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-I5jBJFHOev0.html)

Yes! I love when you do Grateful Dead

My first show! Not my last….Thanks Doug!

Need more dead man!!! Love this ❤

In the 1970's (73 and 74) when they wrote this song, they had a Coda in the song that turned into both King Solomon's Marbles and Slipknot (which is an instrumental thing the Dead generally performed between Help On The Way and Franklin's Tower). The coda was pretty damn cool.

Yes, Mixolydian is the mode most used by Garcia. Very impressed you picked up on that. Nice job

Doug, you nailed it; it just makes you happy. And listen to Lesh's imaginative floating bass lines! God, I miss Jerry

Disco was just getting started when this song was written. Keep that in mind.

I was in attendance for this and it was a truly special moment for Deadheads as this was the first and only time I believe that they opened a show with Eyes.

A very rare 1st set Eyes of the World. Think opening song of the show. Bruce was trying to get them change up the setlists a little more.

This is one of my favorite live versions of Eyes. Phil the bass player just tears it up, the sound he’s getting from the bass he’s playing fits him just exactly perfect. Just listen to him. Another good Eyes, is from “without a net” with Branford Marsalis, highly recommend. Thank you for the video! Wow 7:21 was a surprise 😆

I love this dudes vibe so much ☮️💜🍃💨

You are about to enter a very, very deep rabbit hole. A joyful and wounderous journey. The bus came by and I got on, that's where it all began.

We are everywhere, So goes the old deadhead saying. Eyes of the world is a very unusual for an opener. So much so that I had to look it up. Looks like you would have been grooving right along with everyone. Thankfully, the recorded shows are many. Jam on

A fun thing for fans was figuring out what they may play while tuning up. They play a signature note or chord strumming. Tipped you off to the song that was incoming. I was arguing with my friend that I was hearing Eyes of the World. He kept saying that they never opened a show with that. But you must be open to musical surprises with the Dead....this was a big one

In ‘74 the dead did a particularly interesting rendition of this song adding in G#m, Ebm & diminished in the jam.

"It's not about trying to be technical, its about trying to be a human" made me tear up. thank you

Thanks for this great analysis, Doug. Consider also that "wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world" points to a "waking up" to the philosophical realization that "you" -- the subject of experience -- are, in fact, one with the "objects" of experience, and that this fundamental duality is in some ways, illusory. Taken further, metaphysically, we are all the eyes of the world, together, as a unitary consciousness.

WOW was just watching one of your older GD reaction videos and wanted to look and see if you had any others. What a Grate coincidence!

I love thus so much that when the music of the dead come out in the wash for most the masses it comes out in the rinse that it's timelessly good and stamped if you will from these wonderful experts.

Great thanks Doug Helvering...4 live albuns untill 73 you forgott the live dead with a great dark star

Best Band Ever!

This performance was aired on late night TV around the time. It was pretty cool.

Great commentary, great dancing, great reaction. You rock Doug, your enthusiasm is infectious

I saw them exactly seven days later in Bonner Springs, KS (a hidden gem of a show). The Summer 1991 tour doesn't get enough love! The Dead's studio versions of songs were almost always shorter than live versions (with a few exceptions here and there). In live shows they loved to "take songs for a walk," to quote Bob Weir, and explore new territory.

Awesome Doug, love some Grateful Dead

Doug! I’m grateful for the algorithm that dropped you into my feed! I love watching your process of discovery, and the way you interpret it from a technical aspect. But really, the fun you’re having is what really tells the story. Thanks for the post.❤️💀🎶 P.S.-In the end, your philosophical interpretations of the experience were as astute as your musical insights. Bravo.

Keep diving Doug. I absolutely love your reactions and i cant help but watch some more than once. Glad for more Dead.

Live Dead is where it's at.

🙌. Eyes is a drive with the top down on the first nice day of Spring.

I am so happy you did this song!!!! It is my all time favorite 😭😭😭 Keep up the Grateful Dead!

I was at this show. I was looking down from behind where Bruce was playing. Loved every acid soaked minute.

All deadheads seem to have a moment when they “get it”. It was pretty special seeing that happen with you dancing and toking and being in the moment ❤ The bus doors are always wide open 🎉

My first Dead show was 6/18/74 with the Wall of Sound. And they did a breathtaking version of 'Eyes'. Also was also the first time I had a small piece of paper melt under my tongue. That show was truly a life moving experience I will never forget. And saw them as frequently as possible until Jerry passed away. Only regret is that I never saw Pigpen

This is one of my favorite dead songs. Favorite versions of it are with Branford Marsalis sat in. There's lots of ways to catch those versions. Enjoy, especially if you are a jazz fan.

'91...The year before I saw GD, for the first time !

"It's not about trying to be technical, It's just about trying to be a human, and I really appreciate that." Doug totally gets it...also when referring to R. Hunter's prose he's says, "it's like philosophy." He understands...perfectly.

I was at this show! When they opened with this my buddy and I thought we missed the first set 🤣

I love this. I'm a classical singer and teacher, and been a DH forever. I listen as you do, following the progressions and naming them, etc. It's great fun. 🎉

This is, I think, the last time they’ve been to Europe, and I was there. Great memories. Sleeping in a park in Essen, Germany, with like fifty Canadians because there was no place to stay there. Great music. Phil Lesh playing a six string bass, the only one I ever heard play such an instrument in a pure musical and supporting way without prowes.

8:13 captures the magic of the dead perfectly. Look at Doug getting lost there for a second

seeing people on their first or 5th Dead tune is beautiful. Still figuring it out, of course..... we are ALL still figuring it out. That initial interest in those first few tunes is a special time in a person's musical history. Enjoy forever!

It’s fun watching you explain to my head what my body already knows about the Dead. Thanks!

More Dead please.

Eyes OPENER.

thanks Doug... love your posts... Eyes is my fave dead song.. a lot there to play with... really phun song to play and jam to...

My experience has led me to believe youhave to find a live Era for the dead for me th early70sis my favorite dead

Hahahaha that bowl hit was so unexpected that killed me. Been watching some of your jam reviews

Doug, I’ve got to admit that I was worried about this reaction until I saw you pick up that bowl and light up…Now you’re getting closer to the experience of the greatest American Touring band of all time!

They are simply BAD ASSED !

The Dead would mess with your sense of time. 10 minute songs that flow into the next, where you dance in the moment and are transported out of your daily frame. Songs started now, then finished 3 songs later, or even in the next set