@AirplayBeats reacts to Truckin by Grateful Dead Like comment and subscribe patreon.com/user?u=81569817 Airplay Beats 3609 Bradshaw Rd Ste H #337 Sacramento, CA 95827 Www.Airplaybeats.com
They basically had two, actually three main singers when they started out. One, PigPen, died early. That was Bob Weir, the rhythm guitarists spitting those bars. Maybe one of the greatest rhythm guitarists in history. Jerry Garcia, the lead guitarists, is the other main vocalists. Definitely a collective group who were taught how to harmonize by Crosby, Stills and Nash
I long heard it repeated that the boys learned harmonization from CSN, but David Crosby insisted that wasn’t true, at the very least a wild exaggeration. Jerry, Bobby, and Phil had already been developing their harmonies quite a bit before hanging out with CSNY more in 1970, said Crosby.
When I was a kid there was an expression "Keep On Truckin!" and this song reminds of that time. This song was released in 1970 but the expression is from the 60s coined by a cartoonist. Great song!
It's hard to express just how influential this band really was in rock n roll. I think what helps to demonstrate this point is knowing how many band members that were inducted into the R-N-R Hall of Fame 6 yes six members: Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Wier, Brent Mydland, Donna Jean Godchaux, Jerry Garcia, and Keith Godchaux. And this band was one of the most successful touring bands in rock history, despite having virtually no radio hits. lol which is basically never heard of...the Grateful Dead has charted 82 titles on the Billboards 200 and 43 of their 100 total albums have made it to the Billboard 200 and have managed to crack the Top 40. And the band has landed only 6 total singles on the billboard Hot 100. With their highest charting release coming when 1987's "Touch Of Grey" peaked at number 6. 🤯Amazing...Right!? lol RIP: Jerry Garcia 💔🔥🎸U R Missed I'd suggest checking out a live performance, they really had some fantastic concerts. "Grateful Dead - Touch Of Grey (Orchard Park, NY 7/4/89)" --this was the Dead's first full stadium tour as headliners (they played stadium tours in 1986 with Dylan & Petty and in 1987 with Dylan) and they played so well during this tour that they made these massive venues seem intimate. The song "Touch Of Grey" is a 1987 single from their album called "In The Dark" --the Grateful Dead's last lineup returned intact for this album "In the Dark" an album that ironically thrust the band back into the spotlight on the strength of the bands lone Top 40 single "Touch of Grey." (👂🍬) Thanks guys loved the reaction thanks
"American Beauty" and "Workingman's Dead" are arguably the two best studio albums in their catalog. They were very careful and meticulous in their recording and those complex harmonies you love so much. Both albums need to be consumed as part of essential Americana music.
Not sure it's arguable: Not only are they the two best studio albums in their catalog, they're the only two GREAT studio albums in their entire catalog.
The varied backgrounds of the original line-up make the Dead the quintessential American band. Jerry Garcia started out with bluegrass and jug band, Phil Lesh had degree in classical music, Pig Pen's father was an R&B dj. Kreutzmann was a straight-ahead rock&roll drummer, Bobby was a local kid learning to play, soaking it all up like a sponge. All these influences led to a wide variety of American music.
I read that Garcia listened to the Beatles Rubber Soul then went to the band, "Listen we don't have their voices but let's try to do some pretty, simple harmonies like they do." Then they recorded this album, American Beauty
I've been a dedicated Dead Head since their first album. Saw them well over a hundred times. Saw the last L.A. shows they did before Jerry died in 95. Sad day in deed.
My brother was at the Soldier’s Fields shows. I was 10 and my family drove my brother and 5 friends to the shows. I remember driving through Shakedown Street thinking how awesome it was. Even though I missed out on seeing Jerry, I did end up joining my brother at Further, Ratdog, Phil and Friends, and eventually Dead and Co. Not to mention the 10 years of following Widespread Panic around the country. 😊✌️💕
My older brother took me to see the Dead back in the early 80s. I took my little brothers. We were all lucky enough to see them many times while Jerry was alive.
"American Beauty" album is national treasure. I have always liked this song, but I think there are plenty other songs in the album that tome are on the other level, but everybody seems to react to this song. To me, evergreens of this album are: "Ripple", "Brokedown Palace", "Sugar Magnolia", "In The Attics of My Life" and "Til The Morning Comes".
The Dead were master improvisers and they almost never played a song the same way twice. Go listen to some of the concert tapes and here how they morph the songs over time. I came to the Dead late when I joined a band that did a lot of Dead tunes and I had to learn the catalog in self defense because they'd morph one song into another on stage (like the Dead). Watch out, it's a deeeep rabbit hole you could fall into, checking out the Grateful Dead experience :).
This song never gets old for me. I remember it playing endlessly on the 8 track player in my boyfriend's Chevy just teens driving around in the summer in the 70s. Great days.
American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead are the only two albums I owned by them but they were enough to solidify my appreciation for this band. One of the best ever.
"You can all sing, but NEVER do it together." - Owsley "Bear" Stanley to the Grateful Dead in 1965 or 1966. They came a long way vocally between then and when they recorded this in 1970.
Ain’t it a shame….indeed! A twisted, drug fueled story of life on road with the Dead! One of my favorite Grateful Dead songs….great story told as only they can…your reaction is right on! Thank you,fellas!
I've been a fan of the Grateful Dead since the mid 70s. I don't listen to them very often, but when I do, I'll usually binge on their music for a few days. They have so many unique songs and an unmistakable sound. That particular album, American Beauty, is a classic. My favorite album by them is the live Europe 72 album.
Help on the Way/Slipnot/Franklin's Tower medley will give you guys a taste of the Grateful Dead's diversity-- it's more like psychedelic jazz fusion...
"Truckin" is one of my all-time favourite songs, period! I saw the Grateful Dead a few times in 1966-7 beginning in the summer of 1966 so I'm hooked on their first album...it's so evocative of that era for me...
Great old song from the 70s Grateful Dead. It sounds like the life of a long-Haul Trucker driving to all of these different cities and having all of these adventures along the way. Thanks guys.
The most popular band for live shows really only two hit singles (I think). This is one of them. They started an entire culture around their live shows. " I saw a Dead- Head sticker on a Cadillac" Don Henley...The Boys Of Summer.
Autobiographical lyrics, mentioning their drug bust in New Orleans. Truckin' was an expression in the hippie days meaning just moving along, getting around. Nothing to do with trucks. They mention the doo-dah man, that's from a famous cartoon by R. Crumb, showing a bearded guy taking a big stride with the caption "Keep on Truckin'". Look it up.
Awesome tune from an excellent album - there's not much to not like about this song. Great choice you guys, got me truckin' along here at my desk. Peace and love from Canada!
very special case...an elderly woman sold 400 cassettes of their concerts from the 60s to the 90s and it was almost rich out...about 60% of Americans have seen them...an urban myth maybe...they have sold more tickets than the Stones in the USA...very American very folk rock psychedelia for Europe...historical group anyway. 7:34
Saw my first show as a teenager in '81. Prophetic as always, it has indeed been a long, strange trip. Maybe at the end of the road there's a couple acres of grass and a low stage, and the band is tuning up...
"Truckin' " is the source of the phrase "What a long strange trip it's been." A quick, true story about "Truckin' ". Hall Of Fame Basketball player and famous Dead Head Bill Walton was being interviewed during his Pro career about an upcoming playoff opponent. Interviewer: "Bill, what do you think about Houston?" . Without pausing Mr. Walton responded "Too close to New Orleans." Once a Dead Head, always a Dead Head. Rhythm Guitarist Bob Weir is the lead vocalist on "Truckin' ", he and Jerry Garcia would alternate during the shows, it's a lot of singing on a long tour. In the old days, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan was the main singer, but he passed on 3/8/73 from liver disease, he was a heavy drinker, at the ripe old age of 27, a member of "The 27 Club".
This is prototypical Dead. This entire album and it's followup, "Workingman's Dead" is the heart of the Dead's canon. You very badly need to try "Ripple" off of this same album. Beautiful work here.
The bass lines draw you in to... THE PHIL ZONE!!! Phil Lesh, the bass player, is a certified LEGEND. He was the only "formally trained" member of the band, having a music degree, which meant that he was fearless about diverging from a song's original form when playing live. Instead of the basic root/5th basslines common to rock, Phil would go off into a full melodic exploration, oftentimes for minutes at a time, adding melodic counterpoints to songs that never existed in the "original" recorded versions. Many times when the band started jamming, Phil was the guide the others followed, from song to song, gently pulling the rest of the group through key changes, tempo changes, different time signatures, all before hitting a Bomb, nailing them into a different song... If you choose to explore more of The Dead, remember that the studio recordings are like an artists' sketches, beautiful in their own way, but not the finished work. The real magic of The Grateful Dead is in the live recordings. Thankfully, there were tapes rolling at pretty much every gig, so there's a LOT of magic out there. Admittedly, there's a fair few "off" nights, where the band wasn't firing on all cylinders, but there's an equal number of nights when the band was on FIRE...
I never saw the Beatles live, but I did see the Dead. Amen. So, the musicians in the band didn't write the lyrics. Robert Hunter was the main lyricist, and Jerry Garcia would sing those tunes (that he wrote the music for), and John Perry Barlow wrote lyrics which Bobby Weir sang. This came about because of an argument between Hunter and Weir. I believe Bobby would sometimes forget the lyrics which pissed off Hunter, so he forbid him from singing them. Bobby then found Barlow to write for him.
Its a great band with incredible lyrics and hommie kind of sound. Good friend of mine has atleast 1000 live videos he personally taped in live performances. They designated a section for cameras and set up and off you go to your seat. Made a good living selling sid and spaghetti w/sauce lol
Got to see them in the mid 70’s at the old Winter Land in San Francisco when I was in the navy their concert’s were not just an experience they were a trip and I mean literally a trip everyone was tripping including the band
