Customer Reviews

The Deadhead's Taping Compendium, Volume III: an in-depth guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, it's a lot better than the second volume (how's that for damning with faint praise?). The slapdash editing and factual howlers that made Vol 2 so disappointing have been reined in; there's still some boneheaded errors, but not more than you'd expect in a project of this scope. (It's still not up to Vol 1's high standards, though.) I do have some caveats. While many of the reviewers are intelligent, thoughtful and have interesting insights on the music of the Dead in these years, there's also far too many reviews from wide-eyed fanboys who want us to know all about their adventures on the way to the show, how many veggie burritos they bought at the show, how many mikes they did at the show, the visions they had in the toilet during the interval at the show ... everything but the MUSIC! Some pruning, or wholesale rejection, would have been in order. Secondly, poor old Bob Weir comes in for some heavy-handed vitriol (again). Okay, so he did tend to trot out 'Throwing Stones' every third show for a while. Okay, 'Victim' was pretty unlistenable when it first appeared. Okay, so 'Corinna' isn't my favourite song either. That doesn't mean he should be permanently confined to the ninth circle of hell, as too many reviewers here avow. Other members of the band don't come in for this kind of sneering -- even Mickey Hart, whose erratic late 1980s sludge-beat drumming ruined many a song -- so why Weir? So, all in all, this is an important book for Dead Heads, but read with a grain of salt and don't expect anything even near the vicinity of definitive.

This is mainly a book for deadheads. But not only. It's fascinating to read the varied styles and insights of so many people, so different, all absorbed in the same music. The writing and editing are good, and actually make it a pleasure to read about many radically different and creative versions of the same songs. This makes the book extremely interesting, but anyone interested in the culture and mindset of the sixties would enjoy this as well; it perfectly captures the zeitgeist of that era refracted through later years of deep analytical perceptivess. And all the pictures, commentary, and anecdotes make this endlessly fun to read. For anyone who went to concerts, got high, and wore bell-bottoms, this is a great book! And for anyone who is curious about why their parents endlessly reminisce about that period, this is a great book. Again, its diversity of opinion, balanced judgments, reflective insights, and sense of fun make this a lasting pleasure.

I can't add much to what's already been said in reviews to Volumes I and II. I LOVE THESE BOOKS. If you are any kind of Dead fan you will too. I have a special attachment to Vol II as it covers the period during which I saw the bulk of my shows; the newer fans will delight in seeing their shows reviewed. It is fascinating to read about the Dead's final years.

I finally got around to scoring this final installment, and it is great! After years of watching the price hover around the $150 dollar range, it seems alike folks are finally starting to let them go at a much more reasonable price, so I pounced. The reviews are great, and not anywhere near as harsh as I thought they'd be. In fact, so many of them are so well written by people with decades of tour experience, I have been finding literally hundreds of overlooked gems from their last 10 years, and really had no idea about the monster '94 shows. Thank you again, Johnny Dwork and Company!

If you went to or collect shows from late '80s to early '90s, this book is for you. Much of the work here is similiar to the previous books, although if you have a preference for '70s era, you will be dissappointed. I found the commentaries quite enlighting, yet not as majical as the commentaries found in the prior books. Perhaps the shows were better? There are many reasons to buy this book, for the tapes, but what I found fascinating was the way they give Garcia the thumbs up for his efforts during the last painful days of his life.