Customer Reviews

Grateful Dawg [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This movie is so touching. The music is incredible. We get to see and hear the real Jerry Garcia. Understand his love of American music. Jerry Garcia was Americana before Americana and the Magazine No Depression. This was the first day that this movie opened in Boston. I was there. I wanted to run out on the streets and say Hey, come in and you must see this movie that has so much heart. At the end of the movie, I thought the spoken tributes to Jerry Garcia that were being said as the long song Arabia played on was too much. I just could have listened and watched two great people, who also happened to be great musicians, play on their own. Their music stood by itself without needing the spoken words. In the end, it doesn't matter. If you just love music, you will love this movie. If you want to see and hear a warm movie about friendship, you will love this movie. David Grisman should get an Oscar for best documentary 2001.

I can't praise this film enough. Gillian Grisman, the director, had a penchant for making home movies which often happened to include Jerry Garcia and David Grisman working together on tasteful, emotionally performed acoustic music which included old south traditionals, and folk music from around the world, as well as some originals. Jerry and David enjoyed a friendship and deep musical connection that stretched out over 30 years. It's informal, most of the footage taken without any projects in mind, around the studio in the basement of Grisman's house, with his family around (the dog pops in and out of shots), and much footage taken from performances at Sweetwater and the Warfield in the early 90s, with Joe Craven and Jim Kerwin. There's interviews with Peter Rowan and Vassar Clements from Old And In The Way (Garcia and Grisman's first project together, 1973). It's also got still photos reaching back to 1961 of Grisman and Garcia, who met at a Bill Monroe concert at Sunset Park in 1964, and excerpts of an audio interview Jerry did for Guitar Magazine in 1991. The film also shows Jerry in a very comfortable setting, something that the stage of Grateful Dead shows didn't necessarily afford him. It's nice to see him performing without any pressure of being the patriarch of the deadheads, simply being part of a band, having a good time with some friends, playing with great dynamics with a group of very talented musicians. (Joe Craven, how many instruments, exactly, do you play? Extraordinary.) If you're a fan of acoustic music, you really ought to check out this movie - it's very satisfying.

A totally awesome documentary that will make you tap your feet, smile, shed a tear and dry your eyes on the wind. Not only is this DVD absorbing and enlightening, it is also cozy as an old hammock. For lovers of Jerry's music and the man himself, you'll get to see him in a further intimate setting than usual. You will learn of Jerry's other musical loves and how and where this sound was originated from. You will also be graced with the expertise of a one Mr. David Grisman, whom like Jerry is able to carry himself to another time and place and bring back to you, the listener, this assured style of music known as DAWG. Speaking in Psychedelic babble, I truly believe these folks perform a certain type of melodious séance, if you will, to bring to us this sweet sound of long beyond. Many thanks to David Grisman for making this film possible and allowing admirers of Jerry to see him in a different sphere. On a sad note, it will make you miss Jerry all the more.
This is a must for any Dead Head, especially those who loved the traditional ballads.
Peace, friendship and love your family with this disk.
*Remember, this is not a concert piece. This is a pure Documentary and if you are looking for just a concert, it may not be for you.

Unlike most of the reviewers here I am more of a dawghead than a deadhead. David Grisman is my musical idol. The man is a creative genius. I bought the DVD because there's very little video available of David Grisman and I knew that this would be a video bonanza for Grisman fans. I'm not disappointed. The only drawback to this movie in my opinion is that it wasn't shot as a documentary but as Gillian Grisman says, it was a hodgepodge of home movies that were simply used to create a documentary a few years after Garcia's death. Still, there is a certain charm to the fact that it wasn't shot as a documentary. The subjects are free to be themselves, not realizing that anyone outside of their inner circle will ever view the footage. It's obvious that Gillian decided to study the art of movie making once she determined that she was going to create a documentary. She went to great lengths to tell the story of her dad and Garcia with an appropriate thread of performance, studio, and interview video. Sure, there are a lot of interview clips, but it is a documentary after all. Personally I didn't find them all that distracting. And for an added bonus, the DVD viewer has the option of viewing the movie with commentaries from David and Gillian. Several outtakes are also added, including Vassar Clements' embarrassing story of how he was playing with Garcia without really knowing who the Grateful Dead are. I'm sure most deadheads will love this flick. I know dawgheads like me will.

This is a great look into Jerry Garcia's life outside his more well known life in the Grateful Dead. The duo of David Grisman and Jerry Garcia created some great music that most people have never been exposed to. From folk, jazz, rock and other genres, these two did it all and they did it all very WELL! This dvd gives you some insight as to what Jerry did outside of his more known life in the Grateful Dead. Deadheads and others will love this look into the roots of Jerry and David's musical life.

This film is a wonderful gift to those of us who grew up listening to Garcia and the Dead. Grateful Dawg is really a tribute to a great musician and the beauty of friendship and music. As I watched (and listened) I felt a mix of sadness and joy - sadness that Jerry is gone and joy that he was able to spend his last years making the kind of music he clearly loved. To see and hear him again in a different venue was magical.

My grandmother died 20 years ago. Recently, I was cleaning out an old trunk and I found some embroidery that she had done and that I had forgotten all about. One was a sampler with a corny but humorous saying on it. I felt as though my grandmother had sent me a gift from beyond. That is how I feel about this film -a gift to an aging Deadhead showing me the direction that Jerry would have taken had he lived and reaffirming my belief that he was one of the great ones.

Interesting too that this film would be released at the same time interest in this type of music is high with the recent Grammy wins for "O Brother Where Art Thou?". My first inclination is to pick up some of Grisman/Garcia's cd's to hear more and share this music with my co-workers who listen to music all day long.

Thanks David and thank you Jerry for doing what you did. I miss you.

I don't know much about David Grisman - he seems to be a talented and innovative musician. Plus, he was a friend of Jerry Garcia, which is always good. In fact, their musical talents combined are very exceptional. However, the great music was destroyed by the annoying interviews that permeated the whole footage. I would have enjoyed listening to a song all the way through without interruptions, but sadly, it was not to be. If you love music, skip this DVD, but if you love documentaries, this is the film for you.

Check out this movie. If you're into bluegrass, you ought to pick this up. We all know the distinctive style of Jerry's guitar sounds with the Dead, but have you heard him on the banjo? The music that he played with Dave Grisman, Vassar Clements, Peter Rowan, and John Kahn is some of the best bluegrass you can get. There is a certain laid-back way about their sound. Some folks find bluegrass to be too shrill and hyperactive. You don't get that sense, even when they're frailing at top speeds. Which they can do with the best of em.

Also included are a variety of other sessions with David Grisman, including some footage of the Pizza Tapes sessions with Tony Rice. You're doing yourself a favor buying this disk.

This is such a great film! A real "must see" for fans of Jerry, blue grass, and lovers of music in general. The film gives an insight into Jerry's other musical interests outside of the Grateful Dead and also a real peak at what "hanging out" with Jerry must have been like. Everything is very candid and the love and respect these two have for each other and the music they made shines through. By the end of the movie you'll have a tear in your eye and a smile on your face. This is a great story about the greatest story teller and a movie your whole family can enjoy.

The early part of the film focuses on Grisman's and Garcia's early days as players in various bluegrass bands during the early 1960's. There is some great archival footage, including pics of both guys with short hair. They met at a Bill Monroe concert in 1964 and from there blossomed a friendship based on a shared love of music.

The doc moves forward with a mix of live performances, rehearsals and interviews with various friends, family members and fellow musicians. The first 45 minutes really flows smoothly and is great for both the music and its insights into the characters and personalities of its two extradordinarily talented men. But by the end it does begin to drag a bit with too much "home movie" type footage.

Some tighter editing could have made this doc even better. But still for fans of Garcia and Grisman, or just about anyone who can appreciate great music, this is a viewing and listening pleasure to be enjoyed.