Conference rdvax::grateful

I kinda like the one on the album, myself.

    :^)    :^)
    
    As much as I loved and miss Brent, I think "Tons of Steel" was the
    weakest song on "Touch of Grey" and I wasn't sorry when they dropped it
    from their repertoire.  Besides, no train weighs 1,800,000,000 pounds. 
    Not even Super Train.  :^)  :^)
    
    I rilly do miss Brent . . . I think I'm in the minority here, but I
    always looked forward to his songs, especially "Good Times Blues."  I
    remember agree wholeheartedly with it at a Worcester show after a bit
    of a tiff with the SO.  It's just not the same without soming asking
    "what are those spinning things?" in NOTES after each tour.  RIP.
    
    Jamie 

    I'm with Jamie ... I miss Brent, but NOT "Tons of Steel" ... I always
    thought it was a stupid song.
    
    ... Bob
    

    
    I also miss Brent, of course I never knew the Dead without him but I
    really miss his background vocals - they always were full of emotion. 
    I think Vince sounds kinda screetchy - high pitch winny.  Then again I
    have not been at a show were I could really hear him in the mix.  As
    far as Tons of Steel go - it was never a favorite song of mine. 
    Personally I liked Blow Away, Far From Me, and I Will Take You Home. 
    IWTYH really moved me when I heard it for the last time:-( at Foxboro -
    it is a wonderful memory - thanks Brent, you brough tears to my eyes
    that night....
    
    -Jerry

    I loved Brent...I like the message behind "tons", as well as the song
    ...sorta reminds me of
    Brent or maybe what he was goin through at the time...
                                                          rfb

Well, I miss him too.  And I also like Tons of Steel, though not the "perfect"
Dead tune, it was a Brent tune and set him apart from the rest of the band.
A couple of us had a neat talk about Brent last week at DB's...I listen to
his tunes a bit differently now trying to get a feel for what was going on
inside of him...





Jim

    
    ok ok...  so we'll turn this into the "who misses Brent" note...  :^)
    
    yeah...  me too...
    
    i kinda liked Tons-o-Steel though i can't say i ever caught one live...
    i agree with those who say it was not the best dead tune (by any means)
    or even the best Brent tune...  i guess i'll have to check my limited
    tape colledtion to really pick a fave... 
    
    but then again, i still like Day Job...  :^) :^) :^)
    
    					da ve

	I feel like I'm in the minority in that I was not a big fan
	of Brent.  I skip over IWTYH (even after having a kid) on tapes.
	I liked some tunes like Good Time Blues, Gimme Some Lovin', Blow Away,
	Mr Fantasy, Pockey Way, to name a few, but cringe over We Can Run, 
	IWTYH, never cared for Tons of Steel all that much.  I did like
	his musicianship, and always will, but not some of his tunes.

	I think Vince is great and love the way he plays and the way the band
	plays with him.  His sound reminds me of a real electric old-style 
	stand-up organ, and some recent shows I think are among the best in 
	years (MSG '90).

	Ken

Yeah, I don't mean to say I don't like Vince..I do quite a bit.








Jim

    
    I think the title is an oxymoron. :-)
    
    I did love Brent, though and miss him often, but it's not "his tunes" I
    miss.  It's the bluesiness in the backups and the keys.. that whole
    feeling is missing for me at shows now.  And I never ever ever want to
    hear Gimme Some Lovin' again.  I think it sounds AWFUL without him.  So
    I guess I miss the Hammond too. :-)
    
    

    The best thing about what Brent brought to the band was the screaming
    organ, which gave the music a lushness that it either missed or never
    had.  Those first few years of Brent were probably the tightest in the
    Dead's history.
    
    The next best thing is the harmony that he offered, which was
    particularly necessary considering the singing voices of our heroes
    have been decaying through the years.
    
    After that was the excellent cover tunes that were unearthed for him,
    which if not for them would have left the set lists considerable less
    interesting as the last decade proceeded.
    
    Somewhere after that was the songs he wrote.  They were rarely my cup
    of tea.
    
    Word that he died came on my birthday last year.  Very sad indeed.
    
    Dan
                         

I don't think I've ever heard Tons of Steel live either.  In fact, I think the
only live version of it that I have is on a Deadhead Hour from around '88 with
an *excellent* version of it.  In particular, Jerry's guitar playing was great. 
I haven't heard it in a while, and don't even remember which tape it's on (half
of my DHH's aren't labeled).

adam

I think the only tape I have with Tons of Steel on it is 4-8 or 4-9-85 in
Philly..not a bad version, Jerry's guitar and backup vocals add a lot to
the version.


Jim

re:  <<< Note 176.7 by ROULET::DWEST "Dont Overlook Something Extraordinary" >>>

>    but then again, i still like Day Job...  :^) :^) :^)
    
Sorry, da ve, you just nullified yourself ;-).

I love Brent and I loved Tons of Steel (so sue me 8-).

peace,
t!ng

    I agree with T!ng.  I liked Tons of Steel, and I miss Brent (though
    I like Vince, too.  And I retroactively miss Pigpen).
    
    Maybe it's some kind of disease you get in California?

    I miss Brent, I missed the only TOS that was played at a show I went to
    Foxboro 7-4-87, well not really I got to my seat in the middle of it.
    that show they played 4 song in a row from ITD (in the dark). I've only
    heard Vince on tape but with the powers that be I WILL be seeing him on
    Sept 20 at about 730ish :')
    
    Chris

    What I miss most about Brent is that he was the only one in the band
    who could sing the blues like he really meant it.  Bobby just don't cut
    it with blues music.  Like they say, ya got to suffer if you want to
    sing the blues, and Bobby just doesn't seem like the suffering type.
    
    The next thing I miss most about Brent is the incredible sound of his
    Hammond (B3?).  I was listening to 03-19-90 the other day ... check out
    "All Over Now" ... we'll never hear it done like that again.
    
    I'm one of those people who got all sappy whenever they played "I Will
    Take You Home".  I guess it means more to people who's parents never
    said things like that to them.  "You Can Run" had an instant impact on
    me, and made me more aware of the damage we're doing to our planet. 
    I'd have to admit it that hearing that song, and really listening to
    the lyrics, was something of a turning point in my attitude toward the
    planet's environment.
    
    I'm glad the band recovered from his death the way they did.  I like
    Vince, and was glad to notice at Giants Stadium that he's asserting
    himself more into the band's music.  But something was irrevocably lost
    when Brent died, and no matter how good the band sounds or what
    direction their music takes in the future, I'll always miss that
    soulful voice of his.
    
    ... Bob
    

RE:       <<< Note 176.17 by BOOKS::BAILEYB "Let my inspiration flow ..." >>>
                     -< nothin' gonna bring him back ... >-

>    The next thing I miss most about Brent is the incredible sound of his
>    Hammond (B3?).  I was listening to 03-19-90 the other day ... check out
>    "All Over Now" ... we'll never hear it done like that again.
 
It is indeed a B3.  Great organ.  I miss Brent for his musicianship.  He
could really get the place HOT and jumping if he wanted too... I also enjoyed
is raspy voice.

RIP

    
    I'm with Ken on this one, never liked Brent to begin with, sure he 
    contributed to the Dead as a whole, but never liked his music at all.
    I usually skip over on tapes just about every one of his songs if
    I can....  I always thought he was over dramatic with is singing style.
    
    I saw him once in that aweful band Cocomo, I had to leave after about 4
    songs, it was absolutly the most aweful music...
    
    The only time I could tollerate him was when he sang backup on songs 
    like gimme some lovin', etc....
    
    My vote:  There was never a Tons of Brent song that was good....
    	      Another horrible song of his was Little Light....argh...
    
    
    I miss him as a contributor to the Dead and as another Human being,
    but I think the Dead is better off without him....
    
    RS>
    
    

    Mixed feelings about Brent sometimes his soulfulness was ok but at 
    times he got a bit carried away...TOS add another letter and do it 
    with that song ...never did anything for me..what I will miss were
    the Greatest Story-Devil Blue Dress-Good Golly-Devil Blue Dress type
    stuff...or Louie Louie or I just Wanna Make Love To You...that was
    the stuff I liked.. Pockey was good at times as well.  I feel bad
    for him as a human being cause there was alot of internal restlessness
    there...another phase of the band...we've seen a few and will probably
    whitness a few more
    
    rich

Well my love and appreciation for Brent is by no means posthumus (how do
you like That word Jamie, did I spell it right?) :-)  His energy raised
my energy level at shows, when Brent would go off so would I.  I definitely
miss him.  I Will Take You Home and We can Run are two of my favorite songs;
mostly because of what they say and how they make me feel, and what they
make me think of when listening to the words.  Aside from just the raw
beat that I so enjoy - that is what music is all about for me!

I have nothing against Vince, he has put alot in and shows some promise
but so far he just hasn't cranked it up like Brent could, and I am not
sure anyone (even Bobby or Jerry etc..) can do it for me like Brent did.

I am sure we all realize what next week marks which probably has alot to
do with these 20someodd replies at this point.  Rest in Peace Brent.

 I miss Brent also. I've never heard TOS live bt I kinda like it off the 
album. IWTYH I like alot maybe because of my son, I don't know. But 
after he died my feelings really changed concerning IWTYH. I started
to really listen to the lyrics, and for some reason I really got
pissed at him. How could he write a song about reassuring someone that
he'd always be there, yet run the risk of death by heavy drug abuse. 
Sure everyone has to die at some point and can't always be there 
but by use the heavy sh!t the odds against living increase.

 I think at the time my emotions were charged to the max. Still IWTYH
will never mean the same to me as it did before. 

RIP Brent

Shawn
 

For Brent, a decent performance always seemed a stretch, ability-wise. He
seemed unwittingly forced into a style by his very place in a band where having
an individual style is more important than being able to play tightly with 5
other performers.  He seemed at once to be fighting with all his might against
the style that was his and yet inextricably connected with the blues. Every
thing about him spoke of the blues. His life, his lyrics; but unfortunately,
not his voice or his mastery of the instrument. This explains why his ballads
seem to be his forte, even calming him. The conflict arising from his natural
bluesiness and the utter pain with which he forced out the words to those blues
standards and painfully pounded at the keys created a tension about the man.
Perhaps this tension was partially responsible for his demise... 

He had the blues, but couldn't play them, and yeah, I miss him too.

re:< Note 176.22 by DASXPS::BRIDGES "The truth to u I'll tell." >
>                          -< gone but not forgotten >-
>
>after he died my feelings really changed concerning IWTYH. I started
>to really listen to the lyrics, and for some reason I really got
>pissed at him. How could he write a song about reassuring someone that
>he'd always be there, yet run the risk of death by heavy drug abuse. 

I felt exactly the same as you, Shawn.  I still feel that way.

I still have not heard the Far From Me from Deer Creek (?, his last show?). 
The one where he curses "the f*ckin bitch" or whatever he said.   Could this
turn out to be his most soulful Far From Me?

About Tons of Steel, I was wrong about the version on the GDH.  Turns out GDH
#9 had the studio version (I'm pretty sure, it didn't sound live).

adam

    I guess if you look at death as final you could be upset about someone
    saying they'd always be there,.. but if you look at death as
    another beginning,. a plce we will all be sooner or later,.. maybe
    he will always be there.
    
    If you are really angry at a dead man, you might want to have a beer
    and see if there isn't something more constructive you can do with
    your energy. He f*cked up and Od'd... admittedly not a pretty way to
    go,.. and one that may raise the ire of we who are left behind,.. BUT
    I hope that if I go out like that or by some other self inflicted
    stupidity (skiing accident? How could I take such risks,.. car crash?
    I guess I shouldn't drive aroud...) I would hope that people would
    not be angry at me for living my life to what I may call "the fullest".
    Most of all, I would hope that people would not pass any judgement on
    me,.. the final judgement does not come from people anyway.
    
    I too miss Brent. Yes. his originals may not be my cup of tea, but
    his musicianship was certainly there. He was an excellent piano player
    *and* organ player,... and he was the first for the dead. (Pig pen
    played organ only nad Keith played piano only except for studio and
    a rare live performance) His vocals were high energy stuff,.. that the
    band is atill lacking right now. There is still a hole left behind
    in my mind,. and I will enjoy watching Vince or Bruce try to fill it.
    Why will I enjoy it? What else can I do?
    
    :-/
    
    :=)
    
    						/
    
    

>    I saw him once in that aweful band Cocomo, I had to leave after about 4
>    songs, it was absolutly the most aweful music.
      
    There used to be a British white soul band a few years ago called
    Kokomo - that couldn't be who you mean, could it?
    Just out of interest.
    
    ...Robert
    

  i hear ya /, but IMO driving a car, skiing, or even skydiving 
are not quite as dangerous as injecting substances into your bloodstream.

And on second thought I really shouldn't have said I was angry at Brent.
Because the feelings i was having at the time were ones that are hard
to verbalize. Regardless I still miss bith him and his music.

Shawn

    Re: /
    
    I like your perspective on Brent.  However, I at first didn't like his
    songs, but then after hearing much of that stuff from the 90 tour I
    loved all of his stuff.  I think he had the blues and could play them -
    something that the band was severly missing during the Keith/Donna era.
    He seemed to put so much into that organ especially on Gimme some
    Lovin' - he will built up the sound and BOOM hit the high chord and the 
    place went crazy.  Brent had so much energy, I remember seeing him in
    89 doing Far From Me (not one of my favorites), but he just went nuts
    on that piano I thought the place was going to explode!!!!
    
    RE: .24  I think you are talking about Good Time Blues at his last show
    in Tinley Park.  Some heavy messages came out then IMO.  At the end he
    is singing:  Maybe next week (next week),
    	         Maybe next month (next month),
                 ah Shit what the hell.
    And that was the last we heard from Brent. :-(  I am not sure if those
    are the exact words but it is close.
    
    Brent seemed to have alot of forces against him from the beginning. 
    The Dead had some increadable years with Keith and Donna.  He had some 
    big shoes to fill.  I also remember reading somewhere that Mickey gave
    him some hard times when he first started ( sorry don't remember what
    for).  
    
    RE: IWTYH.  after reading shawns reply - my feelings are mixed more
    about this.  I love the song and beinig a father to a baby girl makes
    the song hit closer to home.  I have to give Brents the benifit of the
    doubt on this.  Yess he screwed up.  And I have trouble understanding
    how you could do that to a little girl that you love so much.  But
    there where other problems that he just didn't deal with and that was
    his downfall.  This seem contracticting.  But I am glad he left that
    song behind for his daughter to remember him by and to let her know tht
    YES he did love her.
    
    Well enough rambling.  I miss him also.  But I am glad he left some
    good memories for us.

RE       <<< Note 176.28 by DASXPS::BRIDGES "The truth to u I'll tell." >>>

>  i hear ya /, but IMO driving a car, skiing, or even skydiving 
>are not quite as dangerous as injecting substances into your bloodstream.

This could be debated with some merit I believe.  Driving a car in 
massachusetts is pretty dangerous.  Skiing tuckerman's ravine in march
is even more dangerous.

everyone has their pleasures.  not everyone's pleasures are "good" for
the body...  

Shawn,

I can certainly understand and appreciate your perspective with regard to 
IWTYH and leaving but as slash said I think your outlook of death has something
to do with it.  To me death is not an end (or a beginning) but a continuation
of a different way or form of life.  My father died a year or so before I first
heard the song.  Long enough for me to accept the reality of him being gone
and moving on, leaving the hurt behind.  I love the song and the lyrics for the
same reasons which upset you.  You see, here I am 5 years later and my father
still is with me, and always will be.  IWTYH embodies that for me.

	You can't get lost when you're always found.....

Lisa

    If you think tyhat skiing can't be as dangersou as shooting up,...
    you haven't seen me ski!!!!
    
    :-)
    
    Anyway,.. I didin't mean to come off as Mr. KNow it all there
    
    Believe it if you need it
    
    							/
    

	I never appreciated Brent while he was alive.  

	Now that the band has a new form, I find myself missing
	his flourishes at certain points in certain songs.  Without
	really being conciously aware of his music before, I must
	have absorbed it subconciously - because now I am aware of 
	his absence.  Often.

	And it must be simply a matter of perspective.  For some
	people, Brent was the driving force of the band.  We all
	have different "ears"...mine just assigned him to the
	background.  When he died, THEN I started listening
	specifically for his keyboards in the mix.  I find that they
	add so much to the "color" or "flavor" of the specific song.
	So much so, in fact, I believe that's why I never singled
	him out - he fit so well and it sounded so good as a whole
	that I never paid much attention to his individual parts.

	And I'm sure that's just me too.  I'm sure other people
	tune into a certain instrument or voice and that it stands
	out for them throughout the show.  I sometimes try to
	make an effort to do that with tapes.  For me, it's just
	that - an effort.  I will say to myself - ok, now I'm going
	to just listen to Phil.  And I'll find myself going off Down
	his path, a tune unlike the song I'm used to, but a tune
	nonetheless.  I enjoy hearing the individual contribution
	to the whole, but soon enough my mind has abandoned that
	effort and I am again grooving to the ensemble.

	I've strayed from the subject of this note...Tons of Steel.
	Brent contributed so many new originals - none of them
	that I can say that I liked very much.  Except "A Little Light";
	I liked that one alright.  Unlike his keyboards, which I
	said have become noticed and appreciated by me since his death,
	his original songs are not missed at all...

	Debess

    this has turned out to be a grate note....grate perspectives by
    everyone...much better than the senatorial debate note %^)
                                                              rfb

    re : .34
    
    thanks, Debess.  your comments about Brent reflect my feelings also.
    I keep waiting for his special sound and it ain't there no mo'
    
    c

    I don't think the Cocomo or Kokomo or Kocomo... or however it
    was spelled is the same as the British band.....  I saw the show
    at the Club Casino, and if I remember correctly, Bill was the
    drummer in the band, Brent was the keyboardist.   The person
    who played lead guitar was horrible, loud, distorted...etc...
    
    Anyone remember this show???  Go to it??  
    
    RS>
    

    
    I saw them in NY, but I don't remember an experience quite that
    horrible :-).  It couldn't have been that great either though since I 
    don't remember anything about how or what they played.  Yes, Billy was 
    the drummer.  I think Robert Hunter opened and I think it was at the old
    Ritz.  I also think it was at a time when everyone was REALLY jonesin
    for some shows so the place was packed.  Seems to me it might've even
    been around Jerry coma time.
    
    

Yeah Randy, I was there. The Creek opened up for them. They were hot. We left 
after about 15 minutes of Kokomo (correct spelling).

They were horrible heavy metal from hell music. Awful vocals and worse guitar. 
No redeeming qualities what-so-ever, even with Billy and Brent there.

Geoff

re:  Kokomo

and don't forget that excellent "Go Ahead" that followed Kokomo
by a year....

he said sarcastically,
but remembers that everything is worth a try....
bob

	I remember seeing either Kokomo or Go Ahead at the Paradise
	in Boston, and thought they were alright.  Must have been Go Ahead,
	yes... It was the only live Dark Star I've ever experienced, so that 
	helped ;-)

	I think Max Creek opened.

	Ken

    where are the new songs
    its seems brent was the only one writing new decent stuff.i think we
    can run was a much under appreciated song and by far the best one on
    built to last.as far as live dead with hornsby there i dont miss brent
    at all.maybe bruce can write some deadmusic

Although I'm usually in the minority here, I'll put my 2 cents in anyway. I've
been going to Dead shows since 1973, so I saw the dead quite a few times 
pre-brent. I loved Brent. I thought he added a lot to the band, in multiple
dimensions. He was the best keyboard player by far that the Dead had up until
that point (Hornsby has potential...). I liked his voice on lead but even
more I thought he was a great backround vocalist for the dead. He was always 
singing on key. His backround vocals and keyboard work provided 
exceptional "coloring" to the material. 

I haven't seen the dead yet without him. The tapes I've heard (like New Years Eve)
without him I think sound incomplete and missing a lot of the fullness they
had with him.

I think his material (plus Victim or the Crime) are the high points of 
Built to Last. And I think Tons Of Steel is a great song (but then again, I 
really don't care how feeble the lyrics are...:-)). 

Scott

    Been away on vacation for a few weeks, but for the record, Brent's last
    song was The Weight, sing as the encore.
    
    I believe the song Adam was talking about was Far From Me.
    
    "This is the last f*cking song I'll sing for you bitch".
    
    I do miss Brent, but he did seem to have a lot of anger in a lot of his
    songs.
    
    

    I very much like Tons of Steel   the album version was lame   but live
    it could come off very well
    
    
    'Stopped by a train yard recently and found a man who blew me away with
    numbers  I scribbled them as rapidly as i could and came away with what
    i see now is going to be hard to decipher  all the following numbers
    may not jive  exactly...
    
    railroad car (empty)25-30 tons
       "      "  (full) 50-100 tons
    30 car train   2250 tons freight 840 tons rail cars
                   3 engines equal 400 tons
                   total 3500 tons
    
    big coal train may have 132 cars and 6 engines for a total 
                                                      of 32,000 tons
    
    
    a good storyteller/songwriter will exagerate/distort facts as needed to
    increase the effect of the story
             homer and the illiad certainly wouldn't have survived history
    if not for special editing
         the same of course for what we all know and love as the bible
    facts is facts
            storys is storys 
                     songs is songs