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Conference rdvax::grateful

Title:Take my advice, you'd be better off DEAD
Notice:It's just a Box of Rain
Moderator:RDVAX::LEVY::DEBESS
Created:Wed Jan 02 1991
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:580
Total number of notes:60238

311.0. "Grateful Dead = folk music????" by ROULET::DWEST (if wishes were horses...) Tue Oct 27 1992 17:52

    
    now, here's a novel concept...  a note that's somewhat dead oriented
    rather than discussing who shoudl be president and why and whether or not
    math class is really tough and how would Brabie know anyway...
    
    i pose the following question:
    
    		are dead tunes in fact folk music and are the boyz
    	folks musicians???
    
    for my part, i believe yes...
    
    what spawned this you may ask?  (g'head...  ask! :^)
    
    i was listening to WERS' coffee house show this morning and heard a
    song by the group Whippersnapper called  "Farewell My Lovely Nancy"...
    in this song, a man was leaving to go to sea...  he was saying goodbye 
    to his lovely girlfriend Nancy....  Nancy wanted to wear men's clothes
    and go with him (women not being allowed on ship)...  he said no, she
    was too fragile and delicate to stay hidden and then there would be
    trouble...  does this story sound familiar to anyone???  it was not
    Jack-a-Roe, but it was the same story...
    
    reminded me of a number of other folk/traditional songs that the boyz
    have covered...  going down the road feeling bad, peggy-o, etc. that i
    have also heard other variants of by other artists...  got me
    thinking...  the stories and songs stay essentially the same though
    parts change to suit the style and fancy of the performer...  this has
    often been used as the "definition" if you will, of the folk
    tradition...  stories captued in song to be passed on and preserved...
    the music of the people...  folk music...  always alive and changing...
    
    well, ok...  the dead are a rock and roll band yes??  maybe...  if rock
    is now "the music of the people" and many of the songs are outgrowths
    of stories that were told sometimes centuries earlier, then how is it 
    different from folk?  i don't think it is...
    
    i submit, for discussion and argument, that the boys are modern folk
    musicians preserving the rich musical tradition and heritage that is
    "folk music"...
    
    what about you???
    
    					da ve
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311.1dittoJUPITR::OCONNORSWed Oct 28 1992 02:4527
    
     I thought it was funny how alot how the verses in some folk
    songs are interchangeable.....you hear these in different songs
    
    goin' where the water tastes like wine
    goin' where those chilly winds don't blow
    steppin' down the stairs, combing back her yellow hair
    the sun's gonna shine on my back door
    
    I'm sure there are others too....
    
    Back to what Dave was talking about, I think they are definetly
    folk music...I like the idea of a central story within a song
    but different versions or interpretations may even have a different
    outcome to the story.
    
    lots of different versions of, staggerlee, casey jones, peggy o.....
    even the Dead's version of Rueben & Cherise has a different outcome
    than Hunter's version, I think Terrapin is also based on an old
    traditional song called "Lady of Carlile".......
    
    I always thought the Dead play the "folky" stuff better than
    the "bluesy" stuff anyway.
    
    enough ramblin'
    Sean
    
311.2LANDO::HAPGOODWed Oct 28 1992 08:3717
Well considering that you and I are indeed "folks" then all the music
you and I listen to is "folk music".

Mojo Nixon, Black Flag, Todd, The Grateful Dead, The Del Feugos, 
Sergio Mendez :) , Yellowman, The Cure, Morrisey, Seldom Scene,
Bob Dylan, The Bird Sisters, Ice T, PJ Harvey, Sinead and on and
on and on....they are all folks who make music.

Seriously
bob

don't let anyone tell you folk music is played in coffee houses and
church basements ..... folk music comes from everywhere.

:)


311.3 you exibitionist! BUSY::IRZAthe bleeding hearts and artistsWed Oct 28 1992 11:5013
 >                       <<< Note 311.2 by LANDO::HAPGOOD >>

> Mojo Nixon, Black Flag, Todd, The Grateful Dead, The Del Feugos, 
> Sergio Mendez :) , Yellowman, The Cure, Morrisey, Seldom Scene,
> Bob Dylan, The Bird Sisters, Ice T, PJ Harvey, Sinead and on and       
    
     interesting list of bands...i LOVE PJ Harvey but never thought i'd
     see her even mentioned in here. :^) ...saw morrisey a  little while
     back at brandeis college. 
       when i think of folk music i think of bands like indigo girls, a
     couple of acoutic guitars and all.
    
                                                 ^dave                                                                      
311.4TLE::ABBOTJumbo Hunderglitz in &#039;92Wed Oct 28 1992 12:1615
    I think they do a type of electric folk.  Just like the big trend 20
    some odd years ago on the British scene for electric folk.  Groups like
    Fairport Convention ("trad. arr. Fairport"), Steeleye Span, Pentangle,
    Incredible String Band, etc. started taking old folk tunes and giving
    them modern arrangements.  The Dead do the same for American music. 
    They don't stick to the traditional arrangements as much as some more
    acoustically oriented bands but they certainly keep those old tunes
    alive.
    
    BTW, anyone know how many versions of "Shady Grove" have been done? 
    Hint if anyone is still figuring out my "name that tune": it's the
    British version of that song.
    
    Scott
    
311.5CXDOCS::BARNESWed Oct 28 1992 12:314
    naaaaawwwww...they're just a jug band that made it big! 
    
    %^)
    rfb
311.6I been callin' it that for yearsSALES::GKELLERJust Say Anything (To get elected)Wed Oct 28 1992 14:315
I've been calling Grateful Dead Music Contemporary Folk Music for about 10 
years.  I wondered how long it would take people to figure out what I was 
talking about:-)

Geoff
311.7EBBV03::SMITHI&#039;ve got a peaceful easy feelingWed Oct 28 1992 14:429
	Jerry says the Grateful Dead uis

	"The slowest growing Rock n Roll band"

	


	I always think of the it as Mountain Music.
311.8happy musicLJOHUB::GILMOREIt&#039;s got WICCABILITY!Wed Oct 28 1992 14:506
    Not folk, rock, country, blues, r&b, garage, jug, or any other type.  I
    think it's HAPPY MUSIC plain & simple.
    
    :) :) :) makes me happy!
    
    sparky
311.9Grateful Dead = U.S.American musicGR8FUL::WHITEWithout love in a dream...Wed Oct 28 1992 14:5611
	The Grateful Dead are the quintessential players of American 
	music.  Their music is a rather unique blend of bluegrass
	(traditional American albeit derived from Celtic music), rock
	'n roll (another American invention), blues (YAAMI yet 
	another...), jazz (YAAMI) and traditional tunes.

	"The Grateful Dead aren't the best at what they do, they're the
	 only ones who dow what they do" - Bill Graham

	Bob
311.10VERGA::STANLEYwhat a long strange trip it&#039;s beenWed Oct 28 1992 16:231
    Yea.. I agree.. quintessentially American.. no doubt about it.