Tag Archives: grateful dead

Artist Spotlight, Features, Music

Living Dead: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Grateful Dead

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Fire On the Mountain

In July of 2007 my high school cross country team traveled to just outside of Boone, North Carolina for a week long training camp. It was nothing official; in fact, we could not technically refer to it as training, or even a team event, as FHSAA rules prevented practice before a certain date. It was officially just a group of friends who all happened to be on the same cross country team, traveling with a few parents and another man who just happened to be their coach.

We piled into a transport van, schlepped the 10 hours up from Florida, and eventually pulled into a rental cabin nestled in the woods by a stream. We had morning and afternoon practices everyday, which mainly consisted of interval training, pacing exercises, and hill work. In between practices, we spent our time exploring the forest, swinging on a rope swing into a nearby river, and generally goofing around as teenagers on an unofficial trip do. We put in a lot of miles that week, but no workout was as tough as our mountain climb. One morning, we drove a few miles from our cabin to the base of Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Our coach’s directive: run to the top. 

It was a slog. The uphills were brutal, and the occasional descents were treacherous. Yet the mountain’s forested beauty was breathtaking, and it was on that ascent that I first felt a real bond being formed between me and my other teammates, especially one who would go on to be a lifelong friend. 

About halfway up we came to the state park from which the rest of the trail continued. Yet we had already been running for hours, and we were exhausted. Our coach mercifully decided that we had already proven ourselves and offered to shuttle us back to the cabin. We gladly took up his offer. As a means of celebrating our efforts, Coach’s soundtrack on the way back was the Grateful Dead song “Fire On the Mountain.” It was extremely apropos: not only had we felt the fire in our legs and lungs as we ran up the mount, but the song also begins with the immortal lines “Long distance runner, what you standin’ there for? / Get up, get out, get out of the door.”  

The song is not really about distance running; it’s more of a call to action in regards to personal realization. To our high school ears the music was goofy, with a loping beat that did not lend itself to running. Yet for the rest of the week, whether during warm ups or during a run (in which Coach would drive next to us), we heard that song. It became the theme song for our entire season, and I still have my ‘07 Chamberlain High School XC shirt with FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN emblazoned across the back. I knew that the song would become a nostalgic memory for me through the trip and our collective experience as a team, but at the time I was unaware of the significance that the band who performed it would come to have in my life.

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Covers, Features, Music

Covers: All Along the Watchtower

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For the next edition of my Covers series, I’m looking at one of the most legendary songs ever: “All Along the Watchtower.” Originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan, it was soon made definitive by Jimi Hendrix, who turned the lyrical drama up to 11 and unleashed one of his most iconic solos. It’s a rare instance in which the cover is almost universally acknowledge as better than the original. Perhaps that’s why it hasn’t been covered in the studio by as wide a range of artists as our previous entry “Dancin’ in the Streets.” Jimi already nailed it, so what’s the use of even trying?

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Covers, Features, Music

Covers: Dancing In the Street

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Sometimes, things just feel right. My most recent post blew up big time, so I’m using this as an opportunity to launch a new series that I’ve wanted to do for a while now. It’s called simply Covers. There exist some songs that transcend the moment which produced them, and go on to be universal. Often this results in a supremely well known and loved recording of a song that becomes scripture set in stone for generations to come. But just as often, the universality of a song allows it to be performed by many different artists in their own styles. Some versions are better than others, yet all of the varied interpretations can tell us much about the time and place they were recorded. So I’m going to take a look at a single song and run down the many cover versions of said song, while taking a look at what each reading can tell us about the performing artist and/or their cultural moment.

I’m beginning the Covers series with the most beloved (and often covered!) songs of the rock era: Martha and the Vandellas’ immortal “Dancing In the Street.” As summer arrives and we all itch to get back outside and celebrate with our long quarantined neighbors, it seems like the perfect place to start.

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Features, Music, Opinion

Rolling Thunder: Top 15 Bassists

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Welcome to my first ranked list! I plan to present many such lists in the future, as they are always a fun challenge for me and stir up interesting conversation and debate. Please keep in mind that, as with everything on this site, it is based solely on my opinion and does not reflect some universal mandate.

The inaugural listicle is going to be my top 15 bassists. The topic has been spurred on due to the unfortunate passing of Yes’ Chris Squire, who surely appears here. It got me to thinking about the roll of the bass guitar in rock music. It obviously doesn’t receive the glory of the electric guitar, and bassists are usually relegated to secondary members on stage within the collective cultural consciousness. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth – the bass is a vital part of any ensemble. It provides the rhythm, the deep bottom end that gives music its power and inspires people to move. It can serve as a counterpoint to the main melody. Finally, there are lots of bassists that have left their unique mark on the instrument and the world of music. Here are my favorite, ranked from 15 to 1.

Note: As per the main breadth of this blog, I am going to focus only on musicians that can fit primarily into the broad spectrum of “rock” music. As such, there are some fantastic players inherently left off, such as Charles Mingus, James Jamerson, Robbie Shakespeare, Jaco Pastorious, Victor Wooten, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett. Also, this isn’t necessarily saying who is all-around “better;” rather it is my preference ranking based on their style and skill.

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