john@fritz.UUCP (John Gilbert) (07/23/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** The other day at the Ventura shows I found myself in a discussion regarding Brent's status as a "real" member of the Grateful Dead. I must say that this is not the first time I have heard such conversation. It does seem that some fans have trouble accepting Brent, and I am still not sure why. I personally like the influence he has provided for the band. His keyboards are really colorful and round the music out nicely, a positive step forward from the almost exclusive piano riffs of Kieth. I also like his voice a lot. It backs up the others (Weir espcially) well, and I look forward to his lead vocals. It seems on the recent east coast swing he sang little or not at all of the "Brent" tunes. From what I can gather, most of his critics seem to have the most trouble with his own material. Songs like "Babe, I don't Need You" seem to go against the Grateful Dead grain with a negative approach to life. "Tons Of Steel" fits right in, and has become a pretty regular tune. On the other hand, I listen to Garcia's effort on this tune, compared, say to what he does for "Dear Mr. Fantasy", and I do find that Jer puts less energy into "Tons". Nobody seems to think he needs to be replaced or anything like that, but I really wonder why some have trouble fully accepting him. After all, how can you not fit in with a bunch of "misfits"? Any constructive comments out there? I suppose this could become a sensitive issue, but it seems valid enough for discussion. For what it's worth, if your watching the net Brent, you got my support! John Gilbert 3533 Elmwood Dr. Riverside, Ca. 92506 ..!trwrb!felix!john "Sometimes the songs that we hear are the songs of our own"
wimp@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Jeff Haferman) (07/24/85)
> The other day at the Ventura shows I found myself in a discussion regarding > Brent's status as a "real" member of the Grateful Dead. I must say that > this is not the first time I have heard such conversation. It does seem that > some fans have trouble accepting Brent, and I am still not sure why. > Any constructive comments out there? I suppose this could become a sensitive > issue, but it seems valid enough for discussion. I have heard this type of discussion at shows also. I didn't like Brent that much at first because I thought he add a 'Doobie Brothers' type of sound to the Dead (as in the most recent Doobie Brothers). Listening back to some of the tapes of the first Brent shows, it sounds like Brent is trying too hard. His voice on occaision floods everyone out. And some of his organ riffs aren't really together. Now, however, I think he REALLY FITS IN WELL with the rest of the band. I haven't heard 'Tons of Steel' live yet, but I have it on a tape of Philly '85 and it sounds great. I have heard 'Dear Mr. Fantasy' about 3 times now and I really love how Brent lets loose on it. I've heard some great things coming out of him on the space jams, also. I never saw Pigpen, or Tom Constaten, OR even Keith Godchaux, so I can't really compare. I've heard the Pigpen wasn't that great of an keyboards player, but Brent (nor Bobby) can ever replace his blues singing. I've heard a lot more negative criticism on the Godchauxs, such as "all Keith ever did was come out and sit in front of his grand piano." So that's my 2$ worth (there isn't a key for 'cents' on this keyboard...(-: Jeff Haferman
woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (07/25/85)
John, you wanted discussion, so here is my $0.02 worth (when will ASCII have a c/ character :-) > I personally like the influence he has provided for the band. His keyboards > are really colorful and round the music out nicely, a positive step forward > from the almost exclusive piano riffs of Kieth. I agree with this 1000% (except that you spelled "Keith" wrong! :-). I think Brent is *lots* more innovative in the things he is willing to do than Keith, and his talent is lots better too. I think the former is basically the reason (aside from the rumor that Keith was a junkie, which has never been substantiated to my knowledge) that Keith got kicked out in the first place. The Dead wanted to do music that Keith couldn't/wouldn't do. I personally think that on keyboards, Brent is a BIG improvement. 3 cheers for Brent! > I also like his voice a lot. This is tougher. I think I agree, except where they have attempted to have Brent take the place of Donna. He has a nice voice, but it ain't female! :-) Fortunately, I haven't seen this lately, and I'm not sure I could recount exactly where I've seen this before, but my impression of the early Brent shows (1979 summer) is that the initial thing was for Brent to replace Keith and Donna both, and that that gradually evolved into new songs and new arrangements of the old tunes. Thank God! :-) > It seems on the recent east coast swing he sang little or not > at all of the "Brent" tunes. > From what I can gather, most of his critics seem to have the > most trouble with his own material. Songs like "Babe, I don't Need You" > seem to go against the Grateful Dead grain with a negative approach to > life. "Tons Of Steel" fits right in, ... Some of us poor saps don't even know what you are talking about here. I have never heard either of these. The only "Brent" tunes I've heard are "Far From Me" (top 40 lyrics) and "Easy to Love You" (ditto). So far, I'm not too impressed with Brent as a songwriter, although I think his voice has potential for lead singing on the right songs. (Don't ask what the "right songs" are, because I won't know until I hear them). > Nobody seems to think he needs to be replaced or anything like that, but > I really wonder why some have trouble fully accepting him. After all, > how can you not fit in with a bunch of "misfits"? I think only the old hard cores that still think of Pigpen have trouble accepting Brent. They probably never accepted Keith and Donna either. I think that Brent is the best keyboardist the Dead have ever had (sorry, T.C.) and I welcome his addition to the band. I was a Deadhead several years before they got Brent, but I think they are *lots* better *musically* since Brent joined the band. One plus vote for Brent! --Greg -- {ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!noao | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!noao} !hao!woods CSNET: woods@NCAR ARPA: woods%ncar@CSNET-RELAY "Comes a time, when a blind man takes your hand, says don't you see..."
dandb@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Dean Rubine) (07/25/85)
My biggest complaint about Brent and the Dead is that usually
I can't hear what Brent is playing. I see him up there really tearing
up his organ, but I don't see how his motions correspond to what
I'm hearing. I'm sure that it would be noticable if he stopped playing,
but during your average song, he seems to be mainly rhythm filler.
Now, I know he's a great player. Most recently for me, there was a
beautiful piano part in the Pittsburgh "It Must Have Been the Roses".
They turned up the piano and I could hear him. He also plays a mean organ
on "The Other One" when they give him a chance. With all the blues tunes
the Dead play, it seems that Brent only gets to solo on at most a couple
of choruses during a show. His blues solos are always good, and good
contrast to Jerry's guitar. Also, he has that unique bell-like electric
piano sound which stands out brilliantly against the electric guitars,
but is used very sparingly (probably a good thing). Finally, though he's
into synthesizers and the like, it seems to me he hardly ever participates
in the Space jams.
Of course, it could be that I haven't been to the right shows.
I have this Kansas City tape (8/3/82) which has a 20 minute Shakedown
Street with Brent and Jerry trading licks back and forth. It's hot!
I think if the Dead let Brent show his stuff more, there would be more
variety in the music, and the shows on the whole would be better.
Just one man's hazy opinion,
Dean Rubine
"It's all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago"
"Like perversion - whipped for the very first time"roy@WAIKATO.SCRC.Symbolics.COM (08/08/85)
From: Roy Harkow <roy@WAIKATO.SCRC.Symbolics.COM>
Date: Thu, 25-Jul-85 10:23:02 PDT
From: dandb@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Dean Rubine)
My biggest complaint about Brent and the Dead is that usually
I can't hear what Brent is playing. I see him up there really tearing
up his organ, but I don't see how his motions correspond to what
I'm hearing. I'm sure that it would be noticable if he stopped playing,
but during your average song, he seems to be mainly rhythm filler.
I found that the trick to hearing Brent well is to park yourself
in front of the right speaker. Generally he comes in pretty clear
there. I've even heard concerts in which his appeared to be the
prominent instrument. That's not necessarily a win! But he does cook on
occasion.