So you think all record companies are backwards…

Anyway, the company with the most antiquated catalog, Rhino, is jumping into Spotify in a big way. They asked me to do a playlist every week. Of course I’m getting paid, would you do it for free?

But to use my ancestral language, it’s bupkes. It’s a bit more than dinner (sans wine!), but if you think I’m doing this for the money, then you overestimate how much it is.

I’m doing it because I’m excited. About new technology. About having the history of recorded music at our fingertips. About being able to turn you on to new music.

The only requirement is that 30% of my recommendations be Warner titles. That’s not a problem, Warner has the best catalog in the business. From Prince to Neil Young to Led Zeppelin (which is not on Spotify, by the way…why do all these old acts resist new technology…history tells us you’re just left behind, like the record companies with Napster and the Beatles with iTunes…you think the digital/online/tech sphere is like the music business, where you win on intimidation, but I’m gonna tell you something, the techies have the leverage, because they have the public on their side, and the public really drives this whole thing, and if you leave yourself off of streaming services you’re just hurting yourself, or to paraphrase that old sage Warren Miller, you’re just gonna be one year older when you do cave and license), Warner’s a hotbed of legendary hits.

But I’m not restricted to old songs. As long as it’s on Spotify, I can feature it.

And rather than just give you a list of songs, I’m gonna try to provide some context. Otherwise recommendations slide right off of us, it’s an endless parade of tracks, we stop listening. So I’m not gonna try and turn you on to everything, but the right thing.

And to tell you the truth, I was gonna start with Joni Mitchell, the "Blue" album. But when you work creatively, you must operate on inspiration. And after the overwhelming response to "New Speedway Boogie" and "Sugaree", I got in a Dead kind of mood, and I thought of the first album I purchased after "Workingman’s Dead", when I needed more, before "American Beauty" came out, before the Dead became an institution.

And that was "Live/Dead".

Of the initial live albums, it was always my favorite.

And I’m not sure it will close those who are uninterested.

But if you want to know what the Dead were like forty years ago, before they became world famous, you should start here.

There were a number of studio albums (one which didn’t get wide release until after "Workingman’s Dead" and "American Beauty") and none of them got traction. So, like Humble Pie and Peter Frampton after them, the Dead tried to capture the essence on wax, and that meant a live recording.

Maybe I’m preaching to the choir here.

But if you want to know what the Dead was truly like, this is it. There is no context. Like going to college in the middle of nowhere, the Dead’s music is isolated, it sounds like nothing else.

So the way this works is every week I send my essay/list to Rhino and they put it up on this page:

Rhinofy – Bob Lefsetz: Welcome To My World

And I’m not the only person making recommendations, peruse others here:

Rhinofy

But I’m also gonna send my essay/list to my e-mail list. Because, as I stated earlier, my goal is to broaden your horizons, take your hand and educate you, turn you on to great new stuff in this world of abundance but indecipherability.

The majors may have missed Napster, but Rhino is not missing Spotify.

So without further ado…

GRATEFUL DEAD

I always thought the first live album was best, "Live/Dead", before the band changed direction, became a country rock act and broke through.

Before that, they were a local favorite, icons in San Francisco, but an enigma elsewhere. Wasn’t a band with the moniker "Grateful Dead" supposed to be loud and offensive, closer to Blue Cheer than something palatable, that you could close your eyes and drift to?

Pigpen was still alive. A picture inside the gatefold cover depicted a monstrous free concert that you winced you missed after getting hooked by the music.

Furthermore, this was the last album with the first of many Grateful Dead keyboardists, Tom Constanten.

You’ll earn your bones by knowing this album.

"Dark Star" is almost impenetrable at first, maybe you’ve got to be high.

"Turn On Your Love Light" is easy, it’s boogie, it’s a groove, it’s fun.

But if you want the full Dead experience, the essence of the band, the imperfect vocals atop the exquisite compositions with the improvisatory excursions, you listen to side two, which begins with "St. Stephen" and segues into "The Eleven".

"St. Stephen" is a harbinger of what’s to come, this is the foundation upon which not only "Workingman’s Dead" and "American Beauty" is built upon, it sounds just like every Dead show you ever went to, if you did. At first you’ll think it’s rough, but imagine yourself on your dorm room floor listening on headphones, you’ll get it, especially after a few times through.

And "St. Stephen" segues into "The Eleven", let your mind go free, let the music take you on a ride.

The Grateful Dead is not for everyone, but it’s for more people than you think it is.

Subsequent albums are easier to get into, easier to digest. But if you want to talk like a pro, know the original "Live/Dead", from ’69, cut at Fillmore West and the Avalon Ballroom. Reference this and people will take you seriously. It sounds nothing quite like what came before. If it’s familiar at all, it’s because just like they say about that first Velvet Underground album, it launched a thousand bands. You can see them on tour today, from Widespread Panic to Phish to moe. Go.

And for a hit of the truth, catch the remnants of the original band on tour as Furthur.

Spotify – Bob Lefsetz – Welcome To My World – "Grateful Dead" by rhino_records

In case you’re confused, this is how this works:
You must have a Spotify account, which is free. You click on the above link or cut and paste it into your browser and you’ll end up in Spotify, where the playlist will appear –you might have to click a few times in between, saying you have Spotify, etc., but you’re a big boy (or girl!), it’s easy, you can figure it out.