Back in 2007, auctioneers Bonhams and Butterfields sold more than $1.1 million worth of former Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully’s memorabilia from his days with the band. On Sunday, Bonhams will auction off More Skeletons From The Closet from not only Scully, but also from the collections of Dead keyboardists Vince Welnick and Ron “Pig Pen” McKernan.
There are some incredible gems among the 174 lots that B&B plans to auction, and if we had won the lottery we’d have a big list of stuff we’d want. So, let’s play pretend. For this week’s B List we look at the ten items we’d most want from Sunday’s auction if we had an unlimited budget.
1.1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air
This gorgeous old beauty was used by the band to transport none other than Captain Trips, Jerry Garcia.
2. Rock Scully’s Attache Case
Here’s a chance to own the case that transported Jerry Garcia’s drugs! Okay, we’ve got no proof whatsoever, but we’d just assume this badass attache housed the good stuff.
READ ON for seven more artifacts we’d buy if we had a million dollars…
While TMZ.com may be the source for news regarding Britney, Lindsay or Angelina, you wouldn’t expect to see a story about the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Yet yesterday, TMZ dropped the news that the original “Ace” hurt his ribs while riding on a tour bus, scaring some fans into thinking that the upcoming Dead reunion at State College on October 13 would be canceled. We spoke with Bobby’s publicist, who assures us the show will go on. Apparently, a “wicked” cold combined with Bobby’s aching ribs led to the cancellation of a fundraiser last week, but the Change Rocks show to benefit the campaign of Barack Obama on the 13th won’t fade away.
As we mentioned earlier, we’re less than a week away from the release of Rhino’s latest Grateful Dead vault release Rocking the Cradle: Grateful Dead, Egypt 1978 on September 30. The 2 CD set, culled from the band’s run at the Sound & Light Theater outside of Cairo, is also being packaged with a DVD that will include a mini-documentary called the Vacation Tapes along with 95 minutes of spectacular concert footage. To get you ready for the release Spinner is currently sharing an exclusive video of Deal.
Finally, Ray Davies is stirring the rumor mill about a possible reunion of the original dysfunctional brother fronted rock band. According to a BBC report the former Kinks lead singer is claiming that the major obstacle holding things up is if his brother Dave, who has experienced some health problems over the last few years, feels good enough to commit to it. The Kinks have not performed together live since 1996, and are the only major British Invasion band whose original members are all still alive. The clock’s ticking!
After nearly a decade of off-again on-again relations between former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, we seem to be smack dab in the middle of an on-again period. Phil and Bobby, who are teaming up with Billy and Mickey for an Obama benefit on October 13, will travel to New York City the next day for a rare in-store appearance.
Phil and Bobby will be signing copies of Rocking The Cradle: Egypt 1978 at the Best Buy in midtown Manhattan at 5th Avenue and East 44th Street on October 14 starting at 7:00 PM. In order to secure one of the wristbands that guarantee a moment with the lead bassist and rhythm guitarists, you’ll need to be among the first 400 people to buy Rocking The Cradle at that same Best Buy location on September 30. The store opens at 10AM next Tuesday, so get there early if you want your moment with Phil and Bobby.
In other Dead news, the band’s website just posted a recently recorded interview between Former band manager Richard Loren and GDH host David Gans about the planning and inspiration that went into the Egypt shows. Loren shares some interesting stories about the “beautiful chaos” that went on behind the scenes, which is the best part of the 35 minute clip.
There’s no overarching theme today, just some old-fashioned bust outs. We’ve got plenty to share with you including a snippet of a surprise show out in the lot, a song revived after 13 years in hiding, a tune best known for its placement in a classic movie and some funkdafied Rolling Stones.
First and foremost, we’re headed to the Midwest back in 1994, including a parking lot in Bloomington where the good Reverend Mosier and the Phab Phour treated a lucky group of fans to a free parking lot bluegrass hoedown. Fortunately, there’s great quality audio of the whole thing, so we can all be there. I kick myself to this day; because I was not yet on board with the Phish back in ’94 and the whole run occurred right in back yard with three shows within a two-hour drive and one hometown gig. Damn.
READ ON after the jump for this week’s heady bust outs…
We’ve finally got onsale information for the Dead and Allman Brothers’ Change Rocks benefit concert for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at Noon through Ticketmaster.com.
Most ducats for the show on October 13 at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA will run you $50, but if you’ve got money to burn there are also $2,500 VIP tickets available. We’re not sure what you get for the extra money, but hopefully it’s a picture of Obama in Bobby’s Jorts. Penn State students can purchase $30 tickets by showing a student ID.
As you may notice from the poster above, the show bills each musician individually as opposed to using the band names. What’s up with that?
Many Grateful Dead fans were up in arms when the band and Rhino Records announced the Road Trips release series last November. The idea behind Road Trips is to take a run of shows and cherry pick the best tracks for each compilation. For instance, Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 1 contains the best tunes from Fall ‘79. Well, most Deadheads are obsessive about their collections and are looking for the band to release complete shows. Especially since the Dick’s Picks series of complete show releases seems to be dunzo.
The band has listened to their vocal fanbase and announced the release of two of the shows that make up Road Trips Vol. No. 1 in their entirety. Now, you can now download the Dead’s performances from The Spectrum in Philadelphia on November 5 and 6, 1979 via Nugs.net for $9.99 per show or $17.99 for both. These two shows from early in keyboardist Brent Mydland’s tenure in the band contain ferocious jamming and fiery versions of a number of classics including the delicious Eyes > Estimated > Franklin’s segment from the first night and the first Alabama Getaway opener evs on the second night.
Hopefully, the availability of these shows helps quell the whining that occurs anytime the Dead announce a new installment of Road Trips. After putting out just Live at the Cow Palace: New Years Eve 1978 in 2006, Rhino has picked up the pace by putting out three vault releases in 2007 and six new collections in 2008. Our fingers are crossed that the trend continues.
The surviving members of the Grateful Dead are teaming up to headline a benefit concert for the Presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama, at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, PA on October 13. The Allman Brothers Band and one band to be named later will open this politically-charged affair.
Billy, Mickey, Phil and Bobby will be joined by RatDog’s Jeff Chimenti on keys and Warren “Mother Fucking” Haynes on lead guitar. According to Jambands/Relix, The Dead plan to tour with this lineup early next year.
For those of you who didn’t catch this item yesterday on Jambands.com, there is some big news coming out of the Grateful Dead camp. Take a look…
Sources confirm that the surviving members of the Grateful Dead — guitarist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh, and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann — are planning to tour in April and May of 2009. There’s no word yet on the band’s configuration — previous configurations of “The Dead” and The Other Ones have included singer-guitar hero Warren Haynes, guitar ace Jimmy Herring, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, singer Joan Osborne, keyboardists Jeff Chimenti and Rob Baracco, as well as guitarists Mark Karan and Steve Kimock.
Also in the works, likely for October 13, is a second Deadheads For Obama concert, planned for the swing state of Pennsylvania.
The first Deadheads for Obama concert took place at the Warfield in San Francisco — with Weir, Hart, Lesh, drummer John Molo, keyboardist Steve Molitz, guitarist Larry Campbell, pedal steel player Barry Sless, singer-guitarist Jackie Greene, and Karan — on the eve of the California Democratic primary.
The Dead allied with Obama after Lesh’s son began volunteering for Obama’s campaign.
“This is the real deal,” Lesh said of Obama then. Report by Richard B. Simon
2009 could be a big year for jamband reunions, and we couldn’t be more excited.
One of the most talked about musicals of 2008 isn’t even on Broadway…yet. The off-broadway dance musical Fela! is earning raves from anyone who attends. Just ask the NY Post or our friends at Intelligent Rectum about this brand-new show.
Fela! tells the story of Fela Kuti’s meteoric rise as a composer and performer and includes plenty of afrobeat music to get you movin’. We haven’t checked it out yet, but hope to make it over to 37 Arts at 450 West 37th Street before too long.
Let’s take one last look at the ‘nets before heading out for the long weekend…
Finally, Roger Friedman of Fox News breaks the news that the surviving members of the Grateful Dead will team up once more to raise money and awareness for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Friedman thinks the band will team up with Warren for a gig in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh on October 13. Sweet deal.
