Cover Wars: Standing On The Moon Edition
While the world celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, I made the best selection I could to fit the vibe and that is a track off of the Grateful Dead’s 1989 release Built To Last titled Standing On The Moon.
Many in the Grateful Dead community have hypothesized that the outro lyrics, “A lovely view of heaven but I’d rather be with you” indicated a feeling from Jerry that while he appreciated the band’s success and fans, a part of him wanted to just be out in the crowd with everyone else. Makes sense.
The Contestants:
Big Frog: You may recognize this band from their spot opening for Phish back in 2000 during their Japan tour. The ever-elusive Phish opening act spot. Source: 8-1-2007
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READ ON for the rest of this week’s Cover Wars contestants…
Bruce Hornsby & Trey Anastasio: This video comes from the 2005 Comes A Time tribute to Jerry Garcia at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA. Hornsby also has performed this song both solo and with his band The Noisemakers.
Kate Gaffney: Philadelphia’s Kate Gaffney makes her Cover Wars debut with this very nice interpretation from a recording captured last month. Source: 6-23-2009
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Keller Williams: I remember seeing Keller perform this right around the time of the recording, and I was impressed with the tasteful way he reproduced this great song. Source: 11-17-2001
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Mr. Blotto: CW regulars Mr. Blotto show up with a nice rendition that mixes electric and acoustic guitar. It seems to me the band intentionally performs the song in the style of the late 1980′s with the keyboard synth and the tone of the electric guitar. They pull it off. Source: 10-24-2003
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Ratdog: This video comes off a JamCam DVD and features a nice snippet of an interview where Bob Weir talks about Jerry and then a full-length clip of Standing On The Moon from 8-6-2005 plays.
Phil Lesh & Friends: Warren Haynes does a great job singing lead on this recording that featured my favorite lineup of Phil Lesh & Friends (Warren, Jimmy Herring & Rob Barraco). Amazing recording too. Source: 12-3-2005
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Vince Welnick: Someone, I’m not sure if it’s Vince, quips into the mic at the start of this clip that they are, “not wasted”. Whatever you say guys. Source: 12-6-2002
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To keep things even, we’re not going to include Ratdog or Phil Lesh & Friends in the voting. We will however include the likes of Hornsby & Welnick. Checking in on the You Can’t Always Get What You Want Cover Wars, Max Creek is easily declared the winner.
- the story of Tommy Weber and Puss Coriat, a pair of London socialites who regularly rubbed elbows with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and the Beatles - the section in back reserved to credit sources spans a jaw-dropping 40 pages. A rough estimate of twenty line items per page puts the total number of sources at around 800; not exactly lazy journalism.
Over the course of the interview, we discuss this arduous approach to the research process as well as other anecdotes detailing the ups, downs, ins and outs of Robert Greenfield's life as a music writer.
Ryan Dembinsky: I understand you started your career as a sports writer. Could you explain the motivation and circumstances behind your move from sports to music, and ultimately to music biographer/historian?
Robert Greenfield: Because I grew up in Brooklyn when the Dodgers were still at Ebbets Field (and where I got to see Jackie Robinson play), I was like most kids in my neighborhood obsessed with sports, not just baseball but basketball as well. I was also obsessed with music and went to my first rock ‘n’ roll show, hosted by Murray The K, when I was 13 years old. When the world began changing in the late sixties, music seemed more interesting and important than sports on every level and so I began to write about it.
Never heard that interpretation about the Jerry wanting to be with the fans before.
The next line however is “… somewhere in San Francisco on a back porch in July’
check out Kate Gaffney. I’ve been listening to her for some years now. Easy on the ears!
I was truly impressed with Kate Gaffney’s version of the incredible song. She gives a proper soulful reading. Of course Jerry always did it best!
[...] READ ON for the rest of this week’s Cover Wars contestants… [...]
[...] on last week’s Standing On The Moon Cover Wars, it’s currently a tie between Bruce Hornsby/Trey Anastasio and Mr. [...]
[...] on last week’s Standing On The Moon Cover Wars, it’s currently a tie between Bruce Hornsby/Trey Anastasio and Mr. [...]