The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    Jerry had severe diabetes and did not take very good care of his health. Heroin certainly didn't help. He developed peripheral neuropathy, arthritis, neck problems (his main guitar for a decade and a half, Tiger, weighed about 15 pounds) and, from the looks of the photographs in his last few years, significant heart failure and probably COPD from decades of smoking like a chimney. He had a rather publicized diabetic coma after which he struggled to put things back together to be able to play again. Merle Saunders came over to his house and played with him every day to coax him back; the first thing he wanted to play was not a Dead tune but "My Funny Valentine." He was what, 53 when he died? He looked like he was about 85 at the final concert.

    Since I am a psychologist in real life, I also wonder if there weren't mental health issues as well. Addiction, of course, is an obvious one. But he also ended up living an isolated life in a small apartment, fairly unable to go out and do things because of his extreme fame and the rather proprietary attitude of Deadheads towards the band. Scuba diving in Hawaii was one of his releases. He apparently felt the Grateful Dead as a tremendous burden towards the end of his life and did not want to go out and tour anymore. The hassles of the last few tours were extraordinary, including one show where there had been death threats against him and so the house lights remained up throughout the concert with police stationed throughout the hall. That had to be weird. And yet he also felt an obligation to the extended Grateful Dead family whose livelihoods were dependent upon the band touring and generating $30-$50 million a year. It would not surprise me if he was clinically depressed. Bob Weir has said that Jerry told him heroin rolled up all of his problems into one neat little package: "where's my next hit?"
    Of course he was depressed!

    Well as I mentioned above I wonder if he would have been more successful psychologically if he were not part of a huge operation where all his needs were catered to (except the psychological ones of course). Being in a band is like hanging with a bunch of wealthy codependents 24/7. No wonder he isolated himself.

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  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    Yep, and the Grateful Dead ticketing service really riled a lot of feathers among the three piece suit and cigar crowd that had been controlling ticket sales to rock concerts. Suddenly their little cash cow was threatened. Fortunately for the Dead, they had a lawyer who was (1) excellent dealing with laws around the entertainment industry and (2) not overawed by the Dead because he was older than they were and not part of the scene, plus he wasn't dependent on their money. That let him be direct and honest with them about what they could and should or shouldn't do, and he was quite effective on their behalf because the entertainment industry is filled with people taking advantage of artists. The Dead inadvertently paved the way for artists to have a lot more independence and control over their revenues. There are even textbooks written about the band's business practices as models for operation, most of which they walked into back-asswards.
    I agree they were trendsetters...also in terms of concert sound, with Owsley’s systems and live recording techniques. Business-wise they did very well in spite of themselves.

    Makes up for the early shows where there were so many gatecrashers. Eventually they found a way to make money from the hippies. ;-)

  4. #28

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    BTW I have been relistening to Without a Net quite a bit, and that song sequence from Althea to Franklin’s Tower is just amazing...the sound. A beautiful recording, and great performances.

    Listen to it with good headphones, as I did, or with a good soundsystem for a proper appreciation. Really sets the bar for a live recording. Also one of the better uses of guitar synths IMO.

  5. #29

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    longtime head here as well, as you can see by my avatar pic lol...i always dug this