Bill:  I just went to Amazon and purchased Live/Dead  I'll report my findings upon further investigation.  
 
And just so there are no illusions about my playing this weekend, I do not know any dead tunes at all.

ahh, but you can learn!!!!!  Seriously though, one of the more refreshing aspects of the Dead catalog is the breadth of music styles covered.  Blues, Country, Folk, R&B, Rock 'n Roll, New Orleans, Space, and more.  Even the almost baroque sound of China Doll, complete with Harpsichord!  The Dead catalog is truly an homage to Americana.
 
Bill, tgo
 
P.S., don't worry, I play other stuff besides the Dead.  Ever hear of The New Riders or JGB?  hehehehe

here is a handy little tidbit
i saw this on either archive;s site
 
the most downloaded show is rfk 6/10/73
last time i looked over 150,000 people have it
thats just on their site
i was at that show....

like the dead?
download 6/10/73

Doc, those sound like some great Sunday afternoons! The sax guy was Jon Smith, and he went on to play with Albert Collins. A killer player.  
 
Meandering back on track: I'm a Stanley guy, however, I have played two Dead songs, Bertha, and Friend of the Devil, and I saw their last two shows in Portland, OR in May '95. They were great!
 
Reid

Hey, Bill.
 
I'll learn some Dead if you can do Roundabout
:-)
 
(Back to your regularly scheduled thread)

IMHO, the three things that make the Dead utterly unique (that no-one else has mentioned here) are:
 
Dynamics - from whisper-quiet to very loud (though always clean as Bill has stated)
 
Space - there's a lot of (milliseconds of) silence in Dead music.
 
Phrasing - especially Jerry's.  He sure could mix the notes up.
 
Mark

Hi I'm Roger, and I'm a Deadhead.  
 
I came to Alembic through the Grateful Dead.  
 
I have never heard another band with such spontenaity or passion.  The ability for ALL of them to turn on a dime improvisationally like a school of fish, or a flock of birds sends me to meditation every time.  Stoned, or not.  
 
And I always end up asking Damn, how did they DO that? and then I end up saying was that my exit I just passed?

I came to Alembic through John Entwistle, 1979 movie The Kids Are Alright.  I remember saying to myself what the $@&$!@ is that thing (paraphrased) during the Baba O'Reilly cut.  
 
I was a very impressionable 17 year old

The Dead. Definately! Stanley and the Brown Bass!
Jack with#1 and the Ox. All had an early influence. Firstly was by touch. I had bought a 5-string Ric and at the store got my hands on a maple Spoiler. That as has been said many times..
that was all she wrote. Nice touch. amazing sound. I had to have one.  
The Dead played so many different venues, I've been to many. The sound projection was always amzing.
Answering the original question is yes to both and Saint Stevens is still one of my fav's to play. Love the changes.
NLP
 
(Message edited by inthelows on March 30, 2007)

Bill plays both kinds of music, Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band.

grateful...
 I mentioned the 'thick air',(trying not to sound 'air'ogant)(ouch..sorry)...  
... I suppose that could be interpreted as a delightfully smoky venue;
tho they could sure make silence charged with electricity ,... yum,i miss that
 
elwood

Sorry Elwood, I thought you were referring to the colored silence in Anthem of the Sun!
 
Mark

Grateful,your right...
I'm always stoned,sacrificing clarity for creativity at times.
(time to try these new g12-m's)...6 am I wonder if my nieghbors will notice.
pardon my wake of confusion
: )

I was introduced to the Alembic web site through a friend. ('Man, you have to check this bass out')  
 
I knew a little about Jerry's guitars, but had limited knowledge of Alembic. Once I began to browse the site I learned lots, and began to lust after an Alembic of my own.
 
Luckily enough, I now get to settle down with a Skylark, in coco bolo no less. Life is good.