tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post5793246312342166593..comments2024-03-16T07:13:50.487-07:00Comments on Lost Live Dead: "Keith And Donna"-Keith And Donna Godchaux (Round Records RX-104 March 1975)Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-79318437958224500412017-08-31T20:48:09.492-07:002017-08-31T20:48:09.492-07:00Who played lead guitar for Keith and Donna in 1975...Who played lead guitar for Keith and Donna in 1975 when Jerry wasn't available?Jerry's Brokendown Palaceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06451361448230329754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-89570029068594028842012-10-01T19:48:18.036-07:002012-10-01T19:48:18.036-07:00The DeadDisc says Garcia doodled what the baby was...The DeadDisc says Garcia doodled what the baby was thinking but the doodle represents the track selection they were working on and it's unlikely it was Jer's idea to superimpose it on a baby's forehead. He probably just left it on the coffee table.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-58970390618210817222011-09-11T10:58:54.902-07:002011-09-11T10:58:54.902-07:00Denny Siewell and Chris Stewart were session men b...Denny Siewell and Chris Stewart were session men based in Los Angeles and London. They had no inherent connection to anyone in the Grateful Dead universe, even several steps removed. There were two possibilities for their recording on K&D: either someone took the master tape to LA for overdubbing, or there was a social connection we didn't know about (these aren't exclusive).<br /><br />Andy Fairweather Low, with full record company backing, was flown to San Francisco in 1974 to make an album at His Master's Wheels (formerly Pacific High), with heavy session men flown in from elsewhere. John Kahn, Chris Stewart and Denny Siewell all played on the record. This doesn't answer my questions, but it puts Siewell and Stewart in San Francisco with someone connected to Keith and Donna.<br /><br />My general point was that the seriousness with which Round approached the K&D album is indicated by having some serious players overdub the bass and drum parts. I had been wondering how the connection to Stewart and Siewell had even been made, and now I think I know.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-78579332647270027102011-09-11T10:45:24.857-07:002011-09-11T10:45:24.857-07:00Can you clarify what you intend with that last com...Can you clarify what you intend with that last comment? I am not following you.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-75199912922612831352011-09-10T22:59:07.152-07:002011-09-10T22:59:07.152-07:00I have discovered that John Kahn played bass on a ...I have discovered that John Kahn played bass on a few tracks on an obscure 1974 album by Andy Fairweather Low called Spider Jiving. Fairweather Low is a talented Welsh guitarist/singer, but neither here nor there for this blog (he played with Clapton in the 90s, I believe). <br /><br />The important part here is that Spider Jiving was recorded at His Master's Wheel's in San Francisco, and Chrissy Stewart and Denny Siewell were among the many players on the album (http://deaddisc.com/disc/Spider_Jiving.htm). This seems very much like the Stewart-Siewell/K&D connection. Maybe Kahn took the tapes to His Master's Wheels, or maybe Stewart and Siewell daytripped up to Stinson Beach, but it's not likely to have been a coincidence.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-5901479352778589372011-05-12T00:28:21.402-07:002011-05-12T00:28:21.402-07:00Had the album on vinyl. "Who Was John?" ...Had the album on vinyl. "Who Was John?" made it onto a mix tape at some point and to this day is one of my favorite Dead-related bits. I'd love to find it in digital form somewhere. Anybody? I don't remember any other song on the album. This was a marvelously obscure post, and I am glad to have seen it. Thanks! (in the background: "He was a writer....")Larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01276321174327075063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-72278844959968888202011-05-03T09:26:57.043-07:002011-05-03T09:26:57.043-07:00A very interesting anecdote. I think the odd part ...A very interesting anecdote. I think the odd part was not the strange parsing between "FM Sourcing" versus "Commercially Released," because I can respect that lines have to be drawn somewhere, but the eagerness to wear the mantle of the self-righteous.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-67939409065692782572011-05-01T04:47:48.796-07:002011-05-01T04:47:48.796-07:00Even though the album as a whole is pretty blah, I...Even though the album as a whole is pretty blah, I've always thought that a judiciously edited single of "River Deep, Mountain High" could have done something; Donna's vocals on that track are gorgeous.<br /><br />On a more personal note, this album has always brought up negative feelings for me, and here's why. Way back when, in the very early days of internet downloads, I asked if someone could upload this album for me...and I was quickly and thoroughly crucified. How DARE I ask for a commercially-released album (even though it had been out of print for decades, was not at all commercially available, and an upload would have taken money out of precisely no-one's mouth, other than perhaps a used record store).<br /><br />I then asked if it would be okay to get the FM version of 8/13/75, a tape almost perfectly identical to ONE FROM THE VAULT except for the fact that it was sourced from FM, and not the master tapes. That, of course, was perfectly fine and my request was honored with great kindness.<br /><br />That hypocrisy still sticks in my gullet, and even though the theory behind my dressing-down makes sense to me, the practical application behind it still seems quite ridiculous. Just thought I'd share.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-65318178828750236632011-04-30T10:20:16.603-07:002011-04-30T10:20:16.603-07:00My point about Donna being photogenic was a refere...My point about Donna being photogenic was a reference to her personally. I agree that the cover wasn't great, but from a conceptual point of view, it would have been a lot easier to promote Donna than, say, Pigpen. Round Records didn't do a great job of it, but I am trying to make the point that it wasn't a bad idea. <br /><br />Good point about Bill Wolf. Although we don't know the exact recording dates for the Keith and Donna lp, it would have had to be around the time of the Winterland shows, or just after.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-89960430785441414062011-04-30T09:31:45.714-07:002011-04-30T09:31:45.714-07:00All Keith & Donna, all the time!
An interest...All Keith & Donna, all the time! <br /><br />An interesting perspective on the K&D album. (Though I might quibble that neither the front nor back covers look very photogenic to me; in fact the whole family looks very glum!)<br /><br />What struck me, considering your comments about the album's muddy sound, was that the engineer was Bill Wolf - the same guy who famously screwed up the Winterland '74 recordings. <br />Maybe he did good recording work with the Rowans, but his involvement with the Dead certainly wasn't based on engineering competence!Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-68061732353705787712011-04-30T07:27:47.742-07:002011-04-30T07:27:47.742-07:00Well, the problem for GD and Round Records was act...Well, the problem for GD and Round Records was actually cash flow. It costs money to manufacture records, but the product (albums) is consigned to distributors. Until record stores sell the albums and give the cash to distributors, who in turn give the cash to the Record Company (GD/Round), the company is exposed to a cash squeeze. GD/Round had trouble getting paid by their distributors, due to some combination of malfeasance and indifference on the parts of the distribution chain.<br /><br />A hit for GD/Round, ironically, would have made the situation worse. More money would need to be fronted to manufacture albums in hit quantities, but cash would have been no less forthcoming. There's almost no way that GD/Round could have survived as part of the conventional record business in the 1970s. However, if GD/Round had had a hit, they could have gotten much more money up front from whichever record company they partnered with, and that might have solved other cash problems for the band, like the Grateful Dead Movie.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-73867324567871394272011-04-29T23:38:27.896-07:002011-04-29T23:38:27.896-07:00This is very insightful. I have been very dismissi...This is very insightful. I have been very dismissive of this record, but you have me persuaded that someone, somewhere, put his/her money where his/her mouth was on this project.<br /><br />So, what if they had been right, and K&D (or any of the other Round Records releases) had made a hit or two. Would things have been able to continue independently, or would they have had to terminate it anyway? Counterfactual, I know, but I'd be curious if you can see any circumstances under which RR might have been successful, or if it was doomed to fail.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.com