(One of) My Musical Obsessions
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
So I have a musical Achilles heel. Maybe writing about it will make things better. I’m a cd collector/connoisseur - no doubt about it. But since I married, I truly have tried to cut down on my cd purchases. I now realize I don’t need to have everything.
Unless it’s from the Grateful Dead archives.
I don’t know if I’d call myself a Dead Head. In fact, no I wouldn’t. I think that term should be reserved for all those that actually saw the band before Jerry’s passing in 1995. I suppose I’m a post-Dead Head. Over the past 6 or 7 years I’ve become a big fan. I’ve seen “The Dead” (2003 w/Bob Dylan at Darrien - great show), Phil and Friends a few times, and last summer I made it to my first Bob Weird and Ratdog show. While my live experiences don’t even come close to those that still travel to see their tye-dyed icons, I have amassed a pretty good collection of Dead albums. And at these times when i should be cutting back on the purchases because of both space and saving, every time a new Dead release appears on the band’s official website dead.net, I immediately make my order. I can’t help it - I’m obsessed.
That’s what happened when the band announced a pre-order for their new 9 cd box set “Winterland 1973″. This limited edition collects a classic run of shows at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom at what many would argue was the Dead’s peak period. I can’t wait to hear it! And because I ordered it before April 30th I scored a bonus disc of more music from that time period. A bonus disc!
I have problems.
Tell me I’m not the only one who has a musical obsession. You’ve got to have one too, right?
While there’s no footage out there of the band circa Winterland 1973, here’s a clip of the Dead rocking the Winterland in 1978 (I’ve got this too. I have problems.) As for today’s bonus word, how about: WINTERLAND.