ousdahl wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2023 9:48 pm
wut
Dead Right
MR: What do you think about Bob Weir?
TC: I like Bob Weir. I've talked to Bob Weir. I think as a musician I never took him as seriously as he probably deserved. It never occurred to me to get into Bobby and the Midnites or RatDog, whereas I was a huge Jerry band fan.
MR: You turned me on to the Jerry Garcia Band!
TC: Oh, I just love the Jerry band. I never took Weir as seriously. I think he's a remarkable person who joined the band at like 15.
MR: He’s so political. Garcia is this magical person who transcends politics. I think Weir suffuses the band with politics where it’s not necessary.
TC: Lesser talents do that. Politics is an easy out for people who aren't that talented. If you're a genius like Jerry Garcia clearly was – whatever his many flaws – politics is something you may have views about, but it's not the center of who you are.
MR: I think people must be surprised when they find out that you have a favorite Dead recording.
Do you know what your three most listened-to songs on Spotify were last year?
TC: I don't, but I would think that Susan Tedeschi would be on the list. You go through these obsessions or whatever.
MR: What do you think your most played song by her would be?
TC: “Anyhow” or “Keep on Growing.”
MR: “Keep on Growing” was my first guest’s number one as well.
TC: Ah, so good! She's ridiculous. I have a weakness for strong female vocalists. A woman with a good voice is just irreplaceable. I like Jerry's voice.
MR: What’s your favorite Dead years?
TC: I don't have interesting views on that. Probably like everybody else, ‘73 to ’78 – when they got back from Europe until Go to Heaven. I actually smoked the same brand of cigarettes as Jerry did for 20 years. It's a great cigarette, but it does affect your voice.
MR: Did you meet Jerry ever?
TC: I did, as a kid.
MR: What was that like?
TC: I mean, I was thrilled. It's the only picture I have anywhere of me with a famous person, you know . . . because it's Jerry Garcia.
MR: What was he like?
TC: He was kind of out of it. My father was a reporter in San Francisco in the ‘60s and covered the Grateful Dead and knew them. When I was a kid, maybe freshman year of college, I was home in Washington for vacation for Christmas. And my father's like, “Oh, the Grateful Dead are coming to my office. I knew them in the ‘60s in San Francisco.”
I was like, “The Grateful Dead are coming to your office!?” He goes, “Well, just Jerry Garcia.” I was like, “No way!”
We took a cab from Georgetown downtown to my dad's office; he was working in a federal agency. And there was Jerry standing there talking about their time in the ‘60s in San Francisco. And it was like – incredible. So my brother and I got our picture with Jerry. I have no pictures in my office. I've met a lot of people, just because that's what I do. But I have no pictures other than that one.
I'll tell you one thing about it that I'll never forget. He was missing the middle finger on his right hand – his brother cut it off with an axe by accident when they were camping on the Russian River. And you could feel it as you shook his hand. You know, his ring finger and index finger kind of collapse together. So you could feel that the hand was not solid. It was interesting.
MR: Is there a concert that you go back to?
TC: No. Of course I've got everything they played in 1977 on my phone. It's such a cliche, but it's true.
MR: 1977 is your favorite year?
TC: I hate to admit that because it's everybody's favorite year, but it was a pretty great year. Honestly, it was a great year. They were still playing Workingman’s Dead tunes, but they were also noodling around with other stuff. They were always moving. I love the Americana stuff. I love the jams and I love the transitions between tunes, but some of the late ‘60’s pure acid stuff . . .
MR: Are you a “Dark Star” guy?
TC: I do like “Dark Star” actually. I really do. And I love instrumentals. My favorite part of Dead shows – and I went to a lot of dead shows – and my favorite part was always the jams. My son turned me on to JRAD. Ah! He’ll do like “Brown-Eyed Women” for like 32 minutes. And I love that.
MR: I have a recording of them playing with John Mayer a couple years ago in Brooklyn. It's pretty good.
TC: Of course it is. I haven’t seen a Dead show since 1990. As an experience, as a concertgoer, the people I went with felt like, “this is getting a little dark.”
MR: But Wake Up to Find Out with Branford Marsalis is my favorite Dead recording and its from 1990. That “Eyes of the World” is what turned me onto the Dead.
TC: Yes! Yes.
MR: Do you like Phish?
TC: Yeah, in fact, I love Phish. I used to go see Phish when they played in a bar in Portland, Maine called the Tree. They would play on their trampolines. This was in the ‘80s. Because I lived in Northern New England, I knew a lot of people who knew them at St. Michaels and UVM. “My roommates dating Trey,” or whatever.
MR: Was this when they were playing chess with their fans?
TC: I never saw that. But they were definitely a fun bar band and they were great. I remember listening to “Fee” when I was in college, I was like, “Wow, this is a cool weird song.” Or “Bouncing Around the Room.”
MR: What’s your favorite Phish song?
TC: I hate to admit it, but a live “Suzy Greenberg” when they go like freaking crazy. That's one of the best tunes ever. Every time we play it in the car when we're on a fishing trip or something I'll put on “Suzy Greenberg” because I love it. My son’s like, “Oh that’s such a cliché.”
MR: Are there Dead lyrics that sit with you? I know “Don't lend your hand to raise no flag/ Atop no ship of fools” inspired one of your books.
TC: I claimed that came from Plato but actually it of course came from Robert Hunter. A guy who works for me called Alex Pfeiffer who's a genius and a Grateful Dead fan came up with the title. So smart. I love Robert Hunter. I was sad when he died.
MR: Me too.
TC: Real name: Robert Burns. He never got the credit he deserved I would say.
MR: Jerry was the best person in that band, and number two was Robert Hunter.
TC: Oh, I completely agree. I had a very long conversation once with Phil Lesh. And what a nice guy and a smart guy.
MR: Do you know where you were when Jerry died?
TC: Yeah, because my wife called me in tears. I was at my desk at the Weekly Standard in Washington. I had just started the week before the magazine had just launched. In fact, I don't even think we put out the first issue. She called me in tears from our house in Georgetown and said that she was going to the mall. My wife is a big Grateful Dead fan. We had gone to a million shows together as kids in high school and college, and she went to the mall for the Jerry remembrance. I'll never forget that.
https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/in ... er-carlson