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I was cleaning up a bunch of things yesterday and found my four album set of The Grateful Dead closing Winterland on December 31, 1978 with none other than The Blues Brothers, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Man, what an awesome concert. Just look at the first six songs, Sugar Magnolia into Scarlet Begonias into Fire On The Mountain, Me And My Uncle, Big River and Friend Of The Devil. They also did (not in order) Sunshine Daydream, Playin' In The Band, Around And Around, Wharf Rat, Casey Jones, Johnny B. Goode, St. Stephen and a phenomenal Not Fade Away. I love that song. So of course I decide to Google it and the first hit is a page on the website for The Band and an album, Remembering Buddy Holly:
In his 1972 song American Pie, Don McLean claimed that the music died when Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 3rd 1959. This tribute album at least indicates strongly that McLean was wrong. The truth is of course that Holly is remembered as a true rock original, and that his influence keeps on showing up. For the last 10 years this has been most notable among country artists, making it natural that Not Fade Away has been assembled in Nashville. Luckily it is Nashville's more credible artists that have been let loose, like the Mavericks, the Tractors, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Waylon Jennings, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marty Stuart, and Steve Earle, together with Nanci Griffith, Joe Ely, Todd Snider, The Band, and Los Lobos. The result is very nice, except for the opening cut where The Hollies commit a "Hank Jr.", dubbing in Holly himself in a blown-up version of Peggy Sue. Yuch! Waylon Jennings, Holly's bassplayer on the fatal tour (he didn't get a seat in the plane that crashed), ends the record with a solemn version of Learning the Game with Mark Knopfler on guitar. The music has definitely passed the test of time. The same can't be said about Hollys glasses.
-- Tom Skjeklesæther, BEAT Magazine (translated from Norwegian)The Band performs the song Not Fade Away together with the two surviving Crickets Joe B. Mauldin on bass and Jerry Allison on drums. Recorded at Levon's studio in Woodstock with Levon on lead vocals and Rick on harmony and co-produced by Levon Helm.
Man, so much music history here. I've always know about the day the music died, but not this much detail. And I never knew Not Fade Away went back this far all the way to Buddy Holly. I know The Rolling Stones loved to cover it and it has been a staple of jam bands for decades, but I never knew this much about it.
As for the quality of the recording, amazing:
The Closing Of Winterland is available as both a four-disc CD collection, and a separate double-DVD set. The audio discs contain every note that the Grateful Dead played, with the entire programme mastered digitally, from the original 24-track analogue tapes. Considering these recordings are a quarter of a century old, they sound nothing short of sublime. The DVDs significantly expand the contents with a virtual time capsule of video captured by local San Fran Public Television station, KQED. At Graham’s persistence, they broadcast the event for the thousands of locals who could not get tickets. While the package centres on the Grateful Dead’s four-plus hours on stage, the second DVD yields copious bonuses, which in many respects rival the main event. Access to both a Dolby or DTS 5.1 surround mix, in addition to the standard 2.0 stereo, is a primary aural advantage of the DVDs as well.
Rock out.
My love is bigger than a Cadillac
I try to show you but you drive me back
Your love for me has got to be real
For you to know just how I feel
A love for real, not fade away