For being such a liberal entity the Grateful Dead have been conservative in at least one area: the use of the music by outside entities.

When was the last time you heard a Grateful Dead song in a commercial, television show, or a film? It doesn’t happen very often. I have to give the band some respect for keeping a tight rein on their musical legacy. Obviously it’s their choice to do what they want with their music and if they feel that turning it into commercial fodder cheapens its legacy than so be it. I can think of a dozen films that would have been cool to have Grateful Dead music in them, but it’s certainly not something I lose sleep over.

The Music Never Stopped was a film that came out a year or so ago that the band did allow their music to be used in. I haven’t seen the film, but it sounds interesting. This isn’t the type of endeavor that was going to yield the band a big payday in music rights either. It would be easy to sell out and plaster their music all over the place. Lord knows there’s a market for it (and some might say the band has sold out when it comes to materials goods. Browse the dead.net store for instance.) But the band’s musical legacy? If you ask me it remains steadfastly intact.

Post-hiatus Dead is my favorite Donna era as she tends to deliver the good more consistently. Her singing on The Music Never Stopped is always a treat and this version is no exception. Phil’s bs tone has a rubbery quality to it and he and Keith have a few bursts of energy after the first chorus. I really dig Jerry’s guitar tone in the instrumental bridge too. He’s got just a tinge of distortion and growl there that sets it apart. He’s not even really digging in but it sounds like he is because of how the notes break up. It’s truly a thing of beauty. The main solo brings us more of this as well as some ascending playing that enters the area of “frothing mammal” at points, especially when Phil and Keith really start to dig in. By the end of the song everyone is all-in and its a raucous, yet controlled, free-for-all complete with some trademark Garcia fanning. After this climax the band throws in a $500k ending (that’s a million dollar ending but half as long/intense). Phew! What a ride!

Complete Setlist 2/3/78

Previous The Music Never Stopped DFAY Selections

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