Post #287870 by tiki mick on Sat, Feb 24, 2007 7:29 AM

Mickey Hart is probably the more talented member of the deadhead family, but again, I feel it is an example of some hippy with money trying to educate the rest of us and present us with world music. Thing is, the world music was already there, and anyone who was really interested would have known where to find it. It's like no one ever heard about Zakir Hussien before Mickey Hart?
I have read Planet Drum, and again, I am not speaking from complete ignorance about hippy music. A lot of people tell me "try it, you will like it" and I have, and don't.

I can suggest some things for hippys to try. How about the band Oregon, with Trilok Gurtu on percussion? Try early weather report. Airto plays on some of those. You got Miroslav playing his upright with a distortion box and wah wah pedal hooked up. Very few hippies I know are into KIng Crimson. I would think that would be right up thier alley. There is plenty of non-hippy stuff of the exploritory nature that a hippy might like. Problem is, they are locked into this jam band thing. Weather report is like the ultimate jam band, but I don't find much of it in the average hippie's collection. What I do find is early pink floyd, early david bowie (except his low period cool new wave stuff-it has to always be Ziggy?) Bob Marley (but no King Tubby) Grateful dead (every album made, and all the bootlegs too) Phish, (or anything with the pedophile Mike Gordon involved.) some hendrix, but never any Judas Priest.

Sad fact is that being a hippy musician lets you take the easy way out. You can just sit thier and smirk, smile at your like minded friends, preach to the choir, do a lot of mindless, pointless riffing on your guitar, take a break, do a couple of bong hits that your rich granparents actually paid for you to smoke, from humboldt, maybe take another break and whack away tunelessly on a Djembe (I bet you never have touched a dumbek or tablas-always just a goatskin Djembe)then sit around and talk about how bad the establishment is.

What I am trying to say is that there is no hard work involved, no preparation, no research. And these are things real musicians have to do. The hippy expects that all he needs to do is groove out and be himself, and it will be cool.

Sure it is, but then don't go and compare it to John Coltrane! That's ridiculous.

The Ornette coleman album Virgin Beauty is not my favorite. "The shape of jazz to come" "the circle with the hole in the middle" "free Jazz" and "this is our music" are more to my liking. I feel that the addition to the album of Jerry Garcia ruined it. Everyone is noodling around, and then Jerry steps in and you can instantly hear his Wes Montgomery copycat style, that almost all jam band guitarists try to emulate. It's like Wes Montgomery in tone, but not in substance. It's like "see, I am now a jazz guitarist" just like that! No practice needed!

Was Jerry Garcia a nicer, sweeter, kinder more compassionate person then me? You bet! But a jazz musician he was not.