Not only is Garcia wearing a Pigpen shirt, but it’s so faded as to be subliminal; the less Garcia tried, the cooler he was.
Although it should be said, when he stopped trying altogether, he was a mess.
Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To
Tag: jerry garcia (Page 52 of 139)
There is a convention for intellectuals and big-brains of all sorts in Albuquerque this week regarding the Dead. I was neither invited not notified, but I do have a good question for one of them researcher types to figure out: when was Phil allowed out from behind the drums? He was still hiding back there in some of the shots from Europe in ’72. By the Wall, it was physically impossible to stand back there anymore, and that continued with the more-traditional band setup that followed the de-hiatusing.
That’s what the Dead did in ’76: de-hiatused. Like you deplane.
This picture’s a ruined beauty, and restoration would ruin its charms.
It is also, if you look closely, the most Precarious Lee photograph on record.
“Precarious, where should we put everything?”
“Everywhere.”
“And what should we do with it once it’s there?”
“Stack it on top of itself.”
“Seventeen shows, Mick. You can make it?”
“Can I drum?’
“You’d be contractually obliged to do so.”
“Oh, great. Real loud?”
“Sure.”
“How many drums can I bring?”
“Mick, you have the same amount of space in the truck as last time.”
“But I’ve bought so many more drums since then.”
“And think of how many more you’ll be able to buy.”
“Ooh, yeah. Do I get a bass drum?”
“That’s something to think about. Definitely something to think about.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“You wanna know who’s in the band?”
“Don’t give a shit.”
“Okay.”
…
“Can I go on the tour?”
“Jer, we’ve discussed this.”
Haven’t had a good group shot in a while. We’ll go left to right for as long as we can, but there’s so much bullshit here. So much bullshit.
- Seriously: so much bullshit.
- Billy looks…
- …
- Jesus, I can’t deal with this; there’s so much wrong.
- Okay, let’s do this: Billy looks like a friendly Italian baker who likes to fuck the cannoli before he sells it.
- “I-a bake-a wit’ love-a!”
- Billy’s eyebrows also look like his mustache’s children.
- Phil had to leave the photo shoot early to meet his Newsie LARPing group at the park.
- The Grateful Dead were not a hat band, and Phil is not a hat person, and that is an ugly hat.
- It’s as if you went to see a badly written play starring terrible actors at a condemned theater: there is a failure at every level.
- I hope the other guys gave him shit.
- We’ll circle back to the two band members who are not looking at the camera.
- As always, Bearded Mickey is terrifying.
- There have been many frightful versions of Mickey: Russian Hat Mickey, Shirtless Mickey, Pantless Mickey, but Bearded Mickey is the scariest.
- Now we take you to the Musician Magazine offices, where they are selecting which photo of the Grateful Dead will be used as the cover photo:
- “I have a bunch of shots of–“
- “Which one does Garcia look coolest in?”
- “Um, this one, but the rest of the band–“
- “Print it!”
- “–looks like goobers. Two of them aren’t even facing the camera. You walked out of the office.”
- And so on.
- Garcia looks like a hippie lion.
- He is fierce.
- Garcia has brought all of his sexy to this photo shoot.
- I mean, he very well may be passed out behind the sunglasses, but still: lion.
- Sleepy, sleepy lion.
- I know I promised to get back to Bobby and Brent, but they’re going to have to take care of themselves.
Hey, GarHOLY SHIT, you look like hell.
“Not so great.”
You’re kinda pale.
“Head bad. Air none.”
Yeah, this is the Boreal Ridge show. You’re 7,000 feet up.
“Fire someone.”
I agree, man. It was an awful decision to bring you to altitude. You’re the opposite of a sherpa.
“Shut…”
Shut the fuck up?
“…the…”
Shut the fuck up?
“…fuck…”
Shut the fuck up?
“…up.”
Aw.
TotD is loath to engage in common vulgarity, but Garcia’s silhouette totally looks like a dong. I mean, with an arm, but still.
Even in the Legoverse, Keith gets cropped out of the picture.
Also, the longer you stare at Lego Garcia, the funnier he gets.
The Boys, when they were boys, and clearly not ready for New York City. All of them were mugged before and after this picture was snapped.
“You gonna show ’em your potato salad?”
“Nah, nah. Gonna hold the guitar over it.”
“You sure, Jer? Sweatpants, y’know? That’s some prime potato salad.”
“I know, man, but that’s your thing. I’m gonna siddown a bit.”
“You love a good sit.”
“Not gonna lie: it ain’t the worst.”
ALSO: the Grateful Dead may have been the shirt-tuckingest band that ever rocked America. Phil tucks in his pajamas.
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