Bob Dylan's Tokyo Concert: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead and More. Rob Hunt is back to discuss Bob Dylan's recent performance in Tokyo, where he played a number of Grateful Dead tunes, including "Trucking." Rob notes that Dylan's performance is somewhat reminiscent of Bob Weir's, as he forgets some of the lyrics. Nevertheless, the hosts praise Dylan's spirit and the quality of his playing. He and Larry Mishkin discuss Dylan's appreciation for the Grateful Dead and his coverage of some of their tunes in his book "The Philosophy of Modern Song." Produced by PodConx Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-show Larry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin Rob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt Jay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesberg Recorded on Squadcast
Bob Dylan's Tokyo Concert: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead and More.
Rob Hunt is back to discuss Bob Dylan's recent performance in Tokyo, where he played a number of Grateful Dead tunes, including "Trucking." Rob notes that Dylan's performance is somewhat reminiscent of Bob Weir's, as he forgets some of the lyrics. Nevertheless, the hosts praise Dylan's spirit and the quality of his playing. He and Larry Mishkin discuss Dylan's appreciation for the Grateful Dead and his coverage of some of their tunes in his book "The Philosophy of Modern Song."
Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-show
Larry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin
Rob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt
Jay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesberg
[00:00:00] Am I just starting or you doing the intro musical? Well, that answers that.
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Deadhead Cannabis Show. I'm Larry Michigan of Michigan Law in Chicago, and joined today by Rob Hunt, who is back from the wilds of Europe skiing and, uh, generally taking a little bit of time off. And we're happy to have Rob back, uh, when he is back. He does his gig with, uh, Linne Holdings out of San Diego.
And Rob, welcome back. Great to have you, man. Thanks Larry. It's good to be back. It's been a little while. It has. So we'll catch up with you in a minute, but it's a good day for you to be back. [00:01:00] Uh, we're gonna dive right into the music here and, uh, uh, we're, we're doing a little Bob Dylan today. Dan, can you roll that first one for us?[00:02:00]
So yes, folks, you're not losing your minds. That is trucking. That is Bob Dylan bringing it to you live, uh, April 12th, 2023 from the Tokyo Garden Theater in Tokyo, Japan. It turns out Bob went to Japan and decided to play some Grateful Dead. Uh, we mentioned it really briefly last week, but uh, uh, with a little bit of, uh, prep time, decided, let's dive into this and, uh, uh, hear exactly what Bob is like doing it.
And then you'll find out we've got, uh, a number of tunes from the, uh, Japan tour that we're gonna play, and a couple of earlier versions of some other dead tunes that Dylan covered. Uh, but Rob, great day to have you back. Always love your interpretation on these things. [00:03:00] Uh, not sure what really, uh, you know, triggered Dylan to play it here, but thank God he's diving into some Grateful Dead.
Yeah. And you know, much like Bob Weir, it seems like Dylan can't remember the words, the trucking any better than Bobby can. Uh, relatively funny that, you know, he comes right out of the gate, gets the first word right, and then kind of, you know, Dylan's his way through the, uh, the rest of the first verse.
But, uh, but this is the whole thing. He, he gets about half of it. Right. I'll give him credit for giving it a shot. Yeah, absolutely. He does. You know, like anything else, you know, Dylan was always kind of a mumbler and, you know, he mumbles his way through that. And obviously this is very recent, so we're getting Bob and his mumbles.
Um, but I just love the spirit, you know, and the, and the, the playing. And all of a sudden they dive into it and, uh, uh, and you know, he, he, he's great. You know, he, he, he, he, um, he wrote that book a few years ago about, uh, a few years ago about all the different, his top 66 songs or 66 songs he wanted to comment on.
And, uh, it, it was really impressive to me cuz he, he focused on some dead stuff and he focused on, [00:04:00] uh, you know, talking about a song like trucking and how it's just a song that speaks to everybody. And uh, you know, I think people are just impressed when Bob notices their songs. Yeah, I agree. And I think it's so funny cause you know, you always sing with the Grateful Dead, um, Garcia, especially covering Dylan for so long.
That's nice to see, uh, Dylan going the other way. And it wasn't just, you know, trucking, it was a handful of tunes. And as of yesterday, I think he played, uh, um, or a couple days ago, played a, a Bobby tune. Like, not even a grateful dead tune, but, you know, straight Bobby tune. So that's, uh, yep, a little, a little bit different.
And certainly, you know, you never think of Dylan needing to play anyone else's songs cuz his own catalog is so, uh, so robust. Exactly. Uh, the philosophy of Modern Song is, is the, the title that I was stumbling for there a second ago. And it does talk about 66 different songs that he randomly picked in.
One of them is Trucking. Uh, it came out last year. And, uh, I just like to buy anything that Dylan does. I bought the book of his lyrics just because I think it's so fascinating to, to read what this guy has to say about anything. [00:05:00] Um, and, you know, I mean, he is recognized, I suppose, as, uh, you know, a reverential figure in, in rock and roll history going from acoustic to electric at Newport a few years ago, and, uh, all sorts of other stuff like that.
And yeah, it, it, it's gotta be flattering and we'll get to that Bobby tune in a minute because, uh, that was fun. But this was the first time that ever that Dylan ever played trucking live. Um, and some of these other songs we're gonna play. He's kind of, he kind of has a history with them. Uh, but he had never, he had never attempted trucking before this.
And, you know, for a first effort for a guy like Dylan, I, you know, I'd, I'd say he's okay. I'd give him a b or b plus. Yeah, look, I mean, half the time Dylan can't remember the words to his own tunes these days. Uh, so yeah, I mean, he is, uh, he is never been known for, uh, for his amazing ability to recall songs.
So I think, but much like Weir, the more complicated the song, the better he remembers the lyrics. Uh, yeah. So, yeah, he, it's great to hear him play him. It is. And, uh, you know, he dives into all of this stuff and, and we'll get to more of it in a [00:06:00] second. Uh, we've got a few more, as I say, songs from the, uh, the Tour of Japan and then, uh, a couple of others just because it's, it's fun to listen to, uh, to Dylan do this.
But, um, we gotta dive into some big grateful news here, my friend. And once again, it's always nice to have you back to have somebody to bounce this around with. But I think a lot of us were really surprised the other day, first concerned and then surprised to see, uh, the headline coming from a number of different sources that Bill Kreitzman will not be joining Dead End Company on this final tour.
And I don't know about you, but of course my immediate thought was, oh my God, this guy must really be sick again. Cuz last year, even when he was sick, he made every effort to be there. And imagine all of our surprises when, when we see the statement put out by Bob Mickey and John Mayer writing that the decision reflected a shift in creative direction, the tourist proceeding with Kortz Man's full support.
And Reisman's quote was, I have a lot of music left in me and there's no stopping me from playing it. I've never [00:07:00] won to obey orders or, or play by the rules, but in the interest of longevity, I hope you'll understand. So what's going on here, man, Kreisman. He's been there forever. Mickey left and came back and everybody else, but Kreitzman has been a pillar of anything.
Grateful Dead for 50 plus years now. Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing. And look, when I read the, uh, the quote I read the same way you did, which was, this is not health related, you know, kurzmans had some on and off again, uh, health issues, and those were pretty well publicized, and he's always had jaylene kind of as a stand in, ready to go at any time.
But in this case, it, it almost sounds like there's some creative differences about where they wanted to take the band. And, you know, the thing I don't understand about this is it's the final tour. This is it, you know, like Right. Figure it out and just stick it out for, you know, just a, another month or two.
Uh, and, and I'm not sure if that also includes them not playing the, uh, the Cornell, uh, redo in, in, uh, in. Right. But, uh, right. But I mean, this, it sounded like kind of like an effective immediately, uh, statement. So, [00:08:00] uh, hard to say what's happening here. Perhaps it's just that he, the touring schedule is too much and his health is fine, but he just didn't want to go out on the road.
But perhaps it's something more, and there's a personality issue of, I mean, look, we, we don't know, and I'm not going to pretend to guess. Uh, right. It just, you know, makes it that much more difficult to, to say, okay. You know, and it almost feels like the last show that Ed and Co played really is kind of the last show.
You know, like, without, without Crosman there, you're down to, you're down to two, you know, it's Right. That's, uh, that, that ain't the same, you know, it's, it's not the same. The terrible two is not like the core four or the, you know, whatever you wanna call 'em three. But, uh, and, and then we are being, we are, of course his, his response on Twitter was, well, it looks like that's it for this outfit, but don't worry, we will be out there in one form or another until we drop, you know, like, leave it to Bobby to just sum it all up very succinctly.
Yep. This one's done. We'll figure it out going forward. And I, I'm, I'm very curious to see if, are they, are they gonna bring Jay Lane in as the idea that [00:09:00] Mickey's gonna be the, the sole percussionist? Are they gonna go call Rob? There'll be a second one. Yeah. They've already said that they're looking for who's gonna fill, um, fill Billy's spot.
Uh, so we'll see. But, you know, I, I would expect the natural, you know, fillin would be Jay if Jay doesn't already have, you know, other, um, other obligations. But if he doesn't, you know, I, I'd certainly expect to see him at least on, you know, part of this tour. Uh, good luck. Joe Russo could sit in. I mean, all sorts of guys could sit in and, and do it, I suppose, but, uh, and, and, and I don't know about you, but it's like when, when they talk about.
At the Core four or whatever of them are left. I love Bill Kreisman, I love Mickey Hart. And I, I know that I'm, I'm not enough of a student of, of the drums and percussion if I say this, but at the end of the day, you know, replacing Jerry, Bobby, Phil is a lot more significant to me than replacing Mickey or Billy again.
I love them. I think they're great. But, you know, on those shows, when Jay Lane stepped in, I don't know that too many people, you know, came away from it really being able to, uh, notice [00:10:00] any kind of a significant difference in what went down. Um, but e even saying that to me, there's just something about having Bill back there, you know, anchoring the drums when the debt are playing.
And yes, Mickey too. I feel that way about him. Um, but Billy especially, I don't know that I, but Billy is not read the story. That's great. I mean, look, the Mickey's not out there playing with a bunch of like young musicians the way Billy does with Billy and the kids. Like Billy's, right? Billy's still, you know, out there playing music with all sorts of fun people.
If Mickey's not playing with the Grateful Dead, he's, you know, he is doing stuff on his own. He's doing like his world beat stuff, but he's not out there playing with other outfits. Uh, right. Billy has, you know, Billy, Billy has never really stopped going and has always been, you know, uh, really accessible to other musicians.
Uh, and as you said, you know, he, he was there from the beginning and remained there. Whereas Mickey, you know, like he's been there full-time since, what, 75? But there was a period there where he kind of drifted in and out from, from 71, 75. Mm-hmm. Uh, right. And I, I always think of, you know, Billy as a, truly, as a founding member of, uh, of the Grateful Dead, [00:11:00] the warlocks.
He would, I mean, he was there when they started the warlocks. I mean, he goes back as far as any of these guys and then, you know, always had his own special relationship with Jerry. And, you know, I I, it, it, on the one hand, you know, it's always, look, it's their internal stuff. They've gotta work it out. But on the other hand, just as somebody who follows the debt as closely as I do, and as we, you know, I'm sure as we.
What happened? You're absolutely right. There's one tour left, you know, and, and here, check this out. This, I mean, this really cracks me up. Kreitzman is gonna be in New Orleans on the 27th of this month, playing with Billy and the kids, which I, I think maybe the first weekend of Jazz Fest and then Deaded Company are gonna be there on May 6th.
I mean, they're both gonna be in this, they're all both gonna be right there. They're all gonna be playing music and they're not doing it together. That, that just, that blows me away. Yeah, it's a tough pill to swallow. Uh, but at the same time, you never know what happens, uh, behind closed doors. And it can, you know, never pretend to guess, but, uh, but you, you would hope, you would hope that with only, [00:12:00] you know, a few shows left, uh, at, at their age, they'd be able to say, okay, let's just, you know, stick it out for just a little longer and, uh, and, and then call it and say, okay, that it ended, you know, in a, in a really positive way and not acrimoniously.
And, you know, that's, uh, that's all you can hope for in any situation. So do we, do we think now that, uh, he shows up with Phil and friends as Phil's drummer, or you, does he just go in a totally different direction? Switch teams? Right, right. I decided, I'm back with Phil. That's funny. I didn't even consider that.
But, uh, nor did I consider Russo playing with Joe's got his own, you know, own gig going on. I think it's more like Billy, Billy joined, uh, Joe than, than Joe joined the, uh, Denton Company. Yeah, I suppose. But you know, I mean, look that, and, and hey, I don't know what it is about this week, right? First it's Tucker Carlson, then it's Don Lemon.
Now it's Bill Kreitzman. You know, I, I guess they say all this stuff comes in threes, so maybe this is it. But that's a lot to swallow in one week. Those are some big changes in the world. Those are some big changes. But, uh, you know, [00:13:00] I, I support the first one.
Yes, sir. I'm thrilled. Yes, sir. Yes. Well, it makes a big difference, I think, for everybody and you know, look, I, I don't wanna delve into it too much, but it, it, it's almost impossible not to at least say thanks, Carl. You know, to Tucker, it's been great. You know, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out and you do your thing from now on and you know, it, it's just, it's uh, it's really fascinating the way the see the way these things work.
One of the things we talked about last week was how disappointing as a lawyer, how disappointing it was that that trial settled. I was really looking forward to seeing that case go to trial and seeing the rulings that were gonna be made. And it really would be legal history in a lot of respects, breaking new ground.
And I, I was just fascinated and, and missing that opportunity. Yeah. What I've loved going to trial. Come on, man. You knew that was getting settled. There wasn't a chance in the world he was letting those guys go on the stand. I mean, like, you have to look at it objectively. $787 million. Was the cost [00:14:00] of not putting Rupert Murdoch on the stand and not putting Tucker on the stand, not putting hand and piro in those, like when they sat back in the back office and they did the risk assessment, the cost of not putting those guys on the stand was 787 million, right?
So look, it's incredible. Nobody pays that kinda money unless they know they're really, you know, up a creek. But what's fascinating to me about this is that at the moment I thought, I get it, you know, as a lawyer, I certainly get it, but where, how would there gonna be any ramifications from this if it gets settled and swept under the rug and lo and behold, there's a ramification.
I can't tell you if it's directly connected to that or not, but I don't care. You know, to me that's things going in the right direction. It's not just Tucker, I'm sorry, Don. Dan Bonino was gone also, and Tucker's producer and a few others. I don't think we've seen the last list yet either. I think there's more heads to roll and quite honestly, uh, the Smart Madic, uh, lawsuit, I think is scarier and, and even more scary is the producer at Fox who's, uh, the suing Fox because I, I don't think she's gonna [00:15:00] get a huge payout and then she's perfectly happy to see this thing go through, and then she's perfectly happy to put people on the stand.
So, yes, you're right. I don't think, I don't think that we've seen the last of this story yet. Uh, and I think that thematic one, you know, for a significantly larger dollar figure is still looming. Last I checked, Fox only had 4 billion in their balance sheet. And, uh, you know, now it's down to 3.2. Uh, you know, they're, they're trying to renegotiate their cable rates right now with all the cable providers and looking for significantly more money per, uh, per box.
We'll see. Without the star power having Carlson there, you know? Right. So, so with, without delving too far into this, you know, we talked about the comparison to Crosman. Look, I'm perfectly happy to watch Jay Lane step in, cause I go, okay, that's a, you know, nice innocuous replacement. I'm terrified. He, he's gonna replace Tucker, you know, it's Right.
Of course, the devil, devil, you know, buddy Devil, you know, could be, uh, could be Jesse Waters. Well, remember, look, remember when Jay, when, uh, Buchanan Pap Buchanan got run out finally. Not Buchanan. Who was it? Was it? You can't, no, uh, bill O'Reilly. Right. And we all thought he was such a robber. [00:16:00] Right, right.
Bill O'Reilly gets run out and the next thing you know, we got Tucker Carlson and it, it was worse. So I, I'm sure they've got somebody waiting in the wings, you know, who's gonna step in and, and try. But, you know, in the meantime, it's, it's tough to get to that position that he got to and wait, wait until you, uh, know who Mike Levin is.
Yeah, it could certainly get worse. Um, I have, I have no doubt about that. Yeah. Well, we'll, uh, we'll, we'll move off of that and hey, let's talk about, uh, let's talk about more Bob Dylan and, um, and, and more tunes that he played. And I think, uh, yeah, another one absolutely be up for us, which, uh, I think is a classic Buddy Holly tune, if I'm not wrong.
You're absolutely right, which we just talked about quite a bit. Uh, I think last week. Dan, go ahead and hit this one for us.[00:17:00]
I dunno what's better, the music or the guy in the background screaming and just going wild, you know, when he recognizes that, that, that, [00:18:00] uh, that, that Dylan is playing at clearly an audience tape. Uh, this is from April 15th at the to, again, at the Tokyo Garden Theater in. In Tokyo and, uh, just last week we were, we were talking about, uh, not Fade Away and written by Buddy Holly and on the B side for Oh boy, when it was released and, you know, but The Grateful Dead played it live 566 times.
Uh, I'm, you know, buddy Holly didn't even Right, buddy Holly didn't even play that many concerts unfortunately, you know, before, uh, Dustin got in the way of him and, and, and, and, and that stuff. But I mean, yeah, from, from 68, 69 to the very end, it was, it was a staple in the Grateful Dead songbook. Um, and, but interestingly, Dylan.
First covered the song back in 97, um, and he played it through, uh, early 99, uh, to commemorate Holly on the 40th anniversary of his death. He stopped playing the tune in 2002 and he brought it back for one night only in 2009 [00:19:00] when he played in Lubbock, Texas. Again, honoring Buddy Holly and this performance in Japan is the first time he's covered it in over 14 years.
So yeah, I'd be excited too. Yeah, I mean, look, it's a great point and when I, when you sent over the stats on how many times the Grateful Dead played it over the years, all I could think to myself is, I bet Holly didn't play it live more than 20 or 30 times. And you think that just like I, I don't think there's a band that's played now Fade away more than the Grateful Dead did, and then not Fadey Away as one of those tunes that I don't think there's anyone out there that doesn't know the song.
Uh, and there's tons of bands that've covered it, you know, and just, just the clap alone, just the beat of the, you know, the d it is such a recognizable rock and roll beat. I've gotta think that you have the Grateful Dead of probably own that song. More than, more than anyone else, including the person that wrote it.
Uh, there's no doubt about it. And look, you know, if I was somewhere and somebody started, you know, covering not fade away instinctively in my mind, I know Buddy Holly writes it, but I'm like, yeah, somebody's get, you know, channeling the dead right now. And that's, I I, you know, to me it was, it was [00:20:00] always their song.
I, I know they didn't write it. I, I get all of that, but, you know, the way they performed in it, and I mean, it, it's hard to find the number of tunes, you know, that have survived from the 1960s all the way through to the very end. And, and were stayed on the menu the entire time. You know, that this was not a song that they dropped for 10 years and came back and played.
Um, and I think the fact that, you know, Dylan was covering it already so long ago, you know, it's just an indication of the, uh, of the way people feel about Buddy Holly and the significance of Buddy Holly and this particular song on rock and roll. Yeah, I mean, definitely one of the most influential songs, they can rock and roll.
Um, Of anything ever written. So, you know, super cool and super cool to see Dylan bring it back in the repertoire. Um, but not surprising, you know, not surprisingly it's one of those songs that it doesn't matter who breaks it out, you're kind like, yep, that, you know, I'd expect if you're a rock and roll band or you know, anyone in the last 40 years playing, uh, pop music, not fadeaway, should be [00:21:00] something that, you know, one time or another you've probably covered in, in some band you've been in.
No doubt, no doubt. You can't go in, hear a rock and, you know, rock and roll on a regular basis and not hear it maybe multiple times from multiple artists. It's just that kind of a tune. And, you know, when Dylan plays it, it's kinda like, I, I think of it, you know, again, like as well the masters reaching down to the common folks and, you know, playing one of their songs and, you know, great.
I mean the, you could hear the way they were playing it. They certainly had the energy, so God bless them. That's, uh, that's a wonderful thing. Um, but down a roll into another one here, uh, while we, while we're, while we're listening to this stuff, uh, We're gonna have you play. This is this broke down palace, uh, from April 14th at the Tokyo Garden Theater.
Uh, and the, the, the gig with this is, uh, Dylan played it, uh, three times in this tour. The first two times were aborted in including this one. He, he didn't make it through the whole song. And finally, uh, on the last night of the tour on April 20th, he was playing at the Achi Prefe Arts Theater in Nagoya, Japan.
And that night he did manage to, to get [00:22:00] an, and all of these are posted on, uh, YouTube if you want to go, you know, check 'em out and listen to 'em. But, uh, this is from, uh, April 14th, still in Tokyo. A clip of that part of the song that he played before he switched out of it.[00:23:00]
Here's my biggest question about this, besides the fact that I actually really like this version of the song, you know, it's, it's kind of haunting and adds a whole nother element to it that I think is great. He's getting applause. I don't imagine that there were too many Americans who made a point of going to Japan to tour with Dylan.
So my question is, do the Japanese have that much of a depth of American rock and roll that they hear this song and they recognize he's covering the Grateful Dead? Or are they just happy to hear he's playing a song and they like the song? What do you think? I have no idea. I mean, Japan's a big country.
There's what, 180 million people in Japan, or thereabouts? Yep. Uh, I'd like to think that several thousand of 'em in Tokyo probably have a, a [00:24:00] pretty good sense of what Dylan's repertoire is. And you know, like if there's anything I know about Japanese cultures, they dig into things and go super hard at them.
And, uh, you know, that sort of sets you apart is what your passion is. So I've got, I think there's people that know Dylan's, uh, catalog better than any of us do. So, uh mm-hmm. And, and I would think that there's certainly some, some pretty big Grateful Dead fans. And I know that other jam bands we know of have certainly played in, uh, in Japan.
I know that, you know, Phish played Tokyo Rock a few times, and I think they. Built enough fans there that they can go back and play any time. There's people that probably know every word, every song they've played, so yeah, I, I don't think he was playing a huge venue there. So do I think the people in that venue, um, you know, know Bob Dylan's catalog?
I, I've gotta expect that they do. Yep. I, I think that that's probably true. And, and I mean, really that's the beauty of this, right? All of this music is not just American rock and roll or exclusive, you know, for Americans, but it's music that's taken on resonance all around the world. And, you know, I love watching music [00:25:00] festivals sometimes from like countries in South America or you know, countries non-speaking, non-English speaking countries in Europe, and you see all of these fans there singing along with every word.
Of the song that's being played, you know, and I, yep. Look, I could listen, I could, you could play me a, a Japanese song over and over again, and maybe I could eventually pick up the lyrics or think I do and be able to sing it. But, you know, people, it, it, it's just amazing to me. And, um, you know, how great is it that, you know, Dylan's revered in Japan, you know, by a core of people, much the same way he is here and I'm, I'm assuming in other, you know, countries that have, uh, you know, what we would call sophistication for, uh, for rock and roll.
But, you know, it, it's great and it, it, it's wonderful to hear him play this song and it's, it's wonderful to hear him interpret Jerry Garcia. Yeah, absolutely. And, uh, you know, but what I find amazing about this isn't just that it was not faded away, and it isn't just that it was, you know, broke down palace.
It isn't just the fact that it was, um, trucking. [00:26:00] It's that he broke them all out on the same tour and just kind of like shocked everyone that, uh, I mean, I mean there's certainly enough people in Japan that understood the significance of this because it made it over to the United States within like two hours of it happening, like right.
Dylan just covered, you know, this. So it's, uh, you know, there's certainly fans in the audience that like, recognize the, the significance of all these covers. And I'm not sure, you know, kind of where, where Dylan's going with this. But, you know, I, I don't know whether it's, you know, towards the end of his career he is given it back to some other people he respects as, uh, as lyricists.
But, uh, you know, arguably, arguably Dylan and Robert Hunter are two of, two of the top 10 of all time. You know, I'm not sure where he put them in and rank them, but, uh, they're certainly right up there. But it's cool when, when you see one give recognition to another. But you know, that kind of comes back to I think the fourth clip we're gonna look at, which is that it's not Hunter, it's Josh Ritter.
You know, and, and, and Ritter, you know, wrote this tune with Weir and, you know, the, the reaction from Ritter when he heard that Dylan covered his, uh, his song is that he was [00:27:00] absolutely speechless. Right. You know, so, you know, look at, like, I can't imagine being like a member of like, you know, a, a relatively unknown band writing a song with Weir to start with, you know, which is already one of the place's greatest honors.
And then having Dylan cover it. And it's gotta be one of those things, if nothing else happens in your musical career for the rest of your life, that you can walk away and say, you got that. You know, I, I, I think that that's one that, you know, you can tell your great-great grandkids about, you know, like, or, or your grandkids will tell their grandkids, you know, that your great, great great grandfather wrote a song that Bob, we were covered.
And Bob Dylan then, or Bob before Bob Weir, and then Bob Dylan covered it. That's one of those things like, you know, it's, that's like American folklore of music that, you know, doesn't matter what Ja does from here on end. Kind of already won the game. I, I think you're right. The, the song is, uh, only a river.
It's from, uh, Bobby's, uh, blue Mountain Solo album he released a couple of years ago. Dan, go ahead and play that.[00:28:00] [00:29:00]
So, you know, the, the thought that I take away from this is I spent all my years as a deadhead watching Bob Weir. Interpret some of Dylan's most deepest tunes, right? Stuck inside a mobile with the Memphis Blues. Again, queen Jane, approximately Desolation Row. Uh, Phil was doing Tom Stumps blues. Jerry was doing, she Belongs to me, visions of Johanna.
And that all makes sense, right? Dylan is this god of rock and roll fame and these guys recognize it and they love his music and you know, they want to go out and they wanna be part of it and they play it. But how the hell does, I mean, Bob Weir, who's a huge rock and roll star in his own right, what's it like for him, right?
That, that this guy who's tunes he's been interpreting forever is now turning the tables and interpreting one of his. It must just be amazing. Yeah, I would think so. Those guys have to be pretty good buddies over, you know, all the years they've played together and, um, corresponded with one another and. So it's, it's gotta [00:30:00] be a, you know, I I I bet we, if like anything else takes it a strides, like, oh yeah, that's cool, man.
As I said, I think for a Ritter, right, it's, uh, it's even, even bigger deal. And you listen to that song and, you know, if you were to say who wrote that song, I probably would've guessed it was Daniel Illinois or, or John Pride. You know, it's got very much sort the American or Canadian sort of honky tonk feel to it, but, uh, mm-hmm.
But that's, it's, it's very much in, in that style. Uh, but a very cool song and a very cool song. Like you wish, you always forget your favorite musicians listen to everyone else's music, but their own, you know, and as you think about what music they like, you know, like, uh, who knows, Dylan could have been listening to Only River for the last, you know, four or five years.
And just thinking, wow, that's a great song. And somebody, I'd like to, to add that to one of my shows. Yeah. And, and, and, you know, you, you, you hit the nail on the head with Ritter. You know, he, he, he, uh, indi he said that he wrote this, I wrote the song in the stairwell of my dorm in college 25 years ago.
Music is a blessed traveler to all my friends out there making art. It's not always this easy, seeing the ripples of your, [00:31:00] the ripples your work makes, but take the story of my little song, only a river as comfort art travels, voices carry your art, is out there in the world making its home in many places, many hearts.
And he's right. You know, and, and you're right. You know, Dylan listens to other people's music and, uh, you know, he heard this and it really resonated with him. And, and he decided, I mean, you know, Dylan's got enough songs. He could play concerts forever and not have repeats. And the fact that he reaches out to Josh Ritter and Bob Weir is, is absolutely amazing and, and couldn't be happier for them, and couldn't be happier for the people who got to hear it.
Yeah, no doubt. Uh, should we talk some weed? Yeah, let's talk some weed. There's all such a crazy stuff going on and, uh, a few stories up front that unfortunately today fall on the negative side. And then we'll, we'll wrap it up with one that's a little more positive, but let's start it down in Louisiana, Louisiana has had, uh, a medical program, um, and by all accounts, it's, it's actually done pretty well.
Um, in fact, uh, [00:32:00] Goodday Farm, which is an Arkansas based m s o on the largest marijuana producer in Louisiana, is doubling its production capacity this year, amid strong patient demand and new regulations, expanding access. So all of that sounds great up until you get to the point. That now the, uh, Republican LED House of Representatives in Louisiana has quashed an effort to legalize marijuana possession for those 18 and older to establish an adult use retail market.
Uh, apparently the House Criminal Justice Committee voted nine to four to oppose the house bill introduced by a Democrat. The bill was opposed by Louisiana Sheriffs District attorneys and chiefs of police who contended passage would present a public safety issue and a danger to children. Where is Mason Tover when we need him?
Right? This is unbelievable to me. They've got medical, so it's already out there. Who are we fooling? You know, if the kids wanna be smoking marijuana, they're already smoking marijuana. Uh, [00:33:00] public safety issue is just the silliest thing, and yet, you know, uh, They're gonna push back. And this is the state that has the city that has the street, bourbon Street, where more crazy stuff goes on than anywhere else in the world.
And this state is saying no to adult use marijuana. I, it, it just blows my mind. I, I I can't even begin to understand what they're doing. Well, look, whenever you talked about something like that and you just, you just very eloquently said, and the reason I laughed in the middle of it is whenever you say like, there's a street, like Bourbon Street or Beetle Street, or you know, the strip in Vegas and you, you already have this, the answer from lawmakers like, well, we don't wanna add anything more to it than we already have, you know, gotta draw the line somewhere.
We already got the craziness, so, you know, we should probably stop with that. And it's like, wait a second. Like, either, either you guys are embracingly absurd or you're not, you know, and the fact that you can have drinks between, um, between venues and walk openly getting [00:34:00] us drunk as you want to be in the middle of Bourbon Street and, and, you know, you, you.
They're like public nudity, public, everything else that goes on during Mardi Gras and all the rest of the stuff. Yet, you know, this is a bridge too far. You know, it's, it doesn't make any sense. I would love to see what the crowd is like on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. They were just smoking weed and not drinking.
Yeah, I don't think Marty nearly as much fun. No, it wouldn't be. I, I, I don't disagree with that, but I mean, in terms of talking about it being a public safety issue, you know, the police would probably be bored. This is no fun. It's too boring, you know, and, and, But the point being that you can't sit there and say that marijuana is the cause of the, any public safety issues they're having down there.
You know, all this other stuff that they have does more than a good enough job for that. And look, every state's entitled to do what they wanna do, but it just always still strikes me is just a little bit strange when you see a state that otherwise so [00:35:00] openly embraces vices of every kind. That's right.
Deciding to draw the line here. Yeah, that's right. And that's where it's like, especially when, when this vice is significantly less harmful than the other. Uh, but it's, you know, again, it's all question what's woven into the fabric of that society. And in New Orleans, uh, alcohol is certainly very, very much a part of that society and they're perfectly happy to, to keep that, but adding anything else, um, you know, God forbid.
Oh, well, you know, I'm, I'm saying go out to, um, you know, just like my little running with the fans at the Salt Shed, go out to Jazz Fest on any given night and take your best swing. Take your best shot cuz it's happening and it's gonna keep happening. And if you wanna be stupid and avoid out and, and, and, and miss the, the tax benefits that you could be receiving on all of it, that's your business, right?
I mean, I, we can't tell 'em what to do and they certainly wouldn't listen to us. So, you know, Louisiana will figure it out someday. Everybody does. It's just a matter of time. And, uh, and we'll see what they do. [00:36:00] But one group that has apparently has not figured it out yet, uh, is the US Anti-Doping Agency.
And, uh, yeah, last summer, you know, we had Shak ChAARI Richardson, uh, who tested positive for marijuana at the, uh, 2021 Olympic trials dis qualifying her first place finish. Yeah. Now it's Terry Davis Winhall. Now it's Tara Davis Woodhall and, uh, just unbelievable to me that, uh, uh, she's a long jumper and, um, she'd been stripped of her indoor national title and suspended for one month because of her anti-doping rule violation.
And so the US Anti-Doping Agency announced this week, uh, that, that she tested positive for G H C, the main psychoactive of compound found in marijuana, and the sample collected on February 17th after she won the long jump title at the 2023 US Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Her suspension was reduced to one month because she successfully completed a substance abuse treatment program and her used of cannabis occurred out of [00:37:00] competition. She served her suspension already. Let me make sure I understand something here. She used marijuana not in competition. She used it on her own time.
You know, she went. To a one, you know, uh, a substance abuse program, whatever the hell that means for somebody who smokes marijuana. And the US Olympic Committee decided they still needed to strip her of this title. And it's the same thing going to the Olympic Village. They're all drinking like fish and having sex with everybody but marijuana.
Nope. We can't allow that. I think, uh, Dr. Peter Grinspoon is a very vocal advocate of, uh, of Canvas Snake summed up very nicely in a tweet today where he wrote, disgusting. This persecution of Canvas users needs to stop immediately. Marijuana can't magically cause a motivational syndrome and be a performance enhancer.
Let's drop the double standard. Right? That's exactly right. You can't say, oh, these lazy weed users, you know, there's a stereotypical canvas user just lies around and plays video games in his parents' basement [00:38:00] and then also say, you know, oh, but Canvas is gonna cause you to jump further. I mean, look, this Yep.
The, the long jumpers don't make money, right? They, they, they, they're not part of a professional sports team. They're doing this for the love of whatever it is they do. That's true. Almost all track and field. They might get a couple endorsements here and there if they're, if they're really lucky. Right? But I mean, this isn't, you're not making a career out of long jumping, and you're certainly not, um, uh, you know, getting all that much notoriety outside of, you know, maybe the NCAA championships and if you're lucky enough in the Olympics, but that's about it, right?
So, so why not, you know, allow these, uh, athletes, the, the, the glory of, of winning when you know it's not a performance enhancing drug. It's ridiculous. No, it it, it is very ridiculous. And I I and what do you say to somebody like this? Okay, fine. She should have known better. People can say that, but the truth of the matter is, uh, given the fact that society is a day has totally embraced it, you know, why the [00:39:00] hell does anybody even care anymore?
And, and I, I don't know. I just, that's it, it's just so frustrating to me to see that all these other people are all out there using all other sorts of things, you know? I mean, the Russians and the East Germans for years were using performance enhancing drugs and, you know, eventually they got caught and slapped around a little bit, but not probably nearly as much as they should have.
And I, I don't know. It's, it's, it's, uh, it's, it's just all crazy to me, the, the way that these people make these decisions and, and do carry a double standard and all in the name of, we have to make this look good, so this is what we're gonna do. And you just say, all it does is make you look stupid, but. You know, it's, it's their game and their ball, and I guess if we don't play their way, so, you know, the, if you know the rules and you want to compete, you're just gonna have to accept the fact that if you smoke marijuana, you're, you're running this risk every time out.
Yeah. And it shouldn't be that way. But, you know, I suppose if you are a professional athlete or you know, amateur, amateur athlete in this case, and you know, the, uh, the risk, [00:40:00] you're accepting that risk, you know, when you, uh, when you use Canvas, as ridiculous as it is, uh, you know, like I, I, I know even going back to, you know, the whole idea of signing contracts when you're a high school athlete, if you get caught drinking, you know, you're off the team, you know what you're getting yourself into.
Uh, right. So it's, uh, in life you make choices. And I, I think this is an absolutely stupid one in terms of policy, but, uh, but I also think that, you know, you can't say that you didn't expect it after seeing other athletes have the same treatment last year. Absolutely correct. You know, the rules are rules.
And in that respect, you know, if you know what the rules are and you violate 'em, you know, you're, you're subjecting yourself to, to that potential punishment, which is fine. And I get that, you know, my complaint is just based in the fact that why would anybody even deem this kind of conduct worthy of punishment?
Yeah, agreed. Agreed. I think that much where we're 100% aligned on, on this, uh, it's absolute tragedy. But, you know, speaking of tragedies in the canvas industry, uh, seems like our friends in the G o P [00:41:00] have blocked, uh, the bill to allow veterans to have access to, um, to, um, veterans affairs studies, to, to help, you know, people with, uh, that are veterans with whatever issues they have by, by studying canvas.
And again, it was, you know, Schumer's getting all the heat these days for bills not passing. But people forget that this is unified voice coming from the G O p to, to vote against these bills. And it's, you know, for, uh, a party that claims to be pro veteran. You'd certainly think that they'd, uh, be supportive of Bill.
That's gonna hopefully, you know, find ways to better treat veterans, uh, who, who need help. Yep. And, and what's interesting is we do have some Republican support here. Um, very little Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Arkansas, uh, supported this bill. Um, but I'll tell you who else supported this bill.
Josh Hawley supported this bill and you know, to me that, you know, that's amazing cuz there's very few senators who I think so personify, uh, you know, the [00:42:00] craziness on the right hand side of the political spectrum in this country right now. And yet here he is, uh, Joining in on that bill, uh, to support it, as did the other senator from Missouri, also Republican, Eric Schmidt.
Now, you know, people think that's a little bit strange, but Missouri is a big, big military state. There's Whiteman, air Force Base, Fort Leonard Wood, um, uh, just to name two, which are, are, are the big ones. But they, they have all sorts of military stuff that goes on in Missouri. Uh, um, Boeing was there for a long time.
It was a military contractor. And I, I think that, uh, you know, these guys are just playing the, you know, smart political game and understanding, uh, that in Missouri, which just continues to blow Illinois out of the water with the amazing start they've had with their, uh, adult use program. Um, look, I'm no fan of Josh Hawley.
In fact, I openly dislike Josh Hawley, but at least in this instance, Yeah, I know, I know, I know. Look, there's no better [00:43:00] sight in all of politics than his pumped fist on the way in and scurrying down the hallway to get out of there on the way out when, after they all broke in and back on January 6th. But hey, look, he's out here supporting this, uh, joining the likes of Lisa Murkowski, who always tends to be a little more cen centered as a, uh, a Republican.
Susan Collins, of course, who may be good at a lot of things, just not evaluating the, the ver veracity of Supreme Court candidates. Um, uh, Mike Rounds from a Republican from San Diego, so, and then the two Missouri Republicans. So, you know, to me that's a really good thing that they would stand up and do that.
Um, But, but why would you do this, right? I mean, uh, John Tester from Montana, uh, who one of my favorites said, it's today. It's time to put a political differences aside and do what's right for our veterans. Adding that VA studies required under the bill could find that marijuana serves as an opioid alternative for veterans with chronic pain.
Hell, yes, that's exactly right. This isn't so [00:44:00] complicated. Uh, They talk about it being controversial among G O P members, but we're, what we're really talking about is making sure that veterans have a better understanding of the role that medicinal cannabis plays in treating the wounds of war. How do republicans consistently tell us that they're the, they support the military, they're the military guys, but they're the ones who screw around with military benefits, who screw around with the VA and are screwing around with this, you know, how do any of these guys look at, go back to their states and look at their veterans and say, I have your back.
We couldn't vote for that. It's marijuana. It's too controversial. 90% of Americans are, whatever the current poll is, you know, saying that marijuana should be legal at 65 or 70 saying they've tried it once, or this is beyond preposterous at this point. That people continue to play this game and act like, well, you know, I'm not gonna go touch that third rail America.
It has very strong feelings about it. Yeah, and its strong feelings are, you guys are way behind the eight ball here and you better catch up fast. It would be great if there was [00:45:00] political consequences for that. Yep. There doesn't seem to be, and, uh, look, it, it's unfortunate that everything has to be painted in the lens of, of being political when it comes to canvas policy.
There's certainly no doubt that there's one party that's largely in favor and one party that's not, and, uh mm-hmm. You know, it makes it very, very difficult as a canvas professional to, to not see that and to, to, you know, forgive that. I guess if, if, you know, you're, you make your living based on trying to advance canvas legislation and trying to, uh, to make sure that you can run a business that adheres to the letter of the law, but still has the federal government taking every dollar outta your pocket as you're doing it.
Um, no, there's relief in sight, but there's no motivation on, on one side to provide it. Uh, it makes it very, very difficult to, to be sympathetic to a lot of the things that they do. Um, so it's, you know, again, Two or three, you know, kind of negative parts of, of what's happening in the industry. But we do have some positive, you know, there's a couple things that are happening that, that are good to talk about.
And I think we can [00:46:00] at least start with Delaware passing, uh, an adult use law and, uh, yep. The 22nd state in the, uh, the country to officially have done so. And correct me if I'm not wrong, but they did that over the potential veto by a democratic governor. Yeah, I that's, that's right. Yeah. We, we had talked about that a couple of weeks ago, so, you know, look, I, it just goes to show that you, you can never tell with politics one way or the other, especially when it comes to something like marijuana.
Uh, but, you know, good for the legislature for stepping in and taking care of that and letting the good people of Delaware enjoy their weed. Yep. And, uh, you know, it'll take some time for that to, to get open and, and the, the program, you know, actually, uh, fully moving, who knows anything could happen between now and then.
We certainly seeing weirder things, you know, you changing in composition there the way you did in Virginia. And you'd watch the, uh, the, the whole thing get shelved again. But, you know, as of right now, you at least have, uh, some hope here. And we're still waiting for other states to, to get their programs, you know, off the ground that have already passed it.
But we're, we're getting closer and [00:47:00] closer to, you know, sort of the magic 26 number, which is, you know, more than half the, the states in terms of numbers, not in terms of population, but in terms of numbers of states. Mm-hmm. So, you know, I, I think the industry's been hopeful for a long time that there'll be something that is, is the quote tipping point.
And we would've thought it would've been when, you know, more than 50% of the US had access to adult use canvas in terms of population. We blew past that several years ago. You know, it's not even close to this point now. It's so heavy. Right. Can we get to 50 plus states and can we get to 50 plus states that include a handful of very conservative states?
And, uh, we're, we're getting, getting really close. Uh, you know, I think Texas has shown us there's, there's still a chance there as well. Well, exactly right. I was in good segue that the Texas House has given initial approval to a marijuana decriminalization bill, setting it up for final passage in the main chamber of the, of the Texas legislature.
Um, this is just unbelievable to me, again, in a positive way. Now I know Texas is, you know, although they tend [00:48:00] to be a very right red state, you know, they have a little bit of that. Um, uh, uh, Spirit of adventure in them, if you know, if you will, they libertarianism is what the word I was desperately grasping there for, for a minute.
But you know, I mean, they enjoy their vices down in Texas just as much as the next guy. They also enjoy their law and order. And quite frankly, with, with Abbott being the governor, uh, it's kind of hard to tell the difference. And we'll, we'll get to that here. Uh, representative Joe Moody, uh, has, has passed us and said he's, I'm very proud to bring you a bill that will lower taxes, improve economic opportunities for Texans, strengthen the ability of law enforcement to respond to serious crimes.
And, and the House Bill does that by changing the way we enforce the laws around the personal use possession of cannabis, which is exactly, you know, the way things should be going. Now, they, they point out it's still gonna be illegal, but what they're doing is addressing a smarter way to handle it than we do now.
What this will do is treat up hundreds of millions of dollars are currently going to enforcement, keep police on the [00:49:00] street, working more serious cases instead of processing these petty arrests and make sure those who currently end up with a record that interferes with job schools, housing, and licensure come out of the process without any, uh, permanent stigma.
Now here's the thing. This is great. But it, it comes a month after the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, uh, unanimously passed the measure, which removed the risk for low level possession. The House had already passed a similar cannabis discrimin decriminalization proposal during the past two legislative sessions in 2021 and 2019.
But so far, the proposals have consistently stalled in the Senate amid opposition from Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Republican, who presides over the chamber. Let's remember who Dan Patrick is. He's the guy who first said that we had to keep America going for our children. And if that meant that senior citizens would get covid and die, but save it for our children, he said, sign me up for that.
And to which I said, I wish he would've been able to carry out that goal that he wanted to [00:50:00] do, that would've been a wonderful thing. Uh, but, but he's, he's, you know, Abbott's lackey and he consistently, time and time again, uh, comes up with these positions that are, uh, Comically ridiculous in terms of how far, uh, he, he, he tries to push the envelope.
Don't forget, he's also the one I think who offered a $1 million reward for anyone, uh, who could show proof that, uh, that, that, that, uh, the elections were legit or whatever. And some guy in Pennsylvania actually, uh, came forward and said, Hey, I'm a Republican and I worked here, and I can tell you that it was legit and I wanna collect.
And, you know, uh, Patrick had a bunch of reasons why we can't do that. Patrick doesn't like anybody, he doesn't like transsexual people, he doesn't like gay people. He clearly doesn't like marijuana. And, you know, this is the, as, as what I would do is to separate this out from a standard legislature filled with, uh, Republicans not excluding, you know, Marjorie Taylor Green.
Um, right. But, but otherwise it, I, I think a lot of [00:51:00] Republicans tend to be very open about this, but you get these obstinate. You know, it, he's as much of a fucking canoeing joint as Mick McConnell is. You know, just these guys who just get in the way just for the sake of getting in the way and just on whatever crazy principles, uh, they think dictate their life.
But thank God, uh, if the, uh, if the Texas legislature can get around him and, uh, and make that happen, how do you really feel, Larry? Sorry man, I don't like this guy. And if he's gonna step up and get in the way of something like this, nearly three in four Texas voters, 72% support to criminalizing marijuana, more than 55% said they're in favor of broader legalization.
And only 17% said it shouldn't be legal at all. And guess who? Dan Patrick's, uh, cozying up with
unsurprising to me at all. If you know anything about the guy. This is exactly, no, it's, it is to take, yeah. [00:52:00] Right. But it's just, you know, enough to make you wanna pound your fists on the table and scream, which I'm doing very effectively. Thank you for letting me have my rent, but, uh, away. Wow. There's nothing you're saying I disagree with.
I mean, look, then we get started on the, uh, attorney General of Texas, and, you know, there's, there's a, oh, Ken Paxton. Yeah. Paxton's even, you know, matter than a hatter. So, you know, so the only attorneys general that are, that are out there, that is under indictment right now and still continues to be the, the lead law enforcement agent for a state, it's nuts to me.
Mm-hmm. But hey, that's, that's Texas. And then, and then, you know, California, we're the ones with the crazies. Uh, so, you know, you never know how it's perceived, but look, uh,
More good news in Canvas, you know, so let, let's hope Texas goes through, but as of, you know, in the last hour, then safe has been reintroduced again. Uh, so we'll see. You know, I know we're gonna touch on this today and you know, my reaction if, you know someone's gonna go on a rant, and maybe it's my turn now, but let's been introduced so many [00:53:00] times, it never passes.
Everyone gets their hopes. No. This is like, you know, like safe to me, might as well be the football and uh, and, and Congress might as well be Lucy, right? You know, every single time, every single time we keep falling for at certain point, you know, shame on me, right? So it's, uh, safe. That if safe had never been introduced at all, I would venture to say that I think canvas stocks would be doing much, much better than they are.
Because every single time that safe, you know, um, is introduced and passed in Congress, you watch, you know, the, the share prices of of Canvas companies go up by 10, 15%. But then when it doesn't pass, ultimately they drop by a significantly greater portion. So it's Right. And every time, time, it's because people feel like they've been, uh, they've been hood waved again.
So seven times this thing's been passed in Congress seven times, got the 59 votes last time. So you can't put it through reconciliation on a, uh, on, on a a 51 vote basis. We don't have the votes for it. We haven't had the votes for it, but Oh, this time it's different. Save eight, you know, like th this time, and there's something that's changed, and [00:54:00] I think as of right now, it's been introduced by, um, by, uh, a handful of people, including some Republicans.
Steve Danes, Senator out of Montana is, you know, one of the sponsors of the bill. Mm-hmm. Uh, another, another, you know, Republicans. So this time it's like, oh, it's being introduced on a bipartisan, bicameral basis. Okay. Yeah. Great. It doesn't have the votes. It doesn't have the votes. So what are we releasing our time for?
I will not get excited until there, there's a guaranteed 60 votes in the Senate. When I know for sure that there's 60 senators that will vote for this thing, then I'll get excited about being introduced to the house. Until then, I could care less. Uh, you know what, and you're right, that is a good rant. And that, that, that's, that is a great way to, you know, to go back and, and, and to wrap it up like that because it's true.
You know, they can, they can pay lip service to it all they want, but if they're not willing to give it, you know, a reasonable, uh, vote and, and, and, you know, pass it on its merits rather than, you know, worrying about party lines or any of these other things, um, you know, then it needs to get done. And, and whatever, we all know how important it is.
They know how important it is. [00:55:00] Um, but they, you know, they're not gonna, they're not gonna help us. It's not quickly. Let me ask. No, it's not, it's be realistic. It's not going through. No, it's not. Um, we got another clip we're gonna jump back to, uh, just to, to our good buddy, Bob Dylan. This time we're, we're out of Japan, but since we're we're touching on Bob Dylan here, I felt like we had to go back and catch some of his other, uh, performances.
So, uh, here's one coming to you from December 16th, 1995 from the Electric Factory in Philadelphia.
Well, I love Alabama getaway. That, that's just one of my all-time favorite Grateful Dead songs. It, it just really jams. It's great. Here's Dylan playing it. This version of it is just am mere six months after Jerry's death. And, uh, you know, I was reading the comments, uh, under the, um, [00:56:00] uh, Under its link on, on the internet, and somebody writes, Bob Dylan's live interpretation of the Grateful Dead's Alabama getaway by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, Bob Channels his inner Jerry here.
You can tell he's digging it. And to me that's just a, a very apt description. Right? I mean, clearly he's digging it. And, and the first thing I notice when the right when this jam starts Rob, is how upbeat it is. You know, I mean, even not fade away, which was more upbeat than, say, broke down palace or, uh, or trucking.
But this, you know, they're really cranking away now. Again, this is what, this is almost, yeah, 28 years ago when, when Dylan was still cranking it out a little bit. But nevertheless, it's, it's just wonderful to hear. Yeah, he is so much older then. He's younger than that now. Ah, nicely said. Nicely said. So that's always fun.
So that, yeah, Dylan just making his way through the world. Let me ask you about this really fast. I don't know if, uh, uh, with your travels and everything else that's been going on, if you had a chance to check out, uh, this most [00:57:00] recent West Coast fish run the two shows in Seattle where they played Isabella one night, cuz Yeah, we, there was some guy, some local guy named Jimmy, you know, and then they did their three shows at the Greek theater.
I had, uh, some friends, uh, one of my cousins was there. Uh, my good buddy Kevin was there. And, uh, They had never even been to the Greek theater, you know? So it's like, oh my God, how amazing is this to see a show at the Greek theater to get to see Phish there and get to see Phish? What does the Greek hold?
5,000 maybe, but where else can you go see Phish in a, in a venue that small except maybe the Hollywood Bowl where they then went for the final three nights. And, uh, I've been, listen, I was listening to him on Phish Radio. Jonathan Schwartz always plays the concert live the next day. He plays the next day on his show.
And, um, I, I would, you know, middle of the day just be sitting out in my car listening to some of this, because the, the, the. This first night, I think it was at, um, uh, the Greek Theater. They had a four song second set with a 45 or 50 minute tweezer. And [00:58:00] as I was mentioning last week, my son gave you a shout out on that cuz a few weeks ago you had just been talking about the 97 shows where you said they'd jammed so much.
Sometimes you'd see a set and they'd only play four or five songs. And lo and behold, here they did it. So, uh, you know, to me that's just, that's, that's great stuff. I, I, I love that jamming. Uh, and then this past weekend, or two weekends ago, I saw Goose here in town and the same thing, right? Some guys who just took this music and just ran, just run with it, you know, in a way that's, that doesn't, doesn't bore you, doesn't, you know, make you feel like, I don't know this music, I mean, like a band like Umphrey, who I like sometimes in the middle of their jams, it's started to get a little heavy for me.
You know, these guys just keep building to crescendo after crescendo. And, uh, you know, it, it makes me feel good about the future of jam band, rock and roll. Yeah, for sure. And then look, I, I was hoping to have, uh, gone up to see one or two of those shows at the, um, at the Hollywood Bowl. Unfortunately, I had other family stuff that I had to deal with.
Um, but yeah, I mean, I've listened to a fair amount of [00:59:00] both the, uh, the Berkeley shows and the, uh, the Hollywood Bowl shows. I'll tell you, it's really, really nice when, when you do get a, a really monster tweezer and set two of the first night, and then they don't play the tweezer reprise until the nights later, which is, uh, you know, a great way to, uh, a, a great way to do it.
And, uh, you know, there, there's some stuff at Hollywood Bowl that was, uh, that was pretty exceptional as well. If you've listened to any of those shows, uh, the Drift While You're Sleeping Encore on the first night was just fantastic. Uh mm-hmm. You know, if, if you're a fan of the song, I, I happen to be, I love that tune, um, from Gilson Horse.
Yeah. Uh, yep. But you know, Having, um, one of the knives was basically straight out of like 1992 as far as what the set list was. I think it was the, um, mm-hmm. I think it was set two of the second night with the Cho dust, the twist, the 2001, you know, it's, uh, yep. Or the first set with David Bowie, the Eser, the Harry Hood, the, the split Open and melt mean all old tunes in one set list, which is, uh, which is pretty cool.
So those guys are playing really, really well. It's great to see and, uh, [01:00:00] stinks to have them in my home, in my home state, not be able to see them any of the nights they played, but, uh, hopefully that will change this summer. Yeah. You know, um, they're not coming around here this summer. Unfortunately. They're not coming through Chicago.
At least they haven't announced anything yet. So, um, you know, and now it, it, it makes me, uh, you know, look to Labor Day Weekend and wonder if, after threatening to do so all these years, I might actually go to Dick's. Yeah, I think you should. And, uh, if I can figure out a way to pull it off, I might meet you there.
I'm, uh, if I keep saying that Dick Dicks, every year, I, I keep saying about Dicks every year, and I keep saying jam, uh, uh, jazz Fest every year too. And here's another year, uh, jazz Fest mm-hmm. About to start. And, uh, I will not be going again, so. Yep. Uh, maybe I should stop teasing myself thinking these things are possible.
Right. Well, and, and Goose, man, they're, they're gonna be like the, the, the kings of jazz. They're playing, I think the first weekend, and then they're sticking around and playing what they've now formally dubbed the days between, which I guess the Garcia State can talk to them about if they want, but, uh, you know, they're, they're gonna keep [01:01:00] the party going all week down there and Goose is gonna be a big part of it.
Yeah, that's great. And billion of the kids. Yep. I mean, all, all great bands to be playing at Jazz Fest. Uh, you know, and again, if you look back at, you know, fish's history at Jazz Fest, they've certainly been no stranger to up to that festival either. So it's a lot of, mm-hmm. A lot of good stuff that happens there.
And if anyone that's listening, if you haven't been to Jazz Fest, There's no place I could recommend more to go check out than, uh, than the, the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival that happens every year for two weekends, not because of what happens inside the festival grounds, but because of what happens in the evenings afterwards.
It truly is, you know, one of the most fun times you can have anywhere seeing any music if you, if you're into the New Orleans funk and, uh, in neurons kind of sound, e every musician you can think of is there and they're all playing together and all sort of jumping back and forth with each other. It is, uh, it is one of life's great treats, uh, to be able to go down there to, to see the Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Absolutely could not agree more. Um, [01:02:00] so yeah, man, this is great. You know, an hour flies by. It's always more fun when I have you on the show and we can, uh, people don't just have to listen to me drone on for a little while. But, uh, no, this was good stuff today. Um, uh, we've got, uh, some more good stuff coming up over the next few weeks.
Uh, some big shows coming up that we're gonna wanna feature, uh, other guests that we're working on. Uh, Stu Sallow last week was a lot of fun. Uh, we're gonna be looking for his book when it gets published, and, uh, I believe that, uh, Dan Humiston is gonna be meeting up with Stu next spring, uh, to catch a little of his baseball action too.
So, uh, at at least he says he is. We'll see what happens. Um, in the meantime, uh, Rob, great to have you back today, man. Always a pleasure. And, um, have a great week right back at you, Larry. It's good to be back and good to be back on the show. And, uh, looking forward to doing, uh, a few more here and there. That would be wonderful.
Anytime you want. We're always happy to have you on the way out the door. We're gonna stick with our Bob Dylan. [01:03:00] Interpreting The Grateful Dead today and, uh, one of my all-time favorite dead songs, one of my all-time favorite Jerry songs. Uh, nice cover of Friend of the Devil from the Fox Theater in Oakland, California, uh, recorded last summer.
So we'll, we'll leave you with this, everyone. Uh, have a great week. Enjoy yourselves and, uh, enjoy your so, uh, your cannabis responsibly. Thanks folks.[01:04:00]