"The Sphere in Vegas: U2's Sonic Odyssey and the Future of Concert Venues" Larry Mishkin is joined by great friend of the show, Alex Wellins to catch up and talk about a Grateful Dead concert held at Poly Pavilion on November 20th, 1971. Larry talks about the significance of the show, including the band's transition in music style, notable songs played, and the presence of famous basketball player Bill Walton in the audience. .Produced by PodConx
"The Sphere in Vegas: U2's Sonic Odyssey and the Future of Concert Venues"
Larry Mishkin is joined by great friend of the show, Alex Wellins to catch up and talk about a Grateful Dead concert held at Poly Pavilion on November 20th, 1971. Larry talks about the significance of the show, including the band's transition in music style, notable songs played, and the presence of famous basketball player Bill Walton in the audience.
Later, Alex discusses recent concerts they attended, highlighting U2's performance at The Sphere in Las Vegas, known for its immersive audiovisual experience, and another show at the historic Castro Theater in San Francisco featuring the band St. Paul and the Broken Bones. Both Larry and Alex express enthusiasm about these diverse musical experiences.
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
Sound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/
Grateful Dead
November 20, 1971
Pauley Pavillion – UCLA
L.A.
By late 1971 Dead’s transformation from Primal Dead to Americana Dead was well on it’s way. This concert is a great snapshot of that time, this show being more in the Americana camp with the a killer 25 minute jammed out Other One (including its Bill Kreutzman drum solo lead in) really being the only true nod to the Primal era .
Also, the band was in transition as Pigpen missed the show as part of his descent into alcohol related illnesses that eventually took him in March 1973. Keith had been playing with the band since February but Mickey began his “leave” in February after night one of the Capitol Theater run. So this night is just five of them up on stage playing their hearts out for the fine students of UCLA and other Deadheads ( then a very brand new “thing” having just been recognized by the band in the liner message inside the Grateful Dead album stating: “DEAD FREAKS UNITE! WHO ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU? HOW ARE YOU? Send us your name and address and we’ll keep you informed”)
One fact that should be obvious given the venue and the time – an unknown UCLA student and want-a-be college basketball player, Bill Walton was in attendance along with some of his Bruins teammates for this first ever Dead show at Pauley Pavilion, famed home court for the UCLA Bruins, a team that following the amazing successes of Lew Alcindor (Kareem) and Sidney Wicks, now was being led for the first time by Bill and his teammates Jamaal Wilkes and Greg Lee (spoiler alert: Bill has some success at UCLA too). Bill, of course, went on to be an NBA All-Star and a regular attendee of Dead shows and, as Alex can attest, not unusual to see him at a West Coast dead show right up until the end – kind of hard to miss a 7 foot deadhead with his red hair and tie dye apparel. Rumor has it when they knew he was going to be at a show the band would set up a basketball hoop backstage and that Bruce Hornsby was a hooper too.
INTRO: Bertha
Track No. 1
3:30 – 4:37
Great traditional opener although it was known to pop up in different spots during shows from time to time. At this point, it is still “new” having been debuted earlier that year, on February 18th at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester. Never released on a studio album, but it is the opening tune on the Dead’s live album, “Grateful Dead” a/k/a Skull and Roses (or Phil’s preferred name, “Skull Fuck” which was promptly rejected by their label, Warner Bros) on September 24, 1971. From shows in NYC at the Fillmore East and the Hammerstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center (plus Johnny B. Goode from Winterland – couldn’t completely ignore the west coast).
SHOW #1: Tennessee Jed
Track No. 5
0:45 – 1:46
This is one of the “new” ones played in this show. Along with Mexicali Blues, One More Saturday Night, Ramble On Rose and Jack Straw had all just been played for the first ever just two months earlier on October 19, 1971 at the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis – also Keith’s first show. A tune that more than most really captures the change in the band’s direction as you have Garcia previously of Dark Star, St. Stephen and Eleven fame twanging away, musically and vocally, on a song with a feel that is a cross between country, western and a dash of rock n roll. Deadheads of Alex’s and my era will note how much quicker the tempo is in this early version and Garcia’s noticeable energy evident from his strong vocal performance.
Played 436 times in concert, putting it at No. 15 of the list of the Dead’s most played tunes.
1st (again) on Oct. 19, 1971 in MPLS
Last on July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago
A great sing along tune that the Deadheads always enjoyed, normally found in the first set, towards the middle.
SHOW #2: Jack Straw
Track No. 10
:12 – 1:20
As just mentioned, this another “new” one just two months old. Everyone loves Jack Straw, even the Band which is why it checks in at No. on list of most tunes played by the Band with 476 performances (last one on July 8, 1995 at Soldier Field). But in this early version, there is a little bit of a change from the version we all know and love. First, thing to know it is a tune by Hunter and Weir. Garcia did not write it although he sang it with Weir in a “trading off of verses” style. Second, in these early versions, before the Europe ’72 tour, Weir sang all the verses like we just heard, “I just jumped the watchman, right outside the fence” was always sung by Jerry, but here, Weir sings it. Not sure of the reason for the change, but I like it a lot better with Jerry singing his verses (the other being “Gotta go to Tulsa, first train we can ride”). First time with Jerry on vocals was May 3, 1972 at the Olympia Theater in Paris, that also just happens to be the version of the song that wound up on the Europe ’72 album. Although in its earlier years the song would appear in either first or second set, after their 1975 hiatus it became an almost exclusive first set song. And after Brent joined the band, almost always a show opener. Home to the more than occasional Phil base bomb, it was one of the Band’s most popular tunes and a great way to open any show (especially if they had just opened with Bertha the night before so you got to catch them both!).
SHOW #3: Ramble On Rose
Track No. 18
0:00 – 1:28
Last of the “new” ones that we will feature today. Just like Tennessee Jed, upbeat, good energy, Jerry and the boys are having fun, like with any new creation. Still working out all the details, the james, keeping track of the lyrics and Jerry has not yet developed his signature growl on “goodbye mamma and poppa, goodbye jack and jill”. What I really like about this version and why I chose a clip from the beginning of the tune is to hear Keith’s piano accompaniment that works so well with this song and adds another layer of creativity to the mix. Garcia always seemed to get energy and inspiration from the band’s keyboard players and Keith, even this early in his career, is no exception.
After its introduction on Oct. 19, 1971 in Minny, played a total of 319 times, good for 39th place on the all time list, just behind US Blues and just ahead of Don’t Ease Me In (really?). Last played on June 27, 1995 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, MI.
SHOW #4: You Win Again
Track No. 20
1:12 – 2:21
"You Win Again" is a 1952 song by Hank Williams. In style, the song is a blues ballad and deals with the singer's despair with his partner. The song has been widely covered, including versions by Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, the Grateful Dead, Charley Pride, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.
Hank Williams recorded "You Win Again" on July 11, 1952—one day after his divorce from Audrey Williams was finalized. Like "Cold, Cold Heart," the song was likely inspired by his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife,
"You Win Again" was released as the B-side to "Settin' the Woods on Fire", primarily because up-tempo, danceable numbers were preferable as A-sides for radio play and for the valuable jukebox trade. Nonetheless, "You Win Again" peaked at number ten on the Most Played in C&W Juke Boxes chart, where it remained for a single week.
Over a time period of less than one year, the Dead played You Win Again 24 times in concert, the first on November 11, 1971 at the Municipal Auditorium in Austin, TX (this show in L.A. was only the third time it had been played) and the last on September 16, 1972 at The Music Hall in Boston.
A version of the song was released on the Europe ’72 album (second album side), from their show on May 24, 1972 at The Strand Lyceum in London, one of the final shows on that tour.
JGB recorded a version of the song in 1976 during the Reflections album sessions but not played live again. It was briefly revived by The Dead with Dylan in 2003.
OUTRO: Going Down The Road Feeling Bad
Track No. 23
3:45 – 5:12
"Going Down The Road Feeling Bad" (also known as the "Lonesome Road Blues") is a traditional American folk song, "a white blues of universal appeal and uncertain origin"
The song was recorded by many artists through the years. The first known recording is from 1923 by Henry Whitter, an Appalachian singer,[2][3]as "Lonesome Road Blues". The earliest versions of the lyrics are from the perspective of an inmate in prison with the refrain, "I'm down in that jail on my knees" and a reference to eating "corn bread and beans."[4] The song has been recorded by many artists such as Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Skeeter Davis, Elizabeth Cotten, and the Grateful Dead, and the song is featured in To Bonnie from Delaney, "Mountain Jam", Born and Raised World Tour, The Grapes of Wrath, and Lucky Stars.
Others who recorded it include Cliff Carlisle (also as "Down in the Jail on My Knees"), Woody Guthrie (also as "Blowin' Down This Road" or "I Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way"), Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Roy Hall, Elizabeth Cotten and the Grateful Dead, Delaney and Bonnie, Canned Heat and Dillard Chandler.
Dead played it 302 times (No. 46 on the most played tunes list just behind a tie between Mama Tried and Terrapin and just ahead of Birdsong). 1st time on October 10, 1970 at Colden Auditorium, part of Queens College in Queens, NY.
Last played on July 5, 1985 at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, MO.
During the time period of this show it was almost always paired with Not Fade Away (as made famous at the end of the Grateful Dead album). In later years, when Alex and I were regulars on tour, it would show up as a second set tune, usually, but not always after Drums/Space. A very upbeat tune that the band obviously loved playing the crowd loved hearing.
For our purposes, a great way to end the show and say goodbye and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
Larry (00:42.274)
hello everyone welcome to another episode of the deadhead cannabis show i'm larry michigan of michigan law in northfield illinois uh... as promised we've got a very exciting show for everyone today we've got a wonderful grateful dead show that we're gonna listen to uh... my good buddy uh... alex wellins uh... he of uh... reasonable dispute as to whether or not he actually exists will prove in fact today that he does and ironically enough without rob present to actually see it so somehow we're gonna clip and paste and whatever and
put them in the same screen someday, somehow. But we're talking today about a show from Poly Pavilion at UCLA campus on November 20th, 1971, 52 years ago today. And if you were there, this is how the show began.
Larry (02:36.778)
Bertha, a great traditional opener for Jerry and the Boys. You would most often see it as a show opener, although it was known to pop up in different spots. During shows from time to time, whenever maybe Jerry just needed to center himself, he'd reach out, pull on a bertha, and crank it out. If you remember the words, it was a plus. At this point, though, November 20, 71, it's still a relatively new song, having been debuted earlier that year on February 18 at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester.
It was never released on a studio album, but it is the opening tune on the Dead's Live album, Grateful Dead, also known as Skull and Roses or Phil's preferred name, Skullfuck, which was promptly rejected by their label, Warner Brothers. It was released on September 24th, 1971. It's from shows in New York City at the Fillmore East and the Himmelstein Ballroom in the Manhattan Center and Johnny B. Goode from Winterland was one West Coast addition that made it into the show.
By late 1971, the dead's transformation from primal dead to American dead was well on its way. This concert is a great snapshot of this time, the show being more in the Americana camp than it is within the primal era, notwithstanding the presence of a killer 25 minute jammed out other one, including Billy's traditional drum solo lead-in of the time. And it's great that they throw that in, but the concert stands on its own
you know, newer material. The band was in transition. Pig Pen missed this show and a number of the shows on this tour as part of his continuing descent into his alcohol-related illnesses that eventually took him in March of 1973. Keith Gouchow had been playing with the band since February, but Mickey began his leave in February after one night at the Capitol Theater Run. So this night is just five of them up on stage playing their hearts out for the fine students of UCLA and other deadheads, then a relatively new thing.
the group having just been recognized by the band in the liner message inside the Grateful Dead album stating Dead Freaks Unite, Who Are You, Where Are You, How Are You Send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed I have no idea how large the list of deadheads that they have information is today I'm sure that our good friend Larry Vee could tell us given the number of telephone calls he personally made into the Grateful Dead offices back in the day when he was looking for his tickets and all good stuff like that
Larry (05:01.902)
uh... one fact that should be obvious given the venue uh... and the time unknown ucl a student at the time and i know you still a student and one of the college basketball player beginning bill walton was in attendance along with some of his new brewing teammates for the uh... this first ever dead show at polypavilion which was the same home court for the ucl a bruins uh... john wooden was the coach one nine championships in ten years or ten championships eleven years
but nothing that anybody's come close to matching since until then. A team that following the amazing success of the Lu Al Cinder slash Karim Abdul-Jabbar and then the Sydney Wicks era, now Bill was beginning to lead the team for the first time along with his teammates Jamal Wilkes and Greg Lee. Spoiler alert, Bill does wind up having some success at UCLA, a little bit in the NBA, and he did go on to become an NBA All-Star and a regular attendee of Dead Shows. And as Alex can certainly attest,
uh... not unusual to see him at west coast dead shows right up until the very end kind of hard to miss a seven footer with red hair and tie-dye apparel rumor has it when they knew he was going to be there the band would set up a hoop backstage and uh... bruce hornsby during his days with the band uh... was known to join in too so uh... nineteen seventy one's a fun time there's all sorts of great things going on and uh... not just bertha but the dead uh... just a month earlier two months earlier had unpacked a large number of new tunes
And let's roll the next one, Dan.
Dan Humiston (06:48.887)
Can you move your mic up, Larry? It's making, yeah, it's making a bunch of noise, okay?
Larry (07:56.226)
Tennessee Jed, well known to deadheads everywhere, was one of the new songs played at this show. Tennessee Jed, along with Mexicali Blues, one more Saturday night, Ramblin' Rose and Jack Straw had all just been played for the first time ever, one month earlier on October 19th, 1971 at the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis, also Keith Gouchow's first show with the band. A tune that more than most really captures the change in the band's direction.
as you have Garcia, previously of Dark Star, Stain, Stephen, and The Eleven fame, twang in a way musically and vocally on a song with a feel that's across between country western and a dash of rock and roll. Deadheads of Alex and My Arrow will note how much quicker the tempo is in this early version and Garcia's noticeable energy evident from his strong vocal performance. The tune was played 436 times by the band in concert, putting it at number 15 on the
as indicated first played back in October 19th, 71 and many, and last played on July 8th, 1995 at Soldier Field. A great sing-along tune that Deadheads always enjoyed, normally found in the first set, someone towards the middle. Now instead of just rocking and rolling out for the next little while here, we are going to take a break and switch over and start chatting with our guest and my good buddy Alex Wellens coming to us live from lovely San Francisco.
Alex, how you doing? Thank you so much for taking the time to join us today.
Alex Wellins (09:25.746)
Doing great Larry and thank you very much as always for having me. Always a pleasure to be on
Larry (09:31.574)
Well, it is our pleasure. You know, the Wellands family is practically synonymous with this show. Your wife, Andy Greenberg, was our first guest ever. Max was our very short-lived but first ever temp or intern or whatever. And now he's on to much bigger and better things that we may get to today. And then of course, there's always my buddy Jake who may be the coolest of the group. But more than that, you really bring to the table
uh, skill sets and knowledgeable bases that, uh, you know, the average deadhead might find very interesting. So let's just cut to the chase. What was the final number? Did you break 300 shows?
Alex Wellins (10:12.105)
I did not, I was just slightly over 250, did not quite get to 300, but was certainly talking to some friends recently. And yeah, these days we think it's really exciting to see.
new venues or sometimes new bands or new configurations of the bands that we know and love. And I'm excited to chat about some of those things with you today. I'll also go back to your Bill Walton intro. I would say anybody that ever, it was always a thrill to see Bill at the shows. I have a little personal Bill Walton.
very positive bias. He was also a very important member of the one of the Celtics championship teams, arguably the greatest six man to ever come off the bench in NBA history. I'm sure sports fans as well as deadheads can have a lot of arguments about that. And you as a Bulls, long time Bulls fan and me as a long time Celtics fan could have some good discussions about that.
Larry (11:17.102)
Ha ha.
Larry (11:24.671)
And we have, yes.
Alex Wellins (11:25.797)
that 85 Celtics team else with Walton coming off the bench, I'll certainly take up there in the pantheon of NBA great NBA championship best teams ever. So I, and I thought you mentioned you were nice enough to mention our kids Jake and Max and the first time they saw him at a show was we saw a dead end company do a new year's show here in San Francisco a couple of years ago and they
Larry (11:38.699)
No argument here.
Alex Wellins (11:53.045)
really freaked out when they saw him in person, in the crowd, on the floor. And we sort of wandered over and just hung around, danced around near him during the set. And Bill, I always thought was quite polite, you know, given his height. And he always sort of hung out by the soundboard where he truly tried to not block people. And that's hard for a guy who's...
Larry (12:19.362)
Hehehehe
Alex Wellins (12:21.549)
seven three or seven four or whatever he is to do. And he was always a very positive force, still is. And he, you know, it was always a thrill to see him in person just really rocking out and enjoying himself at the shows.
Larry (12:41.278)
Absolutely. I was honored enough to see him at one or two shows over the career of my going to Grateful Dead shows. But yeah, you know, it's always fun to see a celebrity and, you know, Bill is, in fact, today's show was released by the Grateful Dead as Dave's Picks, volume number 48, the final release of their 12th year. So Dave has now well surpassed Dick. But this time the little show review background stuff is all written by Bill Walton.
And it's all done within the context of, of course, the way Bill Walton would do it, right? Me getting to UCLA, me meeting Coach John Wooden, me meeting my teammates and understanding the big important role. I was coming out here to Phil and here's the grateful dad coming onto our campus. It's great stuff, especially if you like Walton. It reads very well and it's very funny. But yeah, he's a great connection into the shows and always fun to see. Now for our listeners out there, let me just say that...
in our circle of friends and Alex and I really overlap in, you know, at least two or three good circles of, of folks that we know and love and go to dead shows with and Michigan football games with and, and all sorts of good stuff like that. But it doesn't really matter which of the groups we're hanging out with or what we're doing. He has, uh, come out of all of them far and away as the guy with, you know, what we call the best live concert karma out there. Uh, Alex will know where a show is, when it's playing, when tickets go on sale.
He knows this about shows coming to my town, to his town, to a town neither one of us are in. He's planned trips around concerts. His lovely wife and our good friend, Andy, loves music too, so it works out really well for her. Although I can tell you it's very difficult trying to keep up with New Orleans Greenbergs and all this musical travel that they do. But that's how I've was turned on to a large number of bands that I now listen to with some regularity as time permits.
And we always look and wait for Alex to come back and give us a little update and some plugs on the new stuff that he's seen out there that certainly hasn't really crossed our radar yet. So Alex, I know you've been very busy attending shows lately. What are some of the good ones out there? Who are some of the people you're seeing that you're really raving about?
Alex Wellins (14:57.997)
Well, one thing I wanted to bring up today was my wife, Andy and I were lucky enough to go to Vegas a couple of weeks ago and see U2 at the Sphere. And I mentioned new venues and new experiences. And Larry, for guys like us that have seen more than our fair share of concerts, now certainly well over
Larry (15:08.581)
Oh.
Alex Wellins (15:23.133)
into the thousands when you add dead shows with many, many other shows we've seen over the last 40, 50 years. You know, it's pretty rare that you or I will go to a concert, whatever it is, and say, wow, I've never seen anything like that before. And that was certainly the case at the Sphere. So for those folks who may not.
Larry (15:30.911)
Oh god.
Larry (15:45.418)
Right.
Alex Wellins (15:50.977)
be aware, the Sphere is a new concert and entertainment venue in Las Vegas. It's built by James Dolan, who owns Madison Square Garden. And the Sphere is actually broken out as its own separate public company. So there's Madison Square Garden, and now there's the Sphere, is publicly traded. So there's a lot of information out there. It is really, as its name implies, it is a Sphere.
It is enormous. It's down by the closest Vegas Hotel, for those of you who know Vegas a little bit. The closest hotel is the Venetian. It's technically connected to the Venetian Convention Center. So behind the strip, sort of behind the giant Ferris wheel that they have there. And it's, yes, that, exactly right. So...
Larry (16:42.742)
right by the tram.
Alex Wellins (16:48.613)
It is unmissable. And in fact, there is, I don't know if this is true or not, but they say that you can see it from outer space. So if you were out in the space shuttle or something that, and it is so bright and they call the outside the exosphere and they constantly play videos and they run some advertisements and they have really cool.
whether it's underwater scenes or natural scenes, or like when NBA games or basketball tournaments are there, they turn it into a giant basketball. And it is just really exceptionally cool to see just from the outside and really changes between the Eiffel Tower there and the Bellagio Fountains and the Ferris Wheel.
Las Vegas does not lack for spectacular things to see. And this is certainly one that will remain on that skyline and be one of the really tremendously cool things you can see in Vegas just from the outside. And they're doing a lot of business selling ads and promoting things and.
the Formula One races there this weekend, and they're doing a lot with it. So it's very quickly become a very cool part of the Vegas skyscape or landscape, if you will. And I would encourage everybody to Google it and check it out if you haven't already. And then inside, it...
Larry (18:26.142)
Yeah, how is it laid out seating wise? Is it more like a theater or like a sports arena?
Alex Wellins (18:31.657)
So it's a, it is, you know, it is truly round. So it's like, you know, you can think of it as like the world's biggest sort of planetarium or IMAX theater is a good way to think about it. There are four, there are four seating levels. And then at the very bottom, there is a general admission spot on the floor. And the, I think the IMAX theater is a good analogy for it because
Larry (18:40.878)
Ha ha ha.
Alex Wellins (19:01.309)
one of the most striking things is you go in and you're gonna go for a U2 concert and there are no speakers other than the monitors on the stage, there were no speakers anywhere because the speakers are all built in behind the screen like if you went to an IMAX theater. And so that's very striking, especially for people who've gone to a lot of concerts, you typically see, oh, the humongous speakers and stacks and rigs that they have.
Larry (19:18.944)
Yeah, yeah.
Alex Wellins (19:30.677)
And it is a truly immersive experience in that. So it is by far, apparently it's got like more than 150,000 speaker drivers in there. And so it is by far, it is a true escalation of the concert audio experience. And if you think about seeing, you know, in this case, U2,
Larry (19:48.589)
God.
Alex Wellins (20:01.057)
not even arguably, clearly one of the world's biggest bands. If you think about it, seeing them in what is, you know, effectively the largest IMAX theater or planetarium sort of environment, that'll give you a feel for it, where they can truly manipulate the sound and the visuals in a way that no concert goer has ever seen before. And so it's really, I don't...
It was an incredible experience. We can talk more about it. I don't want to see every concert like that, but it is a truly unique next level concert experience, which again, if you guys like us, luckily enough to see a lot of things and go to a lot of shows in our time, it's truly something that is a...
next level sort of next generation experience in terms of sound, in terms of visuals, in terms of the whole experience. And so I feel very fortunate that I was able to see it. And we can talk about the future there. U2 is, they're committed to playing there through February. For the weeks they're there, they play, I think, three shows a week, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. They're committed through February.
and they have not announced the next artist playing there. One interesting element is it's really set up to do, for artists to do residencies, because you have to create, in order to really make use of the Sphere experience, you have to create special visuals for it. So for example, for U2, they have a very famous album that...
most of us know called Joshua Tree. And so for many, when they would play the songs from Joshua Tree, it was like the band was playing in Joshua Tree. And the completely high definition, I mean, it was really a spectacular experience. And then all sorts of crazy, you know, trippy visuals or nature visuals or just...
Larry (22:00.551)
Ha ha ha.
Alex Wellins (22:14.073)
projecting the band up onto the screen so that people in the higher levels could see it. My wife and I had great seats. We were in the 100 level, lower level, right above the floor. So we had a great view of the band and the visuals. If you were really up high, I'd say if you were in the 300 or 400 level.
It's really, yeah, I said to someone, you might as well just go to a like a YouTube planetarium show because you're so far away. It's not really worth paying a lot for that, in my opinion. For true concert fans, you want to be in the 100 level or the 200 level. So you feel close enough to the band and the GA is quite small and you can get really close to the band and it wasn't overly packed down there when.
When we were there, we just liked being a little above that, so no one's blocking it. And also, we really wanted to make sure we could see the visuals very clearly. So it was a tremendous experience. I think it'll be very, very interesting to see what kind of bands they get. Certainly in the jam band genre, there's quite a bit of chatter that Phish is gonna do something there. The Sphere holds about 18,000 people. So it's like a...
United Center or Madison Square Garden or Chase Center out here, Fish certainly has no problem selling out the baker's dozen shows at the garden. And so they would be an ideal type of band to do that.
Larry (23:49.214)
Well, and they're so creative, it would be wonderful to see them take advantage of that. You know, as you're describing all of this, I'm thinking what we missed out on, right? We saw our share of dead shows in Las Vegas, of course, was outside in the hot sun. But, you know, imagine, you know, what some of their creative people could have done with that type of technology and equipment.
Alex Wellins (24:08.233)
Absolutely. It is and ironically, we didn't see him ourself. But Bob Weir was from the dead was there the night that we were there. And somebody sent me a social media thing afterwards. And he was they have a few luxury boxes below the 200 section. And that's where he was. And so clearly.
Larry (24:21.867)
Oh.
Alex Wellins (24:35.229)
Number one, I think I'm sure he was just interested to check it out, but there's certainly a lot of speculation that if they did something again on a larger scale like Dead and Company and obviously visuals and iconic imagery is a big part of the Dead experience, you know, as evidenced by the drone shows that we got to see. I was at the Boulder Dead and Company shows and the drone show there again.
Larry (24:59.465)
Is it right?
Alex Wellins (25:05.377)
was super cool, I'd never seen one in person before that. And it just made for a really cool experience. And you take that and multiply exponentially cooler things you can do with visuals and with video in the sphere. So, I think it's safe to say that some jam bands will play there for sure. And I think Fish would be a great candidate. And
I have no doubt that they could sell out a lot of shows there and do a big Vegas run. So we'll see about that.
Larry (25:40.59)
Sure. Yeah. Either out there every year over Halloween anyway, playing at one of those venues out there. Would they, why not switch over to that? That would be great. That would really be a lot of fun. Can they, can they have sporting events in this thing?
Alex Wellins (25:55.629)
I guess you technically could. I don't think it's not really designed for that. Right now they're running, they have sort of a nature planetarium show that is running on non-show days. I think it's a Richard Attenborough type, it's supposed to be amazing and it really shows off the audio and visual power of the sphere. And it's...
Larry (26:00.692)
Okay.
Alex Wellins (26:21.117)
saw some stat that they're doing like a million dollars a day and ticket sales for that. So, you know, they're using it for a lot of different things. And, you know, you just mentioned the Vegas experience with, you know, fish and others and the U2 show was really cool. It, we are, we're good, you know, we're big U2 fans. I've probably seen them a dozen times or so. I don't, you know, normally like travel around to see them, but love their music.
Larry (26:25.762)
Go ahead.
Alex Wellins (26:50.833)
One of the, you know, a couple of the cool things, one of the things I really respect about U2 is that generally speaking, as the bands and the artists we love get older, they expand the size of their bands to sort of fill in. And, you know, Bruce Springsteen, who I love and have seen many, many times, you know, now has like, I don't know, 15, 18 people in the band. And that's great. And it's, but it's a very different sound.
Larry (27:16.164)
Sure. Right.
Alex Wellins (27:18.329)
The Rolling Stones, for many years now when they have toured, they have 12 people on stage, background singers and horns. And it's great. It's part of this big show experience. But one thing I think is really special about U2 is that it's still the four guys. Now, in this case, Larry Mullins is not on drums. He is ill, I believe, so they've got somebody else setting in. But it is still just those four guys. And I think that's...
And it always has been, and I think that's one super impressive thing about them. And, you know, they played a lot of their classics. It's billed as Octon Baby. So they do a lot of songs from Octon Baby. They also, as I mentioned, they do a lot of Joshua Tree songs, a lot of, you know, a lot of others, but, you know, all the, the monster hits that you want to hear
Alex Wellins (28:16.961)
Vertigo and where the streets have no name and elevation beautiful day Oh, you know all the big ones that you want to hear they also played some rarities and They definitely brought in some Vegas Elements to it. They at one point did a little clip of Viva Las Vegas during one of their songs. They brought in a my way
Larry (28:32.43)
Mm-hmm.
Larry (28:38.837)
Have fun.
Alex Wellins (28:41.237)
a little snippet of my way during one of the songs, so it's sort of the nod back to the rap pack and things like that. So, you know, they made it very cool and special and they do mix the set list up pretty much every night. They have, you know, it's like most big artists, it's the standard set list and then they have four or five spots where they'll mix in different songs every night. So really cool experience, highly recommend it. And again, anytime you can see something
Larry (28:47.394)
Sure.
Larry (29:04.846)
Cool.
Alex Wellins (29:11.393)
really new and different and cool at this point. I think it is, that makes it special for concert goers like us who have been very fortunate to see a lot.
Larry (29:24.542)
How is it in terms of, you know, getting in and out of the venue before and after the shows? Do they move the crowd well? Do you have long lines there? You know, is it any better or worse than...
Alex Wellins (29:35.35)
I thought they moved it pretty well. It was not, the first few shows I read about people were really complaining about lines and how long it took to get in and out. We didn't really experience that. There was a little delay to get out. And you know, look, it's like anything in Vegas. It takes you a half hour to get like, as you know, you've been there, we've been there together. You've been there many times, like.
Larry (29:55.438)
Mm-hmm.
Alex Wellins (29:58.669)
just to get to whatever hotel you're going, you know, if one, to get to the Aria from the Cosmopolitan, which are right next to each other, it'll take you a half hour. So it's certainly, you know, you don't just like walk in, but yeah, I thought they did a pretty good job.
Larry (30:02.241)
Right.
Larry (30:08.362)
Right.
Larry (30:14.094)
Okay, okay, so it'll be one of those places that I will certainly look forward to getting a chance to go and check out one of these days. And maybe a fish decides to play there. That could be impetus enough to get up and make my way over there. So very cool. Now, when you and I were talking the other day, you were also telling me kind of at the opposite end of the spectrum about this new theater in the Castro district that you and Andy went to see some music over a weekend or so ago. Can you tell us about that one?
Alex Wellins (30:43.081)
Yeah, sure. So the Castro, for those who've been to San Francisco, the Castro Theater is an iconic, classic old, started as a movie theater. And it's right on Castro Street got a beautiful old marquee that's lit up at night. And it's one of those really cool old, new grand old movie theaters that has the organ that, you know, like arises up from the floor. And they used to play it, you know, before
movies or when they have intermissions at movies, either the organ player would come up and play and they still have that. And they have one of our local promoter companies, Another Planet Entertainment, that puts on a lot of shows here in the Bay Area has just done a deal with them to start putting on shows there. So we saw last Friday night, we saw a band called St. Paul and the Broken Bones, which is a really good act from Alabama, sort of a
neo soul retro, you know, sort of a retro soul sound with a more modern flavor to it. Very danceable, you know, some sort of disco ish type stuff and old soul stuff and really, really cool sound, very charismatic singer and a great band. And it was, I've lived in San Francisco now for more than 30 years. And it
was really cool just to be at one of the old venues that, you know, we've seen movies there over the, many movies over the years and been to other events and they have nonprofits do events. There are things like that, but this was the first real rock show, you know, music show that we've seen there. And it was really cool, good sound, a lot of,
You know, like the Beacon Theater in New York or the classic old theaters in many cities, very ornate inside, cool ceiling, cool decorations and paintings and things all over. So, you know, absolutely, as you said, the opposite of the sphere, this probably holds, I don't know, 1,500 people maybe, and you know, very old theater, but iconic old theater, but very cool that they're doing this.
Alex Wellins (33:06.233)
They're going to keep the history of the Castro and continue to do film festivals. And there's a lot of, as you can imagine, LGBTQ sort of events there and things like that. But also, you know, really the merchants in the Castro were all very much behind this move to start bringing shows there. And certainly it was sold out. And afterwards there were a lot of people.
Larry (33:28.822)
Sure.
Alex Wellins (33:32.553)
spelling into the street and going to restaurants and things like that. So I think it's going to be very good for the neighborhood. And it was definitely a cool experience to see a rock show at a venue you've been to many, many times before for other purposes.
Larry (33:48.074)
I bet. And you know, I mean, it's like as if San Francisco needed another cool musical venue. I mean, the city's practically teaming with them and, you know, but it's nice that they had another one to the mix and, you know, it just gives the rest of us more incentive to get out there more often and have a chance to experience it all.
Alex Wellins (34:03.957)
Well, absolutely. It's we're, we're very blessed here. And certainly one of the great things about San Francisco and the Bay area generally is that we have, uh, we are blessed with some of the coolest, nicest venues out here, you know, our.
Greek theater in Berkeley, it's still one of the iconic, beautiful venues. I saw the Counting Crows there a couple of months ago, which is a band we've loved for many, many years. And he, the lead singer, grew up here and went to Berkeley, so it's always very special when they play there. And just being at the Greek and that view at sunset over...
San Francisco and where you can see the Golden Gate Bridge is, you know, there's really nothing like it. And down to the very small venues and like the Great American Music Hall, which is still probably my favorite small venue of all time. Just given the incredible shows I've seen there and been fortunate to actually put together some shows that have played there. So it's so we have a and.
Larry (35:07.086)
Sure.
Alex Wellins (35:11.441)
I did two other venues that you and I were talking about, a couple of shows that were interesting and back to the Grateful Dead centric part of the program here. So I was lucky to see, we saw Billy and the Kids, which is Bill Kreutz's band on Halloween, down at a venue called the Mountain Winery, which is down sort of towards Silicon Valley above a little town called Saratoga.
Larry (35:28.455)
Oh wow. Sure.
Alex Wellins (35:40.493)
sort of down near like Palo Alto, people know sort of above in the hills above that was an actual winery. And there's sort of a very beautiful, if you look it up, there's a very beautiful brick wall or stone wall behind the stage with ivy growing on it. And looks like a classic winery wall. And up above, you can see sort of beautiful views down over Silicon Valley. And I mean,
Larry (36:02.114)
Ha ha.
Alex Wellins (36:09.141)
It is really a valley. Of course, it's known for technology now, but it was farmland and it is quite beautiful. And on Halloween, there were a nice number of costumes out. So Billy, for those, it was my first time seeing that lineup, but Billy was out there and looking great and seemed very, very happy. And the lead guitarist was Tommy Hamilton from JRAD,
Joe Russo's always almost dead, which we've seen a lot together, Larry, and certainly of the dead genre bands. Certainly one of my, probably my favorites of the bands that don't usually have the actual dead members in them. And I think it's amazing. And they put on a great show. It was really, I liked it a lot. They played a bunch of dead songs, but they also, they opened up with
Larry (36:43.341)
Sure.
Larry (36:54.73)
Yes, yes.
Alex Wellins (37:07.485)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band. They played Spanish Moon. They put a random psycho killer in there, which was a lot of fun, and closed with a very powerful acapella addicts of my life in tribute to a saxophone player named James Casey, who
Larry (37:09.512)
Mm.
Alex Wellins (37:32.057)
played with J-Red quite a bit and was in the Trey band, as you probably know, Larry, and is one of the Horn members that's played with Trey and with Jennifer Hartswick and some of the other great players that Trey and others, and James passed away tragically recently, and so they did a little tribute to him, this really gorgeous addicts of my life to close out the show. So that was...
Larry (37:43.435)
Sure.
Larry (37:46.932)
Right.
Larry (37:53.645)
Yes.
Alex Wellins (38:00.373)
That was really cool and again at a cool venue and on.
Larry (38:04.77)
Does Billy join in the singing of that song?
Alex Wellins (38:07.789)
Billy did not. He was sitting back at his drum. He hit his hi-hat a few times and sort of kept a little bit of a beat, but it was largely a cappella. They strummed a little guitar, but really not perfect, but I think the imperfections there are also part of the addict's experience. So that was really cool. And then we also were lucky enough to see Phil Lesh
Larry (38:09.266)
Yeah, okay, just checking.
Larry (38:21.014)
Mm-hmm.
Larry (38:30.062)
Sure. Nice.
Alex Wellins (38:37.437)
and friends, one of his configurations. Just a few days later, it was kind of ironic over about a 10 day period out here. Bob Weir played with the symphony at the Frost Amphitheater, another legendary venue here on the Stanford campus. Then Billy played the show I was just talking about. Then that was on the Tuesday. Then on the Friday, we got to see Phil at the Fillmore.
Larry (38:54.135)
Right?
Alex Wellins (39:06.793)
which, you know, is always a treat. And Phil looked great. And at 83, he was, you know, out there till almost midnight smiling, you know, up a storm and played with a bunch of young guys, mostly young guys that, you know, very talented, Eric Krasnow and a number of, you know, really talented young musicians, which I always think
I always really respect about Phil. He surrounds himself with a number of younger players that push the envelope and push him. And he's clearly having a lot of fun out there. And certainly you can't talk about legendary San Francisco venues and not mention the Fillmore. So that was always a great experience and super lucky to be here in San Francisco, be able to see these things. And there was...
Larry (39:38.933)
Yes.
Larry (39:53.442)
Of course.
Alex Wellins (40:06.409)
There were two, I was looking back at the, thinking about those two shows, and there were two songs that were repeated at each. They, Billy and Phil each played Shakedown, and they each played Terrapin, and they were, you know, it was just interesting to think back on them. Phil, one really sweet thing, Phil and his son, Graham, traded vocals on the,
Larry (40:19.601)
Oh.
Alex Wellins (40:34.753)
verses on Terrapin and one time Phil clearly forgot the verse and Graham, you know, Graham, his son stepped in and covered for him, which was a very, very sweet moment. And I mean, that was great. I got to say that you can't beat Tom Hamilton playing the leads on Terrapin. That's just, that was fantastic.
Larry (40:36.728)
Nice.
Larry (40:44.22)
Hahaha
Larry (40:52.355)
Sure.
Larry (41:02.466)
He's wonderful. I agree.
Alex Wellins (41:04.137)
And then on Shakedown, both Shakedowns were great. Again, the intro on, for the Billy and the Kid Shakedown, was, it did just an unbelievable Pink Floyd run like hell jam. And that was the beginning of the second Saturn. We thought we were gonna get the full Pink Floyd experience there, but they just then ripped into Shakedown, which was also really, really cool. So.
Larry (41:29.331)
Yeah.
Alex Wellins (41:30.025)
I've been very fortunate, seen some good stuff recently at some very cool venues and definitely encourage the listeners, if you haven't been to these places, head out to Vegas or come out to San Francisco and come check out some of the cool places to see live music here.
Larry (41:35.199)
Excellent.
Larry (41:47.678)
Okay, I'm in. You've convinced me again. My wife and I learned the hard way. You run the risk if you blow off a show that Alex recommends. I've told the story before, down at the last time we were all down at Jazz Fest, and Carl Denson and his group were doing the Allman Brothers at some small little theater. And my wife hesitated back and forth and finally decided she needed those extra hours of sleep. And when I came back and walked in the door, the first thing she said was, don't tell me that was the highlight of the weekend. I'm like, of course it was the highlight.
Alex Wellins (41:51.057)
Excellent.
Larry (42:16.714)
You think Alex is going to schlep us to somewhere if it's not the highlight? Of course it was. So, you know, you miss them at your own risk. It's just the way it is.
Alex Wellins (42:16.754)
Thanks.
Alex Wellins (42:24.421)
I try to provide a public service and it's up to people to take me up on it or not.
Larry (42:26.658)
Ha ha ha!
That's right. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Well, that's great, man. I love that, that you know, we all try to get out and see shows and stay on top of it, but it's wonderful how much live music you guys really actually get to see and how much you love it. For years, Alex would do an end of the year annual, my top 10 favorite shows or concert moments for the preceding year. And it was something that we all looked for religiously because once we read it, we were so much more knowledgeable and could hang out and talk with people about this, that, whatever. And...
Sounded like we knew what we were talking about, but like many things in life, I believe that may be a bit of a relic in the past, although you never know, you could bring it back sometimes.
Alex Wellins (43:08.827)
I forget exactly when I cut that off, but I have had some very, very...
generous and nice request to bring it back. So we'll see about that. Definitely had some really high point, you know, amidst, look, one of the things about our friend group is that we all love doing this. We love doing this together, seeing shows together, experiencing those live music moments together. And that is a big part of how we.
bonded and loved to spend time together. And Larry, the first time you and I really, really became friends was 1984, going to the Sea Three Shores at the Philadelphia Civic Center. And that's where our friendship, we had met a couple of times before, but that's where our friendship really truly began, I would say. And so we're very close.
Larry (43:54.286)
Billy.
Larry (44:03.182)
That's right.
Larry (44:07.61)
I would agree. Three great shows.
Alex Wellins (44:09.569)
very fortunate that it really is something that pulls people together and I think that's one of the really special things about live music generally.
Larry (44:18.866)
And you know, what's so nice, I think, for both of us, we've had the experience of seeing our kids carry on that tradition. My son Matthew has a very, very tight group of his fish buddies and people that he goes to concerts with all over the place. You know, Max is up to his eyeballs in live music, it seems. And you know, I had the privilege earlier this year of hosting Jake and his buddies. They were driving cross country to go to the electric forest. And you know, I...
there's a part of me that just wanted to get in the car and drive off with them and my wife keeps reminding me that I'm not in my 20s anymore or 30s whatever age these kids are I'm in my 60s. I like it doesn't mean I still can't want to go right but it's just wonderful to see that you know that of you know the various traits that we might pass on to our kids this idea of live music and doing it with really strong groups of friends has really caught on with them as well and I think that's great.
Alex Wellins (45:11.029)
Well, it really is. And I'll wrap up with just a couple of comments about that. So yeah, so tonight Jake is going with some friends to see Jam Band Pigeons playing ping pong at another venue that I haven't mentioned here. And Pigeons is a cool young Jam Band, a lot of fun. They play a lot of cool good covers. Opening up for them is a
Larry (45:23.572)
Mmm.
Alex Wellins (45:34.369)
Dogs in a Pile, which ironically does not play Grateful Dead songs, but is a young sort of ripping band anyway. And Max has, you know, certainly goes to more, he lives in Colorado and he goes to more shows than any of us. And one really cool thing is, you know, Larry Max plays the saxophone and he played a friend of his's.
Larry (45:36.438)
Mm.
Oh really?
Larry (45:57.907)
Oh yeah.
at the Great American Music Hall.
Alex Wellins (46:02.673)
He did, and a lot of friends, a friend of his is a DJ and Max laid down a sax track for one of his, you know, DJ, like an EDM type song. I would characterize it, that may be wrong. And the friends, the DJ played at Red Rocks the other night and played the song that Max played on. So Max did not yet play at Red Rocks, but Max's music was played at Red Rocks, which was a big
Larry (46:24.734)
Oh wow.
Larry (46:30.89)
He's getting there.
Alex Wellins (46:31.829)
He sent us a little video and that was a real thrill for us to hear.
Larry (46:37.05)
Sure. Well, that's wonderful. Well, very good. Well, listen, we really appreciate you taking the time to be on the show today. And as always filling us in on the things going on in music that we don't know, but need to know. And, um, you know, it all sounds good. And I'm looking forward to the next time we're going to get together and go off to see some live music.
Alex Wellins (46:54.765)
Well, thanks Larry. Always happy to chat with you and come on the show and be a guest anytime. So thank you very much.
Larry (47:03.202)
Cool, well, very good. We will talk to Alex again soon. Thank you, sir. Love to all. And heading on with our show for a minute or two here, thank you again to Alex for joining on. He's living a very busy life these days, but made time to join us and very, very much appreciated. We're not going to have time to play all the great music that I pulled for today, but that's OK, because all the talking we did was far more interesting. But I do want to just.
play at least one more song and that's the Grateful Dead performing the song Jack Straw at this concert. And I'm pulling this one out because it was a new song and there's a little wrinkle in it that we haven't heard before or that we haven't heard since, I should say. But it's very interesting and very fun. So Dan, if you could spin.
that next Trek Jack Straw for us, that would be great. Thank you, sir.
Dan Humiston (48:16.825)
It's not playing, Larry. Let me just see if I can, I might jump out and jump right.
Larry (48:18.466)
That's okay.
Larry (48:22.128)
I don't have to hear it. I can talk it.
Larry (48:33.734)
So we talked about them playing a lot of new songs at this show and at UCLA. And this is another one that's just a month old. Everyone loves Jack Straw, even this band, which is why it checks out very high on the list of most tunes played by the band with 476 performances. The last one on July 8th, 1995 at Soldier Field as well. But in this early version, there's a little bit of a change from the version we all know and love.
And the first thing to know that most people may not know is that this is a song that was written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir. Garcia did not write this song. Um, and, you know, I, I don't know that people really understand that or know it, um, but this is important that, you know, that Hunter, uh, and we're did compose some songs together. Uh, and this is one that Jerry did not write, uh, that Bobby may not get enough credit for, um, but it was always sung at least
ever since I started seeing them and, uh, you know, pretty far back with Jerry and Bobby sharing the verses, um, uh, as they would be trading off verses, uh, you know, as, as they go through the song. However, in this early version that we're hearing before the Europe 72 tour, when the song originally came out.
Bobby sang all the verses like we just heard. I just jumped the watchman right outside the fence was always sung by Jerry, but here we're sings it. I'm not sure the reason for the change, but I like it a lot better with Jerry singing his verses. The other one being the gotta go to Tulsa first train we can ride verse. Um, the first time though that Jerry joined him on vocals was May 3rd, 1972 at the Olympia theater in Paris. And that just also happens to be, um,
the version of the song that wound up on the Europe 72 album. So maybe Garcia knew what he was doing at the time and made sure he'd get a little more of that airplay too. Although in its earlier years, the song would appear in either the first or second set after their 75 hiatus became almost an exclusive first set song. And after Brent joined the band, it was almost always a show opener. Home to the more than occasional Phil bass bomb, it was one of the band's most popular tunes and a great way to open any show.
Larry (50:45.278)
especially if they just opened with Birth of the Night before. So you got to catch them both in the same city or on the same night. So I love Jack Straw, love that version of Jack Straw, and it fits right in with everything they were doing. I do have one quick marijuana story today that I want to throw out there. So before I do, we'll give Dan a chance to display his creativity here.
Larry (51:36.918)
Very nice. Who was that then?
Dan Humiston (51:41.107)
That was Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath. Ozzy Osborne.
Larry (51:42.614)
Black Sabbath, OK. Very good. I love Ozzy. I wasn't sure. Didn't want to put myself too far on a limb out there. But excellent choice. Again, as always.
Larry (51:56.338)
Another new study that I'm just throwing out there because last week we spent all this time uh you know focused on the idea that there was a group that is linking uh marijuana use and heart attacks and we kind of went through and pointed out some of the issues I had with that and more to the point noted all of the so the large number of studies uh that were coming out just saying positive things about marijuana uh in the in the health field and
Lo and behold, here's another one, right? So thank you to Marijuana Moment. They're reporting on a story about a study that finds that marijuana helps people quit using prescription sleep aids and allows them to wake up more focused and refreshed. So compared to using conventional sleep aids or no sleep aids at all, respondents reported that cannabis made them feel more refreshed, focused, and better able to function the morning after with fewer headaches and less nausea.
They did also report some side effects for marijuana use, including waking up feeling a little bit sleepy, maybe anxious and irritable. But overall, they said that these side effects that they felt were far less significant with marijuana than they were with any of the prescription sleep aids or even over-the-counter ones that we all know and that we're all used to. The study was conducted by a pair of psychology researchers at Washington State University.
and was published last month in the journal Exploration of Medicine. The authors say they believe it's the first research comparing cannabis to prescription sleep aids and over-the-counter sleep aids. One of the leaders of the study said in general, the use of cannabis for sleep-related issues was perceived as more advantageous than over-the-counter medications or prescription sleep aids. Unlike long-acting sedatives and alcohol, cannabis was not associated with a hangover effect, although again,
They did report some lingering effects such as sleeplessness and maybe a change in mood. The study surveyed over 1,200 people using the medical marijuana app Strain Print. Nearly two-thirds, 64.9 percent of participants reported that they'd been suffering from sleep issues for at least five years, while nearly 70 percent said they'd be using cannabis to help with sleep for at least a year. A plurality of respondents said that they'd been using marijuana for sleep.
Larry (54:18.978)
for between one and three years. Nearly 82% of the cannabis consumers said they do not currently use prescription or over-the-counter sleep medications, though more than half reported doing so in the past, indicating that they have come to see marijuana as a better option for them. More than half of the sample reported that they use cannabis every night to help fall asleep. Most responded said they either smoke joints, 46.1%.
or vape flour 42.6% or some use cannabis oil 42.5% before bed, although nearly a third said they use edibles or vape pens. Another 14.6% said they use cannabis in capsule form. In terms of product, make up most respondents used high THC products, although 21% opted for balanced THC CBD blend, asked about cannabinoids for sleep. 78.8% said choose THC.
47.1% said CBD and 18.1% pointed to CBN. One of the findings that surprised me, the study's author said, was the fact that people are seeking the terpene myersine in cannabis to assist with sleep. He said that in the Washington State University press release, there is some evidence in the scientific literature to support that myersine may help to promote sleep. So cannabis users seem to have figured that out on their own.
Some would argue that cannabis users have figured a lot out on their own just because of the fact that it's been illegal and doctors haven't really been able to focus on it and incorporate it in, but those of us that know, know. Asked to report how cannabis helps with their sleep, responded, said that it relaxed their body and mind, helped prevent sleep interruption, and promoted a deeper, longer sleep. Of the 526 people who reported using prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids, in addition to marijuana,
significantly more reported. They feel more refreshed, more focused, and better able to function the morning after using cannabis relative to over-the-counter sleep aids or prescription sleep aids or no sleep aids. Participants also reported fewer headaches and less nausea the morning after. So this report just goes on and on and on, extolling the virtues of marijuana for people who have trouble sleeping. I often recommend it to my friends who have trouble sleeping.
Larry (56:45.786)
Some are willing to give it a try, some don't want to, all very well understood. But the studies that I've seen that relate to this as well as personal experiences on my own and as reported from other people is that marijuana does provide a very valuable benefit for certain people, some groups of people certainly, when it comes to helping promote sleep, reduce the stress and anxieties of the day and kind of put your brain in a place where you can get yourself into a sleep mode.
But to me, the more important part is that it's just another study that's out there that, once again, speaks to the social benefits, the positive benefits, medical benefits, well-living benefits, whatever kind you want to call them, that people over and over and over and over again report are benefits they receive from THC, whether they smoke it, whether they vape it, whether they eat edibles.
The reports are always consistent of these, of the positive feedback, and yet we still have groups out there as we've talked that want to rain on everybody's parade and say, no, it's too dangerous. We know better than you. We've talked about certain government officials, not all Republicans, but a lot of them who say that the DEA should not be allowed to change the classification.
on the controlled substance list for marijuana from one down to three like they've been talking about or anything lower than that, unless Congress is consulted and gets to have a say in the matter, people just get these outsized opinions and a true lack of understanding about what they're talking about. And that's where a lot of this confusion comes from. But as long as these studies keep coming out, we're going to keep reporting them because I do believe that they establish an important point and that's something we really want
Um, we're running out of time here, so I'm not going to be able to play all the music I want to play for you guys today, but I am going to flip around a little bit and, uh, rather than saving this for our outro, uh, we're going to call up the song you win again, and we're going to play that now as we, uh, get ready to exit stage left, it's a 1952 song by Hank Williams. Uh, and as Alex was kind enough after we talked about this early on to let me know, apparently the only Hank Williams tune.
Larry (59:09.134)
covered by Jerry Garcia. The song is a blues ballad and deals with the singer's despair with his partner. It has been widely covered including versions by Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, of course the Grateful Dead, Charlie Pride, Bob Dylan and even the Rolling Stones. Hank Williams recorded you when again on July 11th, 1952. One day after his divorce from Audrey Williams was finalized. Like Cold Heart, the song was likely inspired by his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife.
You Win Again was released as the B-side to Set the Woods on Fire primarily because umptempo danceable numbers were preferable as A-sides for radio play and for the valuable jukebox trade. Nonetheless, You Win Again peaked at number 10 on the most played in the CNW jukebox charges while it remained on the list. Over a time period of less than one year, The Dead played the song only 24 times in concert. The first on November 14th, 1971. And uh...
then the last was on September 16th, 1972 at the Music Hall in Boston. A version of the song was released on the Europe 72 album. It's on the second album side from their show on May 24th, 1972 at the Strand Lyceum in London. One of the final shows of that tour, Jerry Garcia Band recorded a version of the song in 1976 during the Reflections album sessions, but it was not played live again. It was briefly revived by The Dead with Dylan in 2003.
And that was about all we got out of it. But it's a wonderful, beautiful tune. But before we play it, I just have one last comment that I want to make. And Alex and I were talking about our very good group of friends and some of the various groups of them. And one of our very good groups, a guy who we went to Michigan with and a guy who was certainly part of the West Coast music scene and always part of the scene of all the fun stuff we did was a guy named Andy Godan. Rudy was his nickname.
I have many great memories of Rudy. We suffered a brutal loss, our group, two weeks ago, when Andy, formerly of Detroit, Ann Arbor, New York City, and most recently for a number of years, Marin County, passed away. Andy was a good friend, albeit one with a famous temper. He was someone who made an art out of enjoying life to the fullest. I have fond memories.
Larry (01:01:35.23)
of Andy from Ann Arbor and after. Dead shows, attended together and one in particular, right when he and I, along with others, post night one of the 85 20th anniversary Greek shows, marched up and down Telegraph Road in Berkeley, arm and arm after the show as the 10 Tall Men. One of those moments you never forget. We are all better for having known Andy, and our lives are emptier with our feeling of loss.
my condolences to his wife Suzanne and to his daughters Lily and Grace. May our memories of Andy always be a blessing for all of you. And I would say the same to our strong group of friends, many who were able to make it out to California a week or two ago for a memorial service for Andy. We will always remember him in our hearts and he was just a fun loving guy. So with that, I will say have a great week. Have a very happy Thanksgiving.
I think we're going to have a rerun next week, because I promised my family that I would take a few days off for Thanksgiving. So if Dan allows me, we're going to dip into our vast vault of prior shows and find one that everybody likes. But we'll be back soon after that with more great shows, more guests we're lining up. And as always, lots of fun things to talk about the world of live music, the Grateful Dead, and marijuana. So have a great week. Enjoy your holiday.
Be safe and as always, please enjoy your cannabis responsibly. Thanks everyone.