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It's 1970. Brian Jones is gone, The Beatles are on their way out, and The Stones have just reached their first peak, after an interesting pop-psychedelic period and a fine roots-country album, 1969's dark, powerful Let It Bleed. Keith Richards handled almost all the guitar on that one, and masterfully too, but he prefers the give-and-take of working with a partner, and on this set he is: trading licks with Mick Taylor, who toured with The Stones throughout the year. The result is this stunning document.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD
Live Dead
Produced by The Grateful Dead, Bob Matthews, and Betty Cantor
Engineered by Bob Matthews, Betty Cantor, Owsley, and Ron Wickersham
Warner Bros. 1830 (2 LPs)

Music:11
Sound:11

So many musical icons have bitten the bullet this decade, so friends have asked me why Jerry Garcia's death bothered me more than the demise of Frank Zappa, John Cage, or Sun Ra. Are they less significant? Not in the least. The analysis is simple: Frank Zappa is best remembered for his recorded legacy - and he had enough warning (unfortunately) of his demise that he properly documented and established distribution arrangements for his collected recordings, including unreleased material.

Site mascot Eno, celebrated his 11th birthday today, July 18th, 2005—a major milestone for a Bernese Mountain Dog.

This breed has an average lifespan of around 8 years due to size (big dogs have shorter lifespans in general) as well as a variety of health issues includng cancer.

Ed. note: In light of Bob Dylan's recent Rolling Stone interview in which he championed vinyl and complained both about CDs and modern recorded sound, we thought it appropriate to bring this to the home page yet again:

Back in 1994, ten years into the "digital revolution," the editor of Tower Records's "Pulse" magazine, bravely commissioned me to write an article expressing my feelings about digital sound, ten years after the introduction of the compact disc. It was published in "Pulse!" much to my delight. I thought you might find it interesting in 2005--MF

(This piece, originally written in 1988, runs with a few updates)

Maddy Matlock and the Paducah Patrol, Warren Barker, The Vestry Choir, Raoul Meynard and Orchestra, Clint Walker and the Sunflower Serenaders, Gus Farney at the Giant Wurlitzer- these are just a few of the exciting musical acts that helped Warner Brothers Records lose a whopping $3 million a year between 1958 and 1962- its first four years in existence.

Not a great start. In fact the parent company, Warner Brothers films almost shut the doors, but didn’t, according to Fredrick Dannen in his excellent and often hilarious book “Hit Men,” out of fear that it wouldn’t collect money owed by slow paying independent record distributors.

Sundazed's recent mono After Bathing at Baxter's reissue, reviewed here (www.musicangle.com/album.php?id=381) prompted bassist Dan Schwartz to send this remembrance —ed.

There has never been a great rock band without a great drummer. Ringo took a drubbing from clever pundits and know-nothings as if he was not in the league of the other Beatles. But Ringo, "the greatest," changed the world in a most crucial moment in modern history with his sheer explosive and contagious joy in playing.

Making a miserable day even worse, today, September 11th, was the day we put our beloved dog Eno, and this site's mascot to sleep.

In the context of the sorrow and suffering of those who lost loved ones on this day five years ago, the loss of a pet dog is rendered insignificant but it was our dog and our loss and we feel it deeply.