GRATEFUL DEAD PART ONE: Aoxomoxoa

As a teenager I would go to a lot of concerts and one of the bands I see often was The Grateful Dead. I saw them more then any other band.  The seventy times I saw them each time was a new and different experience.  I loved everything about the shows I went to and even loved each song they did. It was the songs that they chose to play from their vast catalog and their influences.  Each show was draw dropping and would make me rush home to find what album or artist they decided to cover.  Some days were Bob Dylan and other days were any number of Blues, Folk, Old R&B and or Soul.  The Grateful Dead became the band I loved for their mixing bowl style of music and their live shows.   No other bands I saw around that time would come close to it.

The same teenager would also subscribe to The Grateful Dead almanac and each newsletter would give future Dead dates and also articles about the band's history and famous show's or album information.  There was also great info about the Grateful Dead's influences, but that is for another post. Since I only relied on their live performances and an album of hits called A Long Strange Trip It's Been and their first album from 1967 I needed to find more of their music to listen to.  I looked to my trusty music of the 60's book and it mentioned two great albums Aoxomoxoa and Anthem of the Sun.  It became my mission to find these two albums.  This book also mentioned that the mixes of these albums are quite different from what we hear today.  I was instructed as it were to seek out the original pressings if I could find them.

When I worked at the local library I had an account to get books and music at a discount.  One day looking through the catalog I found Aoxomoxoa and Anthem of the Sun for $4.00 each.  I figured that I get those on cassette just to hold me over till I could find the vinyl.  My friend told me that the original pressings of these two are getting harder and harder to find.  They might be pricey, but I surely would throughly enjoy each album.  Anthem was an experimental sound collage and Aoxomoxoa is just a audio acid trip that I would really, really enjoy.  When I got them at the library my co-worker told me that early Dead was the best Dead and he was sure I would be talking about these two classic for days and days.  He was so right and to me these are the two that I still love listening to.

                             
As I listened to Aoxomoxoa I fell in love with it's trippy music and great and unusually perfect lyrics.  It was more then my mind can handle.  My only issue why some of these songs were not played at their shows.  I would tell my friends or other people around me that I wanted to hear St. Stephen or Mountains of the Moon.  One guy near me told that if they play those tunes we would flashback to 1969 when those songs were on the set lists. They rarely play them now he continued.  I could only hope right?

As I got older I tried to seek out these albums original pressings.  It did take some digging at the local record store to find them.  I found Anthem pretty quick and it was not cheap either.  A friend who was unloading is music collection gave me a bunch of Dead albums, but the Aoxomoxoa was the wrong mix.  I still was happy to own it, but after hearing some of the original mix on The Grateful Dead Hour I was in more need to seek it out.  Hearing the unique and very different 1969 Mix was something of a product of the time, it sounded great and most of all felt like you were on an acid trip like they were mostly on.

1969 Mix

                           
I can only imagine when they gave the tapes to Warner Brothers what the people high up would of thought of their music for this album.  As I continued to search high and low I was now getting into the digital age where I could be happy with a MP3 version of the mix till I find the original.  I had a friend who was able to make me a digital copy of the album he had and that was all I needed for now, but just as that happened a copy of the record landed in my lap.  I had a friend who I would go to tag sales with and he pointed out that he saw a guy selling all his vinyl for cheap.  He told the guy with the records to hold them for ten minutes and will return with a buyer.  My friend knew I was looking for the mix and when he saw that this guy had it for a cheap sum of $15.00 for all the albums he had including this one I was not going to pass it up.  When we got back to the tag sale I handed him the $15.00 and went on my merry way.  I told my friend it was like taking candy from a baby.  It was in the best shape of all the ones I had looked at previously and make it more fun, there was another copy of Anthem that was also an original mix.

I played the mix once and I knew I had something important.  The differences were so noticeable. I beamed with excitement and scratched my head why this mix was not left alone.  There is more great information on the Wiki page for this album and if serious inquires want to know it is a good, quick education.  Hearing these songs I only wish I heard some of these back in 1968/9.  Wish I was at the Fillmore West in February of 1969 shaking my head wondering how they could top this.

 

This album only drawback was it was too short.  I know at the time albums that were thirty-five minutes in length was the standard, but with the Grateful Dead I expected more in song length.  All in all the experiment worked.  It worked for me and all those diehard Dead fans.  I love the Grateful Dead.  Would I call myself a Deadhead, yes I would. I saw them 70 times as I mentioned and every show was unique and special.  My only regret was not seeing them in the late 60's and early 70's.  Even better I wish I saw them when Tom Constanten was in the band.  His short tenure, little over a year was some of the most exploratory of the band.  There are tons of live shows to hear his awesomeness.  If you are looking to explore The Grateful Dead with something early in their career then this is the one.  This album just got another re-issue treatment and for the first time the 1969 mix is available for the first time in digital form officially.  It's a blessing to hear this to new and old audiences.  You will hear why this is one of my personal favorite Grateful Dead albums.  Enjoy!!!

Tom Constanten November 1968-January 1970