Comments on: Grateful Dead Drummer: In the Key of Kreutzmann

By: anonymous

anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:18:17 +0000

“do you homework, sir” is about the most condescending thing ever. hardly nice.

but ANYWAY, this is a fantastic interview and a great talent.

By: Nice interview with Billy

Nice interview with Billy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:33:55 +0000

A great article about a wicked drummer. I especially liked the part about Bill and Jerry getting chased by sharks in Hawaii. Also, I have to agree with BC. Just saying ‘do your homework’ is arrogant and is hardly criticism. It’s like saying ‘you’re full of shit’. Dave’s argument is unfounded anyway. Technically Corbett is correct. Kreutzman’s mere contribution of the drums to Dark Star makes him a ‘co-composer’. He’s also listed in the song credits. So what is there to argue about? Corbett didn’t mention anything about the ‘genesis’ of the song, so what’s Dave even talking about? Dave even says Kreutzman was given an ‘extended credit’, so he even agrees with BC! Its obvious that Dave only took the opportunity to try to impress everyone at the interviewer’s expense by twisting the meaning of a single word for his own purposes. Corbett is correct and the point is moot. Who cares about semantics anyway. Excellent interview!

By: Might as well

Might as well — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:41:53 +0000

Well, I’d say the orignal negativity started with BC here; Dave merely said, “Do your homework”, and then even added, “sir.” Seems pretty darn polite, especially compared to BC’s subsequent insults. If you can’t publish an article without accepting some gently worded criticism, perhaps you should pursue other avenues of self-expression.

By: Last word from BC...

Last word from BC... — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:07:53 +0000

To Tazo: Thank you SO MUCH for your stellar observation. You know, I breeze thru the most popular Dead forums on occasion, and I’ve noticed over and over this clique of mean-spirited people who use these venues to spew out this nasty energy that comes from god-knows-where. And I’m specifically talking about the digital Dead scene, peace-niks or not. When Ryan Adams played with Phil Lesh at Red Rocks a few years back, there was so much poison in Lesh’s forum about Adams that Phil himself almost shut the forum down permanently, shocked at some of the sheer ugliness that emanated from some of these haters. Someone even slandered his wife in such a lewd manner, that one wondered if we’d returned to the Paleolithic epoch. In cyberspace in general, these forums are a great place to debate and stir thought, but there are always those who have to bring in this bizarre negativity, and then more follow suit, and then soon, the whole discussion slips into a grotesque and repulsive product of dark-hearted and cruel intent. It spreads quickly like the disease of road-rage, contaminating the entire environment. What all this stems from we’ll leave to C.G. Jung’s next-generation disciples, but man, you hit it right on the nose. Nobody’s guilty, ya know. We’re all innocent. And I’m merely the Devil’s advocate. But what a puzzling phenomenon, this whole forum-tainting business.

By: tazo

tazo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:12:40 +0000

for a bunch of peace-lovin’ beatniks, you guys sure do use some harsh language at each other.

By: Corbett Redux

Corbett Redux — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:48:27 +0000

Aha, I see we have two Grand Poobahs of Dead Trivia, the second being even more thoroughly ironic than the first, and likely suffering with a short-person complex to boot. Your point is no more valid than Dave’s. If you really wanna engage, why don’t you come at me with some hard, intelligent data. By all appearances, you’re one of those Deadheads that’s seen 3,496 shows and has the ticket stubs to prove it. Your mud slinging about Bill doesn’t impress me any more than your weak defense of the other trivia guy. Christ, all these experts! When will it end? Anyone else wanna try?

By: Old school DH

Old school DH — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:39:01 +0000

Corbett, get off your high horse. Dave is right and your bratty little response only demonstrates how little you know about songwriting, as does your laughable comment about Lennon/McCartney. The lump sum of their tunes were written almost exclusively by one and then sometimes tweaked by the other. Thier partnership was designed to allevaite potential ego and legal problems and it worked great for years…but it doesn’t mean that they wrote the tunes together. They did NOT.

As with the Dead. Dark Star is largely, as with most of the best Dead tunes, the alchemy of Hunter’s unmatched poetic lyrics and Garcia’s sense of melody. Lesh says in his book that the riff is partially his. That Kreutzman gets co-composer status is probably largely due to his wanting more royalties, as with other band members when they saw Jer’s bigger checks coming in (confirmed by most of the best Dead biographies).

So, decent article, but your knowledge of the Dead is indeed a joke compared to someone like Dave, so shut your mouth and accept your shortcomings. Lennon/McCartney wrote everything together? Ho ho, what a genius you are.

And for the record, though Bill comes off as a sweetheart in this piece, he was probably the biggest dick in the Dead. I spent a lot of years touring with the band and saw first-hand what a coked-out, nasty drunk he was much of the time in their middle years. He also cheated like hell on his wife every night with as many groupies as he could lure into his hotel room. Just for the record.

And yeah, you really ought to consult any expert on the Dead, ’cause you sure as hell ain’t one.

By: Ben Corbett aka yrs truly

Ben Corbett aka yrs truly — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:39:31 +0000

Hi Dave28 aka “Grand trivia poobah of all things Dead”, the last time I checked, and including Lennon/McCartney, if a band member is listed in the songwriting credits, he/she is “co-writer” of said song. According to your theory, since Darkstar is an “improvisational” piece, shouldn’t Bill then be listed in all the Dead’s songwriting credits? The next time I need to “Ask an expert” on everything Dead-related (and all things not), I’ll be sure to ring you up. You are, after all, a walking-talking encyclopedia.

By: beer.

beer. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:45:47 +0000

fantastic article!

By: Dave28

Dave28 — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:00:01 +0000

Do your homework, sir. Kreutzmann was given an extended credit for writing Dark Star since it was an improvisational piece that all of the GD members “wrote” differently each time they played it, but he really had nothing to do with the reality of the song’s genesis. Phil’s book SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND: MY LIFE WITH THE GRATEFUL DEAD (2005) directly conflicts with this claim of yours, as do countless other sources.