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Kristopher - Posted - 03/29/2014: 08:19:49
Just curious if anyone has tried any or play any on a regular basis. I've heard it being done on bluegrass style banjo and it sounded good, wondering if any clawhammer picker's here do any. Any other non traditional old time/ bluegrass you've worked out on your banjo?
John Steele - Posted - 03/29/2014: 10:03:10
"Friend of the Devil" works well in bluegras format and goes over big with the bar crowd.
- John
J-Walk - Posted - 03/29/2014: 10:13:14
The closest I come is playing "Two Soldiers," recorded by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman.
musicman44 - Posted - 03/29/2014: 13:20:58
A lot of classic Dead tunes are easily adaptable to the banjo. Ripple, Dire Wolf, Uncle John's Band, Bertha, the list can go on. Plus some classic Old & In The Way is always fun to play, even though most of these tunes were older tunes adapted by OAITW. As stated above, the Garcia/Grisman tunes are good for banjo too.
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 03/29/2014: 16:46:12
I use to play along with my Dead records. I'm sure Friend of the Devil - one of the worst songs they ever performed, is still being done to death by lots of folk groups, and singles - it's a genuine third rate classic.
My rock group did a version of Betty and Dupree that was heavily influenced by Dupree's Diamond Blues and our I Know You Rider was the same Judy Henske arrangement (probably dreampt up by Jim McGuinn and John Sebastion) the Dead used. I also used Dave Van Ronk's Duncan And Brady which I seem to remember the Dead doing live but I don't think they ever recorded it.
However, like many others, the Dead - and specifically Garcia,got a lot their material from the bit hits of the "Folk Era" which was fading in the latter half of the 60s - in part because of the electricification brought on by groups like The Dead, The Airplane, Janis, The Fish (plus other folk based groups) and of course Bob Dylan - who re-did his own material with electric guitars in 1965 and started the whole "Electric Folk" thing.
Edited by - oldwoodchuckb on 03/29/2014 16:48:16
Kristopher - Posted - 03/29/2014: 18:56:21
I've heard I Know You Rider being played by bluegrass banjo and it sounded really good. I'm still pretty new to clawhammer and have been working on the classic old time tunes but still listen to some Grateful Dead once in awhile and thought there would be a lot of fun songs to do when my skill level gets better.
raharris - Posted - 03/29/2014: 19:13:07
I'd like to hear a clawhammer version of Dark Star!
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 03/29/2014: 19:15:49
What about an acoustic version of Feedback?
MrManners - Posted - 03/29/2014: 20:21:11
youtu.be/-cCZFUj8IlMme and my uncle is a good one,though they didn't write it,my band used to do it.cumber land blues on working man's dead-,would be a good one--tom
youtu.be/zO-JEcuHrU4 banjo shows up at 2 minute mark on this one
Edited by - MrManners on 03/29/2014 20:27:41
banjo bill-e - Posted - 03/30/2014: 07:48:00
I"m not much of a Dead fan but I did learn "Dark Hollow" off Bear's Choice, but that is not a typical Dead song.
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 03/30/2014: 10:05:19
BTW
I seem to recall The Seldom Scene doing the same version of I Know You Rider that the dead used. In fact I think that is now the standard version of the song for everyone. Who even remembers the melody used before Judy Henske's recording?
It's like Bob Dylan's House Of The Rising Sun - which he stole from Dave Van Ronk, and which was stolen from him by Eric Burton and The Animals. Who used the old melody that everyone used before those recordings? Look it up in pre-1962 songbooks.
twothphry - Posted - 03/31/2014: 08:42:00
Ripple is a great song adaptable to Bluegrass. A lot of the Dead songs were done by Old and in the Way, a bluegrass band featuring Peter Rowan with Jerry on banjo. They have several albums available. If you into that band or the Dead, look up Garcia Grass on the internet. They are a tribute band for Old and in the Way and have many concerts available for down loading.
I also have an album by a group called Dead Grass. They were a group of musicians that hooked up with Vassar Clements and recorded a number of Dead songs Bluegrass style. Then there is always the Pickin' on the Dead series that bluegrassed up a number of group, including Led Zepplin.
sgdesertrat1 - Posted - 03/31/2014: 12:50:16
I mess around with "Uncle John's Band" and it falls out in clawhammer pretty easily.
MrManners - Posted - 03/31/2014: 14:10:40
they also got a long version of going down the road felling bad---Tom
Marc Nerenberg - Posted - 03/31/2014: 21:40:27
I've been known to play Friend of the Devil clawhammer style. But I hadn't realized until I read Tony's post in this thread that it's "a genuine third rate classic". I think i agree with that assessment - but it does have a really nice chord progression that just seems to propel the song inexorably forward.
wilband - Posted - 03/31/2014: 22:15:50
I like to play Ripple, Friend of the Devil (not at all "third rate", imo) and lately I have a version of Loser that I quite enjoy. Some others too. All on clawhammer. I've posted videos on this site if you're interested
cbskibum - Posted - 04/01/2014: 12:34:33
I love playing Dead Tunes! Seems easier for me because a lot of the songs are "burned" into my brain. I'm a believer that all of their songs can be played on the banjo. Especially three finger style. I mean, come on, Listen to recordings of the years when Bruce Hornsby was playing with them. He was doing banjo rolls on the piano!
I've been jamming with a couple other "retired"heads on a regular basis of and on over the past couple years. We recorded these videos a couple weeks ago to send into the Dead Covers project. We do lots others too depending on our moods, but these are the ones we recorded that Saturday. I play a modified 3 finger style on an electric banjo, because there are drums.
Hope you enjoy! Keith
Chadbanjo - Posted - 04/01/2014: 17:31:23
Never thought about it, but love the Dead. Truckn would be a good one.
Pretty cool picture for the Dead Group
hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...48386.jpg
Was that an actual album cover, don't remember ever seeing it. Probably a poster.
If I ever found myself drunk enough in a tattoo parlor, that would be the one, ha!, nah.
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 04/02/2014: 14:37:50
sgdesertrat,
Uncle John's Band was originally written about The New Lost City Ramblers, although it quickly became a self referencing GD song in the minds of many Deadheads.
I doubt the NLCR ever played as a group on the west coast. In fact they rarely played as a group on the east coast where they were based either. I think I only saw them as the group once. I wonder if they only played as a group when they were in NYC to record another album?
At any rate the NLCR albums were found in almost every non-pop folkie's home (those who could afford a record player) in the 1960s. I had one, although I mostly didn't have a ecord player, and when I first met my wife she had another one. Now we have them all.
I seriously recommend the first 5 as being essential to both Old Time and Grateful Dead fans.
Pine Cone - Posted - 04/02/2014: 22:26:53
Check out Jason Mogi and Deadwood Revival. He has several CDs and has a lot of fun with Dead tunes... The two bands he plays with most now don't play as many Dead tunes, but they still play some. Jason plays both banjo and guitar...
deadwoodrevival.com/
If you aren't familiar with him, he also builds one heck of a banjo... On banjo hangout you can find him as member name "mogi"
Banjophobic - Posted - 04/03/2014: 21:35:44
Played a ton of them over the years..deadheads are everywhere,haha. Here's a recent cover with a current band:
