Grateful Dead - "He's Gone"/"The Other One" - 10/27/1979 - REACTION

[@shortstuff7959]

the song is about when Mickey's dad stole money from the Dead and fled to Mexico.

[@mattreynolds612]

It's Brent on keys. Switch was late '79

[@JackCerro]

Starting in late 1978 and into 1979, Jerry started playing around with this scattershot guitar style that involved him playing tons of notes in the style of Charlie Parker. The transition between He's Gone and Other One is a good example of this technique.

[@PMichael100]

Probably others have mentioned that "He's Gone" prefers to drummer Mickey Hart's conman father who managed the Dead and absconded with their money. Mickey quit in shame and only rejoined for 1973 Grateful Dead Movie. In later years, the Dead played this when a friend of the band died. The lyrics took on a spiritual dimension to Deadheads. "Nothing's going to bring him back" can be thought of in the affirmative as rebirth from Nothingness. When I listened to this song in head phones on a sleeper train in Japan in 1982, I heard the words "God on a limb. You know better but I know Him." The Other One was part of a a suite about the dead of band friend Neal Cassidy, "That's It for the Other One." You owe yourself to hear the whole piece from the sublime LP, "Anthem of the Sun."

[@tenjed4224]

Phil is the quintessential Bass player. His Bass does come at you, and sits right next to you for every jam.

[@tomratcliff3755]

Ok amp is on 10 levels adjusted to the room. Rock My World! I will smile, smile, smile.

[@tomratcliff3755]

Ps, watch your levels. Your voiceover is louder than the music. Never mind I think it is unique to this reaction. Train songs? Try Bobby's 'monkey and the engineer ' or Brent' s '500,000 tons of steel' I'm kinda throwing stuff out there cause I just got off work and I heard that comments help the algorithm. Wait -- do you know that without a net is one of their albums?

[@tomratcliff3755]

Phil learned to play bass for the band. He was studying electronic music and played trumpet. The origine stories are as unique as the music.

[@billc2147]

Great to see your eyes pop open at the beginning of The Other One. Yes, there are those ow wow moments we have all experienced, the dead come at you like body surfing, in unexpected ways that you don’t see coming, like the big wave hidden behind the small one you thought was good but only brought you so far and just as you finish that thought that big wave you had your back to washes over you! Wonderful reaction. Btw, the dissonance you refer to is Brett putting out his suggestion of the Other One. It doesn’t get picked up right away as there are hints of Playing in the band. It gets mulled over and The other one is agreed to! After many years of listening to soundboard recordings there always seems to be a moment when the sound crew ( Healy and McNally?) will cut to the mikes they have positioned near the board so you get the sound they are hearing. In the 80’s this evolved into Matrix/ultra mix recordings where they were able to blend in the soundboard with microphones positioned from experience to get a real you are there feeling. Notice they cut to the audience mics right at the crescendo of the Other One. It would take years to get the balance right, but you can recognize the ultramix recordings in the late 80’s when you hear them…

[@melvinroebuck1160]

Washed away in the flood/avalanche is a great way to put it! And yes audience recordings feel more like being at the show, in the hall, with everyone else. Matrix recordings (a blend of AUD and SBD) are a good happy medium, if they’re well done.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Great pick. Wow. Yeah Cape Cod 79 was a standout show from a great tour. Brent joined a few months earlier and was very much the new guy trying to fit in but he brought energy and enthusiasm with a rhythmic key board style. You could do the whole cape Cod show it’s full of energy and it’s a very psychedelic show. Foggy autumnal night on cape cod in that little sardine can of a venue. And yes the Dead would play down to a very low volume and ramp back up to deafening crescendos and back down again. The audience tapes do have that echoey clanging thump with audience responses that seem to be almost like the orchestra conductor. Quite an experience to be a part of. Like a steam locomotive rolling down the track. Thanks for this one.

[@jmfdeadtothecore]

They played two nights, 10/27 and 10/28. Oddly enough they played Franklin's Tower each night. Fall 79 has some great stuff.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

@@jmfdeadtothecore two nights. Two franklins. Did I go the other night ? Did I have a good time ? Memory a bit smudged. Thanks for the info.

[@tenjed4224]

For years i had always wondered about He's gone, as it had lines where the band consciously slammed someone. In the mid 80s i found out and was shocked, as the band moved on from it being a 'dig' song, to one they performed to commemorate the passing of those lost. When Brent passed, the song took on a meaning quite different from its original intention and i cried harder listening to it.

[@harlanginsberg7269]

I've seen the Dead play The Other One many times and every time Phil's booming bass came through somewhere in the second set it really woke up a crowd of very toasted Deadheads lol

[@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959]

The bus came by and I got on, that’s when it all began! - your reaction personified that lyric, the feeling we’ve all experienced and it was a pleasure to watch you get on the bus.

[@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959]

It was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to never ever land. -- referring to Neal Cassidy and the Merry Pranksters. As an English teacher, you’ll be interested to know that Neal Cassidy was also the model for Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road”.

[@bobschenkel7921]

"He's Gone" was usually played after someone of note had passed away. I think famously, that the first dedication came after Bobby Sands, a famous Irish Republican Army leader who died in an Irish prison from a hunger strike. There were many dedications after that, unfortunately. A recent one would have been Mr. Bill Walton. RIP Bill. DeadBase also lists "Caution Jam" before "The Other One", Bobby's first writing effort. Saw about 50 Dead concerts, but none at the Cape Cod Coliseum. However, three years earlier I did see KISS there, with Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band as the openers. A pretty good show in itself.

[@mattreynolds612]

...& That was just earlier that month. (~);}

[@EricWalker-p7e]

Oh this is a nice version I hadn’t heard before! Still waiting for you to react to Weather Report Suite - the one from 6/18/74 (that entire show is great) & Bobby’s solo acoustic demo version There are some very skilled people who create “matrix” recordings where they combine a soundboard source with an audience recording.

[@bobschenkel7921]

"The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began. There was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to Nevereverland." A great line that sort of describes the first Grateful Dead experience for many folks.

[@rhintas]

"He's Gone," as originally written, referred to the disappearance of Mickey Hart's father, Lenny Hart, who was acting as the band's manager, with a good deal of money.

[@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959]

He stole their face right off their head. 😊

[@michaelbettonville5085]

@@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959 and there's nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile...

[@hashburystumble8808]

I used to think :He's Gone" was about Neal Cassidy ("Like a steel locomotive") but it turned out it was about Mickey's dad who ripped-off the band for $350,000. You were distracted when the line in The Other One said 'The heat came round & busted me for smiling on a cloudy day" - this is a reference to when Bobby had thrown a water balloon at a cop car outside 710 Ashbury.

[@michaelbettonville5085]

Most just assume that the song is about the death of an individual when it's literally about the betrayal. "knife in the back, steal your face right off your head, nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile." Mickey's deadbeat father ingratiated himself to the band and then proceeded to steal them blind. That's why Micky left for several years thereafter.

[@Stephen-nd1sx]

Look up the history behind He's Gone. It's an important part of the Deads past. I think it played a big part in how they handled there business from this point on.

[@harlanginsberg7269]

As to who He's Gone about I have no idea but it was played for both Pigpen and Janis Joplin in concert following their deaths.

[@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959]

It was originally about Mickey Hart’s father, who had stolen a bunch of money from the band. His disappearance is partially why Mickey left the band in 71. In subsequent years it was played in homage to friends who have passed on, but it was originally about a completely different situation.

[@jayshulman5336]

Brent era began April, 1979. So he has been performing with the band about six months.

[@rhintas]

Welcome to "The Other One" !!!! with Brent his first show with the GD 4/22/79

[@jmfdeadtothecore]

That's what's called a Phil bomb! 💣💣💣

[@robertharper5087]

I agree, I think the recording source changes half way through the Other One

[@mauilogic1679]

XLNT CHOICE CONGRATS🎉TO THE SOURCE WHICH IS WORTHY ABSOLUTE!....5/6/81 A KICKER WITHIN 2YRS OR SO🎉 damn good work grate channel appreciation Wide🎉❤

[@mauilogic1679]

for reference its nice to hit a song version for 70's 80's 90-60s like (65-70 90-95) the extremities and here what the tune was doing, nice way to see evolution and many other tangibles.....12/28/90 1st Hes Gone for Bay Area since Brent's journey elsewhere🎉

[@mauilogic1679]

New Age Decade Or Dickhead weir said at beginning of 12/31/89 Victim or the Crime->Darkstar if you want a New Aged Xfactor experience end of Victim oh boy!!!....🎉 Playing in the band 12/28/79 has those Cosmic Seagulls or Pterodactyls fading into the sunset trip.....

[@jmfdeadtothecore]

The change in sound is a cut in the soundboard, so it's patched with an audience source

[@tomratcliff3755]

16:52 Oh, you are in for a ride! Some of Bobby's songs have Jerry's best guitar. Keith is always piano. Brent was hired to play organ, because Keith said no way.

[@thesecretjewishspacelaser9959]

This was a request from a comment you made asking why no one seems to request anything from 78/79.

[@rhlang11]

1979!

[@tomratcliff3755]

May be an edit, but it is consistent with the original. If you put the source in the heading it would help to track that down.

[@harlanginsberg7269]

Just want to let you know when the crowd can be heard reacting, they are reacting to the lyrics not the harmonies

[@mattreynolds612]

I'm a sub. And I like your channel. But go back and watch yourself. & Realize how much more meaningful & poignant you'd be if you said much less . (~);}

[@mirrormusic99]

Obviously the music can stand on its own and doesn't need me to talk about it at all. Part of it is that YT requires me to "add value" to the original piece or it will take the videos down -- and some of it (for me at least) is sharing my process of discovery with the community.