Added: 5 years ago
From: MorningDewUS
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  • You people need to understand somethng. This video was never supposed to happen. They were filmed on the sly. Probably the whole festival is sitting on Pennebakers shelf. The 4 song Moby Grape set also exists. Don't tell Matthew Katz! We will probably never see all of what is available. Listen My Friends, this is the great Rock and Roll swindle. Count your blessings you can click twice and see this. They are on fire here. Cherish it.

  • and I go crazy watching this knowing I met one of the amazing people in this band in this video!!

    I love Billy!!! Such an awesome dude! And very nice in person.

  • ahhh groooovin! this song is so beautiful

    clerk he wrote ittttt

    clerk he wroteee it down indeedeeeeeeee

  • this is the best grateful dead period 1966 thru 1973 and basically the only stuff I like from the dead .Especially viola lee blues. Each version is different and Jerry plays an awesome gutar solo in a different style in every version . A sign of a true artist !I first heard them play in 1968 while in the 1st grade and was instantly hooked

  • Okay, let me break it down for everybody.

    The sound in this video SUCKS.

    The video is actually not that bad.

    But neither the Grateful Dead or whoever "owns" their legacy now (possibly some asshole company that rhymes with "wino") owns this particular footage or sound recording.

    If this actually sounded decent (sonically) a coupla million folks would jack to it. I know how to fix it. Should I do it?

  • according to one book, the dead weren't in the movie since they didn't want to sign their financial rights (for european distribution etc) over to the producer, whom they felt was LA scum.

  • There is nothing in this performance to support the idea that the Grateful Dead "blew all the big ones." Put this next to any of your favorite versions of Viola Lee.

    Here's what it is, I think: the Dead -- and I say this as the most complete possible fan of the Dead -- just don't hit you as hard, or as fast, as the Who or Hendrix or anybody they felt outclassed by at Woodstock.

    The Woodstock set is, on the other hand, not very good...

  • Jerry was fantastic at blues guitar. Shame he didn't do a lot of it

  • what can you say. this was the Dead and all they were really meant to be. they had it all back then and continued to have it all until Pigpen left us. When he left they should have looked for another Blues Rocker and not settled on a the jazz side of things it toned them down too much and they lost their rawness without Pigpen and the Blues. long live the Grateful Dead with Pigpen. saw many shows but never with him so i never really saw the Grateful Dead

  • @bakesterfire I love the Dead regardless,,but,,,I have to agree. They were at their best until Pigpen died. He was the cat. All their stuff up until his death is their best,,,,except for ,,,before he died...a wee story here,,,he came over with photographer Bob Sideman,,,whoever,,,,,but Pig wanted to take some last pics with the band. They refused to see him. Actually refused. True story. He went back to his apartment and ,,,Sideman (?? whoever) took pics of Pig. He died shortly after. :( ♥

  • @bakesterfire ...just pisses me off. He was at deaths door. Literally. Love em anyway. Jerry & Pigpen.♥ I'll always love em the most.

  • can you believe they went on between the who and hendrix and they fucking killed it

    underdogs you know that sort of thing fits so perfectly in with dead mythology I wouldn't have it any other way

  • Love the sick bit tone jer goes into after helluva solo going back into verse @1:38

    sooo chunky

  • Pig, who never knowingly ate acid, seems to be a driving force here, where beat and melody seem to go wrong but oh so right.

  • The Dead always claimed they sucked at Monterey. They were WAY wrong. I have the Monterey DVD box set and the guy writing the liner notes has nothing but the highest praise for the band, unfortunately they're not on the DVD.

  • Hard for me to believe J.Garcia would be wearing a sweater in July. Must be the wrong date.

  • @PHILLIPBENNETTful - ever been to Monterey in Summer? at night? They are properly dressed.

  • @PHILLIPBENNETTful Um have you checked out what other acts were wearing that night? Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Mamas & Papas....they were all pretty much "heavily" dressed (no pun intended)

  • Most wonderful!!!!

    Thank you for sharing!!!

  • aw sheeyit. Is Phil playin a Fender Bass? Rare shot

  • lol. So shagadelic! And look at how high JG's got that guitar slung!

  • Wow, thanks for uploading, fantastic despite the sound quality. Love the Gibson guitar.

  • nice!!!! this tune hits home with most of us(tour 89 93) it moves me every time i hear it!!!!! thax 4 the vid

  • The judge decreed it, the clerk he wrote it. Clerk he wrote it down indeed-e Judge decreed it, clerk he wrote it down Give you this jail sentence you'll be Nashville bound --- Some got six month some got one solid. Some got one solid year indeed-e Some got six month some got one solid. But me and my buddies all got lifetime here --- I wrote a letter I mailed in the air, Mailed it on the air indeed-e I wrote a letter I mailed in the air. You may know by that I've got a friend somewhere
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  • THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! amazing footage I can't belive you found this. Best cover song they did the original was by Noah Lewis.............LONG LIVE THE DEAD

  • How did these guys not make it into the film???

  • @Staszu13

    Its my understanding the Dead refused to release their performance thinking it was sub par.

  • @Staszu13 they where offered i think but they declined. Read the phil lesh book, it describes it in theer somewhere lol

  • something must of spilt !

  • No one seems to remember Monterey the same way. Clearly, the entire song was filmed despite Pennebaker's comments to the contrary. Weird!

  • This video proves that Phil Lesh can't remember what happned at Monterey. Clearly, the Dead WERE filmed. It was Big Brother's manager who refused to have that band filmed. After their set was well-received, Janis Joplin persuaded John Phillips to allow the band to play again for the cameras despite their manager's objections.

    Viola Lee Blues was not filmed in its entirety because the song went on for too long (this is according to D.A. Pennebaker, the film's director).

  • Why would you come to see a Grateful Dead video, just to dislike one of their quintessential songs? If you don't like Viola Lee Blues, then you don't like the Grateful Dead!

  • @robkelley420 Long Live PigPen

  • @robkelley420 Uh, maybe someone came hoping to see and hear the performance and were disappointed by the horrible sound quality? And this is from when the Grateful Dead actually mattered . . . (sorry, Deadheads, but the soul of that band died with Pigpen . . . )

  • @EasyAce I think something was lost with Pigpen-- but I don't think the soul was lost, it just changed.I will never forget the day I heard about it.Felt like the world ended

  • da ein gruß an quicksilver nicht möglich ist, reich ich ihn durch,wird wohl ankommehn,schöner wohner mit beton,glücklicher mit LSD

  • Kinda funny how this is the exact same lineup as the one from Feb 1971-Oct-1971 -man how much these guys grew as a band in only 4 years is incredible

  • when you type in "some got six months" this vid comes up

    ...which is strange because it's in the lyrics but they're barely decipherable

  • f*ing raaaaaaw! gritty, nasty Grateful Dead. Epic!

  • Gawd, were they fierce and tightly wound - Garcia showboats about 8:40 - great fucking clip!

  • 60s dead = coolest band around, even if they were a bunch of punks.

  • Their performance gets overlooked since they went on right after The Who lit it up and right before Hendrix did.....well we all know what Hendrix did at Monterey (~);}

  • One of the biggest losses for Dead Heads of the 20th Century was the Dead's almost whole performance at Monterey not being captured on film, I know I would sure as hell kill to see the whole performance w/ good sound quality. Even this 10 minutes of footage is a rare gem, they weren't even supposed to be filmed at Monterey, they didn't sign the release that allowed the producers of Monterey to film them.

  • @spacemeddle I'm actually reading Phil Lesh's book right now and he says that the band chose to not be filmed. The guys who got the MPF up and running wanted to film every act and sell it as a movie, but the Dead declined the offer to be filmed because they did not know where all the money would be ending up (aka a bunch of bum record execs profiting off the beauty of the event.)

  • @allenm90 yah im reading searching for the sound as well.. just got living with the dead out of the closet too..

  • And it's a treat seeing Jerry perform without his signature beard and glasses. haha ;)

  • Woah, didn't know this footage existed anymore! I was reading the booklet that came with the complete Monterey DVD set, and it said they ran out of tape before the Dead even finished their first song. Said they had around 10 minutes of footage, so it looks like this is it!

    Even though it's not the whole performance, it's better than nothing and they should have included it on the DVD. They could have faded it out. The Grateful Dead were said to be one of the HUGE highlights of Monterey.

  • @TheOneartist My mistake, looks like this is the whole song, but it's probably sped-up or partially cut, because the audio I found of this is 14 minutes, but it ends and starts the same. The director of Monterey Pop said the footage ran out before their first song ended, but it looks like that's not the case.

    Really should have been on the DVD, unless the original was lost or something.

  • Jerry is literally a god

  • I like the funky Dead of 77 more than Disco Dead, featured here, but I still love this.

  • @blewj

    You mean the porn groove era?

    That was my least favorite sound from the Dead.

    from '67 - '72 was the best in my opinion.

    But hey, were both fans, so that's all that matters!

  • @blewj this ain't disco dead yo. 77 was disco dead. this is early incantations of the country dead, which blossomed into jazzy dead, then alt/jazz dead, then disco dead, then, after many years of awesome music, finally became dead dead. long live all of the dead!!

  • This clip IS your time machine

  • @birdlives46 true, its the closest ill get.

  • ahh, I need a time machine.

  • Thank you for sharing this film! Totaltrekker, the Dead actually performed this song in a film called "Petulia" in 1968-- a big production with George C. Scott and Julie Christie. They even did a little acting in a couple scenes!

  • Pigpen must have just recently swapped from using his Vox Organ,which is on the first LP,to using a Hammond Organ here! He seemingly had difficulty mastering it at first & John Cippolina's Mum gave him lessons.

  • 20 people cannot handle....... the PHIL ZONE! ;-)

  • how has no one mentioned phil? where's the love for the phil Zone?

    I love you PHILLLLL!!!!!!!!

  • @MrDread423 yes but can you see it?

  • To those who dislike if you were a true dead head you would love and appreciate anything they do.....

  • no they played after the who then hendrix followed them it's in this documentary where jerry says this youtube.com/watch?v=cxcFzdgxt8­o

  • How the fuck could you not see the absolute genius in this early recording even if the video quality is mediocre and even if you ate some brown acid. This is some of the best shit I'm so happy for coming across a video for this festival, I envy all who were there man.

  • @zevi14 gotta admit though, it does sound like complete ass , as far as audio quality goes.

    I cant listen to it, espescially considering u can get a far better copy of this show in trading circles and it be bearable.

  • I thought the Dead said they refused to be filmed?

  • @totaltrekker everything was filmed but they refused to sign away the rights to use the footage of the dead in the moterey pop movie.

  • Jerry is my guru.

  • 20 people ate the brown acid...

  • apparently they came right after hendrix played right?

  • I can see Peter Tork at the last 4 seconds 9:31, as he gave a speech right after this song. Also, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS FOOTAGE?

  • @ledZep342 PLEASE TELL ME!

  • youtube is kinda like a dead vault..

  • i am amazed that this has 305k views

    i would literally kill a few people for this in slightly better quality

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  • @morvelification dude why, it's better quality man! There would obviously be more views!

  • Damn, I wish they had agreed to have their performance professionally taped here. They thought it was selling out to tape. This is the best we'll ever see of the Dead at Monterrey Pop.

  • . . . learned the bass within the course of a single week(!), but he'd played jazz and classical trumpet before then, Pig was a stone bluesman. So -- yeah, their music contained elements of ALL of it.

    And as for "psychedelic" -- Jerry once said that music is a "signpost to new space" -- an aural representation of endless possibilities. That's how a jazz musician might see improvization, and it's also how a user of psychedelics would desribe that experience.

    So -- yes. All that and more!

  • RE: "Labels"

    Through the years, Jerry used a lot of different terms for the band and its music ("just a regular old shoot-'em-up barrom band," if I recall it correctly, was one of my favorites.

    But think about it -- between all of 'em, just about every imaginable musical influence went into the mix. Jerry and Weir were old folkies, but Jerry also had a keen ear for jazz and classical; Kreutzman came in from a big-band jazz background, Mickey had been a martial drummer, Phil . . .

  • they were kids on the road to furthur -- keep rockin Phil & Friends :-)

  • the grateful dead played their set at monterey in between The Who's set and Jimi Hendrix's set. What a tough gig slot that must have been...

  • @grubbybean im sure they were able to fulfil that spot, time machine monterey AHOYYYYYYYYYYYY

  • Pure music. 

  • I love this lineup of the Dead- Pigpen was their keyboard player and nothing ever gelled like these jams with Pig on keys- its too bad theres not more footage like this, and with better sound too!

  • Bob is too hot, that is some muzak people, that's goldust , man.

  • Truly one of a kind. I miss them every day.

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  • There is no question.

  • "...I wrote a letter..mailed it indeed...mailed it indeed ...indeedy....i wrote a letter..i mailed it in the air....you may know by that I ....I gotta friend somewhere...."

    ♥P.M. ♥

    R.I.P.

    A friend indeed.

  • This music is not even close to being jazz. They're just kinda rockin on a basic blues progression

  • Classic

  • I was not born until 1973. I sometimes wished it was 1943. I would have been old enough to go see all of this. But hey there were some good things about the 70's 80's 90's and 2000's that are good. It's a damn shame Jerry Garcia is no longer with us!

  • Crappy copy, but actually good for those days since generally rock films were badly done since the camera directors had no idea about the music. Being so used to dialogue they often just showed the performers face or from dumb angles like from behind or far off side or much on someone not leading or even something inanimate or the audience which is briefly O.K. yet not while something more interesting is ocurring, like an instrumental part. McKernan could play when not too druck! Augy San Diego

  • ruthless jam

  • Wrote a letter....mailed it in the air....you may know by thattaaaaaa I got a friend somewhere.

  • At last some footage of the grateful dead playing live before their country music stuff. I dont have footage of them playing Monteray festival 67 on my dvd because they apparently ran out of film from their long improvisations

  • @villiparis They were never country. They were always a folk band, but never country. Southern rock is the shoe that fits more when describing the endles amount of styles they went through. They are THE jam band.

  • Awesome>Thank you whoever posted this. Old Grateful Dead is the shit. Fucken awesome. 67" was it. I just wish this went on the film

  • '67 Dead

    Damn...

  • fucking amazing song

    too bad its such shitty quality..

  • 6749 's on the ego trip of not having ego. songs awesome

  • god i wish this was in better quality, and also i wish it was on the original film......

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  • Great to see this, the real Grateful Dead, in youthful wonder. Pig Pen on organ here, and he could play well. Jerry and Pig had a good vocal blend too . Jerry jumping around ,Bob and Phil singing backup, Bill the one, wonder drummer. Can you tell? I'm still a Dead head I reckon ? The first record was great......

  • man they tore that sound system UP!

  • Classic Dead.

  • thank god someone video taped this

  • This is just so beautiful to see. God, what a sexy Les Paul Custom he has!

  • My friend Richard Raymond was working at Sands point Country Club in Long Island , his GF was a bartender in town where this big ole jukebox had the 13 min version from the record...on it....great volume....as soon as we hit the bar that song would go off for a good time by all.

  • The proof is in the pudding!

  • They can't sing and they're out of tune. About the best can be said is that Bill keeps the tempo fairly even.

  • @Kramnosnits at least they dont troll youtube

  • jerry gar-sweater.

  • So was their whole set filmed? (assuming this is actually from the pop festival) I know they refused to be in the film but I'd love to see more of their performance.

  • God I love Bill Kreutzmann. Tell me that man isn't one of the most underrated drummers in rock history? Got such a great feel for the groove. I love me some primal Dead but man is this stuff intense. Even in Blair Jackson's book there's a interview about their older crazier psychedlic phase where Jerry says "You can only take so much of that stuff",

  • i guess this song teaches us that we all gotta write a letter and mail it in the air at some point in our lives and we cant prevent it from happening.

  • As a side note , Jerry is playing john cippolinna/Quicksilvers black custom les paul in this classic performance ...the day the world caught a small glimpse of what heaven is like!

  • How is it humanly possible that 19 people have pushed the dislike button? They should all be hanged, and shot simultaneously.

  • Man, this is MUSIC!! I love Jerry's guitar solo and playing in general as well as Ron's keyboards. This song has a nice bluesy sound to it - Just love it.

  • rasowe acidheady keseya

  • the best electric band ever, period. i didn't say perfect, just the best.

  • I don't think I've ever seen Phil play a Fender.

  • @olesne he borrowed it. His got stolen day before fest.

  • @olesne I've never seen Garcia play a Les Paul...

  • All music is psychedelic, think about that one...

  • @SuperDeadheadFred I think you're right.

  • This is easily one of the best Grateful Dead recordings ever.

  • it's weird to see jerry with a black beauty/les paul custom

  • yeah man w.e it is i love it and im going to brkyln june 26 so ill prob see you there ///// still shocked u dont agree with me in some way

  • This was a band that truly evolved from great to greatest, the great improv bands of all time

  • @jgray110 going back to my coment you just said it the best improv band not acid rock and back to 6749er i so feel you on there there higher deeper music but what that kid was saying i was trying to explain to him no hate at all

  • i can't recognize jerry wtf

  • Has to be my fav song. Don't care about the quality. So good to see video. AHhhhhhh

    Thanks again heaven on earth!

  • wow that was incredible, im speachless

  • You all heard the man! KILL KILL KILL!!!

  • kill kill kill for peace. lph good bye.

  • I seriously doubt that brinkmcd is Bob Weir, i mean come on, arguing on youtube about WHAT TYPE OF MUSICAL GENRE the Dead fit under? How bout this one guys..... FUCKIN' BADASS JAMROCK if u get confused just STFU and listen 2 the music play

  • fucking rite buddeh!

  • yeah, lol especially cuz he's 20.....

  • @gratefullistener420 I think it's weak. Workingman's Dead is FUCKIN' BADASS JAMROCK? You make me think you might be confused, Or are you just into talking trash?

  • @gratefullistener420 HELL YES WELL SAID

  • i was at this show but dont remembermuch of it , too stoned out on LSD , not EPT like jack black takes

  • Bobby looks so beautiful! Oh, and this is really great blues song, too.

    As for all of the "Acid Rock" folks, I'm with 6749. They didn't need the labels: in 1970, 80 and 90 they were the best acoustic band on the planet, and they flirted with lots of other sounds, too.

  • ohhh myyy amazin

  • Live Video from 67, this is classic, thank alot!! They are still the best!

  • ahaha jerry cant be much older than i a right now in this video, that's very very sic

  • I don't know who filmed this but it couldn't have been anyone from Pennebaker's crew. Aside from the fact that they refused to let those guys shoot during their set, the film is completely different. Pennebaker & co. shot in gorgeous 16mm (as you can see from all the other Monterey Pop footage). This is just muddy Super 8. Maybe friends of the band or something?

  • Y r people arguing about the GD? who cares what kind of music its called. Its just great mind blowing music that will never die. This is 1 of my favz too. well from the early days anyway.

  • Probably my favorite Dead song!!

    A friend of mine has a lot of Warlocks music. Classic stuff!!!

  • @Pinkiecharlie: You are aware that The grateful Dead changed their name from The Warlocks because another band had already taken the name.

  • FILTHY BRIT

  • @Kramnosnits: How did you guess?

  • they came a long way.............great band

  • OMG

  • Bob Weir looks like Jim Carrey. Or Dick York.

  • I didn't go to this concert. I sure do regret it. My girl friend and some other friends did.....

  • @IExposeMormonism ...... :(

  • he was probably blazing on acid

  • someone should really sync this up with the cleaner soundboard recordings out there...there has to be a way...

  • @rockyracoon667 I consider we're lucky that they had cameras rolling and kept the film of this performance.

  • billy looks like hes struggling so hard to play

  • that ritalin sound of early dead - mighty

  • Thank you YOUTUBE for letting us see Pigpen and the old dead

  • i like that les paul

  • wheelman is the shizza

  • WTF QUALITY ,?

  • it was recorded in 67....?

  • awesome live !

  • So wish there was more of this show...DAMN Love the way Mr Lesh could sing back then

  • so legit

  • so true to music

  • the way i understand it was the media created the term hippy to define the concept.before they were known as hipsters.the so- called hippies burnt an effigy in golden gate park and declared it the death of the hippie, in 1967.they said from that day forth they would be known as freemen. that was later shorten to freaks.hence freak bros. comix.

  • @Zendishwasher1 Bless you for trying, but that is some of the most mangled "history" I've ever read. :-)

  • @Zendishwasher1 Hippies were used in the 1950s about white kids coming around to black jazz clubs and trying to act hip, in fact over the top hip. So initially it was a sarcastic term, which later got into the media in the 1960s when they needed a label. The beatniks were the 1950s and somewhere the hippie term caught on and then that is the bus everyone jumped on to identify themselves once in the media. Original "hippies" did not use the term, it was media and advertising again.