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Poster: Styrofoam Cueball Date: Jul 7, 2009 8:31am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Great Versions of Songs on Commercial Releases (Under 10 Minutes)

Love "Keep Rolling By."

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Poster: cream-puff-war Date: Jul 7, 2009 6:49pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Great Versions of Songs on Commercial Releases (Under 10 Minutes)

why thank ya, SC... I've been pushing "Keep Rolling By" for years on the forum and you're the first one to even respond to my dribbles!

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Poster: Styrofoam Cueball Date: Jul 7, 2009 7:28pm
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Great Versions of Songs on Commercial Releases (Under 10 Minutes)

It really stands out on The Birth Of the Dead (as far as songs that are ONLY on that release). I wish they had done Keep Rolling By a few more times... it's one-of-a-kind.

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Poster: cream-puff-war Date: Jul 8, 2009 12:10am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Great Versions of Songs on Commercial Releases (Under 10 Minutes)

yes.

They must have rehearsed it a good deal, as that one known (live) version is well worked out (arranged), what the hell happened to "Keep Rolling By"?

How many other songs are there only one live version of?

OK, there's "Rosemary", (Aoxomoxoa), which made the album appearence and one semi-live, almost sound check.

Ditto "What's Become Of The Baby".

But both of those were Garcia anomalies, virtual throways, never intended to become concert staples - whereas "Keep Rolling By" does sound like they intended to keep it going,
I mean, there's more serious intent in the performance than they ever put into live versions of say, "Golden Road"...

and yet "Keep Rolling By" has never turned up either as a demo or as a studio rehearsal...

just plain weird, man...

like out of the Twilight Zone except things don't really happen that way.

Forr being such a "jam band", and to be sure, they improvised and did all kinds of rearrangements...
basically, songs like "The Eleven" were built upon a solid structure, the song was born of several rehearsals, it wasn't magically improvised out thin air live on stage.

"Changes that haven't come before" came, but not whole songs...
many of their jams were based on other songs, such as "There Is A Mountain" - Donovan
"Darkness, Darkness" - Youngbloods
and various R&B tunes...

Now, this "Keep Rolling By" is said on one site and elsewhere to be a traditional...
hogwash!

Show me that "traditional"!

It's a Grateful dead original...
I think...

So again, why'd they "lose" it, even faster than "Clementine", after putting so much work into it?

Anyway, thanks Sty, for being kind enough to reply to my obsessions for this one song - glad we both actually like it, and aren't just wallowing in it's rarity factor alone....

it's a real dance inspirer - play it loud folks, and let you feet wiggle from left to right, in your stocking feet, as you slip and slide across the floor with your honey, and
Pig and Jer will wink at you from the great Spaghetti Factory beyond.

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Poster: Styrofoam Cueball Date: Jul 8, 2009 7:55am
Forum: GratefulDead Subject: Re: Great Versions of Songs on Commercial Releases (Under 10 Minutes)

Well said, CPW. "Keep Rolling By" would've been great on the first album, but I don't know what I'd take off, that first album is so perfect to me.

I'm also a big fan of "You See A Broken Heart," another early number that got shelved too fast... Pig and Jer's call and response always knocks me out! :)