The Dead Rock The Pyramids, Goose Covers Seger and Nixon lied (again).

Deadhead Cannabis Show

Candyman and Cultural Contradictions: Grateful Dead’s Egypt Adventure

In this episode of the Deadhead Cannabis Show, host Larry Mishkin highlights two key topics: a favorite Grateful Dead show and his recent experiences at Goose concerts. First, Larry talks about an iconic Grateful Dead concert that took place on September 16, 1978, at the Sun et Lumiere Theater in Giza, Egypt, near the pyramids and the Sphinx. This event is special not just for its unique location but also for featuring collaborations with Egyptian musician Hamza El Din, who joined the Dead for a jam session. The Egypt shows are remembered for their blend of American rock and ancient Egyptian culture, marking a historic moment in music history.

Larry also reflects on the song "Candyman" by the Grateful Dead, exploring its themes of melancholy and contradiction within the counterculture of the 1960s. He discusses how the song portrays a sympathetic yet flawed character, and how it resonates with the complex dynamics of that era, blending elements of peace, revolution, and criminality.

Switching gears, Larry shares his recent experiences attending two Goose concerts in Chicago. He highlights Goose's cover of Bob Seger's "Hollywood Nights" and talks about the band's growing popularity. Larry attended the concerts with family and friends and praises the outdoor venue in Chicago, noting its impressive atmosphere and the city's skyline as a backdrop. He fondly recalls his connections to Bob Seger's music from his youth and marvels at how younger bands like Goose continue to bring classic rock into their performances.

Grateful Dead

September 16, 1978 (46 years ago)

Son Et Lumiere Theater (aka Sphinx Theatre)

Giza, Egypt

Grateful Dead Live at Sphinx Theatre on 1978-09-16 : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive

Giza (/ˈɡiːzə/; sometimes spelled Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza; Arabic: الجيزة, romanized: al-Jīzah, pronounced [ald͡ʒiːzah], Egyptian Arabic: الجيزةel-Gīza[elˈgiːzæ])[3] is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 4,872,448 in the 2017 census.[4] It is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite central Cairo, and is a part of the Greater Cairo metropolis. Giza lies less than 30 km (18.64 mi) north of Memphis (Men-nefer, today the village of Mit Rahina), which was the capital city of the unified Egyptian state during the reign of pharaoh Narmer, roughly 3100 BC.

Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau, the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, among which are the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples. Giza has always been a focal point in Egypt's history due to its location close to Memphis, the ancient pharaonic capital of the Old Kingdom.

Son et lumière (French pronunciation: [sɔ̃n e lymjɛʁ] (French, lit. "sound and light")), or a sound and light show, is a form of nighttime entertainment that is usually presented in an outdoor venue of historic significance.[1]

Special lighting effects are projected onto the façade of a building or ruin and synchronized with recorded or live narration and music to dramatize the history of the place.[1] The invention of the concept is credited to Paul Robert-Houdin, who was the curator of the Château de Chambord in France, which hosted the world's first son et lumière in 1952.[1] Another was established in the early 1960s at the site of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and a star attraction in Egypt, the pyramids of Giza offer a completely different experience at night, when lasers, lights, and visual projections bring their history to life. Here’s how to visit the pyramids after dark. The sound and light show at Giza takes place every night for 55 minutes by the Great Sphinx of king Kephren, it is a laser show with history narration of your own language.

Kyle Fitzgerald

The National

Standing under a total lunar eclipse at the foot of ancient power by the Great Pyramid, the Grateful Dead were concluding the final show of their three-night run at the Sound and Light Theatre in Giza in 1978.

His hair in pigtails, guitarist Jerry Garcia wove the outro of the percussive Nubian composition Olin Arageed into an extended opening of Fire on the Mountain.

“There were Bedouins out on the desert dancing … It was amazing, it really was amazing,” Garcia said in a 1979 radio interview.

The September 14-16 shows in Giza were the ultimate experiment for the American band – the first to play at the pyramids – known for pushing music beyond the realms of imagination.

And just as the Grateful Dead were playing in the centre of ancient Egypt, a landmark peace treaty was being brokered in the US that would reshape geopolitics in the Middle East.

For as the Grateful Dead arrived in Egypt as cultural ambassadors, on the other side of the world US president Jimmy Carter had gathered his Egyptian counterpart Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to broker the Camp David Accords that led to an Egyptian-Israeli peace settlement.

“No show that they have ever done has the international significance of their three performances in Egypt,” said Richard Loren, the Grateful Dead's manager from 1974-1981.

“When we left the stage on the last show, everybody was high on acid, and the first news that came on: They signed the Camp David agreement. Sadat, Begin and Carter signed the agreement in Camp David. This happened during those three days.”

Loren, who produced the shows, credited his friendship with Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin, who had a keen interest in Egypt, for developing his own fascination with the country.

“The lead singer for Jefferson Airplane is the seed that resulted in the Grateful Dead playing in Egypt,” he said.

Loren recalled riding a camel around the pyramid site during a three-week visit in 1975. To his right were the pyramids. In front of him, the Sphinx.

“And I look down and I see a stage, and a light bulb went off in my head immediately. The Grateful Dead ought to play in Egypt,” he said.

Loren, associate Alan Trist and Grateful Dead bass player Phil Lesh formed a scouting committee that would be responsible for liaising with American and Egyptian officials, Secret Service members and Egyptian first lady Jehan Sadat to allow the Grateful Dead to play in front of the pyramids.

After the mission to the proposed site, meetings in Washington and Egypt, discussions with government officials and a party for the consulate, the band still needed to convince officials the purpose of the show was to make music – not money.

And so the Dead paid their own expenses and offered to donate all the proceeds.

Half would be donated to the Faith and Hope Society – the Sadats' favourite charity – and the other to Egypt's Department of Antiquities.

“It was a sales pitch by the three of us – Alan, Richard and Phil,” Loren said.

A telegram was sent on March 21, 1978, confirming the Grateful Dead would perform two open-air shows at the Sound and Light in front of the Great Pyramid and Sphinx.

They would go on to play three shows.

Describing the planning, bassist Phil Lesh said, "It sort of became my project because I was one of the first people in the band who was on the trip of playing at places of power. You know, power that's been preserved from the ancient world. The pyramids are like the obvious number one choice because no matter what anyone thinks they might be, there is definitely some kind of mojo about the pyramids."[11]

Rather than ship all of the required sound reinforcement equipment from the United States, the PA and a 24-track, mobile studio recording truck were borrowed from the Who, in the UK. The Dead crew set up their gear at the open-air theater on the east side of the Great Sphinx, for three nights of concerts. The final two, September 15 & 16, 1978, are excerpted for the album. The band referred to their stage set-up as "The Gizah Sound and Light Theater".

The final night's performance coincided with a total lunar eclipse. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann played with a cast, having broken his wrist while horseback riding. The King's Chamber of the nearby Great Pyramid of Giza was rigged with a speaker and microphone in a failed attempt to live-mix acoustical echo.[12]

Lesh recalled that through the shows he observed "an increasing number of shadowy figures gathering just at the edge of the illuminated area surrounding the stage and audience – not locals, as they all seem to be wearing the same garment, a dark, hooded robe. These, it turns out, are the Bedouin, the nomadic horsemen of the desert: drawn in by the music and lights... each night they have remained to dance and sway rhythmically for the duration of the show."[13] Kreutzmann recalls "Egypt instantly became the biggest, baddest, and most legendary field trip that we took during our entire thirty years as a band... It was priceless and perfect and, at half a million dollars, a bargain in the end. Albeit, a very expensive bargain."[14]

The concerts weren't expected to be profitable (proceeds were donated to the Department of Antiquities and a charity chosen by Jehan Sadat). Costs were to be offset by the production of a triple-live album; however, performances did not turn out as proficient as planned, musically, and technical problems plagued the recordings.[10] The results were shelved as the band focused instead on a new studio album, Shakedown Street.

INTRO: Candyman

Track #3

2:54 – 4:50

From Songfacts: the American Beauty album is infused with sadness. Jerry Garcia's mother was still seriously injured and her still fate uncertain following an automotive accident, while Phil Lesh was still grieving his father's passing. The melancholic aura comes through in "Candyman" as much as any other song on the album.
The effect of the melodic sadness on the song's context is interesting, to say the least. It makes everything about the candyman character in the song seem sympathetic, when the lyrics suggest that he is anything but. Dead lyricist Robert Hunter said he certainly didn't resonate with the character's penchant for violence (more on that below).
The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang defines the term "candyman" primarily as a drug dealer and secondarily as a man who is lucky in general and lucky with women in particular. The latter version seems to fit better with the song, as the character announces his arrival to all the women in town and tells them they ought to open their windows (presumably to let him in).

While there's no evidence to suggest that Hunter was getting at anything too deep with the song, "Candyman" does provide an interesting perspective on the contradictions of the 1960s counterculture. Mixed in with all the peaceniks and flowers were hard-drug pushers, violent revolutionaries, and common criminals. By 1970, this stew had long since become so mixed-up that its attendant parts could no longer be cleanly extracted from each other. The fact that American Beauty came out in the midst of the Manson Family "hippie cult killings" trial says just about all that needs to be said about the complicated reality that had arisen out of the 1960s counterculture.
Beyond all that, though, the outlaw song that romanticizes criminality is a long-held and cherished tradition in American music.

With American Beauty, Jerry Garcia wanted the Dead to do something like "California country western," where they focused more on the singing than on the instrumentation. So the sang Hunter’s lyrics:

Good mornin', Mr. Benson
I see you're doin' well
If I had me a shotgun
I'd blow you straight to Hell
This is an oddly violent line for a song by the Grateful Dead, who sought to embody the '60s peace-and-love ethos about as sincerely and stubbornly as any act to come out of the era. It always got a raucous applause from the audience, too, which seems equally incongruous with the Deadhead culture.
Hunter was bothered by the cheers. In an interview published in Goin' Down the Road by Blair Jackson (p. 119), he brings this phenomenon up when asked if any of his songs has been widely misinterpreted. He mentions that he had first witnessed an audience's enthusiastic response to violence while watching the 1975 dystopian film Rollerball and "couldn't believe" the cheers.
Hunter tells Jackson that he hopes fans know that the perspective in "Candyman" is from a character and not from himself. He stresses the same separation between himself and the womanizer in "Jack Straw."

As far as the Mr. Benson in "Candyman," David Dodd in the Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics makes a great case for that being Sheriff Benson from Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" (who may very well have been based on a real sheriff). If true, this might place "Candyman" in Houston, Texas (though Hunter might not have had anything so specific in mind).

Almost always a first set song. Often featured in acoustic sets, back in the day.

This version features this awesome Garcia solo that we were listing to. Maybe he was inspired by the pyramids or whatever magical spirits might have come out from within to see this American band the Grateful Dead. Hopefully, it made those spirits grateful themselves.

Played: 273

First: April 3, 1970 at Armory Fieldhouse, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Last: June 30, 1995 at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

SHOW No. 1: Hamza El Din

Track #10

7:30 – 9:00

Hamza El Din (Arabicحمزة علاء الدين) (July 10, 1929 – May 22, 2006) was an Egyptian Nubian composer, oudplayer, tar player, and vocalist. He was born in southern Egypt and was an internationally known musician of his native region Nubia, situated on both sides of the Egypt–Sudan border. After musical studies in Cairo, he lived and studied in Italy, Japan and the United States. El Din collaborated with a wide variety of musical performers, including Sandy Bull, the Kronos Quartet and the Grateful Dead.

His performances attracted the attention of the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan in the 1960s, which led to a recording contract and to his eventual emigration to the United States. In 1963, El Din shared an apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area with folk musician Sandy Bull.

Following his appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, he recorded two albums for Vanguard Records, released 1964–65. His 1971 recording Escalay: The Water Wheel, published by Nonesuch Records and produced by Mickey Hart, has been recognized as one of the first world music recordings to gain wide release in the West, and was claimed as an influence by some American minimalist composers, such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, as well as by Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart.[1] He also performed with the Grateful Dead, most famously during their Egypt concerts of 1978.

During these three shows, Hamza El Din, performed as a guest and played his composition "Ollin Arageed" He was backed by the students of his Abu Simbel school and accompanied by the Grateful Dead.

After Egypt, hamza el din played with the dead in the U.S.

On October 21st, back in 1978, the Grateful Dead were in the midst of wrapping up a fiery five-night run at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. This string of shows was particularly special for the band, as they marked the first shows played by the Dead following their now-legendary performances near the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt a month prior.

n an effort to bring their experiences in Northern Africa home with them to share with their fans, the Dead’s ’78 Winterland run saw sit-ins by Egyptian percussionist, singer, and oud player Hamza El Din. On October 21st, El Din opened the show solo, offering his divine percussion before the Grateful Dead slowly emerged to join him for an ecstatic rendition of “Ollin Arageed”, a number based off a Nubian wedding tune, before embarking on a soaring half-acoustic, half-electric jam, that we will get to on the other side of Music News:

MUSIC NEWS:

Lead in music: Goose — "Hollywood Nights" (Bob Seger) — Fiddler's Green — 6/8/24 (youtube.com) 0:00 – 1:10

Goose covering Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band’s Hollywood Nights, this version from earlier this year but Goose did play it Friday night in Chicago at the Salt Shed’s Festival stage outside along the Chicago river with the Skyline in the background. Very impressive.

"Hollywood Nights" is a song written and recorded by American rock artist Bob Seger. It was released in 1978 as the second single from his album, Stranger in Town.

Seger said "The chorus just came into my head; I was driving around in the Hollywood Hills, and I started singing 'Hollywood nights/Hollywood hills/Above all the lights/Hollywood nights.' I went back to my rented house, and there was a Time with Cheryl Tiegs on the cover...I said 'Let's write a song about a guy from the Midwest who runs into someone like this and gets caught up in the whole bizarro thing.'" [1]

Seger also said that "Hollywood Nights" was the closest he has had to a song coming to him in a dream, similar to how Keith Richards described the riff to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" coming to him in a dream.

Robert Clark Seger (/ˈsiːɡər/SEE-gər; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s,

In 1973, he put together the Silver Bullet Band, with a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976), recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger's best-selling singles and albums.

A roots rock musician with a classic raspy, powerful voice, Seger is known for his songs concerning love, women, and blue-collar themes, and is one of the best-known artists of the heartland rock genre. He has recorded many hits, including "Night Moves", "Turn the Page", "Mainstreet", "Still the Same", "Hollywood Nights", "Against the Wind", "You'll Accomp'ny Me", "Shame on the Moon", "Roll Me Away", "Like a Rock", and "Shakedown", the last of which was written for the 1987 film Beverly Hills Cop II and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He also co-wrote the Eagles' number-one hit "Heartache Tonight", and his recording of "Old Time Rock and Roll" was named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001.

Which leads us to:

1. Goose plays three nights in Chicago: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night at the Salt Shed. I caught the Thursday and Friday show. Went with my wife on Thursday and hung out with good friends John and Marnie, her brothers Rick and Joel, Stephan and others. Friday with my son Daniel and good buddy Kevin who got us rock star parking and even more impressively killer seats dead center at the bottom of the grandstands in the back of the floor, a few feet off the floor and dead center so we could see everything, hear everything and have a place to sit and rest for a few minutes when needed.

I have to say, I’ve now seen Goose five times and enjoy them more and more. Great musical jams, great light show, lots of good energy from the band and the fans. Rick Mitoratando is a first class guitartist and singer, Peter Anspach on keyboard and guitar and vocals, Jeff Arevalo, percussionist, Trevor Weekz on bass and newcomer, Cotter Ellis on drums, replacing original drummer, Ben Askind.

Began playing in 2014 in Wilton Connecticut so this is their 10 year and they are just getting stronger. They really love what they do and its shows in their live performances.

Great set lists in Chicago:

Thursday night they were joined on stage by Julian Lage, a jazz composer and guitarist for the last two songs of the first set, A Western Sun and Turned Clouds.

If you have not yet seen Goose you need to see Goose. Soon.

1. Jane’s Addiction Concert Ends Abruptly After Perry Farrell Punches Dave Navarro Onstage

3. Jane’s Addiction Offer ‘Heartfelt Apology’ for Fight, Cancel Sunday’s Show

1. Phish announce 3 night run in Albany Oct. 25 – 27 to benefit Divided Sky Foundation

A residential program for people recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.

The Divided Sky Foundation, a 46-bed nonprofit recovery center spearheaded by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, will be an abstinence-based, nonmedical residence, one of the first ofits kind in Vermont.

The Divided Sky Foundation is a charitable nonprofit founded by Anastasio; it purchased the Ludlow location to create a substance-use disorder treatment center back in 2021.

Anastasio, Phish’s lead guitarist and vocalist, has dealt publicly with his own drug and alcohol use and later sobriety, a journey that brought him under the supervision of drug court in Washington County, New York, in the mid-2000s.

There, he met Gulde, who worked in the court system at the time, and the two have stayed friends since.

Together, Gulde and Anastasio used their personal experiences with treatment facilities to implement a vision for the Ludlow space, she said.

Very cool organization, deserves everyone’s support. Trey turned it around which is why he is now 5 years older than Jerry was when he died in 1995 and Trey and Phish are just getting stronger and stronger.

SHOW No. 2: Ollin Arageed

Track #11

13:10 – 14:42

Musical composition written by Hamza El-Din. He and members of the Abu Simbel School of Luxor choir opened the shows with his composition Olin Arageed on nights one and two, and opened set two of night three with the song as well. Joined on stage by the band. Fun, different and a shout out to the locals.

The Dead played it a few more times with Hamza and then retired it for good.

SHOW No. 3: Fire On The Mountain

Track #12

13:00 – end

INTO

Iko Iko

Track #13

0:00 – 1:37

This transition is one of my all time Dead favorites. Out of a stand alone Fire (no Scarlet lead in) into a sublime and spacey Iko Iko. Another perfect combination for the pyramids, sphinx and full lunar eclipse.

A great reason to listen to this show and these two tunes.

MJ NEWS:

MJ Lead in Song

Still Blazin by Wiz Khalifa: Still Blazin (feat. Alborosie) (youtube.com)

0:00 – 0:45

We talked all about Wiz Khalifa on last week’s episode after I saw him headline the Miracle in Mundelein a week ago. But did not have a chance to feature any of his tunes last week. This one is a natural for our show.

This song is from Kush & Orange Juice (stylized as Kush and OJ) is the eighth mixtape by American rapper Wiz Khalifa. It was released on April 14, 2010, by Taylor Gang Records and Rostrum Records. Kush & Orange Juice gained notoriety after its official release by making it the number-one trending topic on both Google and Twitter.[1] On the same day, a link to the mixtape was posted for download on Wiz’s Twitter.[2] The hashtag#kushandorangejuice became the number-six trending topic on the microblogging service after its release and remained on the top trending items on Twitter for three days.[

1. Nixon Admitted Marijuana Is ‘Not Particularly Dangerous’ In Newly Discovered Recording

2. Marijuana Use By Older Americans Has Nearly Doubled In The Last Three Years, AARP-Backed Study Shows

3. Medical Marijuana Helps People With Arthritis And Other Rheumatic Conditions Reduce Use Of Opioids And Other Medications, Study Shows

4. U.S. Marijuana Consumers Have Spent More Than $4.1 Billion On Pre-Rolled Joints In The Past Year And A Half, Industry Report Finds

SHOW No. 4: Sunrise

Track #16

2:08 – 3:37

Grateful dead song written, music and lyrics by Donna Jean Godchaux. Released on Terrapin Station album, July 27, 1977

There are two accounts of the origins of this song, both of which may be true. One is that it is about Rolling Thunder, the Indian Shaman, conducting a ceremony (which certainly fits with many of the lyrics). The other is that it was written by Donna in memory of Rex Jackson, one of the Grateful Dead's crew (after whom the Rex Foundation is named).

• The song is about a Native American medicine man named Rolling Thunder, who spent a lot of time with the Dead.
  "'Sunrise' is about sunrise services we attended and what Rolling Thunder would do," Godchaux said on the Songfacts Podcast. "It's very literal actually. Rolling Thunder would conduct a sunrise service, so that's how that came about."
• Donna Jean Godchaux wrote this song on piano after Jerry Garcia asked her to write a song for the Terrapin Station album. She said it just flowed out of her - music and lyrics - and was one of the easiest songs she ever wrote.
• The drumming at the end of the song was played by a real medicine man. "We cut it in Los Angeles, and he came and brought the medicine drum, so what you hear on the end is the real deal," Godchaux told Songfacts. "It was like a sanctuary in that studio when he was playing that. It was very heavy."

It was played regularly by the Grateful Dead in 1977 and 1978 (Donna left the band in early 1979).

This version is the last time the band ever played it.

Played: 30 times

First: May 1, 1977 at The Palladium, New York, NY, USA

Last: September 16, 1978 at the Pyramids, Giza Egypt

OUTRO: Shakedown Street

Track #17

3:07 – 4:35

Title track from Shakedown Street album November 8, 1978

One of Jerry’s best numbers. A great tune that can open a show, open the second set, occasionally played as an encore, but not here. It is dropped into the middle of the second set as the lead in to Drums. This is only the second time the song is played by the band.

Played: 164 times

First: August 31, 1978 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO, USA

Last: July 9, 1995 at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL – opened the second set, the final set of music ever performed by the band.

Shout outs:

Karen Shmerling’s birthday

This week my beautiful granddaughter, Ruby, is coming to town to visit. Can’t wait to see her and her parents.

.Produced by PodConx

Deadhead Cannabis Show - https://podconx.com/podcasts/deadhead-cannabis-show

Larry Mishkin - https://podconx.com/guests/larry-mishkin

Rob Hunt - https://podconx.com/guests/rob-hunt

Jay Blakesberg - https://podconx.com/guests/jay-blakesberg

Sound Designed by Jamie Humiston - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-humiston-91718b1b3/

Recorded on Squadcast