Mickey Hart
Many Grateful Dead sympathizers tend to prefer the material that the band recorded as a one-drummer ensemble, during drummer/percussionist Mickey Hart’s hiatus from the Dead in the early ‘70s. This was the period of American Beauty and Europe ’72, when the band’s “electric ragtime” sound really blossomed and when Garcia/Hunter were writing their strongest set of songs. Hart’s temporary departure is itself the stuff of myth: It was, legend has it, a self-imposed tenure of repentance for the financial abuses of Hart’s father, an early manager of the group.
When the layman-musicologist Hart returned to the band in 1974, it was just in time to help push its sound in the world/prog/fusion direction that it would ride out for the remainder of the decade. Part musician, part scholar, Hart is a compelling figure in rock history.
Currently in the midst of a lengthy tour, the Mickey Hart Band makes a stop at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock this Wednesday, September 5. Showtime is 8 p.m. Ticket prices range from $40 to $60. The Bearsville Theater is located at 291 Tinker Street (Route 212) n Woodstock. For more information, call (845) 679-4406 or visit www.bearsvilletheater.com.
There are millions of Deadheads out there and I’m sure there’s only a few who think that the one-drummer era of 71-74 is necessarily better than the other years. This writer should be careful in his use of the word “many”, because it’s really just “some” and he kind of demeans the work of Hart, the guy who’s performing this week. Don’t you have anything better to report? And when you quote “electric ragtime”, you should attribute it unless it’s your own description, which it probably is.
Actually, I know a lot of fans–not deadheads necessarily–who share that preference. I believe “electric ragtime” was used by Elvis Costello when he and Jerry Garcia did a cover story together in Musician Magazine in the late ’70s, and Jerry enthusiastically agreed with the description. Of course, they were speaking specifically of the style/groove in evidence in songs like “Tennessee Jed,” “He’s Gone,” “Rambling Rose,” etc. Finally, while your opinion is yours and is valid and welcomed, do remember that the goal of journalism–even provincial local journalism–is not the promotion of events and the amplification of press releases. Thanks for the comment.
Addendeum: The Jerry/Elvis Musician story is from March of ’91.
[…] Have a HartBy mickeyhartadmin on September 5, 2012 in News var addthis_product = 'wpp-262'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true,"data_track_addressbar":false};if (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}(Source – John Burdick of Hudson Valley Almanac Weekly) […]