• Welcome to BellGab.com Archive.
 

George Knapp

Started by ArtBellFan, April 27, 2008, 09:05:01 AM

Juan Cena

Gonna try to call in and ask about Bill Walton & his connection to the band.

zeebo

I guess this is just the way these things go, but a bit disappointed the show's leaning a bit towards the sensationalistic.  Would love to hear more instead about their musical influences and directions, lyrics, recording innovations, etc.

zeebo

Btw on the question of whether bands are still playing 30+ min. songs, Phish is still doin' it (for better or worse) ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eBibggCibE

Juan Cena

Quote from: zeebo on April 20, 2015, 02:05:45 AM
I guess this is just the way these things go, but a bit disappointed the show's leaning a bit towards the sensationalistic.  Would love to hear more instead about their musical influences and directions, lyrics, recording innovations, etc.

Yeah, the thing is, for all the drugs The Dead did, the band was never really into rock and roll excesses and debauchery in the way that bands like the Stones and The Who were.

There were a lot of places the conversation could have gone tonight. I tried to call in to ask about the group's relationship with Bill Walton, along with its financial backing of the Lithuanian men's basketball team in the 1992 Olympics.

Quote from: zeebo on April 19, 2015, 07:22:05 PM
I don't listen to them any more, and actually found the whole subculture surrounding them kind of a turn-off - the fascination for me was purely in their improvisational intrepidness.  For instance, once back in the mid-80's I saw them three nights in a row, and each show was almost completely different.  Different songs, different vibe, jamming happening in different ways etc. 

It wasn't like seeing a pre-packaged polished show that's so common these days.  You just never knew what might happen.  Sometimes they were duds, the guys sang off-tune, or they forgot lyrics, or had a weak songlist etc. .. but they made up for it by often going into interesting, creative directions, weaving through various influences from folk to roots to blues to rock etc., and occasionally really reaching something quite special. 

I remember once in a fairly mellow show, when they covered All Along the Watchtower, and Jerry, out of nowhere, just friggin went total rock god crazy for like ten minutes and I just stood there slack-jawed, amazed that I'd just heard this soaring, transcendent solo from a guy who'd earlier been lazily strumming some bluegrass-style tune.

The GD were easily my favorite band to see - drug enhanced or otherwise, somehow the records and videos do not come close to capturing the magic.  At all.  For every 20 or so excellent shows, there would be a real clunker. 

I could have done without the 30 minute Mickey Hart drum solos - although that was always a good time to sit in a circle with the people around you and pass a doob around


I don't know about the outside world, but around here there are tons of bands that play more or less the same style - or at least close enough to appeal to a certain audience, members of the band with their new projects, people playing covers.  JGB with Mel Seales is still around (the old Jerry Garcia Band sideband), and even New Riders plays at the Great American once a year.  But there was only one Jerry

zeebo

Quote from: Juan Cena on April 20, 2015, 03:12:27 AM
Yeah, the thing is, for all the drugs The Dead did, the band was never really into rock and roll excesses and debauchery in the way that bands like the Stones and The Who were. ...

Good point here.  At least earlier on, their drug culture was more about expanding the mind and enlightening the soul, not so much just getting f'ed up for the sake of it.  And although they did know how to have a good time they also expressed the darker side as well, which they'd lived through firsthand.

zeebo

Quote from: Paper*Boy on April 20, 2015, 09:55:10 AM
...I could have done without the 30 minute Mickey Hart drum solos - although that was always a good time to sit in a circle with the people around you and pass a doob around

Ha yeah, some of that live stuff was just self-indulgent noodling.  Good time to go get a snack or people-watch. 

Quote from: Paper*Boy on April 20, 2015, 09:55:10 AM
But there was only one Jerry

Yep.


albrecht

Ugh. Zoe Cormier was awful. Even the crazy guests usually have some passion about their subject. Was she on 'ludes or something? Similar subjects have been dealt with in the past and shows were good (or even great especially the the Terrence and Dennis McKenna shows) but even James Arthur, Graham Hancock with Dave Norry were ok, or at least funny. But that gal lacked any passion, phone line quality was bad, and she seemed drugged out (not as drugged out as the stuttering psychedelic guy Ian had on once and had to shut-down though.)

NoMoreNoory

The first half last night was like pulling teeth. She kept answering George's questions with a 'Yes' or something equally monosyllabic, followed by silence. At one point she was looking for some stats in her book and just stopped talking. Knapp was eventually reduced to a 'Hello? Are you still with us?'. Props to GK for soldiering through. Interesting stuff in amongst it though.

Whatever your personal opinions about The Dead, there is no question that they as a band, and the tribe that followed them around the country, were an extraordinary cultural phenomenon covering more than 20 years and, I would say, fully worthy of C2C's attention. Personally, I get tired of a constant diet of 'pirranormal' and UFO shows and enjoy it when Knapp in particular goes out on a limb. And you always get intelligent, well-informed radio from him.
The GD interview was good, I thought, and a far cry from when Noory had Ray Manzarek on and just fawned all over his ass and pretended to know anything about The Doors, or JBW getting old 'hard rock' guys on for a self-indulgent wallow.

coaster

Nothing worse than dead air or interviewing someone who doesn't know what dead air is. It makes for horrible radio.

Juan Cena

Quote from: NoMoreNoory on April 20, 2015, 07:09:45 PM
The first half last night was like pulling teeth. She kept answering George's questions with a 'Yes' or something equally monosyllabic, followed by silence. At one point she was looking for some stats in her book and just stopped talking. Knapp was eventually reduced to a 'Hello? Are you still with us?'. Props to GK for soldiering through. Interesting stuff in amongst it though.

Whatever your personal opinions about The Dead, there is no question that they as a band, and the tribe that followed them around the country, were an extraordinary cultural phenomenon covering more than 20 years and, I would say, fully worthy of C2C's attention. Personally, I get tired of a constant diet of 'pirranormal' and UFO shows and enjoy it when Knapp in particular goes out on a limb. And you always get intelligent, well-informed radio from him.
The GD interview was good, I thought, and a far cry from when Noory had Ray Manzarek on and just fawned all over his ass and pretended to know anything about The Doors, or JBW getting old 'hard rock' guys on for a self-indulgent wallow.

I'll second the getting burned out on the paranormal shows. Most of the paranormal shows feature guests which generally say the same things over and over again. There usually nothing new added to the conversation.

Quote from: Juan Cena on April 20, 2015, 11:53:16 PM
I'll second the getting burned out on the paranormal shows. Most of the paranormal shows feature guests which generally say the same things over and over again. There usually nothing new added to the conversation.

It's amazing Art was able to keep that subject afloat for so long.

Juan Cena

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on April 21, 2015, 04:57:17 AM
It's amazing Art was able to keep that subject afloat for so long.

It helped that many of the paranormal memes we are all familiar with were either new or underreported when Art was on, such as crop circles and Roswell, or happened during Art's run (Hale-Bopp, The Phoenix Lights, etc.).

It really seems that paranormal research has been pretty much stagnant since Art left. There really hasn't been anything new or truly revolutionary in UFO research since the Phoenix Lights. There's almost zero going on in ESP research. Even new age crap is running out of steam.

The only truly new thing to come up in the past few years outside of conspiracy spank talk is what, David Paulides' research? And I'm already tired of that.

NoMoreNoory

Agree with your points, JC. Also the whole paranormal field has broken out into the mainstream since Art's time with all the ghost hunter shows, Ancient Aliens, etc, etc. Back then, it still lurked in shadowy corners among the cobwebs explored only by the few.
The problem with C2C is that Noory has no interest in moving the discussion forward because he lacks all intellectual curiosity or integrity. He is only interested in having his pet theories trotted out and rubber-stamped repeatedly. Consequently, the conversations go round and round in the same old circles, crop or otherwise. Schrader still handles the subject pretty well, but even with him it gets very repetitive.
I would say, tellingly, the only time I got bored with Paulides was the time he was on with Noory. His last appearance with Knapp was as fascinating as ever.

Juan Cena

Quote from: NoMoreNoory on April 21, 2015, 08:53:10 AM
Agree with your points, JC. Also the whole paranormal field has broken out into the mainstream since Art's time with all the ghost hunter shows, Ancient Aliens, etc, etc. Back then, it still lurked in shadowy corners among the cobwebs explored only by the few.
The problem with C2C is that Noory has no interest in moving the discussion forward because he lacks all intellectual curiosity or integrity. He is only interested in having his pet theories trotted out and rubber-stamped repeatedly. Consequently, the conversations go round and round in the same old circles, crop or otherwise. Schrader still handles the subject pretty well, but even with him it gets very repetitive.
I would say, tellingly, the only time I got bored with Paulides was the time he was on with Noory. His last appearance with Knapp was as fascinating as ever.

I believe I mentioned somewhere else in this thread that I'm pretty much over Paulides after he shot down my suggestion to speak to somebody in Congress about the missing persons issue in the NPS. It seems he's less interested in finding solutions than he is exploiting the "problem."

Nebraska888

Knapp Night! 

I am not overly excited about his topics......but, as always, Knapp will prove to be a capable host and I'll enjoy the interview!   8)

EarthAlien007

I'll try to call in and ask Knapp what he thinks of the recent behavior of his "friend and colleague".
Eventually, true professionals may distance themselves from the train wreck that is Noory.

ItsOver

Quote from: EarthAlien007 on April 26, 2015, 01:58:01 PM
I'll try to call in and ask Knapp what he thinks of the recent behavior of his "friend and colleague".
Eventually, true professionals may distance themselves from the train wreck that is Noory.
I'm surprised Knapp didn't bail from C2C sometime ago.  I've haven't listened to Knapp recently since none of his topics have interested me.  It looks as if Dave is dumping the worst of the worst on him.

Quote from: EarthAlien007 on April 26, 2015, 01:58:01 PM
I'll try to call in and ask Knapp what he thinks of the recent behavior of his "friend and colleague".
Eventually, true professionals may distance themselves from the train wreck that is Noory.

He doesn't always take calls.  Hopefully he will tonight and someone will get through.

Juan Cena

Quote from: ItsOver on April 26, 2015, 02:05:10 PM
I'm surprised Knapp didn't bail from C2C sometime ago.  I've haven't listened to Knapp recently since none of his topics have interested me.  It looks as if Dave is dumping the worst of the worst on him.

If Dave is dumping "the worst of the worst" on Knapp, then it shows just he is totally clueless, because Knapp usually has really interesting guests on. I enjoyed the David Browne last weekend.


I'm more inclined to think Knapp picks out his own guests, which would explain why he has so many mob-themed shows. Looking forward for tonight's mob show.

Juan Cena

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on April 26, 2015, 02:11:37 PM
He doesn't always take calls.  Hopefully he will tonight and someone will get through.

Yeah, it sucked that he only took 15 minutes of calls for David Browne last week. Was gonna ask about The Dead's connection to Bill Walton, and its support for the 92 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team.

SnapT

"George Knapp's on tonight!" YAAAAAAAAY!

"It's another mafia show." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'Allo!
With you yet.
Used to think Geo.Knapp the BeezKneez.
His locale rivaled the "fArt Bull"Hrumph...
Now the folklore of the past corrupt 'murrkkan synicates vis jackie fresser,hoMoe Dalitz,Yack Dragna(net),and usual suspect Benny'Bugs'Siegal,real godfather of the desert kinkdom of Nigh Los_Vagueass...
Too bad Knapp didn't stick to the "Area51"beat.
Old gangster chic is so g(r)ay.
"B_B"
PS:Still searching 4 "fArts'Partz".
PPS:No bovines were harmed in the posting of this message.

Wasn't this guy on C2C just a few months ago?  I remember the conscientious objector story.

Juan Cena

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on April 26, 2015, 11:26:29 PM
Wasn't this guy on C2C just a few months ago?  I remember the conscientious objector story.

Yeah, he was. Hopefully he'll be telling some new info now the book is out.

Juan Cena

Quote from: SnapT on April 26, 2015, 09:54:41 PM
"George Knapp's on tonight!" YAAAAAAAAY!

"It's another mafia show." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You'd rather hear the usual new age garbage?

I'd rather hear Knapp talking to a mob-related guest than hearing another new age or conspiracy spank spewing the same crap over and over again.

Quote from: Juan Cena on April 26, 2015, 11:46:03 PM
You'd rather hear the usual new age garbage?

I'd rather hear Knapp talking to a mob-related guest than hearing another new age or conspiracy spank spewing the same crap over and over again.

I know, but I just can't get into anything that glorifies or redeems mobsters.

Ah yes, Vegas.  The closest thing to a libertarian town that exists in this country.  The guest's delivery could be better, but it's a good story nonetheless. 


WOTR

Quote from: Georgie For President 2216 on April 26, 2015, 11:47:49 PM
I know, but I just can't get into anything that glorifies or redeems mobsters.
I don't know if telling their stories or showing them as human is redeeming.  Ever watch the interviews with the "ice man"?  It's interesting that his only regret is that his family found out... quite interesting- and so are interviews about mobsters.

Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod