Completely Conspicuous 513: Blues for Allah

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album Blues for Allah. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in September 1975 - The band's highest-charting album until 1987 - Very non-commercial record - Jay: The best thing about the album is the cover - Moved in a much different direction from previous album - Band had stopped touring after From the Mars Hotel - Mickey Hart was back - Also in 1975, Zeppelin had released Physical Graffiti, Talking Heads and Sex Pistols played their first shows, disco started hitting the charts - Phil: Very sparse, subdued jazz-rock album - Studio songs are blueprint, but they change after repeated live playings - Dead fans were used to changing sounds - The live show was the thing - Commercial success was less important to the band and its fans - Some songs on this album went on to become concert staples - Not a lot of bands that have fans following them around the country: Phish, Afghan Whigs, Pearl Jam, Tragically Hip - Album has a Middle Eastern feel; a few years later, they played in Egypt - Jay: Liked the first few songs, then it started to meander - Next album was live album Steal Your Face, which many fans didn't like - Next we'll listen to Terrapin Station and Cornell '77 - Springsteen's live shows are long, but full of songs (as opposed to long jams) - Phil just saw Apocalypse Now for the first time Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.