When I was younger ......

I was around 15 or so when I starting listening to punk/hardcore music. I knew few things but believed them strongly.
One of them was Hippies=Bad.
I remember a group of kids at my school who I hated. Hemp bracelets, bad dreadlocks, sandals, but not to lie I really like the smell of patchouli, but not when I'm in a classroom with 3 dudes fucking soaked in it to cover up that they just smoked up in the parking lot. Hackysack on their lunch breaks listening to Phish and Dave Matthews, the whole fucking bit. Ridiculous.
They were also really big assholes to us if my memory serves me right, and hung out with the redneck and jock pricks that harassed us. ....Anyway -
If there was a day one of them didn't wear some tie-dyed Grateful Dead shirt, I fucking missed it. Result- Me never really listening to the Grateful Dead and figuring they sucked as bad as their neo-hippie rich kid fans.

I had a cassette copy of Dischord Records "The Year in 7"" which contained Deadhead by The Teen Idles-
Deadhead, deadhead, take another toke
Deadhead, deadhead, you're a lousy joke
Friend of the devil, who you trying to kid
Friends of the devil are dead like Sid

I'll be grateful when you're dead
I'll be grateful when you're dead
I'll be grateful when you're dead
So don't stick around too long

Riding that train high on cocaine
The music is really lousy, the fans are a pain
Troubles behind, troubles ahead
The only good deadhead is one that's dead

It's a good song about hating some hippies, who was I not to love it.

Last year I started hanging out with my neighbor Kemper everyday after work.
Total deadhead.
Most of his hard drive was committed to a massive library of nothing but Grateful Dead shows, I'm guessing in the thousands.
The Dead had been popping up on my Dylan Pandora Station, and I had liked the songs I heard in Festival Express, so I asked him to make me a mix of what he thought was good Dead stuff.
I let him borrow the Band and some Dylan and he gave me a couple of mix CD's.

The first time I heard Cream Puff War was a live version from the Matrix in '66.
It blew my mind.
It was fast, frantic, loud, distorted with fairly aggressive vocals.
I then listened to the whole set, it's shitty quality but I mean, it's fucking good!
You can stream it here if you have the time.
http://www.archive.org/details/gd66-12-01.sbd.sirmick.26968.sbeok.shnf
Their version of Betty & Dupree is beautiful and I know you rider is really good too.

So I really got into the Dead this summer.
It was cool and I felt like sharing my experience in this blog with you.
Thanks for reading!