Donna Godchaux's contribution to the Grateful Dead

[Amerigo Vespucci]

[nolabear]

1. Now I'll have South of France in my head all day.

Ya know, she was okay. Gave them a little range. Was she the female voice on The Music Never Stops? Funny I don't know. I love that song.

[KG]

9. yes.

[astral]

11. Yes, I lover her voice.

I am not familiar with the difference between her inside studion / live voice so won't chime in on that debate.

I do find it puzzling this topic is a recurring thing around here. I would like to understand better what this is all about.

[Rambis]

2. "she had trouble hearing herself onstage" Jerry Garcia

I liked Keith's piano playing a lot but Donna's wailing could get to you.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. I've heard that said before...

...and the one time, above all others, when I really notice the "wail" and bemoan the fact that she was in the band is on multiple versions of "Playing In The Band," where shoe took a sort of "wail/howl" solo, and I don't think I've ever heard a version of that song with her on it where it wasn't a painful, completely out of tune moment that ruined the track.

I still tend to think the Pigpen version of the band was the ultimate, with the Pigpen / Godchaux crossover (Europe 72, etc) a close second, the actual Godchaux years third, and the Brent Midland years fourth on live performances but mostly forgettable in terms of studio (with notable exceptions like "Althea," "Touch of Grey," "Throwing Stones" and a few others).

:toast:

[Brother Buzz]

3. Donna has super fantastic vocals, but her abilities can only be appreciated in a studio setting

The live Dead concert was simply the wrong environment, the wrong vehicle, for her. Jerry, her very close friend to the end, knew this.

Donna's career might have shot into the stratosphere had she stayed and continued to work in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

[KamaAina]

6. That's what the woman who inducted me into the tribe told me.

"Her voice just couldn't cut it live."

[hifiguy]

5. She wasn't a distraction to me

and sometimes added something worth hearing. She also had the good fortune to play with what was IMO the finest incarnation of the Dead. And Keith was a monster of a piano player.

I was just listening to "One From the Vault" last weekend. Still one of my most favorite Dead discs. Talk about being ON!!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. "One From The Vault" is probably the major exception to the rule...

...compared to other live recordings of the era, her stuff works on that one.

[KG]

8. her best work was on 'Cats Under the Stars'

[fishwax]

10. she definitely had her moments, both good and bad

I like her more than most, perhaps because of the fact that I'm not a fan of Playin' in the Band (the song that her a-bit-beyond-control wailing is most memorable on) even in the best of circumstances.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. I think the main reason I like that song...

...is that it's such an integral part of the "Skull & Roses" album, which is the first Dead album I heard and in a close tie for my favorite (along with Europe 72 and Live Dead). "Skull & Roses" is one of the few albums I listen to...I generally prefer my own iTunes playlists and mix CDs.

I guess that back in the day, no one ever listened to the show tapes or no one cared, because she took that "solo" many, many times, and after the first time, someone should have quietly pulled her aside and said "please don't do that any more."

[underpants]

12. Answer from my brother (just celebrated 30 yr. anniv of first Dead show) option 2

May 1 1981 Hampton was his first show

Many followed. On the phone with as it turns out - he thinks about 200 shows.

[KittyWampus]

14. Never a fan. Kind of pointless.