"Is it live, or is it Memorex?"
Author's note: As I've been preparing for my Patreon launch, I realized this piece was not included in the "Grateful Dead Theology Project" blog post, thanks to hungry internet monsters eating that blog many years ago. So I'm reposting it here. This is the original PRE-EDITED version of my submitted essay which was eventually published as “Furthur in Concert, Memory, and Media: 6 October 2012,” in Dead Studies ,Volume 3, Grateful Dead Archive, University Library, UC Santa Cruz, ed. Nicholas Meriwether, ©2013. ------------------------------------- "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" * A short study in listening perspectives: Review of Furthur in LA, 10/6/12 Many of us remember the television commercial from the 80's: a "hip" man, donning sunglasses and fancy threads, reclining comfortably in a posh chair listening to a high-grade stereo system. As the volume crescendos, his hair and necktie — not to mention the lampshade beside him—are physica...
