Ropeadope

Big up to ropeadoper (for life!) Dylan Marks on the launch of his amazing blog - We Will Save You Manatee - awesome graphics, nifty concept. Worth a quick look - dig in here. 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is going to feature a major exhibit on The Grateful Dead this year. Called “Grateful Dead: The Long, Strange Trip,”It’ll open April 12 and run through December 31. Among the highlights of the more than 100 artifacts are five Jerry Garcia guitars; two guitars from Bob Weir, and one of Mickey Hart’s custom-painted drum kits. Also on display will be original lyric manuscripts for “Truckin’,” “Sugaree” and “Box of Rain”. The Grateful Dead were inducted into the R&R HOF in 1994.    

I know that my partner Louis knows, but do any of you really realize?   Why is it that in our culture we prepare more for what we're going to watch on TV than how we are going to deal when we meet our maker? Don't mean to bum anybody out, just saying - the wheel is turning and you can't slow down.   This is one man's last day dream. 

By now of course you must have seen this video - but I get chills every time: Whether you ike his politics or not, this is the most "real" President I've ever known in my lilfe time, and in the end, that's what gets my vote.  Clap your hands for the man - Obama singing Al Green. 

From NPR Music: Few singers proved more pliable over the past 50 years than Etta James. Pop, blues, rock 'n' roll, soul, jazz — she sang them all with aplomb. But it was her string of stunning singles during the 1960s that cemented James as one of the great female vocalists of all time.  James died Friday in a Los Angeles hospital after a battle with leukemia. She was 73. NPR spotlights 5 songs we love right here.     

Marco Benevento released a new limited 7-inch single featuring a song called "Escape Horse" with none other than Mike on bass and Matt Chamberlain on drums. The LA Timesis streaming the tune and you can hear it right here. The 7" is available at Marco's West Coast shows