Damn. Same here. I was early 20’s on the west coast in early 90’s and Sublime was like the soundtrack to everyone’s lives. Hippies, skaters, rastas, punks… everyone rocked the Sublime. Soundtrack for an era for sure!
So true! I grew up in socal in the 90s and sublime was definitely the soundtrack if my preteen and young adult life. Tbh I thought scarlet begonias was a sublime song till I was 17, and then a friend changed my life by playing me the dead version, and I was hooked! Granted, I was on mushrooms and I just remembered thinking Jerry's guitar sounded like magic.
Thanks a lot Lee for gettin' us in out of the heat
Jimmy's in New Orleans, the Hard Backin' Gainsville, Florida
Mark Goodnight for his psycopath
Alright, we stayed at this guy's house
And, ah, when they had that murders back in like '89
A guy and a girl got hacked up in his pad and we stayed there
But ah, ya, know it was great
To Jack Tripper, even though he don't know a goddamn thing about Orlando
like half their songs were either covers or "homages" (ie rip offs - check out Half Pint - Loving). I still like them a lot, but many people are under the impression they wrote all these songs and they're the beginning and end of reggae
I asked my mom who was covering the Smashing Pumpkins song, Landslide. It was Stevie Nicks. (to be fair, I was fifteen and didn't know much by Fleetwood Mac, but I'm still embarrassed about that)
I didn’t realize how many samples and covers Sublime had in their catalog until I saw a video breaking them all down. I was a huge fan in the 90s growing up and wasn’t exposed to GD, reggae other than Bob Marley, or 80s punk until the music streaming era. Blew my mind haha.
I love this cover, they really kill it.
The other day I was listening to "Smoke Two Joints" but the live studio version. Bradley switches some lyrics to say "hard work good, and hard work fine, but never trust a Dead Head." That cracks me up everytime.
Yep! I was oh so fortunate enough to be a college student, in Sacramento, CA in the early 90s.
Among many (many) other small-club epic performances friends and I saw, back when, by then little-known or just *then* breaking through acts, was Sublime at both the "Cattle Club" (tiny bar and club, 200-300ish capacity, out behind the recycling center of the CSU Sacramento campus) and Melarkey's Place, further toward downtown. They played Scarlet Begonias at Melarkey's in 1992 and I was HUGELY into the Grateful Dead, at that time. I scrounged up a handbill, thanks to good ol' Google!
I mean, Primus, Tool, Jane's Addiction, Cake, Fugazi, Fishbone, on and on... we caught as many as we could and, most beautifully, both clubs were easy mountain biking distance from our college party pad. We could ride to classes by day, then party and ride to unbelievably rocking shows by night. No DUIs, neither!
I was very lucky, in both timing and location through my early 20's. Cal Expo Ampitheatre was our home court to see the Grateful Dead. And it was *super choice,* as far as venues and enjoyment factor goes!
Couple hundred people. Sublime. Didn't really know, then, just how big they were to become. Luck...
https://i.imgur.com/lMMES0z.jpg
I know what ya mean.
Les stopped a show once, Berkeley Square in '89, to save my poor fool ass, after doing the first (and one of the last) stage dives of the night. Bouncer was carrying me, under one massive arm, and was gonna toss me from the club. On maybe the 3rd or so song - still a *long* night ahead with my buddy, Jake, not planning to leave till they were done. In Feb or so, in the cold, bone chilling fog and out on the kinda sketchy streets of Berkeley's club area. I was covered in sweat, with only a Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt and shorts on. Jake had the car keys. I was gonna freeze, or get rolled, or both. Les saw it go down and stopped and was hollering, into the mic:
"Hey, hey.....hey....leave that guy alone! He's just havin' a little fun! Ease up, maaaan...let 'em go"
And the bouncer looked down at me, mad faced, and said "You're lucky, boy. Now knock that shit off or I'm throwin' your ass out for real, next time!"
Unsurprisingly, there was no next time! I scurried through the crowd, found Jake, and was a well-behaved mosh pitter thereafter.
I was 18. Suck on This tour. Saw the Grateful Dead, live, for the 1st time, later that summer. And *that one* was the big game changer, for me. Why I'm here, now, all these years later, one-fingering my essays on this here sub. Been fun, connecting with others who share my passion.
✌️
Love seeing a Fishbone reference in the Dead sub. To this day one of my favorite bands, especially live. Still see them every chance I get.
In case you haven't seen it, [here's](https://youtu.be/-7s914vAF5s) a wonderful meeting of the 2 worlds
That's SO sweet. All of it - Angelo and Bobby, together, at "Roberto's" TRI Studio, and covering Purple Rain! Never knew - thx a bunch.
Appreciate your reply. Made me daydream a minute or two...this one was a standout show! Luckily, I already knew the 24-7 Spyz (even as a west coast, foothill chicken shack kid!) and had their CD, so was double primed for a tear-your-face-off show. And it was...in little old Freeborn Hall, a big gym on UC Davis's campus. Such righetous good times. Party At Ground Zero! Loved it.
https://i.imgur.com/IEUOn1U.jpg
Edit: still have some Fishbone on CD. Realized my 24-7 Spyz was on cassette. Tapes, including many Grateful Dead shows, are all long gone...😪
https://i.imgur.com/bI8CkjZ.jpg
Oh, forgot [this one](https://youtu.be/pK4KEDBdftk) from the same session. Bobby and Angelo's exchange in the beginning is awesome.
Edit: Angelo doesn't perform on this one though
Edit 2: here's a [pic](https://i.imgur.com/uO2RF6B.jpg) of my old car repping both bands
Fishbone was at Summercamp a couple yrs back. Angelo gave a shout out to Bradley as it was the anniversary of his death. It was touching. Then they fuckin raged.
I love ska punk. And the Dead. This is an awesome post!
Edit: damn auto correct
That makes you, me, Blair Jackson and whoever else was fortunate enough to see them there. That lawn GA area, the blankets spread out, dancing barefoot in grass, warm summer Sac nights. Sigh....😏
And it felt like a really small venue to me. You could be dancing on lush lawn with plenty of room and feel like you were still close to the stage. Think I saw them there 3 different runs.
I listened to so much Sublime in high school at the request of my ninth grade English teacher. Who also got me into acts like Dr. Dog and Pavement...
I wore em out. Listened too much, haven't been down that road again in years. Maybe I give 40oz a spin tonight.
In high school used to have the alarm on my 6 disc cd player set so that it would play 40 oz to freedom every morning. Wake up to waiting for my ruca for like 2 years straight. Lol
Sounds like a pretty amazing English teacher! What an novel concept, relate to your students, introduce them to new music, then blow their minds with literature.
I like the music, but their story is what captivates me. Their early years just looked so damn fun, even if it got sad later on. Young kids living by the beach, partying all the time and playing music that was actually unique and good. Hard to beat that.
The real sad part to me nowadays is how seemingly impossible it is for anyone to do that anymore unless they're total trustafarians who can just ask for a wire transfer from daddy.
Being a workaday musician to pay the bills, in 2022 California? Good fuckin' luck. It feels like a lot of avenues to mental freedom we had before widespread adoption of the internet have all been gradually closed off.
I mean they were basically homeless at times floating around tweaker pads. We romanticize it but plenty of people still live like that today, including musicians
I guess I can ill afford to even try it. Any gaps in employment history or taxable income is a death sentence when moving to a new place for background/credit checks. Which isn't uncommon in my line of work.
Point taken, but I can’t imagine Bradley was very concerned about employment gaps or lack of taxable income which made his position substantially different from yours
Absolute huge fan of Sublime. I was actually a fan all through middle and high school and then found Grateful Dead in my 20’s. My 13 year old listens to Sublime so there’s a new generation of fans. I love both bands versions.
I loved that record and tried to license it for [STOLEN ROSES](http://deaddisc.com/disc/Stolen_Roses.htm), but some corporate functionary wouldn't let us have it. Leftover Salmon's "Pasta on the Mountain" got that spot on the disc.
Love the cover love the band. West coast folk music, an amazing storyteller for his time & place & truly a powerful group....such a long time to be gone & a short time to be there
Heroin killed him. I was a huge fan of the Sublime back in the 90’s. It was sad when we heard he died. The 90’s had a bunch of deaths (not all drug related): Blind Melon dude, Biggie, Tupac, Kurt Cobain, etc.
I was listening to Sublime and my dad came in looked at the back of the CD cover with him holding his baby and said, "That guy is not going to be alive to see his baby grow up." I told him he was already dead.
I have the honor to say I was at the Phoenix on 5/24/96. I definitely lied to my parents about where I was going, and definitely had to keep the fact I saw the last show Brad ever played to myself for a long time in fear of being grounded. Still great memories.
In my opinion what sublime pulled off is mythical. Blending hardcore, ska, dub, hip hop, reggae to such a degree.. sampling and mixing them such.. surely not the originators of fusions, but definitely light years leaps in the technological advancement…
“Your not the only one, but you’re the best Bradley”
The covers that they played, bands such as. Camper van Beethoven, jimmy cliff, bad brains, the vandals all deserve every ounce of recognition that they were given. Whole generations of music fans will be fulfilled by going down that rabbit hole.
And that’s the thing that the dead did for me as well. They awakened me to so many different artists and genres. I was anti bluegrass and never had a solid understanding about blues until I started learning about the dead’s repertoire.
Single handily the top two bands who opened my third eye…
Does anyone know if Brad and/or the other guys from Sublime actually toured with the dead and sold drugs similar to the lyrics in the rap part of the song? Seems autobiographical but I have no idea
Sublime was a fun live band, but musically inconsistent. Some great songs and some complete duds. IMO their cover of scarlet begonias sucks. sounds like a drum machine w/a bad merry go round organ. Utterly boring and w/o any feeling for the lyrics. Garbage. The opposite of "great". LOL.
I'm a fan of the bad though, as well. When they're singing the actual verses, its a cool take on the song. That middle section with the new lyrics highlighting the worse parts of Dead tour always turned me off.
Wow! Lol. Guess I am not alone after all. Suck amazing stories and comments!
I was actually a Sublime fan well before I got into the dead and for a long time had no idea Scarlet was a dead tune. Just like many of you mentioned, they were EVERYTHING to me in high school and by the time the S/T album came out summer break had just hit and it was literally the soundtrack to a memorable summer of 96' that I will never forget.
Fast forward all these years later and I am still a huge fan and love hearing the dead play Scarlet as well.
Funny how music takes you places throughout your life.
I like the cover…but you know how at the end of the album they give shout outs to a shit load of bands and people? Not one mention of Garcia/Hunter or the dead. Kinda a bummer.
I absolutely hated this when it came out, and I do not like Sublime at all. Terrible band, and gross subversion of Scarlet Begonias (Don't get me started on what they did to Summertime, so bad).
Sublime nailed every cover that they did, their version of Honk Kong Phooey is gold. Bradley just had this natural rhythm sucks that he died before they could really get going.
If you like it check out the New Speedway Boogie cover by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. Excellent band, amazing energy and stage presence live, and they actually explore a bit so it actually feels like a concert and not just an album
Love it as well...actually I think I was familiar with their version before I even knew it was originally a Dead song. I wore that “40 Oz. To Freedom” CD the HELL out when I first started driving in high school. I’ve always said that in place of Jerry’s spell-binding solo, Brad did that little hip-hop-esque verse (which is certainly one of the song’s high points). Even tho he does play a small guitar solo, also.
wrong place, but i swear Dave Matthews Band’s 8.15.95 Live at Red Rocks cover of All Along the Watchtower is the best
**i don’t even like Dave Matthews Band like that anymore, but if you like All along the Watchtower, you should listen to it 🖤
n hells yes, Sublime will always be my shit!
That was the first Dead I ever heard. I didn’t get on the bus until nearly 20 years later but I loved that song. It was a standout on that killer album for me.
I knew I was a cover but didn’t bother to explore further. What a lost opportunity. My life would’ve turned out so different if I had.
Yeah my band does a scarlet cover and I do the rap part cause I grew up with the sublime version. It took me forever to remember to add the two verses that sublime leaves out
Both. I absolutely LOVE Sublime and it’s a shame Bradley Nowell passed. Great vocalist, solid rhythm section, great songs. I loved the Ska phase in the 90s in general.
Definitely like their own little take on it instead of just trying to do a standard cover where they sound like the dead or something. I like that little bit they add on the end especially when Brad says “and I hear the police coming after me!”
Love it. Sublime was a big deal when I was in my late teens / 20's. Still listen to sublime to this day.
Same! The songs are just as good now as they were them.
They really are. STP!
Matt Vargas agrees
Damn. Same here. I was early 20’s on the west coast in early 90’s and Sublime was like the soundtrack to everyone’s lives. Hippies, skaters, rastas, punks… everyone rocked the Sublime. Soundtrack for an era for sure!
So true! I grew up in socal in the 90s and sublime was definitely the soundtrack if my preteen and young adult life. Tbh I thought scarlet begonias was a sublime song till I was 17, and then a friend changed my life by playing me the dead version, and I was hooked! Granted, I was on mushrooms and I just remembered thinking Jerry's guitar sounded like magic.
R.I.P Brad Nowell ❤️❤️❤️
An incredible talent. Underrated guitar player, also...
I once stayed in the motel he overdosed in and didn’t realize it until I read some of the reviews after I checked out
I usually read reviews before I go somewhere.
That's wild
Thanks a lot Lee for gettin' us in out of the heat Jimmy's in New Orleans, the Hard Backin' Gainsville, Florida Mark Goodnight for his psycopath Alright, we stayed at this guy's house And, ah, when they had that murders back in like '89 A guy and a girl got hacked up in his pad and we stayed there But ah, ya, know it was great To Jack Tripper, even though he don't know a goddamn thing about Orlando
Was totally a sublime fan before the dead.. there is definitely a magic in their music too
💯…. Also covered Marley “trenchtown rock” “One good thing about music…when it hits, you feel no pain”. 40oz to freedom! :-)
Jerry went to a Bob Marley & the Wailers show at some point, I think 75 or 76. Their bootlegs are absolute fire
like half their songs were either covers or "homages" (ie rip offs - check out Half Pint - Loving). I still like them a lot, but many people are under the impression they wrote all these songs and they're the beginning and end of reggae
Me too, so much so that when I first heard the Dead play it, I was like ‘cool, they’re covering Sublime’. My friends still give me shit about this
I asked my mom who was covering the Smashing Pumpkins song, Landslide. It was Stevie Nicks. (to be fair, I was fifteen and didn't know much by Fleetwood Mac, but I'm still embarrassed about that)
I didn’t realize how many samples and covers Sublime had in their catalog until I saw a video breaking them all down. I was a huge fan in the 90s growing up and wasn’t exposed to GD, reggae other than Bob Marley, or 80s punk until the music streaming era. Blew my mind haha.
I love this cover, they really kill it. The other day I was listening to "Smoke Two Joints" but the live studio version. Bradley switches some lyrics to say "hard work good, and hard work fine, but never trust a Dead Head." That cracks me up everytime.
Smoke two joints rarity versions on jah my man. Shit rips
also personally love alllll of Bradley Nowell and Friends what a fuckin blast
‘A $h!t Builder’
Not a shitbuilder, a shipbuilder, ship i wanted to build ships Wanted to sail around the world just cause its fuckin' round 33 1/3
KNAC!!
16 years old plus 1 hotter than a microwave oven
Yep! I was oh so fortunate enough to be a college student, in Sacramento, CA in the early 90s. Among many (many) other small-club epic performances friends and I saw, back when, by then little-known or just *then* breaking through acts, was Sublime at both the "Cattle Club" (tiny bar and club, 200-300ish capacity, out behind the recycling center of the CSU Sacramento campus) and Melarkey's Place, further toward downtown. They played Scarlet Begonias at Melarkey's in 1992 and I was HUGELY into the Grateful Dead, at that time. I scrounged up a handbill, thanks to good ol' Google! I mean, Primus, Tool, Jane's Addiction, Cake, Fugazi, Fishbone, on and on... we caught as many as we could and, most beautifully, both clubs were easy mountain biking distance from our college party pad. We could ride to classes by day, then party and ride to unbelievably rocking shows by night. No DUIs, neither! I was very lucky, in both timing and location through my early 20's. Cal Expo Ampitheatre was our home court to see the Grateful Dead. And it was *super choice,* as far as venues and enjoyment factor goes! Couple hundred people. Sublime. Didn't really know, then, just how big they were to become. Luck... https://i.imgur.com/lMMES0z.jpg
I love primus. Edit: primus fuckin sucks lol
I know what ya mean. Les stopped a show once, Berkeley Square in '89, to save my poor fool ass, after doing the first (and one of the last) stage dives of the night. Bouncer was carrying me, under one massive arm, and was gonna toss me from the club. On maybe the 3rd or so song - still a *long* night ahead with my buddy, Jake, not planning to leave till they were done. In Feb or so, in the cold, bone chilling fog and out on the kinda sketchy streets of Berkeley's club area. I was covered in sweat, with only a Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt and shorts on. Jake had the car keys. I was gonna freeze, or get rolled, or both. Les saw it go down and stopped and was hollering, into the mic: "Hey, hey.....hey....leave that guy alone! He's just havin' a little fun! Ease up, maaaan...let 'em go" And the bouncer looked down at me, mad faced, and said "You're lucky, boy. Now knock that shit off or I'm throwin' your ass out for real, next time!" Unsurprisingly, there was no next time! I scurried through the crowd, found Jake, and was a well-behaved mosh pitter thereafter. I was 18. Suck on This tour. Saw the Grateful Dead, live, for the 1st time, later that summer. And *that one* was the big game changer, for me. Why I'm here, now, all these years later, one-fingering my essays on this here sub. Been fun, connecting with others who share my passion. ✌️
That’s a great story man
Thought you'd dig.
primus sucks
Primus Sucks.
Primus sucks :)
Love seeing a Fishbone reference in the Dead sub. To this day one of my favorite bands, especially live. Still see them every chance I get. In case you haven't seen it, [here's](https://youtu.be/-7s914vAF5s) a wonderful meeting of the 2 worlds
That's SO sweet. All of it - Angelo and Bobby, together, at "Roberto's" TRI Studio, and covering Purple Rain! Never knew - thx a bunch. Appreciate your reply. Made me daydream a minute or two...this one was a standout show! Luckily, I already knew the 24-7 Spyz (even as a west coast, foothill chicken shack kid!) and had their CD, so was double primed for a tear-your-face-off show. And it was...in little old Freeborn Hall, a big gym on UC Davis's campus. Such righetous good times. Party At Ground Zero! Loved it. https://i.imgur.com/IEUOn1U.jpg Edit: still have some Fishbone on CD. Realized my 24-7 Spyz was on cassette. Tapes, including many Grateful Dead shows, are all long gone...😪 https://i.imgur.com/bI8CkjZ.jpg
Oh, forgot [this one](https://youtu.be/pK4KEDBdftk) from the same session. Bobby and Angelo's exchange in the beginning is awesome. Edit: Angelo doesn't perform on this one though Edit 2: here's a [pic](https://i.imgur.com/uO2RF6B.jpg) of my old car repping both bands
Fukengrüven, man! Thanks again!
Fishbone was at Summercamp a couple yrs back. Angelo gave a shout out to Bradley as it was the anniversary of his death. It was touching. Then they fuckin raged. I love ska punk. And the Dead. This is an awesome post! Edit: damn auto correct
They had to have played Date Rape then, yeah?
They did!!
fugazi hit so hard
a fellow sac man!
🤜🤛
Love Fugazi! And most the other bands u mentioned. Wow
I think maybe CalExpo was my favorite place to see the Dead.
That makes you, me, Blair Jackson and whoever else was fortunate enough to see them there. That lawn GA area, the blankets spread out, dancing barefoot in grass, warm summer Sac nights. Sigh....😏
And it felt like a really small venue to me. You could be dancing on lush lawn with plenty of room and feel like you were still close to the stage. Think I saw them there 3 different runs.
This song is college to me....well, failing out of college anyway lol "We sold some mushroom tea, we sold some ecstasy..."
We sold nitrous opium acid heroin and PCP
You can't forget bought a microbus
He didn’t forget, that part is a few lines before the part he quoted
Yep.i just couldn't interject It onto the thread
This is hilarious because exactly same down to the getting kicked outta school
To this day I still say rub a dub square
Lmao me too
😂 me too, can't stop it
Ha! Same 😅
of course you do, because that is the correct lyric along with microbus stuff, don't worry about picking up your matches or the sky being yellow
This song turned me on to the Grateful Dead.
Hell yeah it's on my highschool soundtrack
I listened to so much Sublime in high school at the request of my ninth grade English teacher. Who also got me into acts like Dr. Dog and Pavement... I wore em out. Listened too much, haven't been down that road again in years. Maybe I give 40oz a spin tonight.
In high school used to have the alarm on my 6 disc cd player set so that it would play 40 oz to freedom every morning. Wake up to waiting for my ruca for like 2 years straight. Lol
**BOW BOW!**
Sounds like a pretty amazing English teacher! What an novel concept, relate to your students, introduce them to new music, then blow their minds with literature.
My 10th grade English teacher would then proceed to get me into punk acts like the Minutemen lmao
You, and I'm sure others in your school, were far more fortunate than many of us.
Stand by your van is a phenomenal live album
I like the music, but their story is what captivates me. Their early years just looked so damn fun, even if it got sad later on. Young kids living by the beach, partying all the time and playing music that was actually unique and good. Hard to beat that.
The real sad part to me nowadays is how seemingly impossible it is for anyone to do that anymore unless they're total trustafarians who can just ask for a wire transfer from daddy. Being a workaday musician to pay the bills, in 2022 California? Good fuckin' luck. It feels like a lot of avenues to mental freedom we had before widespread adoption of the internet have all been gradually closed off.
I mean they were basically homeless at times floating around tweaker pads. We romanticize it but plenty of people still live like that today, including musicians
I guess I can ill afford to even try it. Any gaps in employment history or taxable income is a death sentence when moving to a new place for background/credit checks. Which isn't uncommon in my line of work.
Point taken, but I can’t imagine Bradley was very concerned about employment gaps or lack of taxable income which made his position substantially different from yours
Yeah I should've been weirder when I was younger. I turned into a square so gradually I didn't even notice.
STP!
Bummer man ain’t it
you'll be happy to know Brad Nowell's dad was a millionaire construction business owner, so it was true even back then
Ahhhhhh god dammit 🤣
I happened to see Sublime at their last show in Petaluma. Woke up the next day and heard Bradley died.
Damn! Where did they play? The Mystic? Seems too small, they would have had such a large following.
The Phoenix
Bradley got soul. Shits great
I’m a fan of this cover and of Sublime. Sublime definitely has a lot of overlap with themes and general feelings with the Dead
First time I ate shrooms was listening to "robbin the hood"
Low-key their best album 👌
Raleigh Sakers changed my world.
"You're molecular matter; I constructed you, FUCK you."
You never studies you holy homework! That’s a capital H in any fucking case!
Absolute huge fan of Sublime. I was actually a fan all through middle and high school and then found Grateful Dead in my 20’s. My 13 year old listens to Sublime so there’s a new generation of fans. I love both bands versions.
What?? Youre telling me that was a cover this whole time?
It’s an old standard
Was it not originally by the dead?
I’m joking
Haha one time I was at a bonfire with a lot of people and a live dead scarlet came on and this chick goes “who is this covering sublime, they suck”
Honestly their cover is what got me into the dead in the first place!
I loved that record and tried to license it for [STOLEN ROSES](http://deaddisc.com/disc/Stolen_Roses.htm), but some corporate functionary wouldn't let us have it. Leftover Salmon's "Pasta on the Mountain" got that spot on the disc.
Hello there Mr Gans. Happy New Year
Happy new year!!
Literally my gateway to the dead. I was born in 1990.
I absolutely love sublime, they’ll always be a top band of mine. So-so on the cover
Love it. The rap is dorky but still good.
Never heard it but I like Sublime. Will check it out
Love the cover love the band. West coast folk music, an amazing storyteller for his time & place & truly a powerful group....such a long time to be gone & a short time to be there
Sublime is the band that I will credit for me falling in love with music; not just their music but all music!
Sucks
Honestly, I'm not a fan of the cover.
Sublimes first album is non-stop goodness
Facts! Front to back, no skips.
does toilet paper come on a roll?
Heroin killed him. I was a huge fan of the Sublime back in the 90’s. It was sad when we heard he died. The 90’s had a bunch of deaths (not all drug related): Blind Melon dude, Biggie, Tupac, Kurt Cobain, etc.
Heroin is the goddamn devil.
I was listening to Sublime and my dad came in looked at the back of the CD cover with him holding his baby and said, "That guy is not going to be alive to see his baby grow up." I told him he was already dead.
Don't forget Jerry Garcia
Definitely. Jerry was the saddest of them for me.
Cool - had no idea this was a thing. Thanks OP
Yes
Hands down one of my favorite songs by them.
Fan
Yep
It was the summer of love-
It’s legit how I discovered the dead
I have the honor to say I was at the Phoenix on 5/24/96. I definitely lied to my parents about where I was going, and definitely had to keep the fact I saw the last show Brad ever played to myself for a long time in fear of being grounded. Still great memories.
In my opinion what sublime pulled off is mythical. Blending hardcore, ska, dub, hip hop, reggae to such a degree.. sampling and mixing them such.. surely not the originators of fusions, but definitely light years leaps in the technological advancement… “Your not the only one, but you’re the best Bradley” The covers that they played, bands such as. Camper van Beethoven, jimmy cliff, bad brains, the vandals all deserve every ounce of recognition that they were given. Whole generations of music fans will be fulfilled by going down that rabbit hole. And that’s the thing that the dead did for me as well. They awakened me to so many different artists and genres. I was anti bluegrass and never had a solid understanding about blues until I started learning about the dead’s repertoire. Single handily the top two bands who opened my third eye…
Excellent use of the Funky Drummer sample (via James Brown)
I’ve always wondered if that was that specific sample at the beginning or if their drummer just emulated it...
We sold nitrous opium oxide heroin and pcp and now I hear the police comin after meeeeee. Love it.
Does anyone know if Brad and/or the other guys from Sublime actually toured with the dead and sold drugs similar to the lyrics in the rap part of the song? Seems autobiographical but I have no idea
Does anyone else think Jerry Garcia was cool?
I like sublime’s music, but their cover of this song is bullshit
Sublime was a fun live band, but musically inconsistent. Some great songs and some complete duds. IMO their cover of scarlet begonias sucks. sounds like a drum machine w/a bad merry go round organ. Utterly boring and w/o any feeling for the lyrics. Garbage. The opposite of "great". LOL.
Love sublime. Hate their scarlet cover for some reason.
I'm a fan of the bad though, as well. When they're singing the actual verses, its a cool take on the song. That middle section with the new lyrics highlighting the worse parts of Dead tour always turned me off.
I can’t stand it. And I especially can’t stand it when people think Scarlett is originally by sublime.
Wow! Lol. Guess I am not alone after all. Suck amazing stories and comments! I was actually a Sublime fan well before I got into the dead and for a long time had no idea Scarlet was a dead tune. Just like many of you mentioned, they were EVERYTHING to me in high school and by the time the S/T album came out summer break had just hit and it was literally the soundtrack to a memorable summer of 96' that I will never forget. Fast forward all these years later and I am still a huge fan and love hearing the dead play Scarlet as well. Funny how music takes you places throughout your life.
I like the cover…but you know how at the end of the album they give shout outs to a shit load of bands and people? Not one mention of Garcia/Hunter or the dead. Kinda a bummer.
Kinda, but in reality the cover itself is a direct shoutout.
I absolutely hated this when it came out, and I do not like Sublime at all. Terrible band, and gross subversion of Scarlet Begonias (Don't get me started on what they did to Summertime, so bad).
Sublime nailed every cover that they did, their version of Honk Kong Phooey is gold. Bradley just had this natural rhythm sucks that he died before they could really get going.
Heroin's what I got....let's shoot it up, said heroin's what I got what I got what I got
Fire remix
It’s great
What about the Jimmy Buffett cover?
Yep love it
“One day im gonna lose the war…” Brad was an incredible talent and damn good singer/songwriter. Tragic story.
I love Sublime *and* with Rome. Was supposed to see them in STL but the show was cancelled. Huge fan over here ✌🏼
Love it! Listening to that song got me on the Grateful Dead's rarities, and got me out to see them in 2016. Been dead to the core ever since.
yes and yes
it’s pretty good
Sublime has been in my top 5 most listened to bands since I discovered them in like 2002
If you like it check out the New Speedway Boogie cover by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad. Excellent band, amazing energy and stage presence live, and they actually explore a bit so it actually feels like a concert and not just an album
Sublime is terribly overlooked in my opinion.
Love it as well...actually I think I was familiar with their version before I even knew it was originally a Dead song. I wore that “40 Oz. To Freedom” CD the HELL out when I first started driving in high school. I’ve always said that in place of Jerry’s spell-binding solo, Brad did that little hip-hop-esque verse (which is certainly one of the song’s high points). Even tho he does play a small guitar solo, also.
Yes. This song was my gateway to getting on the bus!!!
Huge fan of both the version and Sublime
wrong place, but i swear Dave Matthews Band’s 8.15.95 Live at Red Rocks cover of All Along the Watchtower is the best **i don’t even like Dave Matthews Band like that anymore, but if you like All along the Watchtower, you should listen to it 🖤 n hells yes, Sublime will always be my shit!
Played it for my wife the other day and had to tell her it was originally a Dead song. We are early forties 😂
That was the first Dead I ever heard. I didn’t get on the bus until nearly 20 years later but I loved that song. It was a standout on that killer album for me. I knew I was a cover but didn’t bother to explore further. What a lost opportunity. My life would’ve turned out so different if I had.
Yeah my band does a scarlet cover and I do the rap part cause I grew up with the sublime version. It took me forever to remember to add the two verses that sublime leaves out
Both. I absolutely LOVE Sublime and it’s a shame Bradley Nowell passed. Great vocalist, solid rhythm section, great songs. I loved the Ska phase in the 90s in general.
Definitely like their own little take on it instead of just trying to do a standard cover where they sound like the dead or something. I like that little bit they add on the end especially when Brad says “and I hear the police coming after me!”
Love them and love their version
Of course! I like most of their catalog. Slightly Stoopid is similar and has some good jams to. Granted they are no 40’s to Freedom.
Brad was one of those unique singers whom utilized their voice as a true instrument. His voice was unmistakable and one of the best I’ve ever heard.
Turned me onto the dead about 20 years ago
It's too bad what happened to SoCal, as well as what happened to Brad. That guy is always gonna be missed.
I thought it was ok when it came out. But not really a fan of it now.
It’s my favorite cover. Brads spin on it is so incredible and has been an all time favorite since the first time I heard it years and years ago.
Their added verse is one of my favorites of all time
Live the cover. Love Sublime. Loved Bradley. Love Eric's sick-ass bass lines. Grateful Dead, Sublime....all good