I love this song and have always been disappointed that it doesn’t get more props. I think this, Freak Scene, Pond Song and They Always Come are my favorite songs from Bug.

this song is definetly underated. one of my favorites off of bug, as well as freak scene, budge and teh post

Last night at the Indianapolis show someone requested Let it Ride and Lou said he was sorry but he had no idea how to play that song. He pointed to J and Murph and said "these guys aren’t the problem, it’s me. I’m the one to blame for not learning it." or something to that effect. So you have your answer for why they don’t play it live. Maybe if we nag Lou enough he’ll learn it.

The irony here is that one of the main reasons why Let it Ride is so good is that it has one of the best bass lines of any of the Dinosaur Jr songs. If Lou is indeed playing the bass line on this recording that is. Things were getting ugly around this time. I always associated this line with Lou, however, as it has his character all over it. The next time you listen to Let if Ride, pay attention to the bass all the way through and you’ll get an idea of just how good he is. It’s this kind of bass that made me consider the original lineup with Lou an order of magnitude more talented than any of the later versions, live or on record. The first three albums have song writing, life, fire, creative force, and a mixture of playing styles that was never quite duplicated. I got all these albums at their release and back then, each was considered a staple. While Green Mind is good, it lacks some of the raw quality of the first three, in my opinion.

The last irony in my view is that compared to all early shows I saw back in the 80s, their sound is now too much VOLUME over quality which seems to be lost on a good number of the patrons these days (perhaps the ear plugs make it a moot point anyway). Then again, I didnt hear them but at one venue on his tour but I can safely say that Lou’s bass was buried in the mix and the sound mediocre at best. The vocals were completely lost as were any ability to recreate microdynamics which are still important in a good number of their songs (especially on the first album – and gives more depth to songs like the Lung to In a Jar where section dynamics allowed more tension build and release etc). Lou is such a great bass player and is another of those perfect mixes of guitar/bass background that it’s a shame that the louder than God doesnt allow the quality to come through. I love LOUD and the wall of sound if it can be pulled off. The trick is allowing the individual lines to roll to the surface where needed, something that wasnt able to come through in Myrtle Beach. And the vocals were so buried in the mix even to the point of being lost, especially on Lou’s songs. The bass drum was poorly mixed as well and was loose and lacked definition; it was overloading the PA big time. If you know the first Dinosaur album well, you know that this wall of sound is not really its driving force. Many of these songs are classics but lost something in the latest tour mix although they were STILL great and blew away so many of the current fare.

Not sure this is the right place to even ask as I dont think many here were around to see a lot of the 80s shows but I thought the sound guy at Myrtle Beach was bordering on useless. J, lou, and murph always went for the great wall of sound, larger than life at times, but they now seem to take this to a level that overpowers the hell out of the club. The House of Blues in Myrtle was the second largest on the tour and maybe they felt the need to fill it. When I walked in during Deadmeadow, I groaned as if taking a bullet, recognizing the sickening overload of the bass and bottom end, too much for th building. I silently cursed the sound man. I prayed that Dinosaur might have a new sound guy would come to the rescue but it was a no go. Still enjoyed the show, but if you didnt know EVERY song by heart, you wouldnt know what the F*ck was going on. I’ve played these LPs to the point of replacing them (by the way, the LP KILLS the CD, even in the latest re-issue with the remixing). They received a rather tepid, smattering of applause for the encore after which Lou said, "I’ve heard some lousy encore calls but that’s the WORST ever." In my opinion, a lot had to do with the sonics which were handled with little skill on that night in Myrtle BEach. I’d avoided the House of Blues like the plague so wondered if the place has sorry sound but was imformed by an old bandmate that he had heard very good in the past.

Sorry to say that this show, while having one of the best set lists of any Dinosaur show I’ve seen since the 80s, was perhaps the worst sounding in terms of balance. On another note, I never wear earplugs and have heard LOUDER shows but ones that were also mixed and mic’ed with more ability and attention to club acoustics. I was going to attend the Chapel Hill show as well just to see, but was unable. Here’s to hoping they pulled this balancing act off in other venues, pleasing more than the "hell yeah, dinosaur jr rocks hard and were killer man" contingent. They still remain one of the all-time greats of that time.

kh

PS –btw, my apologies on the somewhat rambling, uneven, and at times, repetitive post…. I had to get up early and the coffee was sTROONNG. I tried to edit but it went downhill from there.

I wrecked a car when I was a kid listening to Let It Ride.

Barrelling down some country roads, getting high, going well over the speed limit. (Bug makes you drive fast!) car spun out on a real tight turn and I did like two 360’s right through someones mailbox. When the car stopped, J was still jamming, "I’ll be by your siiiiiidddeeeee". Then I had the mellow pond song right after to help regain my bearings and get the hell out of there !

I remember a similar sound problem at the Pittsburgh show. There, I think the problem was the pa set up. If you stood all the way up front, you were pretty much level with the speakers to your left and right, leaving you at the mercy to whatever you were closest to on stage. I was right in front of J, so I got blasted with guitar (which was actually pretty cool), and really only heard a rumble of bass and the drum beat. If I didn’t know all the songs, I wouldnt have gotten the lyrics.

I heard that people on Lou’s side got a heavy dose of bass, but the volcals were weak all around. I tried stepping back for a little bit, and the vocals did get better, but I decided to stay up front.

I’ve heard of MVB having the same problem, and fixing it by turning thier monitors around onto the crowd.

gosh, yeah… trust me, marijuana + driving = no good