The Grateful Dead May 1977 Poll

Well, I'll be damned. I bought the OFFICIAL Cornell dealie in the hopes that it'd turn my head around on it. And it does, and I'm digging it...and I'm realizing that the "Cornell '77" recording I heard before wasn't even this show. No idea what show it was, but "They Love Each Other" was a completely different tempo, and the set included "Truckin'."

Were they still doing Truckin in 77? (probably)

Inspired by this thread, have been digging through my (legit) Dead 77 holdings. Starting w/ the Winterland 77 bonus disc from 12/5/1977 Chicago with a v sweet Mississippi Half-Step, Garcia sounding exquisite on two longish solos.

don't think i'd ever say that Cornell is THE BEST SHOW EVER but I will say after recent listens that the "Row Jimmy" on it is all time best. Garcia's solo is just pure beauty there.

Eleven Truckin's in '77.

http://www.setlists.net/?search=true&venue=&city=&state=&month=&day=&year=77&songs=Truckin%27%0D%0A&submit=Search

got the box this weekend. haven't had the chance to listen but WOW what a presentation.

yeah, getting the box wasn't in the budget, but i was very jealous seeing it show up on my social feeds this weekend. looks beautiful.

The recording I had (but deleted, because I needed the hard drive space) I swore had "Truckin'," "Franklin's Tower," and "They Love Each Other." But apparently, they didn't play all three at any show in '77.

Hm, OK, I think the "Cornell" show I had was actually 12/19/78 in Jackson, MS. Not awful (from the clips I just listened to in order to confirm what I remembered), but certainly not in the vicinity of Cornell's reputation.

otm on that 'row jimmy', it's gorgeous

on the cornell audience tape you can hear a dude desperately calling out for truckin -- "AMERICA'S FAVORITE SONG!! TRUCKIN'!!!" but they do not heed his request.

lmao

hahaha

I like that the audience member thought, "You know, just yelling 'Truckin'!' doesn't get the point across. I need something to buttress my argument..."

"Bob, did you hear that?"
"What, Jer?"
"Someone called out for 'Truckin'.'"
"Yeah, dude, that happens every four seconds. I hear it in my sleep."
"But hold on, apparently...and stay with me on this...it's America's favorite song!"
"...the country, or the band?"
"What difference does it make? How can we turn down such a well-reasoned case?"
"Good point, Jer. Let's do it."

so this is sourced from the betty boards? it sounds pretty different compared to the SBD (i thought) I had. it's up on spotify! if the fidelity is that much different for all the shows i sorta wished i'd sprung for it

It is a Betty, yes. There's something different for sure. These sound matrix-y. Someone who knows more about this than I do might be able to expand on this from a technical standpoint, but I hear the crowd in a way I didn't on previous SBDs. Really, these are some of the best *sounding* Dead shows I've ever heard.

New Haven is better than its reputation would have you believe btw

i'm guessing they just had a better technician handling the mixing/mastering than whoever originally circulated the tapes

yeah it does sound good -- i was wondering if they incorporated some elements of the audience recording in there, since yeah, you can hear more going on there. Keith's keys sound better/more prominent in places too.

the screaming guy in jack straw sounds about the same though

i had never listened to this show before and i don't know if it approaches pembroke pines, which was my dead gateway, but damn, "scarlet > fire" is kicking my ass

"this show" meaning cornell

it's a good one for sure (love jerry's first solo) but it misses some of the weird kind of funky rhythmic interplay between bob and jerry in the intro

love how they included the 'take a step back...' bit specifically as part of the track on here ha

very heavy on the phil, and i can tell a lot of people are way into that

5/5 New Haven (please explain)

Listening to it this afternoon. St. Stephen on this is great, goes from gentle Jerry/Donna vocals that are really *on* into a fiery jam. In fact, whole second set is fire.

I actually agree. Made that mildly snarky comment in the poll before re-listening to this new version. Second set is indeed excellent (but still doesn't touch the other 3 shows of that week). First set is about average, but I need another average first set of Dead music like a need a hole in my water bong

holy fuck the Sugaree at New Haven is OUTSTANDING.

yeah, that one is so good.
is 77 when they reintroduced Good Lovin to the live set? With Weir leading the way that song is super skippable.

if you like that one you might like saint paul 5/11 or 10/16 louisana state, both get kind of fierce

xp

The one and only time I saw Dark Star orchestra they did the St. Paul '77 setlist. That was a good show.

I listened to New Haven in the car today and then when I got into the office (laptop & headphones instead of CD player) I listened to Baton Rouge 9/1/69, whose sound quality is complete garbage but whose set/performance is just a completely diff. world. not sure if the keys are Pig or Tom Constanten (likely the latter) but they're just so good and lively. the distance from '69 to '77 is just so so great

Blasphemy, I know, but these days I prefer even 90s Dead to 60s Dead. Pig bums me out and TC is a snore

not trying to harsh on my dead lovin online buds

and I am a mild fan, and have spent dozens of hours trying to get"there" - live dead, Europe 72, old renaissance fairgrounds, the studio albums etc

listening to Cornell and right now Scarlett Begonias is really great, but how do you guys deal with stuff like Dancing in the Street (not the middle jam which is ok) but just desecrating the absolute genius and economy of that original into this tepid hippie shuffle then esp at the end when they "break it down" and it's "dan....cin dancing in the streets EVERYBODY"

it's just so mortifying I feel embarrassed fur everyone listening to it and like we clown dudes like Bonnamassa but this is ok?

again on the whole I'm enjoying this and not trying to fight

btw on fire on the mountain and I'm assuming this is why this show was a big deal? pretty cosmik

also small thing but someone should have thrown that Auto wah (envelope filter?) pedal in the trash

no wonder Treehouse banned you.

it's just so mortifying I feel embarrassed fur everyone listening to it and like we clown dudes like Bonnamassa but this is ok?
haha, i was listening to the cornell dancing this week and thinking simultaneously "goddamn this is dumb" and "goddamn this is great."

no wonder Treehouse banned you.

― by the light of the burning Citroën, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 9:03 AM (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol do we know each other irl?

i think i heard them referred to as 'this ridiculous band that i can't stop listening to' at one point and that about sums it up. once you get further in, the added context gained makes it sort of addicting to keep digging in no matter how lame it can get. so unless you want to find yourself looking up rankings of different 'take a step backs' on headyversion dot com i'd almost advise not dipping in any further

Yeah, their post-hiatus versions of Dancing are so cringey, though the jams sometimes go to special places. For anyone underwhelmed by Cornell, I strongly recommend the Red Rocks 7/8/78 show that was released last year. It has a similar sanitized coked-up late-70s Dead sheen, but a bit rougher around the edges. It's a total party, with a superior setlist imo. Also Dick's Picks 33, a double-header from 1976, should not be slept on.

xpost - citroen

if you have any legit problem with me please ILX webmail me, that incident was part of many others and not really a joke given his history of attacking people irl and threatening women including getting in my wife's face when we had our 2 yr old with us

xpost - do you guys like old renaissance fairgrounds? that's more early 70s and i really liked that one alot, i think i chose it off a site because it was well regarded?

the early 70s the instrument tones are a lot better....though since those posts i've gotten almost through the scarlett begonias > fire on the mountain > estimated prophet which i'm assuming is probably why this set has such cache

xp

sorry, joking off the Minnesotans thread, well aware of the issues there. (think we've met in the past, and I've seen you play)

'morning dew' is really good from cornell and i don't even generally like their version

>xpost - do you guys like old renaissance fairgrounds?

Oh hell yeah, it's as close as they ever got to the platonic ideal of a Grateful Dead concert and is widely regarded as such. While there are a couple of shows from 72 and 73 that I might prefer personally (4/7 and 4/8/72 and 8/1/73 come to mind), 8/27/72 is truly definitive, and it would be if it only consisted of "Bird Song" and "Dark Star">"El Paso". And the fact that it was captured on film is miraculous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URtCml8FHrU

and it would be if it only consisted of "Bird Song" and "Dark Star">"El Paso"

OK, maybe this is hyperbole. It's just a great show!

8/27/72 veneta is probably my candidate for best show of all time -- think it's got everything that's good about the Dead in there, except pigpen (and I'm usually a little lukewarm with him). and the movie is great too. it's what I'd give to anyone wanting to get into the Dead i think.
i like that late 70s autowah/envelope filter haha. wah wah wah wah wah

also small thing but someone should have thrown that Auto wah (envelope filter?) pedal in the trash

this is crazy, Jerry w/ Mu-tron is one of the best sounds in music

8/27/72 veneta is probably my candidate for best show of all time -- think it's got everything that's good about the Dead in there, except pigpen (and I'm usually a little lukewarm with him). and the movie is great too. it's what I'd give to anyone wanting to get into the Dead i think.

otm, major gateway for a lot of people. Turned my gf from "dead hater" to "dead neutral"

"playing in the band" from veneta is infinitely deep

Not a huge fan of the 77 Dancing in the Streets - def prefer the version on Dick's Picks 8 from 1970 (overall, one of the greatest Dead shows) - but I think there's still something admirable about them covering it - an openness to all kinds of American music, a refusal to acknowledge boundaries and distinctions between rock and pop and soul and country. And yeah, I kinda love that funky Auto Wah sound in the right place and time.

Am definitely one of those ppl who think it can't be a definitive Dead Set w/out a Dark Star, which is one of the reasons why Veneta scores so highly, but I'm also very partial to the last London Lyceum show on 5/26/72, and that doesn't have a Dark Star, tho it does feature the Truckin' and Morning Dew (one to rival the Cornell version) from Europe 72, minus the post-production sweetening. Don't think you can go too far wrong with ANY '72 show tbh, definitely their peak year.

xp

sorry, joking off the Minnesotans thread, well aware of the issues there. (think we've met in the past, and I've seen you play)

― by the light of the burning Citroën, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 9:19 AM (forty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

cool no worries :)

upper miss you do have to open yourself up to that mu-tron. I'm w/you largely on "dancin'" - waiting for the vocals to stop and the jam to begin on that tune is the longest wait in any post-pigpen Dead show -- but then sometimes it does open into some v cosmic jamming

OTOH while you love the original song it is not even a top 30 motown tune for me so I'm not so bothered by how tepid the presentation of the lyric is in the Dead's read, the words are just there to get to the break

Okay, I'm listening to the Atlanta show again today, and I'm going out on a limb to say it's - if not "better" than Barton Hall - pretty much my ideal Dead listening right now.

No "El Paso" or "Mama Tried" in the first set to harsh my mellow (sorry, not a fan of Dead versions of either) and Bob isn't all shouty on "Minglewood." I'm also not big on "Dancin' in the Streets" and kinda burned out on "Scarlet/Fire" these days, so I prefer the Atlanta setlist to Barton.

Sound on this is stellar too, you can really hear the guitar interplay between Jerry and Bob. Plenty of shimmery leads, but it (almost never) gets over-noodly.

I'm even digging "Lazy Lightning/Supplication," and I'm generally not into those much.

how do you rate the night after? a couple nice slow takes there too

Not familiar, I'll give it a try!

listened to 4/23/77 the other day, kind of my ideal setlist and there's even a matrix recording which i'm normally into but i found the show pretty flat overall... i think there's some saying about not judging a show by the setlist, guess i learned that one

An offending extract from the Sam Cutler book (sorry for long quote)

On the second night of the Port Chester gig, high as a kite and feeling good, with the briefcase stashed and everything in order, I wandered back into the auditorium. The place was cooking, literally —it felt as hot as a baker’s oven. The same policeman in full uniform uniform I had seen earlier now stood at the side of the room with his back to a wall. Immediately in front of him, a couple of thousand delirious hippies were having the time of their lives. I wandered across to say hello.

I introduced myself, showing him my security pass, and asked how he was doing. He remembered me from before, but seemed a little friendlier this time. “Man, I been here for over two hours and I’m sweatin’ and I ain’t had nothin’ to drink and I need a break,” he told me. I smiled at him.

“You fancy a beer? I’ll get you a beer if you want one.”

He looked horrified. “Man, it’s more than my life’s worth to drink a beer. I’m on duty.”

I sighed sympathetically and apologized, saying, “Of course you are, sorry about that. Anyway, what d’you think of the show?”

He smiled. “That’s one hell of a band you got there; the acoustic set was great.” I thought to myself, well, at least he likes the music. He motioned with his arm to the kids boogying like mad in the auditorium. “Nice buncha kids, no problems here, these kids are having fun.”

I looked at him and smiled. “Tell you what, buddy, I know you’re on duty, but you surely could drink a Coca-Cola, couldn’t you?”

He sighed. “You know what, I’d love one, but before we came on duty we had a briefing from the captain and he told us all not to touch anything, ’cos it was likely to be contaminated with that LSD.”

I was as high as the Empire State Building, and I smiled at him again. “Seems a pity a man can’t have a drink on such a hot night.”He nodded and looked glum. I pretended to have a flash of inspiration.

“Tell you what. I could get you a Coca-Cola unopened. That way you’d be safe. There’s no way anyone can mess with a Coca-Cola in an unopened can. You can open it yourself.”

“You know what,” he said, “I reckon that would be okay.” I fetched a cold drink from the garbage can that stood on the stage and wiped away the excess water. Between the tab and the lip of the can a small drop of magic was applied, and I wandered back into the auditorium to find my thirsty policeman. I handed him the unopened can and he pulled the tab and drank with a gasp of satisfaction.

I gave him a wink and told him, “You want another one, you just let me know.” I leaned against the wall with my new best buddy and looked at the audience, checking out the view. A short time passed and the policeman took off his hat. Then he loosened his tie. It was, after all, really hot in the building. “Would you like another Coke?” I asked and he nodded appreciatively. I wandered backstage and grabbed a couple, though it was no longer necessary for the magic ingredient to be applied. He smiled as I handed him the Cokes and nodded toward the audience.

Less than five feet away, a lovely girl danced. She moved like a flower that stands in a soft breeze, her arms like petals wandering above her head, and her whole being shining with a serene light. She danced for herself; she danced for creation; she danced with the music; and she danced quite naturally and effortlessly for the policeman, who thought of himself for once as the luckiest man in the world.

I returned backstage to stand behind the amplifiers, to lose myself in the music of the gods and to relax. Over the stage apron I could see the policeman: he was smiling. In front of him, several beautiful girls were dancing as if for his pleasure. He was like a Pasha with his harem. He was no longer the outsider but was now the same as all of us in the auditorium, at one with the people and the music. Garcia noticed the cop and smiled knowingly at me. I grinned to myself as a voice in my head softly whispered the words: “Game, set, and match.”

It always amazes me that so many people considered dosing someone without their consent a light-hearted prank and not a violation. All those stories of Pigpen specifically saying he didn't want to trip and them making a game out of trying to slip it to him anyway seem creepy to me, even more so when told as though it was just this amusing goof-off. Ditto those times in the Haight house when Lesh (or maybe it was Weir) refused to trip and Bear essentially stormed up and harangued them into doing it despite their objections.

Have I repped for The Mosque 5/25? I've listened to that one a few times on Archive. Laid back and lovely, esp "He's Gone."
― smug dinner-jazz atrocity (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, June 13, 2017 12:05 PM (two months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

came to post about this, really nice. think this might be my favorite may 77 show now, tied with pembroke pines probably

i’m like fucking obsessed with the buffalo show

i'm coming around to thinking AUDs or Matrixes are better than SBDs, you get more of the atmosphere- people singing along, cheering, getting kicked out for smoking, etc. seems the true heads hate em tho because this show is excellent and all the comments are complaining about 'too much high end' and stuff

https://archive.org/details/gd77-05-12.aud.clugston.6484.sbeok.shnf

nah, i think Heads are pretty much split on the AUDs vs SBDs debate with strong feelings in both directions. for me it comes down to my mood at the time. 75% of the time i go for SBDs because i want to be able to focus on the music, but some of the well done AUDs from the 80s in particular are worth hearing.

i'd been doing a trawl through the '85 summer tour starting from the Greek 20th anniversary run and i hit on a couple AUDs from the Oade brothers that i really liked.

a good matrix will give the best of both worlds, but i think finding a "good" one that isn't just harsh cut to audience sounds between songs is difficult sometimes.

most shocking revelation from AUDs is that people cheered at the fact a bob song was starting

(his guitar is quite loud on this mix and it's excellent fyi)

i haven't paid much attention to anything past 1983- but it's my understanding that the taper phenomenon really started picking up steam around then. i could easily see quality matrixes coming out due to that

i haven't listened to any of the tapes from that show, i usually get my fix from the first May 1977 box. i'll have to add that to my list next time i get back in a May '77 mood. as deep as that month is, i got a little burned out on it after last year's box.

i heard the SBD for this was released as part of some winterland set so if you're too picky for an AUD you could probably track that down on soulseek or something

AUDs from 1974 are pretty interesting, because they capture the feel Wall of Sound, which doesn't come through in SBDs of the era.

the roosevelt stadium aud (8/6/74) is fantastic for that reason, and also because they somehow drop into scarlet begonias out of playin' in the band and it's sloppy and totally awesome

if you just want a sampling of this 5/12 i'd say the half-step is excellent, the terrapin is great, and weirdly, dancin' is a highlight for once. it goes to some unique spaces

listening to 5/9, i normally don't care for 77 Other Ones but this is a ripper, Keith doing some crazy stuff here

i’m like fucking obsessed with the buffalo show

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, January 20, 2018 12:55 AM (three months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the buffalo show is so good

this not fade away is excellent too, love it when they chug away at the intro for a good couple minutes

Dan -- Buffalo opens with an outstanding Help > Slip > Franklin, you'd love it if you're a Help guy (I am too)

― Wimmels, Tuesday, 25 April 2017 14:57 (one year ago) Permalink

Finally listening to this one year after the recommendation. Yeah, this cooks.

giving cornell a spin a day late and man great show but this groovy jazzy version of "Mama Tried" is so shit compared to the awesome acid cowboy roller on skull & roses, why would you make such a baffling arrangement decison.

Well...there probably was a lot of drugs involved.

looking for a mutron? i think someone famous owned this one

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JERRY-GARCIAS-pedal-A-piece-of-GRATEFUL-DEAD-history-BigSteve/312462357387?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131231084308%26meid%3Db30a40aa2d3c47349b265f69758ac2cb%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D312462333125%26itm%3D312462357387&_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109

happy cornell day

i like the AUD of this show because you can hear the wasted dude yelling "Play America's favorite song — TRUCKIN!!!!"

"take a step back! and yet another step back! do you all feel better? ...what do you mean, 'no'?"

Someone should do a "Grayfolded"-type collage of all the "take a step back!"s.

i think someone's done a collection of weir's dumbest stage banter ...

Okay now listening to the Buffalo show :) woohaaa this project is eating me alive.