Grateful Dead live, Dick's Picks etc - S&D

Yeah, I've heard some weird mix shows and I definitely like hearing them. Half the time the Dead sound good it just seems like an accident! With all the tapes out there, there's so much room for fucking around... What Oswald did was interesting but it was all based on 2-track mixdowns, and it was 25 years ago now, and I'm tantalized by how much more is possible!

Lotta soundboards from this period sound wonky for the first 1-3 songs because they were just dialing in the sounds, people ever actually listening to these was the furthest thing from their mind (as opposed to Betty Boards and audience tapes)

like, here's an AI trying to do "king solomon's marbles": https://jukebox.openai.com/songs/787978798

happy anniversary

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/417X2A5X0EL.jpg

Wow man! Must check. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick%27s_Picks_Volume_8

like, here's an AI trying to do "king solomon's marbles": https://jukebox.openai.com/songs/787978798

― Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, April 30, 2020 4:21 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Lol, sounds like The War on Drugs!

Anyone been listening to the 36 From the Vault podcast? I find it's been pretty useful for me contextualising different time periods for the band as I've only just been getting into them over the last year or so. Also made with the assumption that people who listen to Dead live shows have a lot of patience for fucking around, which is probably fair.

The out of tune guitars in the acoustic set of Dick's Picks 8 make me wince.

I love the Dead, but I struggle with their acoustic sets.

So now https://www.jambase.com/article/grateful-dead-workingmans-dead-50th-anniversary--skipping Live/Dead" bummer, and what the Hell, man?? I realize we already had the Beyond-Deluxe Complete 1969 Fillmore Concerts or whatever the exact title may be, but can't afford that! Just the reremasted orginal and a bonus show would be fine.

I love Vol 8. The Viola Lee Blues on that slays.

One of my local record stores just posted on Facebook that a customer has sold them a complete CD set of Dick's Picks.

xpost - Apparently there's a real dearth of good quality 1970 shows in the vault, which is why they jumped ahead for this '71 Capitol Theatre show.

I figured they would have done something for Live/Dead, but I guess not. My dreams of the '69 Ark box live on.

Meantime, this new Dave's Picks from 6/23/74 at the Jai-Alai Fronton is sounding fantastic and tiding me over. Long been a fan of this show, great to have an official release. The bonus disc from the night before is terrific too.

That one contains "the sole Grateful Dead performance of Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock." I don't think they ever delivered a version of "Around and Around" that I liked, so that is not going to sell me. I'll check it out though.

Haha, that's nowhere near the peak of the show, but the "Let It Rock" does slay - I like it better than most of the JGB versions I've heard and it makes me with the Dead worked it into their Berry rotation more often.

It's the "Dark Star > Spanish Jam" and the jam into "Ship of Fools" that are the selling points for me on the main show.

https://youtu.be/r9vnz8nzZus

(in re: to the discussion above about wonky mixes, etc)

Apparently there's a real dearth of good quality 1970 shows in the vault, which is why they jumped ahead for this '71 Capitol Theatre show.

Almost certainly, there are a handful more outtakes/alternative mixes in the can that haven't seen release from 1970 as well than what's been officially (Though, in both cases maybe more from the American Beauty era).

I think the reason that '71 show was picked had more to do with it being a full pristine 16-track recorded show (from the run that would become the '71 Grateful Dead/Skullfuck album) than anything.

Personally, I would have rather seen a two bonuses disks of assorted 1970 live rarities, outtakes, what have you, but given the heavy live focus that GDP has had on recent reissues, that was just not going to be the case.

Oh I don't think you are wrong, I'm just going with the somewhat official line about the lack of '70s shows. I have no doubt they could compile something much better, but they seem to be really all in on the full shows being packaged with these reissues.

One of the good things about lockdown is that I've been able to get through the extensive live catalogue like never before. I'll soon be racking up a Gladwellian 10,000 hours expertise...

I've finally pushed past '72, and I'm really coming round to see the virtues of '77.

feeling like more of a deadhead than ever these days. must be the summer.

dick’s pick’s 12 (June 26 & 28, 1974, providence & Boston) is a new discovery for me. This Spanish Jam is sick!!

Reading through this thread like YES GIMME MORE
Is there a definitive book/bio for a relative noob?

Having trouble setting up some kind of listening plan here too. Tips are surely welcome

A Long Strange Trip By Dennis McNally may be deifinitive.

Searching For Th eSound by Phil Lesh was quite good
So was Bill Kreuitzmann's memopir but you might want to be better versed when you read that, not sure how important taht is.

Could do with a new take on the Deadhead's tape comapnion vol 1 now that the full gigs are avaialble and more of tehm.
THought that was good when most of the sets available seemed to be trading incomplete and Dick's Picks hadn't been set up fully yet.
Could be taht something like that is already around? But chronological layout is pretty important I think.

yes thanks a lot, just ordered Long Strange Trip

Having trouble setting up some kind of listening plan here too. Tips are surely welcome

Help is on the way! Because I'm a detail-oriented type, whenever I decide to explore the discography of an artist I like but never got around, I tend to make a "syllabus": read a biography, listen to the records and any live bootlegs as I go, read contemporary press. Anyway, when I got into the Dead a few years ago, I did the same with Long Strange Trip.

Here's a link to a Google doc that goes chapter by chapter. It's by no means complete--I got bored with "prepping" by 1972--and I don't remember my criterion for choosing shows, and they are all obvious choices I'm sure. Let me know if it is any use--after all that research, I don't remember if I ever managed to make my way through the shows, ha.

Hey thanks! I'm kinda doing that now, watched the Long Strange Trip doc and ordered the McNally book. So i'm checking out all threads, reading and listening all day long (as much as possible) don't know why exactly i'm obsessing over them right now. Doesn;t seem important to know either. I'm just living in the moment and enjoying the ride

the mcnally book is really good

Also worth reading:

This is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead - Blair Jackson & David Gans (perfect companion to the McNally book, with a wide range of sources quoted/consulted)
Fare Thee Well - Joel Selvin with Pamela Turley ( interesting, sometimes dispiriting account of what happened to the Dead after Garcia's death)
Growing Up Dead - Peter Conners (memoir of a teenage deadhead, the best book on the subculture)

That Selvin book is really key for learning more about where the Dead went after Jerry die, but it's a depressing read. Phil and his wife look pretty awful.

I recently read both Phil's and Billy's books, which are good for different reasons. I liked reading about Phil's classical music background and his take on the music, while Billy's is a much lighter take and it sounds just like you are sitting next to him at the bar listening to him spin tales.

"after Jerry died"

One from the Vault is tight, enjoying this one a lot. Amazing opening with Help on the Way/Slipknot/Franklin

5/19/74 Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR - China Cat Sunflower > Rider. Gorgeous version!!

Don't forget to the get the roadies perspective as I really liked the two books by Steve Parrish and Rock Scully. Add those other books and you get almost a Roshomon view into the Dead. Don't know that there is another rock band that is covered in quite the same way as in some ways there is less of a distance to what was actually going on in the day to day.

They all end up sad as I think in the end you realize, it did not have to end the way it did for Garcia. In many ways, he is a prime example of being a prisoner of his own success.

Thinking about it, I would say the early NY punk scene has a similar view, as there are 4-5 books with different angles on same story too. I don't quite get the same thing from say the Beatles or Elvis or Led Zep books - there seems to be a distance where the Dead books are often more oral history.

The Bill Graham book is also another one that has a unique view on the Dead as they did so many big shows together.

Playing in the Band, Hec Edmundson Pavillion, Seattle 5/21/74 - Waaaayooo terrific freak out in first quarter of the friggin JAM XXXL

^Hell yeah, that was the longest PITB they ever played, and I believe the longest performance of any single song

Dark Star 5/11/72 is arguably a bit longer if you consider a few minutes of "Drums" in the middle part of Dark Star

Dick's Picks 12 is real good!

Really digging the Closing of Winterland set, slow, weird bar band jam version of Friend of the Devil. Great Scar/Fire, haven't heard the Dark Stars yet.

Yeah 12 is awes! Love the “Spanish jam” on that one.

Wow the Rockin' the Rhein Dark Stars are a huuuuge trip, I can see why this would be a perfect gateway for a noise head. The end of part I just rips my ears off.

that's one of my favorites

This Sugar Magnolia is also fiery blast of FUN. Bill's drumming is especially great here imo

https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1987/09/18/16-morning-dew?source=96222

amazing Morning Dew, such a clear tone on Jerry's voice

https://img.secure.cdn2.wmgecom.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1374/image/800x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/d/e/dead_daves_picks_subscription_2021_banners_1500x1500.jpg
Breaking News on Dick's Picks Volume 38
With the excitement we're all feeling about the Grateful Dead's 2021 Dave's Picks subscriptions, focusing so far only on the first of the year, Vol. 37 from 4/15/78 in Williamsburg, VA, we've been keeping Vol. 38 under wraps so as not to overwhelm you with too much great news at once. Now, though, the time has come to reveal DAVE'S PICKS VOL. 38: the magnificent complete show from 9/8/73 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. This is a show that has been a long time coming in the Dead's archival release series. It, and the previous night, was the first run of live shows the Dead played after spending most of the previous month at the Plant Studio in Sausalito, CA, recording WAKE OF THE FLOOD. As soon as they were done mixing their new record, the Dead hit the road for the first leg of the Fall Tour of 1973 with a pair of sold out shows at the home of the New York Islanders.
When I first started working for the Grateful Dead in 1999, and was fortunate to work alongside Dick Latvala, who became my friend and mentor, I was turned on to 9/8/73 by Dick. He spoke so eloquently of this terrific show, certain that it would be released on CD some day as part of the Dick's Picks series. In Dick's own words, during a rundown of his thoughts on 1973 Grateful Dead, he said "That takes us up to the September run. Well right away 9/8/73 sticks out begging for attention. Even the night before (9/7/73) had fairly thrilling versions of "TLEO,""Jack Straw,""PITB," "WRS->Let it Grow." There is not a weak moment from "Truckin'" through the ending tune "Sugar Magnolia." Even as good as this night must sound, the following night things really explode. I really can't put my finger on it because from the songlist, there is nothing apparently compelling. Well, you guys will soon find out what I mean, since I intend to release this one whenever the time is right." For more than 20 years, I've listened to this show many times and have thought the exact same thing: every moment is exceptional. When you're looking for an example of the Grateful Dead when they were fully "on," firing on all cylinders, this is the one to check out. Now, coming in 2021, we're thrilled to make this show, and Dick's wishes, a reality. This is genuine, prime, A+ Grateful Dead music, one of the best nights of what is widely considered one of the best years. Dick, this one's for you!
As Dick alludes, the previous night on 9/7/73, features some exceptional music, and we're so pleased to include almost two hours of this show to go along with 9/8/73: more than a half hour is included on DAVE'S PICKS VOL. 38 with "Bird Song" and "Playing In The Band" included as bonus tracks, and for Dave's Picks 2021 subscribers, the always-incredible Bonus Disc featuring almost 80 minutes from this great show, including the first live "Let It Grow" (the first complete live Weather Report Suite was played the next night, and is, of course, included on DAVE'S PICKS VOL. 38) and the aforementioned "Truckin'" jam. Also to note: included on the Bonus Disc is the complete 18+ minute "Eyes Of The World" from 9/7/73, which has previously been released in an edited form on the 2003 WAKE OF THE FLOOD reissue. This Bonus Disc is my favourite in the series so far, and after 10 years and 10 Bonus Discs, all of them excellent, that's saying a lot. There's a lot of great music on this Bonus Disc! It's exclusive to subscribers, so if you want to hear one of the best jams of 1973 and have it as part of your collection, you'll want to subscribe.
As you're likely aware, the Dave's Picks volumes sell out very quickly when they're put on sale four times per year. To avoid disappointment by missing out, might as well subscribe. So far we have 4/15/78 and 9/8/73 coming, plus the wonderful Bonus Disc from 9/7/73, and we are working hard on Vol. 39 right now. Last year featured 10/29/77, 6/23/74 (plus 6/22/74 Bonus Disc), 4/20/84, and 3/26&27/87, and this year looks to be even more exciting and dynamic. Thanks for joining us on this journey, and for another great year of archival releases from the Grateful Dead's vault.
David Lemieux
December 2020
2021 Dave's Picks Subscriptions will close on January 8th. A subscription is the only way to ensure that you will receive all four releases and the Subscriber's Only bonus disc.
Grateful For The Holidays Give Away
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Stoked for the 9/8/73 show. This will be my fifth year subscribing I think?

Really looking forward to both releases; ‘78 has some nicely agitated-sounding shows, and ‘73 is almost always great. And I was surprised by how solid the ‘84 and ‘87 shows were in the 2020 series. Just hope they don’t do any ‘90s shows.

Yeah both those '80s releases surprised me, they were both pretty fun. Although I can see why they don't delve into those '80s years when they were recording straight to cassette, #36 definitely sounded more dry when compared to, say, a gorgeous sounding Betty Board. But I did kinda like picking up more of the audience on that one.

I come and go with '73 and '74. I did consider for a while that it was their best period. But if I'm not in the mood, it can seem far too slow and lethargic overall (despite some individual standouts).

Peak period for studio albums though - I love Wake of the Flood and Mars Hotel. Perhaps heretically, I wish the Dead had spent more time in the studio. I'd take less live recordings for some more studio recordings.