30 Days of Dead

30-days-of-dead-2024

It's a Dead Head's most wonderful time of the year! Welcome to another 30 days of unreleased Grateful Dead tracks from the vault, one for every day of the month, selected by archivist and producer David Lemieux. The tracks are yours, 100% free gua-ran-teed, but the real fun is taking part in the challenge for the chance to win some sweet swag from the Dead.

Those of you who know what to do, feel free to skip right on ahead. For those of you who need a refresher, here's the drill:

You know your Ables from your Bakers from your C's, but can your finely tuned ears differentiate the cosmic "comeback" tour from a spacey 70s show? Each day we'll post a song from one of the Dead's coveted shows. Will it be from that magical night at Madison Square Garden in '93 or from way back when they were just starting to warm it up at Winterland? Is that Pigpen's harmonica we hear? Brent on keys? If you think you know, lob your answer in and you just might find yourself taking home our daily prize of a 2025 Grateful Dead wall calendar or the grand prize – a copy of limited, numbered, FRIEND OF THE DEVILS: APRIL '78 boxed set!

Hint:
A couple of songs from two consecutive early 1970s albums, with both songs being a big part of the repertoire from their debuts onward
day23_wmzXRhGHGOXeCRc_ramble_grow.mp3
838 comments

  • Wackaloonq
    47 minutes 20 seconds ago
    beatles

    used your post to google list of beatles shows 64-66 when i first started hunting.
    never gave this one a glance till i went thru each 73 show
    last nite i went back and looked and sure enough the beatles were there
    thanks smallz

  • Wackaloonq
    52 minutes 13 seconds ago
    today b 20

    their are 20 possibilities today covering a wide range of years
    it’s three am here
    just woke to check if i got china right
    will start this one in morning.
    20 is a walk in the park compared to almost every other day for china in 1973
    good hunting to all

  • Default Avatar
    Mytime
    3 hours 27 minutes ago
    Storing

    I ran out of space it is embarassing how much i have. Dicks Picks in order of release on shelf. 73 Box nearby. Couple of favorites also handy from Daves Picks. Nothing really in chronological order other than 30 trips and Road Trips. Warlocks woodbox also handy. Then tons of Jerry Garcia band also always at hand. Other stuff in crates I rotate every few years. Need to stop buying more eventually. Have lots of unopened Dave Picks especially. Will finally get to Beacon Box Set on Thamksgiving. Stopped ripping stuff long ago.

  • thismikebenz
    4 hours 11 minutes ago
    the first 20 seconds

    I listen to the whole cut once or twice to zero in on the year, but it's the details in the first 20 seconds that I use to compare the archive versions to the 30days version. this one I kept stumbling into commercial releases, so I had to glance at my shelf to make sure I wasn't wasting time listening to a for-sure no go. I keep my cds in chronological order, so the dicks and daves and road trips and other archival releases are all comingled. It looks sloppy, but I like the chronological order. How do y'all store yours?

  • ladnarc
    4 hours 34 minutes ago
    Almost missed it

    The tonality was so different on the source on Archives I passed it by the first time but circled back around and made it through the piano part and I went, ding.

Yesterday's answer...
Indianapolis, IN, State Fair Coliseum
China Cat Sunflower and I Know You Rider were joined together in September 1969, and from their first time together it sounded like a natural fit. As the years went on, the Dead developed an intricate, composed jam to join the two, as heard here
Yesterday's Winner...
Howard
Tuxedo
NY

Past Dates

Missed a day? You can go back and grab downloads here.

Enter the Contest

By entering my information, I acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Official Rules and I agree to receive marketing messages from Grateful Dead (from which I can unsubscribe at any time). No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. This sweepstakes is offered only to legal residents of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico) who are located in the united states (excluding Puerto Rico) and have reached the age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry.