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RFK Stadium 1989 Box
LESS THAN 5000 LEFT
The Grateful Dead battled the elements in July 1989, enduring drenching rains and stifling humidity during back-to-back shows at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in the nation’s capital. In spite of the bleak weather, the band thrilled the massive crowds both nights with triumphant performances that rank among the very best of a busy year that included 74 shows and the release of the group’s final studio album, BUILT TO LAST.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY STADIUM, WASHINGTON, D.C., JULY 12 & 13, 1989 includes two previously unreleased concerts taken from the band’s master 24-track analog recordings, which have been mixed by Jeffrey Norman at TRI Studios and mastered in HDCD by David Glasser. The collection’s colorful slip case features original artwork by Justin Helton and a perfect-bound book with in-depth liner notes written by Dean Budnick, editor-in-chief of Relix magazine. The set will also be available as a digital download in Apple Lossless and FLAC 192/24.
When Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Brent Mydland, and Bob Weir rolled into D.C. in July 1989 for the Dead’s two-night stand at RFK, the band hit the stage running with a stellar rendition of “Touch Of Grey,” the group’s biggest hit from its only Top 10 album In The Dark, which was released in 1987. The following night, the band returned to its double-platinum commercial breakthrough when it opened the show with a fiery version of “Hell In A Bucket.”
“RFK Stadium '89 fell right in the middle of one of the best tours of the last 15 years of Grateful Dead performances, with these shows being the sixth and seventh of an 11-show tour. This tour is widely considered the start of a nine month period of sustained excellence, which ran from Summer '89 through Spring '90. The RFK shows are as good as any of the more famous shows from this period, including July 4 in Buffalo, July 7 in Philadelphia, and the Alpine run,” says David Lemieux, Grateful Dead archivist and the set’s producer. “When Bob Weir has asked me to provide copies of Grateful Dead songs to give to his bandmates to learn and rehearse, he almost always requests Summer '89, and I've often drawn upon the RFK shows for this purpose. It's really that good!”
Both shows feature standout moments, but the July 12 show is notable for a few reasons. Perhaps the biggest is that the first set featured at least one song sung by each of the band’s four lead singers – Garcia, Weir, Lesh and Mydland – something that rarely happened. Another surprise came when the band opened the second set with “Sugaree,” a song that almost always appeared during the first set.
Pianist Bruce Hornsby — who briefly joined the band between 1990 and 1992 — is featured on both shows. He played accordion during “Sugaree” and “Man Smart (Woman Smarter),” with a touch of keyboard-tinkling, on July 12, and then played more accordion the following night for “Tennessee Jed” and “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again.”
For fans of Mydland’s tenure with the Dead – which began in 1979 and ended in 1990 with the keyboardist’s tragic death – these stellar shows capture that incarnation in peak form. Among the long list of highlights are performances of live staples such as “Eyes Of The World,” “Wharf Rat” and “I Need A Miracle,” along with rarities like “To Lay Me Down,” which was played only a few times in 1989. The July 13 show also features the band road-testing “I Will Take You Home,” a track Mydland wrote with Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow that would appear later that fall on Built To Last.
Photo bombers...
You know who you are. And thanks! I'm seeing wonderful photos of Jerry, and others, that seem rare to me. Really awesome. Keep it up.
Peace.
\m/
RIP Tom Petty
I saw him at the 7/2/86 Akron Rubber Bowl show!! , he backed Dylan, and then did a set before the Dead played... can't believe that was 31 years ago.
Tom was a Florida Boy
He was a Gainesville Guy and a very cool man who for the most part shunned the rock star ego trip.He also did a lot for the poor people behind the scenes and didn't look for kudos for helping others.
A good example.
R.I.P.
Shocked. I saw him several times. My three most vivid memories of Petty are on stage playing, the video for Don't Come Around Here No More, and Judge Reinhold in Fast Times at Ridgemont High soaping up his car to American Girl ( what did he call that car again? Was it the cruising vessel?). His later albums I thought were just as good, although you don't hear as much from them, I think because FM radio has taken a backseat in the past 15 years or so. America's DJs love him. Peace and prayers for Tom Petty!
It May Be The Devil, It May Be The Lord
Goodness gracious...I see that Bob Dylan's incredible "gospel period" will soon be released as the latest bootleg series. I'm not of the Christian faith, but this is (among) my absolute favorite phases of Dylan. I have some live bootlegs of this period (like Toronto) that are unquestionably great. I pre-ordered the double CD without hesitation, passing on the 'deluxe' 8-Cd 1DVD alternative.
Speak of the Devil
Pondering whether to preorder the Frank Zappa 3cd Halloween 1977 from that piranha infested river site or wait until after 10/20 and see if the price goes down.
"Halloween was Frank Zappa's favorite holiday & by 1977 his Halloween shows were legendary. Recorded live at The Palladium in NYC, Zappa performed 6 shows 28-31 October. 4 shows were filmed & resulted in Zappa's movie 'Baby Snakes.' The Halloween 77 3CD version includes the Halloween night show in its entirety, mixed in 2016 from original Vault masters, plus select tracks from the other 5 shows."
Ah yes, as stated
A few statements 'ol Minas made have proven true:
* this RFK minibox did indeed become offically labeled a "limited release
* a number has been decided on (15K)
* additional stock has been added to the total number available, for a total of 15K.
Everything has proceeded as I have foreseen (I do birthday parties and bar mitsvahs as well).
Man, that sucks about Tom Petty. I also think of the Don't Come Around Here No More video when his name comes up. One of the most entertaining and original videos of the MTV age. I saw him in 89 and again after Into The Great Wide Open cane out. Will never forget his cover of Should I Stay or Should I Go, the place was bonkers, and then Jammin' Me for the encore, which was one of his great underrated songs, but we'll appreciated by all to close the show that night. Another great underrated tune was All The Wrong Reasons.
It's always good when a Newbie tries to steer you
to 1971-1972 Dead. Interesting perspective. They have no clue about the long strange trips before and after. Especially funny is the remark about grateful dead music not being fit for studio recording. LOOOOL. weird scenes inside the gold mine. Save the lectures for your chorus.this rfk kit set is certainly worth getting based on the listening samples. i don't care about pitch unless it's a close ball game. jerry's guitar is singing beautifully here.
Ken Good Man - You're Killing Me
I can't afford to be on this forum any more, every time I turn around someone mentions a great box set. So thank you(?) Ken for bringing up the new Dylan box set, because of you I spent a 140 bucks on some bullshit box and my dog will have to go hungry for another week. No problems he'll survive, Mama may not make it without her meds though. Oh well, this IS the next in the Bootleg series!
Really, thanks for the heads-up. Set has been ordered, sorry "pre" ordered. (Odd term, you would think "pre" is before you order, should be "post" ordered now, right?)
Oh, one more thing, (knowing the answer to be no), anyone hear anything about the "DIGITAL DOWNLOADS" for the 45s? :-)
(I've been told by secret sources that the answer is being looked into by Marye. So I have no doubt in it's inevitable conclusion)
Got me too
Gotta Serve Somebody. I opted for the bobdylan.com pre-order which includes an extra 2cd san diego concert, only available there during pre-orders but will add an extra $40 plus so $186 yipes.
Zappa Halloween '77
The costume box that will contain the USB with all 6 shows from this run for $100 is a bargain. The Oct 30th and 31st '77 shows themselves are nearly 4 hours long each. The other two nights, Oct 28th and 29th '77 were two show per day runs.
I definitely want this.
Hey Dennis Wilmot
"Coincidentally", I just received an email from dead,net with a link to download the digital version of Volume 3 of Grateful Dead 7" Singles Collection. Ain't coincidences grand!. . . Onward.
How about an email...
.....telling me that a 5-5-77 CD2 replacement disc is in the mail.
Seriously, WTF. How hard is it to replace a defective CD? I’m not the only one who needs a replacement.
Some are really uncool
Some people are super uncool, making personal attacks in response to honest listening of a band. I never attacked anyone until I was attacked, and frankly can't believe the people that are jumping on board and supporting it both publicly and PM. I had this impression of "Deadheads" that they're peaceful happy go lucky WELCOMING people, and most have been, but there are definitely a few who just don't want to hear that Jerry had an off-note or the keyboard player can't sing, or the girl screams sometimes. You guys are about as uncool as it gets. It doesn't matter whether you're a new comer or long timer, there's just no excuse for attacking someone for having an opinion. I talk about the Who and Stones and other bands with people on message boards who like myself, have been fans for 30 - 40 years. Daltrey sounds great for 70, but is nowhere near the singer he used to be. Same with Mick. We don't attack each other for saying, yeah, he sounded terrible tonight. Mytime, if pitch doesn't matter to you, that's fine - I enjoy shitty singing sometimes too (Brian Johnson). But to mock me for pointing out the guy sounds awful on this particular recording is schoolyard bullying, and I'm not having any of it. It sounds to me like you have a problem with 70s Dead, judging by your comment "It's always good when a Newbie tries to steer you to 1971-1972 Dead. Interesting perspective. They have no clue about the long strange trips before and after". Totally baffling, considering they were in their prime then, which I know because I've listened to all of it, and they don't sound anywhere near as good in 1989 as they did in 1972. Are you going to say the Who sounded as good in '82 as they did in '70? Or that the Stones sound as good now as they did in '78? That's not to say they're not still great bands, only to say they've lost a step or two.
There are 30 years of Grateful Dead
Feel free to ignore 28 of them if that's your drill. I have nothing whatsoever against 70s dead, btw. For your deadification, this here is a thread about the 1989 RFK box set. You critiqued the long-awaited free listening party samples. Brent is not my favorite period, but this sounds pretty good to my ears, way exceeding what I expected. If you can't stand this, do yourself a favor and ignore anything involving Brent. You will have lots of people that agree with you too. Nobody is forcing you to buy this. I recommend Ladies and Gentlemen the Grateful Dead 4 cd set to you, available for half the price of this one.
Nobody's Spoonful Jam
...off Aoxomoxoa coming across my pair of Bose right now.
Shirdeep great photos!
As far as Yoko, well she's still alive, let's get her out
onstage with Dead & Co. to shriek over Playin' in the Band.
Yeeeeaaayyaaaaayyah, yeeaaahyahh, YEAYAHHHHH!!!! YAAAHHHH!!!
Welcome to Club Dead
Welcome to Club Dead...where the wind don't blow so strange...
Butch criticizing The Dead
I would think that the more you listen to a band, the more critical you become. As you become aware of the peaks they can hit,all the nuances within the music and when they are truly on form, then it becomes more apparent when they are performing less well. Certainly listening to the Dead over the last...42 (!) years, I would say I am more aware of their peaks and troughs now-what to me are their peaks and troughs I should say.
Like I lot of people on this board,I have heard sooo much music by this band over the years. One of the results of this is maybe that I have become less tolerant of some eras of the band that I no longer like. I recently played a show, featuring a version of Eyes Of The world, that I had to break off from. I thought it was awful-but then the day before I had heard the version from 11/11/73 form the Winterland, which I had thought transcendent. The other version just wasn't as good-to my ears. In 1990, to pick a year at random, I would have been quite happy with the show I can now no longer stand.
I always enjoy this board most when differing views are expressed-it would be dull as ditch water if everyone agreed on everything. But its always a low point when people resort to personal insults to try and get their point across.
Here's The Problem Butch
No one would argue that The Who were better post Keith Moon. No one would argue that The Stones were better post Exile On Main Street. "Better" being the key word. But that's not the case with the Grateful Dead. The Dead's music is divided into three "eras"
1. Pig 1966-1972
2. Keith and Donna 1972-1979
3. Brent or the 80's 1980-1990
and each era has its advocates and detractors. Many 80's era advocates feel their favorite era is treated with disdain by many, even suggesting that this prejudice against the 80's is at play in the selection of official releases. It's an argument that will never be resolved but also an amazing compliment to a rock and roll band that broke up in 1995.
This doesn't explain why some posters here (from all era "camps") get so reflexively rude, defensive, and insulting. I'm at a loss there.
And you haven't even met RV3 or Patagonian Fox yet.
This all stems from...
The opinion of how someone feels about Brent's vocals on the "Listening party #1". To say Brent is somehow "off key" here, not an accurate assessment on actual technical merits, but an opinion, then to play the "well I've listened to the Dead more than you, so you don't know what your talking about and are delusional" card, is just ridiculous.
If a person is going to insinuate that the several thousand people who have pre-ordered this are "lesser Deadheads than thou", because this person doesn't like Brent's vocals, someone is bound to respond unfavorably to that insinuation.
Just For the Record
I just lost my whole post trying to edit it. Well then, have a pleasant one, and to sum it up, good Scarlet jamming by Jerry on 7/7/89 and Morning Dew from GD Movie Soundtrack.
Window Shopping
I'm looking at different CDs to buy from various years. Looking for the best shows, but reviews are all pretty much the same. There is a huge price discrepancy, so what is the difference between the less expensive shows? Are the higher priced ones that much better in quality? I realize the higher priced ones are sold out, but still, there are plenty of other sold out CDs that aren't priced so high. Are they that much better or not at all better?
Specifics:
Winterland 1973 Complete Recordings / $150 for three shoes in November Vs. Dave's Picks Volume 5 / 1 show $425 (shows are a week apart)
To Terrapin Hartford 77 / $20 1 Show May 1977 Vs. Daves Picks Vol. 1 / $425 1 Show May 1977 (3 days apart)
Dead Set 1980 / $25 for 1 show Oct '80 Vs. Daves Picks Vol. 8 $285 / 1 Show November '80 (1 month apart)
Stones eras
This is probably neither the time nor the place...but I would say The Stones had quite a few discreet eras in their career, too, with fairly clear beginnings and endings. There was the initial rhythm and blues years, followed by the pop/psychedelic era in the mid 60s, the great Beggars Banquet up to Goats Head Soup series of albums, the Ronnie Wood years in the 1970s the 1980s and then the 1990s up to the present day characterised by the mega shows.
Butch indicated 1978 was a good year-and although it yielded the Some Girls album and Miss You single, it was a time I didn't much care for. They always seemed to be trying to play too fast, to me, in order to keep abreast of the times. There's a video of a live show from 1978, where Mick Jagger is wearing a tee shirt with a swastika on it- a terrible gaff, presumably worn in an attempt to out do punk. The Dead had the best response to punk-they ignored it!
Window shopping
Hey Butch, they are all great releases-the difference in price is due to the exclusivity of the release. Daves picks are limited releases so they carry a hefty price on the re-sale market.
Winterland 73 is the rare release that has sold out but can still be found for reasonable prices. It's amazing pick and if you feel comfortable with the price, I promise you won't regret it.
Dead set is a nice compilation album but if you're looking for something from the early 80s, you can find dicks picks 13 (5/6/81) for very reasonable prices on eBay. Same with dicks picks 5 (dec 79) and dicks picks 6 (oct 83).
Hope that helps-
Butch
Real Gone Music is starting to reissue Road Trips, starting with the last release and working back to the first.
https://shop.realgonemusic.com/products/grateful-dead-road-trips-vol-4-…
$150 for Winterland ‘73 is a good price if unopened. It was $99 or more when released.
Dead Set is a compilation and was available for decades as a single CD. You can probably find it in a brick and mortar CD store if such a thing exists. It now comes as 2 CD’s in the Beyond Description Box.
To Terrapin was not limited and is currently out of print, but that doesn’t mean that more wont be made in the future.
warlocks hampton 89
warlocks 10 o8 1989 hampton
Foolish Heart
Walkin' Blues
Candyman
Me and My Uncle
Big River
Stagger Lee
Queen Jane Approximately
Bird Song
Promised Land
Help on the Way
Slipknot!
Franklin's Tower
Victim or the Crime
Eyes of the World
drums
I Need a Miracle
The Wheel
Gimme Some Lovin'
Morning Dew
We Bid You Goodnight
https://archive.org/details/gd89-10-08.sbd.unknown.8365.sbeok.shnf
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Done
Thanks 80sfan, keithfan, and icecrmcnkd. I went with Dead Set, To Terrapin, which I guess they got more of, because it's here on this website, and the Winterland 73 new off of eBay. That's great news about the Road Trips series, because they're priced pretty steeply on eBay. Keithfan was nice enough to PM and send a great sound board of Daves Picks 8 (you are right, great Feel Like a Stranger opening, and I'm to say, Brent is in tune)
Seems that they ‘found’ more copies of E72 in the warehouse
They were sold out a few months ago
http://www.dead.net/store/music
Asbestos Pants
Dorm room SDSU 1973. Meeting my new friends in Toltec Male Housing Residence. In my new neighbor Steve Lightfoot's room thumbing through his LP collection I come across an LP entitled Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys Greatest Hits. I pull it out and ask Steve if this is a joke LP? He replies "No. I stole that from my Dad's record collection. I couldn't live without it." I said "WTF? The cover looks like a Zappa joke!" He said put it on and listen. "When you go out with that girl you got to wear asbestos pants." Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys. "Ahh Leon!"
SOME BIG BIRTHDAY'S TODAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. JOHN ALEC ENTWISTLE ....FOR YOU WHO FANS WOULD HAVE BEEN 73
AND MR JOHN LENNON WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN 77.....
A WONDERFUL BASS PLAYER AND AN INCREDIBLE SONG WRITER....
NOW BACK TO YOUR REGULAR SCHEDULE......BRING IT ON DAVE..WHAT IS YOUR NEXT PICK??
warlocks 10 o9 89
Feel Like a StrangerBuilt to Last
Little Red Rooster
Ramble on Rose
We Can Run But We Can't Hide
Jack-a-Roe
Stuck Inside of Mobile
Row Jimmy
Music Never Stopped
Playin' in the Band
Uncle John's Band
Playin' Reprise
Dark Star
drums
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Dear Mr. Fantasy
Hey Jude Reprise
Throwin' Stones
Good Lovin'
Attics of My Life
https://archive.org/details/gd89-10-09.sbd.serafin.7721.sbeok.shnf
mhammond and fire proof slacks
Ok, I could probably live without Bob Wills, but would you want to? :-) I never heard of the guy until I moved to Texas, but now have a decent chunk of him. They were good (if you like texas/cowboy swing).
This is one of the things I like most about this forum and group of people, is the wide array of music listened to. Yeah you can go anywhere and hear of the big names, stones, who, and others. But Bob maybe not much.
Anyone for Al Jolson?
I'm Alabamy bound
They'll be no heebie-jeebies hanging 'round
Just gave the meanest ticket man on earth, all I'm worth,
Just to put my tootsies in an upper berth
They don't write them like that anyone.
product sku
081227934118
Product Magento URL
https://store.dead.net/music/rfk-stadium-1989.html