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    lilgoldie
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    Joined:

    What's Inside:
    • Five Complete Shows
    • 5/11/77 St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN
    • 5/12/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
    • 5/13/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
    • 5/15/77 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO
    • 5/17/77 University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
    •14 Discs, 111 tracks
    •Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman, Plangent Processes playback system for maximum sonic accuracy
    •Artwork by Grammy Award-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike
    •Period Photos by James R Anderson
    •Historical Essay by Steve Silberman
    •Individual show liner notes

    MAGICAL, MYTHICAL MAY 1977!

    If you're a Dead Head, chances are you've spent many an hour expounding upon the distinction of May 8, 1977, Cornell University, Barton Hall. Well, at the risk of preaching to the choir, we'd like to reintroduce you to a series of shows that matches said greatness from that same gloriously fertile season. While Barton Hall is well known, the astounding tour that surrounded it has occasionally flown under the radar due to the uneven quality of tapes in circulation. May 1977 is set to change all of that with a boxed set that zeroes in on this high-water mark in the Grateful Dead's long strange trip.

    For a band resurrecting itself after a 20-month hiatus, there was a great frenzy of expectancy that surrounded the Spring of 1977. We anticipate a grand reoccurrence of this fervor with the release of May 1977, a 14-disc boxed set featuring five complete shows from consecutive stops on that magical tour. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, the "psychoacoustic phenomena" as Jerry once put it, of St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11) Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15) and Coliseum at the University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17) can now finally be appreciated. Each of these shows finds the Dead delivering punchier, more focused sets, tightening up the framework; each night turning out first-ever renditions ("Passenger,""Iko Iko,""Jack-A-Roe"), unloading potent new pairings ("Scarlet Begonias">"Fire On The Mountain", "Estimated Prophet">"Eyes Of The World"), classic covers ("Dancing In The Street") and soon-to-be staples ("Estimated Prophet," "Samson and Delilah"), and ultimately rising up to paradise.

    And now for the nitty-gritty...

    Due June 11, May 1977 is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies. Presented in a psychedelic box that boasts an intricate die-cut design created by Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike, the set also includes a book filled with stories about each show, as well as an in-depth essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman, who delves deep into the history behind the tour and the band’s return from its extended hiatus.

    Once these 15,000 boxes are gone, May 1977 and its shows will never be available again on CD. However, the 111 tracks will be made available on release date as FLAC and Apple lossless full-set-only downloads for $99.98.

    Like its predecessors Europe '72: The Complete Recordings and Spring 1990, we expect May 1977 to sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here and on Facebook.com/GratefulDead and Youtube.com/gratefuldead.

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  • #721
    philledawg
    Joined:
    Hershey '85....It was a raw night!
    I know I was there. I remember a cold, rainy, windy night. Pops from the sound system, an energetic show, a Cold Rain & Snow.
  • #722
    Underthevolcano
    Joined:
    John Handy
    big two thumbs up-I have old Handy LPS which I break out for a spin every so aften. Another fave is Charles Lloyd-esp. the old lps when he was playing the SF ballrooms. Saw Handy live at the Summer of Love celebrations many years ago in Golden Gate Park-brought my 6 year old to see "Jerry's House" on that trip. Time flies.
  • #723
    badgerhead98
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    downloads for 77 box set
    Never done the downloads option on these sets - what's deal? Is it like typical album download ... entire album (show in this case) w/ individual songs as files within album so you can move in and out of playlists and play in iPod? Or is the entire album (show or set) as just 1 file per (show or set)?
  • #724
    claney
    Joined:
    Pregame Ritual?
    Deadagad, I agree with your analysis... hence the part about it being a bit depressing :) I was not being critical of the limited edition approach, but rather reacting to the climate you describe so well. I'm curious everyone, what do you do when you are waiting for a big new release like this one? Do you listen to, in this case, lots of 77 to get psyched for it? Or do you avoid 77 so as not to get burned out before the box arrives? My ritual is to avoid the time period of the upcoming release so it sounds fresher, so I've been listening to DaP 6, natch, and some early 80s like 7/03/84. On thing is for sure, no matter what I do before the box comes out, when I'm done listening to it I think it is pretty likely I'll be avoiding Estimated for a while, heh. EDIT: Even better, I'm taking a little break from the Dead, listenng to John Handy's awesome quintet from Monterey 1965. A 20 minute version of Spanish Lady and 27 minute If Only We Knew. Alto sax, violin, electric guitar, bass, and drums (Terry Clarke holy schnikes!). If you need a Dead break but require some good jams, try out this underrated jazz masterpiece... (Liner notes by Ralph Gleason, guess I can't get away from things that remind me of the Dead ha ha).
  • #725
    deadegad
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    General Public releases, cd store demise and torrents rise.
    The lack of public releases is probably due to the decline of stores which sell cds and the rise of free torrent file sharing websites. The fan base, moreover, must be declining as well. The limited release thing is gimmicky but effective. Please keep them coming.
  • #726
    drshakedown
    Joined:
    Next show vote
    Someone else said it earlier and I couldnt believe my eyes..........I thought I was alone.06/28/85 Hershey Park Stadium - Hershey, PA Love the randomness of the setlist...........Birdsong/Comes a Time...............and the Music/Tom Thumbs is ridiculous, one of the coolest opening combos. If you ever see a pic of Jer during that show, he is wearing a blazer....wowser. Love it.
  • #727
    Underthevolcano
    Joined:
    general public
    As far as general public goes, the Grateful Dead never were chart-busters. They were a live concert event draw(traveling circus in the later days) and lets face it-a disc isn't the same to the less-committed fan. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a small potential audience for the releases. That being said-there probably is some general public interest deemed sufficient to allow the release of the 2 disc "highlights" from the big, limited boxes. How much interest I don't know. It did seem however that the Garcia Live, Vol 1 sold fairly briskly out of the box and I would think that the general interest in the Grateful Dead, rather than the solo bands is greater out there among "casual fans". But, lets hope there remains enough commercial interest to keep us rabids stoked.
  • #728
    Chuck
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    I stand Corrected
    You are right. The Spectrum was the Venue they played more than any other outside their home (San Francisco/Oakland area)
  • #729
    One Man
    Joined:
    General Public
    Post-op narcotics or not, that is a really interesting point. There is usually one "commercial" release per year. I wonder how those sell compared to the captive audience of the limited releases.
  • #730
    reijo29
    Joined:
    Box set design
    Exactly what is so great about the artwork with this box set? It may be hard to tell from looking at these pictures on the site but I think I prefer the Emek Winterland 77 & 73 box set designs.
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15 years 7 months
Submitted by lilgoldie on
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Dead Store Products

What's Inside:
• Five Complete Shows
• 5/11/77 St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN
• 5/12/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
• 5/13/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
• 5/15/77 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO
• 5/17/77 University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
•14 Discs, 111 tracks
•Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman, Plangent Processes playback system for maximum sonic accuracy
•Artwork by Grammy Award-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike
•Period Photos by James R Anderson
•Historical Essay by Steve Silberman
•Individual show liner notes

MAGICAL, MYTHICAL MAY 1977!

If you're a Dead Head, chances are you've spent many an hour expounding upon the distinction of May 8, 1977, Cornell University, Barton Hall. Well, at the risk of preaching to the choir, we'd like to reintroduce you to a series of shows that matches said greatness from that same gloriously fertile season. While Barton Hall is well known, the astounding tour that surrounded it has occasionally flown under the radar due to the uneven quality of tapes in circulation. May 1977 is set to change all of that with a boxed set that zeroes in on this high-water mark in the Grateful Dead's long strange trip.

For a band resurrecting itself after a 20-month hiatus, there was a great frenzy of expectancy that surrounded the Spring of 1977. We anticipate a grand reoccurrence of this fervor with the release of May 1977, a 14-disc boxed set featuring five complete shows from consecutive stops on that magical tour. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, the "psychoacoustic phenomena" as Jerry once put it, of St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11) Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15) and Coliseum at the University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17) can now finally be appreciated. Each of these shows finds the Dead delivering punchier, more focused sets, tightening up the framework; each night turning out first-ever renditions ("Passenger,""Iko Iko,""Jack-A-Roe"), unloading potent new pairings ("Scarlet Begonias">"Fire On The Mountain", "Estimated Prophet">"Eyes Of The World"), classic covers ("Dancing In The Street") and soon-to-be staples ("Estimated Prophet," "Samson and Delilah"), and ultimately rising up to paradise.

And now for the nitty-gritty...

Due June 11, May 1977 is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies. Presented in a psychedelic box that boasts an intricate die-cut design created by Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike, the set also includes a book filled with stories about each show, as well as an in-depth essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman, who delves deep into the history behind the tour and the band’s return from its extended hiatus.

Once these 15,000 boxes are gone, May 1977 and its shows will never be available again on CD. However, the 111 tracks will be made available on release date as FLAC and Apple lossless full-set-only downloads for $99.98.

Like its predecessors Europe '72: The Complete Recordings and Spring 1990, we expect May 1977 to sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here and on Facebook.com/GratefulDead and Youtube.com/gratefuldead.

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7 years 4 months

Submitted by icenine2 on Wed, 01/31/2018 - 14:07

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When will this be available as downloads again? I own the high-res digital download of Get Shown the Light and it is spectacular.
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7 years 9 months

Submitted by Sawwwn on Thu, 07/12/2018 - 07:03

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Oh man! Still waiting for these (May 77 and July 78) to be available for download! Please open this up or at least stop listing them as available. Killing me.
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7 years 9 months

Submitted by Sawwwn on Thu, 07/12/2018 - 07:04

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Oh man! Still waiting for these (May 77 and July 78) to be available for download! Please open this up or at least stop listing them as available. Killing me.
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6 years 3 months

Submitted by DanielSpace on Mon, 08/13/2018 - 13:02

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I think a fundraiser for the tapes is the dumbest idea Ive ever heard.
product sku
081227965365