Grateful Dead

I bought this 3 disc release when it was released in 2007. I was expecting a nice polished Absolutely Live type of recording. After a few listens as a new release, I came to believe that Jim Morrison was a nut-case on stage. The 4th time around in my imagination, John Densmore stops drumming and gets off this CD, wiggles though my stereo system and comes out of my speakers with two cymbals and crashes them within an inch of my face, quickly puts them down, smacks me across my face with his left hand and screams loudly, "JIM IS A GREAT MAN WITH GREAT STAGE PRESENCE!" In short, I didn't think too much of this release. It still sits in my collection. I used to have all The Doors vinyl back in the day, but the compact disc format via the Grateful Dead, told me to get rid of almost all my vinyl. However, Morrison had a beautiful baritone voice that has never been truly equaled in rock music, in my opinion. The sound of his voice is still fine gold to my ears. A true classic, a true jem. I think it's time to rediscover The Doors Live In Boston (Bright Midnight/Rhino R2 216124) again. And/or, track down a copy of the Cobo Hall 4/8/70 show and do that too. I'll thank deadegad for the suggestion.

Thx shirdeep and others who have posted about this show. It is an all-time favorite of mine. I can still recall being VERY VERY surprised to receive this for Christmas one year (was it '94 or '95?) not knowing at all that they had released the 3rd Dick's Picks. Remember that back then, there was no internet, and I think the way I at least heard about all of this stuff was from the physical newsletter they used to mail out, which I do remember was very well done, quite colorful, on very nice paper stock, etc. Anyway, I recall getting this on Christmas and it was like, my most favorite present of the entire day (a CD!). It was the pure bliss of (A) not even knowing they were up to "3" already; (B) my mother somehow having the wherewithal to know to go look for this and actually purchase it; and (C) just looking at the setlist (even despite the unbeknownst-to-me track-hack) gave me goosebumps and invoked butterflies in my stomach 'cause it seemed to include SO MANY OF MY FAVORITES!! Back then I didn't have a whole lot of official GD shows other than various gen tapes, so this show definitely blew me away. And it absolutely stands the test of time: I mean, all in one show you get a Music Never Stopped to kick it off, perhaps one of the best (IMHO, THE BEST) Sugarees evah; a Lazy Lightnin'> Supplication; a Disco Dancin'; a Help>Slip>Franklin's; An Estimated>Eyes; a Wharf Rat>Terrapin (INSPIRATION!)>Epic Dew. It's literally ALL THERE. My socks were knocked off. They still remain So. Sixtus

A belated thumbs up for Bickershaw-another great show form Europe 72. I was specifically struck on this set by the excellent sound of Jerry's strat-it seemed more evident to me on this show than previous ones from the tour for some reason. This show is also great for having all 4 of my favourite song/jams from 72-Playin', China-Rider, Dark Star and The Other One. The Dark Star seems a bit muted-in comparison to others on the tour, tailing off after a mere 19 minutes or so-but The Other One is full of raging beauty. I also like the Lovelight. In fact, 1972 may be my favourite year for this song. It benefits from being a bit shorter- just over 13 minutes -than earlier versions. The 38 minute version on Dave Picks 19 -23rd Jan 1970 is waaaay too much for me. But the 1972 versions seem just right. They also seem a bit more country orientated - they remind me a bit of the post Duane Allman Brothers Band. The gold standard Lovelight from 1972 is still the one played at Frankfurt on 26th April-but this one here is pretty good.

The Cobo Hall cd is excellent. I bought that one years back when The Doors started their Bright Midnight Records cd archive releases and that Detroit show is very, very good. I never did get around to Seeing The Doors resurrection as The Doors of The Twenty First Century or Riders on the Storm but have listened to some nice bootlegs from DimeaDozen. They were very good. it is nice to hear new life breathed into those old Doors songs. They added a bass player and sometimes another drummer or percussionist from the video clips that I watch here and there. Good stuff.

love that tape

What a month of music. 5/2/70 -- The Allman Brothers Band from Swarthmore College in PA. Nice complement to my stash of April 71 shows from small colleges in Pennsylvania that I might have gone to in an alternate universe (4/10/71, 4/14/71, 4/15/71). Sound is a little rough, but the band smokes. There's some funny stage banter around the time that about half the (already small) crowd leaves for a meeting to plan out their next war protest. Kent State happened two days later. If anyone wants a copy hit me up. 5/3/86. Arguably the worst show in the 30 Trips Box, which means it's still pretty damn good. 5/4/79. RSD release. Some folks awhile back were discussing this one in one of our vinyl threads. So of course I went and bought it. Its okay, as a vinyl release goes. The show is chopped up to fit on 2 LPs which annoys me . The sound is fine, but there's a Charlie Miller board available on the archive which includes 50% more songs and sounds 75% as good for 100% less money. I would recommend this only to people who don't have wifi or just want to collect everything that gets released. 5/5/77. I really like this one. Unsung hero of the GSTL box. A 1st set Sugaree for the ages, and a fantastic Scarlet / Fire that primes the pump for the transcendent Cornell version three days later. 5/6/80 and 5/7/80. Not sure why TPTB needed to butcher these up for the Road Trips. There are sweet auds in the archive for both nights, both rocking, rollicking shows. 5/6 opens with Alabama Getaway, and 5/7/ closes with Alabama Getaway. Almost as if they were planning it to be released as a box set someday. 5/8/77 and 5/9/77. There's nothing I can say about these that hasn't been covered already. Just WOW. Still in the queue is a Doors Show from Cobo Hall, Detroit, 5/8/70. Some of this is on prior Doors releases (Alive, She Cried and Absolutely Live) but this is the whole thing. They defiantly played an hour longer than they were supposed to and were banned from Cobo Hall afterwards I'm still only in the single digits for the month, and its the 22nd already and the June 77 Winterland box has started its whisper campaign. Speaking of the 22nd, if anyone needs the 'rest of' DP3, here it is https://themidnightcafe.org/?s=05%2F22%2F77 And I can't forget Doc. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. You're one of the rock stars of this board and we miss you and all of your "faculties". Peace out. RDG

For those of you Graig Nettles fans out there I highly suggest reading Sparky Lyle's The Bronx Zoo. Nettles comes across as a very witty and clever guy, one of the heroes of a great baseball book. Oddly enough, he came out with his own book, Balls, a couple years later with the same ghost writer Sparky had but it just didn't have the same magic.

May 21. On this date in Deadhead history: - In 1974, the Grateful Dead played another great show at the Hec. S. Edmundson Pavilion at University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Extraordinary feat of maintaining momentum and freshness over a 46:26 Playin’ (longest ever). - In 1977, the Grateful Dead played the Civic Center in Lakeland, FL. Good Scarlet > Fire and a nice sequence of Other One > Comes A Time > Stephen > NFA > Stephen. [Dick’s Picks 29: complete show except US Blues encore] - In 1982, the Grateful Dead played the Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA. First Set included fine Birdsong and Looks Like Rain. Second set was one continuous glorious jam, Playin' > UJB > Playin' Jam (super hot) > D/S > Wheel > Playin' > Black Peter > Sugar Mag - In 1992, the Grateful Dead played Cal Expo Amphitheatre in Sacramento, CA, a Rex Foundation benefit with Pharaoh Sanders. Good Maggie's Farm. Decent Scarlet > Fire. - In 1993, the Grateful Dead played the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA. - In 1995, the Grateful Dead played the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, NV with Dave Matthews Band. One of the better shows of the year. Unbroken Chain, Eyes > Corinna > Drumz > Spanish Jam > Other One > Days Between > Sugar Magnolia.

Happy Birthday Vguy72. I'm pulling for your Golden Knights even though I too have been become increasingly less interested in pro sports. Most of it and the surrounding hoopla just seems overdone, overhyped, and too much WWE styled theatrics. Motorsports and a sliver of college hoops for me. The Grateful Dead because of the consistent releases and constant improvement of sound quality has me ringing that bell louder and louder as time marches on. It's been a growing obsession. Still waiting the arrival of new speakers and the set up of my new hifi. I'm dying to spin Dap26. It and Dicks latest vinyl sitting lonely, still in shrink wrap. Smoke signals from the factory lead me to believe it will be a joyous holiday weekend though. Box guess: fall '79. But I will be extatic with any box! cheers all, and good listening

....in response to born cross-eyed's post, at 3:30 AM on August 9th, 1995, I was awoken from sleep with a fear of dread. I called my parents. They were ok. Later on that fateful day however....to this day, I still awake at 3:30 at times for no apparent reason.