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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.
3086 copies left
Wonder if these will take 2+ years to sell like the 78 set.
I bet the next Summer 89 release we see will be limited to less than 12k.
Ecstasy
Hi Jim - it's actually way more boring. I was signing up for an e-mail account at hotmail or yahoo or one of those a few years ago and all the names I chose (randall.weaver, randallweaver, rweaver, randyweaver, randy.weaver) were already in use, so i gave up and had Hotmail (or Yahoo) create a username for me. And i've stuck with it. But maybe I'll develop a story using your suggestion. I'm also a fan of the British band XTC - I bet they were thinking along the same lines when they came up with their name. That incredibly cute beagle you see as my icon is also Jim, by the way.
Jim the Beagle
He's certainly much cuter than I. Nice spotting on the chest.
The last time I got spotting on my chest I had to go on antibiotics..
3/22/68?
"My name aint Jimmy - it's Jim; James if you're formal" with apologies to Janet Jackson "Nasty Boys"
A couple years ago when Swaggy P was the Lakers star, Jim INSISTED on being called "Waggy J"
I've hooked up my tape player and dug out boxes of tapes. I'm listening to a tape that is labeled 3/22/68 State Fair Coliseum Detroit MI. Deadbase has the show listed but no setlist. I've also checked in the deadbase updates in Deadbase 50, but no setlist for that day. I also looked at the mislabeled tapes section of Deadbase, but I don't see anything listed for 3/22/68. So I'm wondering - should I forward this tape to Stu Nixon for the next deadbase? Should I send it to Charlie Miller for the archive? I'm pretty sure it's a mislabeled tape, because at the very beginning someone introduces the band "clean-cut but morally corrupt" and I'm pretty sure it's Bill Graham. I don't think he would have introduced the band in Detroit. Can anyone identify this tape from that brief introduction? Thanks
3/22/68?
Could it be 8/22/68, Fillmore West?
The Bill Graham intro is the start of the second set, just before Dark Star.
https://archive.org/details/gd68-08-22.sbd.cotsman.14915.sbeok.shnf/gd6…
mustin321 "Not Sold Out Yet" post
You had posted that you can't believe there are still copies of this left because the shows are incredible. I don't get it either. They're going to stop releasing 80s material if people don't start buying these. Maybe that record store guy was right. The last 80s release was what? 30 Trips? I mean other than Dave's Picks 20, because that's selling out no matter what, since subscription buyers are so many. I guess a lot of 30 Trips may have sold to people who primarily buy 70s, so maybe that's not a good example. What was the last a la cart 80s release?
8/22/68
Update 30Jan2018 - As I continue going through hundreds of tapes I've come across another tape that is labeled 8/22/68! So it turns out I had two tapes with the same date, but one was mislabeled. Interestingly, the set-list for the one I found today is Dark Star>St. Stephen>Eleven>Death Don't>Lovelight>Alligator>Caution>Feedback>We Bid You Goodnight. So it doesn't match the other tape, or archive.org, or Midnight Cafe. Lovelight is not listed anywhere (except on my tape.) So I think I have another mis-labeled tape....I wonder what it is.
Possibly 11/30/80 Dave's Pick Volume 8 Fox Theatre Atlanta GA was the most recent '80's release (besides RFK)? Maybe...
Thanks JIm....that's incredible - did you just happen to remember the intro from 8/22/68? That's it. It's strange - my tape is clearly labeled with the date and venue 3/22/68 State Fair Coliseum, but from the Graham introduction it is quite clearly 8/22/68. The archive info is great - it seems there is still some mystery regarding this tape. My tape is Dark Star, That's It for the Other One, New Potato Caboose, St. Stephen, The Eleven, Death Don't Have No Mercy, Alligator, Feedback. So it's all been re-arranged for some reason (archive starts with St Stephen Eleven Death Don't.) And there's no Caution on my tape at all. Or, at least, no Caution words.
This was fun - maybe I'll find some more mysterious tapes....like the one that's labeled Magoo's Pizza Parlor '66 but seems to be some early studio stuff.
8/22/68?
https://themidnightcafe.org/2017/09/23/repost-bonanza-grateful-dead-san…
Grateful Dead
68-08-22
Fillmore West
San Francisco, CA
Download: FLAC/MP3
This is flac encoded & tagged version of shnid: 14915
source 1: SBD>MR>C>D>CD>EAC>SHN (mono)
source
2: SBD>MR>C>D>CD>EAC>SHN (stereo)
source 1 provides
everything except the Alligator->WBYGN portion
Disc 1 (26:38)
set 1:
1. //St. Stephen–> (4:25)
2. The Eleven–> (13:50)
3. Death Don’t Have No Mercy (8:21)
Disc 2 (66:59)
set 2:
1. Dark Star (12:17)
2. Cryptical Envelopment–> (1:50)
3. The Other One%–> (4:01)
4. Cryptical Envelopment–> (6:20)
5. New Potato Caboose (13:15)
6. Alligator–> (3:26)
7. Drums–> (5:38)
8. Jam–> (9:27)
9. Caution–> (5:47)
10. Feedback%–> (3:49)
11. We Bid You Goodnight (1:05)
Notes:
–splice at 3:41 in The Other One
–several minor blemishes
during the stereo portion of the show
–minor splice at 0:06 in Feedback
–
-Sound Forge was used for some minor edits, including a slight pitch
correction for an excerpt and to fix a brief repeat during The Eleven.
The Confusion:
There has been a great deal of confusion regarding
the date of 8-22-68, and this shn set still has several uncertain elements.
Maybe some of this info can help:
–“source 1” (mono),
has circulated fairly commonly under “8-22-68”, though the Alligator
that accompanies that recording is actually the version from 8-21-68.
Still, there is no certainty that this material covering Stephen
through New Potato is from 8-22. It does not match any other
circulating material, though, and the intro from Bill Graham clearly
places this at the Fillmore. Furthermore, this show may circulate
with Dark Star as the opener, as it follows the Bill Graham intro.
However, Bill Graham introduced the band at the start of each set
in those days, so I’ve kept Dark Star where it was on my copy,
in position to start the 2nd set.
–“source 2” is in stereo, and has
been dated as 8-22-68 from David Gans. This portion often circulates
following an alternate mix of the material that would make up
“Two From The Vault” (8-24-68).
Other bits of reference:
–Phil’s bass is
out of tune during New Potato on 8-22, unlike the phenominal 8-24 version
—
the Alligator from 8-21 differs as it does not segue into Caution
—
the Alligator/Caution from 8-23 differs in that it does not segue
into WBYG after Feedback
–the minor cut in Feedback on 8-22 may be
disguised on some copies
Lastly, this probably isn’t the end of confusion
for 8-22, but as of Jan ’03, it’s a best guess
Re: zxtttxz
It was the intro that was the clue.. I got a little help from perhaps the best, go-to site for history on early year GD..
http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2009/08/dark-star-1968.html
If I had more time I could really get lost reading some of these blogs. ..and if you are going to get lost, why not get lost in the land of 1968 Dark Stars?
Good stuff man.. that's a great story. Long lost tapes..
The formerly warlocks box set
The formerly warlocks box set is apparently back in stock
The formerly warlocks box set...where?
Still says unavailable - been looking for a set. Ebay prices get crazy on this..
RFK box set numebring?
I finally got the RFK box set. It does sound incredible and the first show has great first set. The set I got was unopened but has no number up top, it does say Limited Edition of 15000 on back, blank red box up top where numbers seem to be. Were the first run of these non-numbered?Citrus JJ
RFK box numebring
That red box should have numbers in it. Perhaps you were accidentally sent a promotional copy! Another theory could be that it slipped past the mechanism that embosses those digits.Enjoy those shows. The quality is top notch.
3012 left
In Mahabharat, King Janamejaya was great-grandson of Arjuna (3rd among Pandavas) and copper plate inscriptions dating back to 3012-3013 BC have been found about his donations to Hampi and Kedarnath temples.Both the inscriptions written in Sanskrit on copper plates are about the gift of land given by Emperor Janamejaya on the same day when the Solar eclipse was on. But the gifts were made at two different places, one at Kishkindha and another at Kedarnath. The year of kali and other details of the day were exactly the same in both the inscriptions. While one of them has been found by the Archeological Dept, the other was found by a devotee to Kedarnath who recorded the contents of the copper plate preserved in Kedarnath till today (more than 5000 years old).
6/10/73 digital sign up
New to this so sorry if I am in the wrong zone but count me in for 6/10/73! Please and thank you!
unnumbered RFK Box?
That's odd... Regardless, the music in this release is wonderful - multi-track precision! So glad these '89 shows are finally getting out. If you haven't heard these shows, you'll love 'em.
Ah, Kedernath.
In 1989 I spent a whole day sitting outside the temple in Kedernath discussing all manner of things with a sadhu. Whilst he was talking to me he was also collecting 'donations' from all the devotees entering the temple. He possessed the uncanny skill of being able to tell instantly how much each person was able to give him. If they came up short, he would berate them at length until they came good. Hilarious, especially as we indulged in numerous chillums throughout the day. A truly memorable day in a breathtakingly beautiful Himalayan location. Such a shame the village of Kedernath and many other places in the vicinity were devastated by floods and landslides a few years ago with great loss of life. Fortunately the temple at Kedernath survived the onslaught.
2983 left
THE ECLIPSE IN 2983 BC
By LUDOVIC MCLELLAN MANN.
(Written 1930).
A few days ago Mr. J. C. McCrindle, Shawlands, took me to see a flat sandstone rock on Cleuch Farm, now Cathcart Castle golf course, Whitecraigs. He:had discovered cut upon the stone certain markings known to the antiquary as “cups and rings”. These had also been noticed by Mr. A. W. Barclay. The designs have been delicately pecked out and are unusually shallow. They are well preserved, as the surface has until now been protected by a growth of vegetation.
The writer was struck at once by the similarity of the design to that on a carved boulder found some time ago in the Bluebell Wood, Langside, about 2¾ miles distant. Closer examination showed that the designs, although not identical, had many points in common, and that in fact they record the same event.
Cupmarks on the Langside and Cleuch stones
The meaning of such designs has long been an outstanding problem of archaeology. For some years the writer has been engaged on its solution, and the markings can now be interpreted according to principles recovered after the closest examination of full-sized drawings of some hundreds of examples from this country and from abroad. The cupped stones are registers made by prehistoric astronomers who reckoned time by hours, days, years, and long cycles of years. The happening of eclipses punctuated their cycles.
A cup-marked stone furnishes the index marks of invisible geometric dials or clock faces. The markings, indicating certain days, hours, and years, usually take the form of small cup-like hollows. To read the markings we must first find the centre of the scheme, and then restore the framework of the dials and the position of their “clock hands”. Each long cycle checks the reading given by the others. They involve the periodicities of Sun, Moon, nodes, and five planets. The Langside and Cleuch stones commemorate chiefly – one and the same event – an eclipse of the Sun seen in Glasgow district in the year 2983 BC, at three o’clock in the afternoon of the sixth day after the spring equinox (March 27 in our modern reckoning).
One must dismiss the conventional notion that the pre-Roman Briton was a barbarian. The stones referred to bear records made 50 centuries ago by men who were by no means savage, but were possessed of considerable scientific knowledge. For many thousands of years even before that remote time, similar carvings were being made in all parts of the habitable world. The language used by the sculptor was one of measures and geometry. It was a.medium of expression which overstepped the limitations of race, speech,, time, and space.
To detail the method of reading the Langside stone and its corroborative witness, the Cleuch stone, is here impossible, but certain features may be outlined. It should be noted that the date 2983 BC March 27 was obtained from the Langside stone before it was possible to ascertain from independent computors that an eclipse had actually been seen in Glasgow on that date. This is nearly 2000 years before the earliest published eclipse recorded by the Viennese astronomer Oppolzer, and the visibility of the eclipse had to be specially computed in Berlin, after the data had been supplied from Glasgow.}
192 kHz sampled files appear to be upsampled 44.1 kHz
I just purchased the high-resolution downloads, and checked the files. Although they occupy larger containers, there is little to no information beyond 44.1 kHz sampling frequency. In other words, you don't seem to get anything more for the extra $10.00. This is a bit frustrating, because the possibility of getting HD files was what made me purchase this set in the first place.
RFK 89 Box
I'm glad to see this box getting some love looks like only a few thousand left. I's nice when boxes don't sellout right away in case you don't have the funds, gives you time to save up some dough. Hoping Spectrum 89 is in the works for this years release.
Awesome Other One!
I keep my iPod on shuffle and usually hear it while driving. The other day this Other One was chosen for my ears and just blew me away. Superb sound/mix and the boys just RAGE...Wow!
2824 left
Episode 2824
Sesame Street
Plot Elmo and the Beanstalk
Air date February 28, 1991
Season Season 22 (1990-1991)
Sponsors G, L, 6
COLD OPEN Elmo (And The Beanstalk) announces he will be climbing a beanstalk today, as well as taking to some string beans (who make sure they're mentioned).
SCENE 1 Elmo welcomes the viewer and Mike begins to read the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk," but Elmo tells more of the story than Mike does. After Mike finishes "reading", Elmo runs off to find some magic beans, so he can climb a beanstalk and get some "gooolllden eggs."
SCENE 2 Big Bird helps Elmo plant the beans he got from Gina so he can climb to the sky and get 6 golden eggs (and split the spoils with Mike and Gina). Big Bird puts the beans in the pot and waters them and they both move away to let it grow, but nothing happens. Since it's a cloudy day, the sun won't shine on the beans to make them grow. Elmo is disappointed, until Big Bird suggests he imagine climbing a beanstalk.
SCENE 2 cont'd Elmo imagines the beanstalk fully grown and begins to climb it.
SCENE 2 cont'd Meanwhile, in reality, Big Bird watches Elmo moving his arms and chanting "Climb" in a daze and hopes he has enough energy to make it to the top.
SCENE 3 Still imagining, Elmo continues to climb and wishes there were an easier way to get to the top. He gets an idea he could fly...
SCENE 3 cont'd Elmo begins to soar through the sky singing "Elmo Can Fly" with two birds, who tell him the stalk's too high to fly up.
SCENE 3 cont'd Back on the street, Big Bird continues watching Elmo climb and wonders if he ever considered flying up the stalk.
SCENE 4 Oscar discovers Elmo panting in front of his can and tells him to go away, but he doesn't respond. He blares his (broken) horn, rattles his noisemaker and plays his bongos, but with no success. Once he learns from Big Bird what he's doing, he hangs up some signs that forbid imagination and beanstalks, but they do nothing too. Oscar gives up, while Elmo snickers to the camera.
SCENE 5 Elmo is still "climbing". Big Bird is sure he's near the top by now.
SCENE 5 cont'd Elmo runs into some string beans, who tell him he's close to the top. Once he is gone, one bean wonders if they should have mentioned the giant.
Imagination Rain
SCENE 6 Elmo finally makes it to the top of the stalk, where a sleeping giant (Mike) lays. He finds the chicken and and has her lay one more egg so that her carton will have the six "gooolllden eggs" he needs. The chicken's squawking awakes the giant. Elmo flees without learning the giant wanted to say "Hi."
SCENE 6 cont'd Elmo slides down the side of the crate, which Big Bird interprets as him sliding down the beanstalk.
SCENE 7 In Hooper's Store, Elmo shares his story with everyone. He then orders some string beans with "gooolllden eggs".
SCENE 7 cont'd Oscar's upset to see the pot is still there, so he tries imagining the sponsors in its place, with no luck.
Number of CD's Left
Friendly question: You say there are 2824 left. I presume you mean copies of this CD left to purchase. How do you know? Is there a site somewhere that tells you how many are available?
Berkeleyboy
You see how many the site will allow you to put in the cart. You can only put in the cart up to the number that is available.
Box ? Yup
Get ready for that 1984 box
And that 1969 box
And that 1968 box
And that 1973 box
And that 1976 box. They are all going down.
Been spinning some June 1991 , March 1992 , December 1992 ,
April 1969 , December 1969 + April 1977
"Drink all day and Rock all night" ~ 12.31.77
Peaking in the Fall of 1973
Some songs were and some were not. Overall the music from that time is pound for pound some of the best from the band.
October 1973 has some really hot stuff, I would expect at least one Eyes -> China Doll will be released in near future and the one from October 1973 would be a very nice addition for official releases. The Minnesota show from October 1973 has a great vibe going on , I hope that makes the cut as well.
how is this not sold out?
How is this still available? There are a couple of fantastic shows! What is everyone waiting on? Get on it and buy this box ASAP!
How is this not sold out?
Because everyone who wanted a copy has bought it, and that would appear to be around 12000 good souls. I got mine. Everyone else said "Meh". But you are correct - they are great shows, just not everyone's cup of tea it would seem.
Will sell out eventually
It took years for Hampton 89 to sell out, and those shows are awesome.
Summertime...
I've been eyeballing this for awhile and finally ordered a copy last night. Can't wait to hear it!!!
Unnumbered copy?
Tried to save a few bucks by picking up a copy of this on eBay. Unfortunately, the copy I received is unnumbered. Just a red box where the number should be. Does anyone know the origins of unnumbered copies. Is it legit?
July 12, 1989
Gotta admit, this show is a little rocky and uneven; especially the first set.
Wasn't expecting that for a vault release.
It's not bad, but it's not mind blowing either.
Haven't heard the second show yet.
Now how about releasing some of those Fall '89 multi-tracks? I'm thinking the Spectrum and Charlotte runs
you could chew the air...
it was so hot...so very very very...hot. at this time, I had seen thr boys some 40 plus times and this show wasn't on my radar I was gonna do the fall gigs because June 22 of that year I got o job on a police dept!! as as 911 dispatcher. My sched came out in two week blocks..I look at the schedule and turn to my sergent"what are those empty boxes" He smiles and says 3 days off!! I stroke out quietly make the various phone calls(no cells)reach the right people purchase the very best sweet "Putney Power" uh. . . stuff I could find... And unlike our more hairier angels and nymphs we had a great car, great friends and motel rooms......
The Peak
People let me tell you, I created this deadnet account for one reason, to convince you that you need this box if you haven't yet got it.
I have many choice recordings. Dicks Picks and Road Trips, Dave's Picks subscriptions, got the Get Shown the Light '77 box (Buffalo 5/9 was the true peak of that set for me), Wall of Sound era tapes, acoustic sets, Spring 1990, Fillmore 69, several Europe 72 packages--and on and on.
It's all beatiful. But I need to tell you every time I listen to RFK July 1989 I'm convinced again and again this is the best the band ever was! Best they EVER were. Yep, I'm saying it and standing by it.
Serious,folks. Jerry's clearly lovin' it and feeling full of energy. On top of the expected brilliant and sweet playing these discs are loaded with hot and heavy guitar to put any metal shredder to shame.
Summer1989 was also a standout vocal peak for Jerry. Check out the first verse of Ship of Fools for a quick peek at what these shows have to give. Then when you got all six discs safe at home you can kick back to To Lay Me Down and all the other magic vocals and thank me for convincing you to get these discs.
And the band harmonies! I think they had just been using those new custom in-ear monitors and really worked to make something special like the astonishing harmonies on He's Gone, Wharf Rat as obvious examples.
And all the polyphonic instrumental adventures that turned me into a lifetime fan(atic) are here in full force--Estimated from 7/12 comes to mind as a fine example.
But why go on? It's time to get one yourself and hear these powerfully clean, beautifully mixed tapes and be rewarded. You deserve it!
With love,
All the Madmen
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081227934118
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