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    lilgoldie
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    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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  • #701
    The Weve
    Joined:
    Summer 1973 next box..."SUMMER JAM '73"
    Summer 1973 next box.. "SUMMER JAM '73" Love to see a Watkins Glen Box, but PLEASE include The Band and Allman Bros. with both days 27th & 28th for all 3 bands. This would make one heck of a project. Can't you just see it now. "SUMMER JAM '73" poster on the cover, throw in some of the many great photos that are out there from this historic show. The Band did release a CD of some of their performance in '90 , but it's out of print. The ABB released one song (Come & Go Blues ) on " Wipe The Windows, Check The Oil, Dollar Gas". Wow, a dollars worth of gas ! 1973 three bucks filled my VW bus, oh for days gone by. Anyway this would be a great box, with a much needed upgrade on the sound of the Dead's performances.
  • #702
    Underthevolcano
    Joined:
    OFF TOPIC
    Just a quick comment-saw Mickey at Palace Theatre-great show-catch this band if you have the chance!
  • #703
    claney
    Joined:
    To clarify
    Thanks for all the thoughtful responses... II should perhaps clarify though: I wasn't referring to the sales figures as depressing. It is impressive that they are consistently selling out vast box sets like Europe 72. I was thinking more about what it means, in very broad terms, if the "customer base" becomes a relatively small group of the same people and general releases dry up. As Deadegad pointed out, there are good reasons for this, such as disappearing music stores, people not buying CD's, and so on. And it is those very things which had me a bit bummed out. And I've actually become one of those people, thanks to Spotify, I rarely buy CD's anymore, except of course the Dead. Still bums me out :) (Maybe it was also laying around in bed for hours, ha ha)
  • #704
    thismikebenz
    Joined:
    Sales figures?
    I agree. Not every devoted fan of the music can afford the several hundred $ a year one could spend on keeping up with Dead.net and Jerrygarcia.com releases, not to mention seeing Furthur or Phil and Friends, Seven Walkers, and the Mickey Hat Band whenever they wander near enough. I live near BOulder, CO, so Mickey, Bill, Phil and Bobby come to Red Rocks, Denver, and BOulder a lot, and I shudder to think how much my wife and I spend in a year on tickets, babysitters, parking, t-shirts, and after-the-show CDs. I have several linear feet of Dead family CD's from Mother McRee's 1965 on the left end, to Furthur's latest Broomfield run on the right, and really, what other artists could expect even just a few people to spend that kind of money and devote that much shelf space?
  • #705
    thismikebenz
    Joined:
    What I think I'll like about May 77 set
    I'm glad that it's not quite so overblown as the Spring 90 set. I like a little bit of art and goodies, stuff to read and look at while I'm giving it the first listen. I like that photography, writing, and other visual arts are given the chance to shine along with the music. However, the Spring 90 box is big and full of trinkets, and cost more $ than I was totally comfortable spending For trinkets, I actually like lots of different little or big stickers. I put them on my coffee thermos or my laptop case, ipod, or portable hardrive, and they often spark friendly conversations with strangers on the bus, or at the store. We are still everywhere. I also am impressed with the variety of titles. Some repetition, but not too much.
  • #706
    PalmerEldritch
    Joined:
    Sales figures?
    Sales figures depressing? I don't think 15,000 pressings of May 1977 should be. This from a band almost 50 years old and that quit almost 20 years ago. I suspect that a similar set, at the same price, of old Louis Armstrong or Bill Monroe recordings would have similar sales numbers. The relatively low sales (compared to eh, say Justin Bieber), says nothing about the Dead's musical/cultural importance, and how they will be remembered.Next box? I vote for Summer 1973. So many great, unreleased shows: RFK!, the 8/1/73 Dark Star, Watkins Glen! As great as fall 1973, but with a very different, unique sound!
  • #707
    thismikebenz
    Joined:
    DIfferent compilation box suggestion
    Having done most of my touring in the mid-to-late 80's, I acknowledge that there were very few shows that stood out 100% from Tuning to Encore. However, there were many shows that featured new or unusual cover songs, and there were many interesting guests that sat in for a song or two. perhaps gleaning a couple discs worth of those highlights would be a way to release some of that material which rises above the rest of those lackluster shows. I remember LOVING Memphis-Mobile in Hartford spring of '88, but that same night watching Jerry lose it on Black Peter and knock his microphone stand over.
  • #708
    thismikebenz
    Joined:
    Future Box sets or other vault releases
    I think to eliminate the panic, they should take pre-sale orders where we put down a deposit, then they would know how many to print up for pre-ordering customers, then print up some number more to keep in the warehouse to sell over the next months or year.
  • #709
    thismikebenz
    Joined:
    1977 and listening habits before a new vault release
    I like to troll my music collection for other music of the time period. Being a fan of Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, Weather Report, Little Feat, John McLaughlin, Steely Dan, Talking Heads, King Crimson, Pre-MTV Genesis, Yes, Pink FLoyd, listening to anything that came out from 1976 to 1978 is just marvelous! Many of my favorite acts from the 60's through the 90's were really at the top of their game in '77 though I must say that CSN did great stuff in '77 but &Y was wandering a little far afield of my preferences! I was only 10 in 1977, but I remember being glued to 102.7 WNEW FM in NYC and loving most everything. THough of course they didn't play much Dead.
  • #710
    Star Dark
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    Joined:
    4/9-12/70
    YES - 69/70 Miles Davis was/is the bomb. Very, very deep (and dark) stuff. Many great live recordings from that era have - fortunately - made it to CD. Interesting... the gigs where Miles and the Dead shared bills (4/9 through 4/12/70) aren't well-represented in the Archive. Wonder if the always-amiable Miles snagged those tapes? :o) BTW - Anyone know where one can find a reasonably priced, near-mint copy of the 1st-edition poster from that string of shows? Awesome work by Dr. Singer!
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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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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.
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