• 955 replies
    lilgoldie
    Default Avatar
    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.

Comments

sort by
Recent
Reset
  • Bach 2 Bach
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    whiskey tango foxtrot
    Hmmm... got sucked into the double post thing, that's a first for me. Oh well. I would second the idea of a Summer '85 box set also.
  • deadegad
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Fall 79! Brent's Begining. . ..MSG.
    Fall 79 would be a good candidate for a box set. It is almost the 80's which is Brent's heyday so Fall 79 is kind of Brent's beginning (not exactly, but). MSG September 79 would be worthy of consideration but a Fall 79 box set would do more justice perhaps. If not a Spring 1980? The Going to Nassau 80 show might be redundant in this scenario but there was some very strong playing. Have you heard the Jack Straw from Going to Nassau? It is very, very muscular playing. They sound like a metal band. We'll see.
  • hbob1995
    Joined:
    Fall '79
    I saw 3 shows on the Fall '79 tour and each one was better then the last. I would love to hear the MSG show where Steve Parrish had his motorcycle behind the drums and it blended it amazing well on the drumz solo! I thought these comments were for the '77 box due out next month? Lol. We certainly are addicts in every sense of the word. Can we ever have enough releases? I guess not! I can't stop buying them until I buy the next one. Rock on
  • kevjones
    Joined:
    Box Set Speculation
    Kind of early to speculate on the next box set, but I thought I'd toss my suggestion in the ring. MSG 88 would be great
  • itsburnsy
    Joined:
    What Do I Know, Not Much
    I have no insider info of course, but it is early to be getting the year's box set. Perhaps dead net releases another smaller one around the holidays? Seems to me if they were going to stick to one box this year, it would come out later rather than sooner, but that is probably just wishful thinking. My vote, Fall of '79. I've been adding all my FLAC files to iTunes (Apple Lossless is a great file type by the way - use that over WAV) and just got through Fall '79, there was sooooo much good music on that tour I'm not sure where to even start. Cape Cod, Pittsburgh of course, basically the entire tour is amazing. It ain't the 80's exactly, but it is the same lineup, and with better Playin' anyhow.
  • claney
    Joined:
    Starlight
    I agree that it is just a tad premature to discuss the next box, but we are all addicts so why not? Also agreed that a venue box might be silly, on the other hand, I kinda like this idea: Starlight Amphitheatre, KC 8/03/82 7/03/84 9/03/85 Excellent shows - the one from 82 is well known (for 82, and my favorite of the year, the one from 85 is one of the best AUDs out there and an interesting setlist, though I suspect some of the sloppiness, such as the Cryptical, might not come across as well on SB. But god, that Oade AUD is perfection. And the 84 show is pretty under the radar I think, but such a cool show, a great standalone jam in the second set, not just Space. Setlists compliment each other nicely, and it would be an early 80s box. And along the lines of Bach's hilarious post, it would be a manageable size. This is from memory, not sure if I'm missing some other shows played there... And SUCH a beautiful venue...
  • Star Dark
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    Apologies May 77
    Apologies... yes, a bit silly to obsess over releases 12 months out, before the present gem has even been shipped or heard. Very much looking forward to THIS one. In the photo, it looks like they went back to the all-paper sleeves (which I despise, as they tend to scuff CD playing surfaces). Wonder if the Dead crew tired of all the nasty comments concerning Spring 90's over-tight spindles? Arghh. (Such a whiner...)
  • Bach 2 Bach
    Default Avatar
    Joined:
    PLEASE HELP
    WILL WORK FOR GD BOX SETS
  • wilfredtjones
    Joined:
    the next box...
    I can't believe we're actually discussing this topic so soon, but...I believe they ought to revisit the Winterland theme. I tend to want Feb. '74 or March '77, but come to think of it a collection of the unreleased '69-'72 shows could be looked at as well. That's not to say that I'm anti-'80's or anything because I hope some of that stuff will come out eventually, too.
  • Underthevolcano
    Joined:
    venue
    My "Fantasy Boxset" post was offered to spark debate about different ways of considering release criteria. So far there have been compilations,specific runs, tours, or tour portions, one-offs, historical events(Egypt), plain great shows which were well known and plain great shows off the radar and then the recently unearthed shows(where tapes became available). I was thinking that sometimes(not all the time) it would be fun to take a venue and run a time capsule of all or some shows over time at that venue-might be fun to do just like I thought it would be fun to do a box set of college shows from the early days when the Dead did many college campuses. This premise may create some very interesting essays to go along. I also thought another box could be shows which were broadcast over FM radio-I know my buddies and I were appreciative of the FM braodcast of the Dead at Boston's Music Hall show in 1971, I think. But, you know, its all good and whatever they decide to do, I'm in.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

15 years 7 months

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.

user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

7 years 4 months
Permalink

When will this be available as downloads again? I own the high-res digital download of Get Shown the Light and it is spectacular.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

7 years 9 months
Permalink

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.
user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

7 years 9 months
Permalink

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.
user picture

Member for

6 years 3 months
Permalink

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