Grateful Dead

oh you keep a GD journal on your phone, how quaint!

Can't remember if you wrote it that is funny. You should have known by the lack of any usage of the word "primo" ;-) No actually I knew it wasn't yours because I recall reading it before. I was looking to see if there was a more inclusive source of review material for the tour, but have since found a good site.

If you have any of your own thoughts to share from that journal, any 72 shows are good, that's my wheelhouse.

It says in the Taping Compendium that the Europe 72 tour had its fair share of " uneven or unspectacular shows" where the band sound "tired and distracted". Not in my box, they don't! 4/24 Dusseldorf, 5/10 Amsterdam and 5/23 London are singled out as being below par. Maybe it was the quality of tapes they had. Maybe also, if you listen to a lot of shows from the same run, one after the other, you get a bit jaded with what's on offer. I've noticed with myself that if I play a show I really enjoy, I then go for another one from the same run, and then another-but playing the third can be a bit of a mistake, and I am better served by going to a different era entirely. Probably not a popular way of listening.

I got replacements for discs 1 which had a skip on Promised Land and disc 3 which had a skip on Let It Grow. Received replacements with a skip on Tennessee Jed on disc 1 and not one, but two skips on Wharf Rat on disc 3. Since receiving the original DaP28 back in early November I have listened to countless discs, previous Grateful Dead releases and a variety of old and new discs, none of which skipped on the same CD player I am still using. If the manufacturing team isn't embarrassed yet, they should be. Essentially I paid for a subscription promising 4 releases and received 3 usable releases and one with multiple skips.

Got my 2 replacement CD 1s today. They both play fine. 2 CDs you may ask? One for me, one for a Christmas gift. I always buy 2 subs, one for me one for a friend's gift. First one I played back around Nov 1 I found CD 1 Track 8 where the playback problem was. Opened up the other one, and sure enough it was bad too! Did anyone notice the back label side of these discs? On both of mine the label coating had run and was wrinkled in the area of the defect like it didn't cure properly during manufacture and ran like wet paint. Easily seen by just eyeballing it. If I could attach a picture I would. Anyway looks like I got taken care of and all is good, and I can send off this late Christmas gift now. All handled by Rhino customer service.

Did some edibles last weekend (can't smoke unfortunately) and while on a 1976 review brought on by this DaP 28, I was listening to the bonus disc from DaP 18 and you know how it goes....a piece of music just hits your soul....
that break in Brown Eyed Women has got to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music I ever heard!
What an amazing song writer and arranger Jerry was. That chord progression, the vocal harmony, just exactly perfect. Robert Hunter was key of course.....the lyrics are "classic" Americana, yet written in the 70's! It's short and sweet. Those kind of moments can carry one for a while...gets you recharged on the good stuff.

Well, my replacement discs finally arrived and it appears that now disc 1 has a minor skip on Tennessee Jed at about 5:29 into the song, haven't had a chance to finish the rest of the disc or to check disc 3 yet, but my optimism is diminishing at a rapid rate. Seems like a problem when your business model is selling discs and you can't get discs manufactured without defects affecting playback. Disappointing is the word for the day. And yeah, I used to listen to sketchy tapes as well, but I didn't pay for them. If I am paying for something I feel like it really ought to work for it's intended purpose. Would deadnet fulfill my order if I only made a partial payment? Why then should I be ok with a partially working product at full price?

Wondering if the folks having trouble with skipping discs have tried using a different reader/Cd player? Many times I've experienced issues with discs and it's usually due to a an old computer/reader where the laser isn't as strong or the bulb maybe has years of dust on it - odd that it skips in the same place.

As for the upcoming 1/2/70 show, the Tapers Compendium disses it as an unremarkable performance. However I remember liking this one.... Compendium reviews, and even Dick's notebooks, have dissed many a show that wind up being released - and being glorious. Just goes to show you have to take others' opinions with a grain of salt and listen without preconceived notions.

Looking forward to seeing the artwork. Hoping for a break from the lazy, trite (and macabre) bearded skeleton motif, but that tends to be the trend....

Haven't really been here much since they changed the board look/format. Honestly haven't really been listening to the Dead for about a year. Every few years I retreat completely - this time I've been getting into more local music. (This Thursday at Three Squares in Needham - Boston suburb - if anyone wants to come out). But I'll eventually "come around" again to the Dead. Ya have to cross-pollenate once in a while....

I received my replacement cd over the weekend. Here is my 2 cents on the issues with the cds, but understand that I am a pretty laid back individual. My issue was the familiar one-- Let it Grow had a big skip at the 1:40 mark that left about a 20+ second gap. I contacted Marye and she got me on the list-- thanks Marye, you rock! Understanding that they had to do a new run of cds as so many had the problem, I patiently awaited a replacement disc. Gave it a listen and at the 1:40 mark of LiG, there is a minor blip but the disc recovers and I can listen to the rest.

So, I could complain about the blip, but I am ready to call it good. I listened to hissy tapes with knock-outs, drop-outs, cuts and all sort of maladies for 20+ years. So, I can deal with this. I do most of my listening digitally, so maybe it won't even show up when I download it. As for Rhino, they are making a good faith effort to make it right on this, but they may want to examine a new disc manufacturer going forward. Those who have the same long glitch, I feel for you and hope they can get you a proper replacement soon.

BTW, I really like this show and I am generally not a fan of summer 1976. Lots of good stuff here. The H-S-F is quite good. It also got me to revisit DaP 18 and I found I like that one more than I did on its initial listen.

...good find Jim, I was wondering what the T.D. Stood for...that was really quick too, this board is awsome! :)

This looks a lot like one of the reviews for this show on Amazon. Maybe that helps..

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2WUOHKM1S24SR/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?A…