Dave's Picks Volume 29: Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA 2/26/77

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January 23, 2019 - 9:54am

1,510 replies

clayv

Joined:
March 14, 2018

An institution in American rock music, the Grateful Dead continue to surprise the ears with new arrangements and altered styles. If their playing continues with the force that was heard in San Bernardino, the spirit of the Dead will live on. - Sun Telegram

We are more than pleased to kick off this year's Dave's Picks series with the much requested and quite spirited complete performance from Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA 2/26/77. The Swing ’77 show was a unique beast, unlike any others from this era: as the band’s first concert of the year, it bridged the gap between the new and re-emerging sound of the returning 1976 Grateful Dead and the precision excellence of the spring ’77 Dead. Debuting two of their most intricately crafted songs of the 1970s, “Terrapin Station” (to open, no less!) and “Estimated Prophet,” the Dead demonstrated right from the start of this new touring year that they were not going to be a nostalgia act; they were going to be as adventurous and ambitious as they were at any time in their career.

Join the adventure as they soar through tried and true ("Playing In The Band," "Tennessee Jed"), well-loved covers ("Mama Tried," "Samson and Delilah," "Dancing In the Street"), and epic new jams.

Rounded out with three songs from Santa Barbara, CA 2/27/77, this one was recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.

Dave's Picks Volume 29 is limited to 20,000 individually-numbered copies*.

*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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April 12, 2019 - 4:09am

#121

hbob1995

Joined:
June 26, 2007

DaP30

THE worst cover of any of Dave's Picks by a long shot. Very disappointing.

Rock on
April 11, 2019 - 8:51pm

#122

alvarhanso

Joined:
January 16, 2014

1/3 mysteries

Can't wait to find out what parts of these fantastic looking shows we're gonna be devouring! I've been preparing by listening to DaP 6 2/2/70 (the show after the New Orleans bust, and sans TC), and 12/20/69, finished 2/2 on lunch break in the car, hoping Pig didn't go too much on the "reach over my left shoulder" rap as there was a young lady sunning herself whilst I blasted my music with my windows down eating my Zaxby's. But since somebody suggested they go into Not Fade Away for shits and giggles, we were all spared from a salacious Pig rap from 1970, and he only mentioned getting yo hands outta yo pockets once I recall. But the ride home featured the incredibly lovely 20 min Dark Star opener from the second show, 12/20/69 at the Fillmore West (with TC), 9 months previously the site of 4 nights of fire and fury captured for all eternity on 16 track reels (the first ever 16 track live recording) and gifting the universe with Live/Dead, but a lot had happened over the course of 9 months, if the setlist stayed somewhat the same. The band on the second part of DaP 6 goes Dark Star> St Stephen> The Eleven> New Speedway Boogie instead of into the Lovelight they eventually get to, and instead of light, they plunge into the darkness that was Hunter S Thompson's great crashing wave, sweeping the dreams and idealism of the 60s back out to sea. Talk about coming full circle... Which brings me back to DaP 30 and the wonderful mystery meat we get to devour in just over 2 weeks time. From 2 weeks after they played the Fillmore West, they were on the left coast to play Bill's legendary theater, and here's the only thing missing from keithfan's post, the 1/3 setlist:
Ealy show: Morning Dew, Me And My Uncle, Hard To Handle, Cumberland Blues, Cold Rain & Snow, Alligator > Drums > Jam > Bid You Goodnight Jam > Jam > Alligator Jam & Reprise > Caution Jam > Feedback, E: Uncle John's Band;
Entire Late show played was: Casey Jones, Mama Tried, Big Boss Man, China Cat Sunflower-> Jam-> I Know You Rider-> High Time Tease, Mason's Children, Cryptical Envelopment-> Drums-> The Other One-> Cryptical Envelopment-> Cosmic Charlie, Uncle John's Band-> Black Peter, Dire Wolf, Good Lovin', Dancin' In The Streets-> Drums-> Dancin' In The Streets, E: Saint Stephen-> In The Midnight Hour

I am so looking forward to hearing some tasty stuff from that! I'm actually listening to The Other One from it now... But the combinations of these setlists is just mindblowing. We get everything. It's a Thanksgiving feast of epic proportions.

And I wonder if these were part of the Houseboat Tapes, been a while since we got something from that batch. DaP 19 1/23-24/70 I believe was from that, as well as DaP 6 as mentioned above, and DaP 10 Thelma 12/10-11/69.

Also, no 1969 show to come out with Aoxomoxoa?
April 11, 2019 - 7:54pm

#123

Vguy72

Joined:
June 29, 2007

DaP 30's reflection cover....

....it's fresh on my brain, but I freaking love it!! Looks like my dog's paws! And dogs are always the first to greet you when you get home. If you scroll down a bit, you get a cool rotating AOXOMOXOA thing. Ye haw!!
Newcastle 4.11.72's first set is under the belt. Taking a break. I'm exhausted though, so the second set may be broken up.
April 11, 2019 - 6:23pm

#124

MDJim

Joined:
March 16, 2017

No Email For Me!

Fargin Bastages..

Edit: One of the kind folks here forwarded me the email.. agree, they seem to be wolf paws. I like the cover art if for no other reason there are no cartoonish skeletons and especially no skeletons with full beards.
April 11, 2019 - 4:58pm

#125

Cousins Of The…

Joined:
September 10, 2009

Got the email too

Fantastic cover, no skeletons, no beards; just the Dire Wolf's paws.
April 11, 2019 - 4:45pm

#126

nappyrags

Joined:
January 24, 2013

the email just hit my box…

the email just hit my box that the sale date for DP 30 is next Thursday the 18th...Don't quite understand the cover but that's ok...
April 11, 2019 - 3:50pm

#127

KeithFan2112

Joined:
August 6, 2014

Yes Sir 80s Fan - 7/7/89 - The Bus Came By and I Got On.....

I'm from the Philly area, so it was big news that the Grateful Dead were taking the stage for the last event that would ever be played at JFK Stadium. It was the summer between my Junior and Senior years of high school. What do I remember? Well, I've told this story before, so if you've heard it, feel free to stop me.....

It was a sweltering hot sunny day, as humid as NJ and Philly ever get. I had no idea I was going to the show until 4pm that day. I was sitting at my kitchen table playing around with my brother's unloaded Glock, shooting imaginary bad guys, just like Martin Riggs had done a few hours earlier at the premier of Lethal Weapon 2. As I goofed around with the 9mm, which, I actually had a legitimate reason for holding nearby (the purpose of which does not come into this story), I made phone calls to WMMR and WYSP, as well as the local record stores, in an effort to figure out the song that was played at the end of the movie, right as it looked like it might be Riggs' last stand; after all, he was lying in a pool of blood with knife and gunshot wounds, and the most somber gospely blues tune I ever heard playing - something about going to Heaven. Well, [SPOILER ALERT] Riggs lived to make two bad sequels to the sequel, and my eyes dried up by the time I left the theater; but I couldn't remember how that damn song went, and nobody I contacted had a clue.

Then into my house walked two complete strangers: one was tall and lean, perhaps a year or two older than me; the other was a little bit shorter, thickly bearded, and smiling. I wasn’t expecting anyone when I heard the front door open, so call it instinct if you will - you know, the kind of instinct that guides us to mindlessly remove bongs and other various sundries from site, when an unannounced visitor enters our domain - only it was the Glock and ammo cartridge that I was reaching for. I might have jammed the clip in at once if the shorter bastard hadn’t been smiling so friendly and looking so damn familiar. He greeted me by name, still smiling, still friendly-like. You would think this might have settled my uneasiness, but among other things, the FBI guys instructed my brother not to acknowledge any strangers who called out his name (apparently this is a technique that some would-be harm-doers use to identify a target they’ve never met in person). A lot of things went through my mind in a flash: I should have loaded the gun instead of hiding it; I should have locked the door after I came back from the matinee; I can’t believe this “very small chance they would bother us” possibility came to pass; but overriding all of that second guessing was a rush of adrenaline that hit me when I realized they never saw the gun. I croaked “hello” or something equivalent, and began to insert the clip, out of site, under the table. I had no reservations about living out a different movie now, the one where our hero famously gets off a round from under the table - kill or be killed - at least until George Lucas got bored and started f***ing around with CGI; except now the bearded hippie SOUNDED familiar too. The whole encounter played out in just a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The voice belonged to my cousin from Buffalo. We're the same age and grew up spending a couple of weeks a year together; but up until that day, the visits were announced, and he certainly never showed up long haired and bearded (hell, I didn't even know he could grow a damn beard yet - we were only 17). Never met his friend before, so the duo WERE 50% strangers. Suffice it to say they didn't get shot that day, but the story echoed through our lives for many years.

His buddy had come with him from the Truckin' Up To Buffalo show on the 4th of July. They enjoyed it so much they decided to surprise me with a visit and an invitation to go. I was not too familiar with Dead in those days. I knew In The Dark from MTV and MMR, and I may have heard Friend of the Devil once. But I wasn’t about to pass a Dead show by, just because I didn’t know their music. After all, my cousin was my partner in crime: we'd seen KISS in '79, Rush in '86 and '87, Van Halen in '86 on Sammy's first tour, Pink Floyd in '88; and now we had driver's licenses, so it was only getting better. He was supposed to be arriving a couple of days later for The Who Reunion at Vet Stadium, and then we had the Stones Steel Wheels Tour kicking off at the end of August. Good times.

I remember the circus atmosphere of the crowd at JFK. I imagine the tailgating scene in the 70s was a drop in the bucket compared to this. We've all been to the rodeo, so I won't rehash it. But it made me feel liberated, watching all of these liberated people. Liberated from what? I don't know - just free. However free you may feel, I think live music intensifies that feeling, and I don't think any more so than with the Dead. I'd never seen so many people in one place before. When Jerry walked out, I remember my cousin smiling and saying "there he is – Jerry Garcia. He's like a messiah around here." My response was, "well, he has my respect - he's playing Pete's Woodstock guitar". Of course in hindsight, he was not - at least not since 1970. The guitar I mistook for Townshend's "Woodstock guitar" was The Tiger, which has a very similar shape and color. Pete had played the Gibson SG, which Jerry also used on Live Dead and into 1970 (depicted on DaP Vol 6). The crowd erupted when Jerry walked out, like no greeting I'd ever seen for a band, let alone one guy in the band (he came last and was greeted loudest).

Then completely unheralded - no light show or elaborate stage rig, no announcement stating we'd got the best - they just simply started playing Hell In A Bucket. Good by me, I knew that song. But that was like a soundcheck for the crowd. The real DeadHead personalities came out on the next number - Iko Iko. Now that was a unique concert experience. In the course of the next 7 or 8 minutes, I GOT what all of the hoopla was about for this band. If ever a performance captured a band's soul and spirit and allowed it to be imbibed by the audience, it was Iko Iko at JFK, where the kids all danced and shaked their bones. Did I mention all of the beach balls? It was a sea of Tie-Dye and beach balls.

Check out the contrast in crowd movement between Hell In A Bucket, the show opener, and Iko Iko, song #2

Hell In A Bucket:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkAzMiEUUQ8

Iko Iko (crowd shots around 1:47, 2:10, and 3:02):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMpaD-ktv7Q

Highlights at the time include Blow Away, Standing on the Moon, Garcia's soloing during Scarlet Begonias (how did he produce that tone???), the crowd singing Fire On The Mountain, and of course the encore, which, by some strange twist of fate was the very song I was trying to track down from the Lethal Weapon movie. I turned to my cousin and exclaimed "holy shit! THIS is the song I was talking about from the movie!"

"Oh!" he said, "This is an old Bob Dylan song - Knockin' On Heaven's Door."

Amen.
April 11, 2019 - 3:02pm

#128

bob t

Joined:
November 21, 2007

Anniversary shows that I was in attendance 4/11/88 and 4/11/89

Got to say you know how you always secretly hope that the shows you attended will always be released, well I have to say these two I can wait for other shows to be released. I am a pretty positive person and would love to see a show tomorrow with the lineup that played at these shows. Not knocking these years because I saw the 3 Alpine shows from July 89 which were awesome, and the 88 Landover shows with Ripple... 4/11/89 Rosemont Horizon had a great Shakedown to open also. They were just the shows that you went to hoping to get that killer show. The Mecca shows from 4/15 and 4/16/89 were really good!! Maybe I am just trying to say in a round about way that there a lot of good shows that can still be released! Or maybe they used all the magic up on 4/11/72?? bob t
April 11, 2019 - 2:43pm

#129

MDJim

Joined:
March 16, 2017

Awesome

You guys (and hopefully gals) are awesome. Great posts.. great vibes.. plenty of energy and ideas on what to listen to next.

Thank you.
April 11, 2019 - 12:08pm

#130

80sfan

Joined:
April 17, 2015

keithfan

thanks Keithfan - I was actually thinking of you the other day when I was listening to the Crimson White & Indigo release (7/7/89 I believe). You were there right? Must have been an awesome experience!

1989 is full of so many amazing shows up and down the calendar. Wouldn't mind seeing a Dave's Picks from say, 10/19/89 (one of my favorite all time shows)

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

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An institution in American rock music, the Grateful Dead continue to surprise the ears with new arrangements and altered styles. If their playing continues with the force that was heard in San Bernardino, the spirit of the Dead will live on. - Sun Telegram

We are more than pleased to kick off this year's Dave's Picks series with the much requested and quite spirited complete performance from Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA 2/26/77. The Swing ’77 show was a unique beast, unlike any others from this era: as the band’s first concert of the year, it bridged the gap between the new and re-emerging sound of the returning 1976 Grateful Dead and the precision excellence of the spring ’77 Dead. Debuting two of their most intricately crafted songs of the 1970s, “Terrapin Station” (to open, no less!) and “Estimated Prophet,” the Dead demonstrated right from the start of this new touring year that they were not going to be a nostalgia act; they were going to be as adventurous and ambitious as they were at any time in their career.

Join the adventure as they soar through tried and true ("Playing In The Band," "Tennessee Jed"), well-loved covers ("Mama Tried," "Samson and Delilah," "Dancing In the Street"), and epic new jams.

Rounded out with three songs from Santa Barbara, CA 2/27/77, this one was recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman.

Dave's Picks Volume 29 is limited to 20,000 individually-numbered copies*.

*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

Golden Slumbers

My favourite era for The Beatles, hands down is also the psychedelic era, which I think of as being from 1965-1967. This would include all the singles in this time span, plus Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sergeant Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour and the new tracks they recorded for Yellow Submarine.

I also like the early singles, which still have an incredible rush to them. But The White Album has always sounded a bit disjointed to me. Definitely some good tracks in there, but a massive come down from the previous three or four albums. Same with Abbey Road and Let it Be. Up to Sergeant Pepper, it seemed-and this is a retrospective judgement-as though they led the world in pop music. But as 1968 dug its heal in, and rock music took over from pop, they became just another band-nothing they recorded from that year on could compare with contemporaneous recordings by The Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Who...or The Dead, for that matter.

Jack Baller & Moby

Must be in the air, when downstairs yesterday and Billy Budd was on! Didn't want to be depressed so I didn't watch.

Now this, made me smile....

https://youtu.be/rrjlCAasXJk
....if you want my opinion, there's not enough smiling in the world. And if you don't want it, just scroll down.

15295 landed in Plano, TX

Ripping now.

Vguy - made me smile also.

Peri the Cat, check pm's

* Smile Smile Smile !

... that video made me smile too!
Smiling is healthy, everyone should smile some more especially when the going gets tough!
#4037 landed this morning as well as a nice gift from a friend I’ve met on this very Grateful Dead board... it’s feels like Christmas all over again, I can’t help myself but I keep on “smile smile smile” -ing!!! Thank you guys.
The audio/mix on Daves Picks #29 is Primo!
Every member shines on this release in my opinion !!! Rock on my brothers & sisters, have a grateful day ! : )

7119 arrived in NY

Hey it's in the mid-6000's!

Is that still a 'low' number? ;-)

Still waiting for my DaP 29…

Still waiting for my DaP 29 😾😾😾
I’m sure us UK heads will be smiling soon .
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Dennis 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

How blessed

I found the Dead after Jerry died and have loved the music ever since. I never traded tapes and bought all of Dick’s picks and most of Dave’s picks. This concert 2/26/77 is just blowing me away ! My God I’m loving the thought I get to hear the original recording and man does it sound good !

Smiling in the Promised Land

No it doesn’t get much better than that, and speaking of Promised Land, I love the tease of St. Stephen coming out of Promised Land and into eyes on this one...too bad they didn’t get the 4th reel from 2/27 which I suspect contained the St. Stephen from that show. Oh well, at least they got the Dew, which I think someone already commented is “mind blowing”!!!

Beatles: never got into them but I expanded my vinyl collection today with Revolver, Sgt. Peppers, and Magic Mystery Tour....don’t think I’ve ever listened to any of them straight through but Dave Rock, KeithFan & MDJimcan’t be wrong so should be good times!

They don’t charge admission here, but it sure is expensive....Hope everyone is enjoying this release, and it sounds like it so far. No disc skipping here.....just music, sweet sweet music.....rock on my Dead friends!

Great choice...

...of Beatles albums you bought Casey. I wouldn't want to be without Rubber Soul, though. Its got two of Lennon's best ever songs on, "In My Life" and "Girl", as well as "Norwegian Wood", "Nowhere Man"-lots of great songs in fact.

Another one I liked by The Beatles was a compilation put together by George Martin that came out about 10 years ago, called "Love". Tracks from all points of their career segue into each other in surprising ways-beautiful opening with "Because" sung unaccompanied. It might not seem like much, in the telling, but it works really well.

No Dave Picks yet here in England-but that's alright. As soon as it looks like it will never arrive...it does.

Rubber Soul

Shit, I forgot that one...there goes another $20! It’s an obsession, but man is it pleasin!

Also picked up Rolling Stones Exile on Main St. The Stones are another band that I have largely ignored over the years. This is only the 2nd Stones album I’ve ever purchased, and I think the first was a greatest hits compilation. I think the reason for my ignorance towards The Stones and also The Beatles is mostly a generational thing. By the time I was born these bands were already towards the downturn of their commercial popularity, and they seemed very “main stream” to me growing up. Guess I was looking for something more cutting edge....

Got my copy of Dicks 36 from Real Gone (but ordered through eBay seller). I was surprised that it was packaged in plastic jewel case as opposed to the soft cardboard like Dave’s? I thought I had read from someone on here that the Real Gone copies were in the soft packs? Doesn’t really make a difference to me but thought I would mention it.

So now you know my next 5....good timing too. I’ve been hearing rumors of boomers in town........but first another ride on The Swing!

Happy Sunday Funday to you all!!!

Quick note

Generally I'm the guy who says a release isn't heads and shoulders over what I have, but the 3 bonus tracks are FAR superior to the ones I have. Wish the rest of that show was there.

Album Cover Image

In case you missed it there's a really nice album cover image here:

http://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/daves-picks-volume-29-pre-sale-deta…

Resized down to 1000x1000 to make file size a bit more reasonable for embedding image into digital audio files:

https://i.imgur.com/A3MtbR5.jpg

Enjoy!

RIP Gloria Jones

She is singing with Jerry again. I remember the time I saw JGB with both her and Jackie in attendance, the show didn't start until after midnight and ended around 3 am, they played Dark Star that night and it was pretty magical. Such a soulful voice.

Beatles

Fun hearing some people revisit The Beatles.

Picked up their Mono releases several years ago. They're quite stunning. Mastered from the original analogues and on the original pressing equipment. It's like hearing them all again for the first time, and they come to life in monophonic sound. If there are any vinyl collectors out there, I can't recommend these reissues highly enough. If you can find them for retail price, grab them as they are gaining value on the secondary market quickly. Avoid the new stereo reissues as they are digitally sourced.

Listening to For Sale right now. Love this underrated record as it has a very nice country feel to it.

Highly recommend diving into the new White Album set too. The Esher Demos are quite awesome as are the abundance of outtakes. White Album in mono is also a lot fun, and quite different from the versions we all have ingrained in our head.

Most Millennial and iGen kids will never understand The Beatles.

An aside, I've only heard the Terrapin from the new release and it sounds amazing.

BEATLES: I cant imagine life…

BEATLES: I cant imagine life without all of the studio releases. I have the monos & stereos on vinyl. Kimda like the Dead in that I can always find albums to match my mood or situation.

SWING: One of the first Betty Boards I obtained in the 80s when the trove hit the trading market. The digitized bersions on the archives was a strong improvememt over my original third gen casette. This Normanized CD is THE BOMB - aside from the “new” somgs debuted to make it an historic show, the band was outstanding in nearly every way. This new mix comfirms my owm subjective opinion that this was one of the better 77 Playins.

Looking forward to #30 already!

The Beatles on vinyl

I used to have the vinyl reissues of the US Capitol Records releases, the ones with purple labels, several had the green labels and 1 or 2 were the original black labels with the "rainbow" ring. The 1968 white album, Abbey Road, & Let It Be were the original Apple/Capitol green apple labels with Let It Be had a red apple label.
I got rid of them not long after the compact discs were released in 1987, they weren't in pristine shape so I didn't get much money in return form Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton N.J. I still have several 45 r.p.m. Apple singles
At the time I thought the compact disc was the greatest thing in the world, but I have found out the CD does have flaws too. I sorta wish I had kept them every now and then.
I recently listened to the 1st issue CDs, and I think they sound great. I wish that Capitol would release the Christmas recording on CD with improved sound and nicer packaging. The bootleg Yellow Dog CD (YD 031) sounds very good for a 1992 bootleg CD.
I think I may have an original Christmas Album (SBC 100), but the label sort of just doesn't look right, it looks like a photograph of the original labels in color. The front of the jacket has photos of The Beatles in boxes with a blue background. I bought it at a record "convention" and sale in Philadelphia PA in later 1981. I remember the event because MTV had just come on the cable television spectrum and they were promoting themselves, where I met VJ Mark Goodman.

Swing Auditorium

Got it Friday and I have had the Betty board since 1988... I have listened to this Dave's Picks more than any other since the 72 Wichita show... I love Tennessee Jed through the end of the show especially the Santa Barbara filler that i thought we would never see on a board!! Not saying I don't like Disc 1 with the first Terrapin and Estimated, and killer Playing>wheel>Playing, because i do.. For me it really starts with the Help>Slipknot>Franklin's. This Franklin's reminds me of the 6/9/77 one just not as long and drawn out... Throw in the one from 5/9/77 Buffalo show and what a great bunch of Franklin's Towers.... The Promised Land after is awesome also, doesn't have the typical let's get the spider webs out start of a show Promised Land. The Eyes is awesome, great Phil solo and then the Dancing really starts off the awesome 77 versions that follow, so different then the 76 versions!!! Not gonna spoil the 2/27 filler!! Have a good Sunday bob t

Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day here in SW OH.... sunny, mid 60's.... spent some of the afternoon cleaning out my car and shining up my Road King... having a cold one and enjoying 29..... I really like this release. Was always one of my favorite tapes. Reading the liner notes... never thought I'd see The Dead, Muhammad Ali, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in the same sentence.

San B #15336 Arrived Yesterday

And what a stellar addition to the DaP series it is! I haven't had time for a full listen yet, but Jerry's guitar licks at the end of "They Love Each Other" are breathtaking. I'm now half way through Disc 2 and am blown away.

Tonight I'm catching Phil and the Terrapin Family Band at the Showbox in Seattle. And the release of Jerry's shows at French's Camp on the Eel River has just been announced.

The bus keeps rollin' on!

Caseyjanes - you're going…

Caseyjanes - you're going to love the Stones trip. Exile is considered by many to be the pinnacle of their late 60s early 70s run of 5 star albums. It took me awhile to catch the vibe on that one, so if you find yourself having trouble, try the one before it, Sticky Fingers. Mick Taylor and Keith Richards were an incredible guitar duo, trading rhythm and lead or playing dual rhythm in different octaves; damn, it's great stuff.

Born x-eyed, I've been to the Princeton Record Exchange. It may even be the place I finally landed a copy of Jon Anderson's Olias of Sunhillow in high school. A buddy and me were huge into Yes in '87, and the album was out of print (and had never been put to CD at that time). We spent a day hunting down the LP, which had legendary staus as the "lost" Yes album. On a day we should have been in school, we grabbed a bunch of phone books and a full tank of gas, and made a day of it. Pretty sure the Princeton Record Exchange was the one that actually had it. Great stuff.

Also loving DaP 29. I'm not the biggest '77 fan, but it's that good. The Slipknot! is a face melter for sure, my favorite on account of Jerry's lead work and guitar tone (and volume). I think he snuck in Wolf on that one :D

Franklin's Tower, as noted by others, is top-shelf. I think it's close to Go To Nassau 1980. All depends on how much rhythm Jerry plays on the main riff. On a lot of occasions he leaves it to Keith and Bobby to carry it after the opening, but he stays on it most of the song here. Rock and Roll.

Phil knocks us out on that Eyes ending, no doubt.

Morning Dew - to quote V-guy - Morning Dew ain't no filler!

Woooweee

A+ Playin'
A+ Recording
A+ Filler
Best Dave's release in three years. Donna sounds unusually good in the mix. And please, please, please, filler on every release. This Dew is an amazing surprise to finish the experience. P.S. No skips

Hawt Dawg!!!!!!!

Sand Castles and Marbles followed by the Hollywood Cantata. Good Stuff.

Wheel Anyone?

The thing I love about this show is that it's a great hybrid of '76 / '77. The Playing in the Band features real piano like '76, and to me, they sound like they still take an explorative approach. The Wheel segue is prime '77 smoothness, which, for that song, benefitted tremendously (was never a fan of the big drum intro of '76). The Wheel in '77 is one of those tunes like Brokedown Palace, where they play it just infrequently enough that it's always a treat. Any Wheel fans out there? If so, check out Dick's Picks 18 - only time they played it that year, and in my opinion, it was the best performance they got with the Godchauxs. The intro with Keith's quiet Wheel chords and Jerry's noodling on the Wolf reminds me of trippy old Peter Green Fleetwood Mac. No other like it.

unflattering pic of good ol' Dave there

but it's nothing compared to my high school senior picture.

a pic that lives on in infamy.

y'all be cool, Dave.

yes, KeithFan, there are Wheel fans

it eventually became ho-hum (dynamo hum) when it ALWAYS came out of space as a stepping stone to Throwing Stones or I Need a Miracle.

BUT

the Wheel is awesome.

check out 8/28/81 for a well-placed Wheel.

a plug for something completely different

or, auf Deutsch, "etwas ganz besonderes".

Swans.

Like the GD and FZ, a wide, wide, deep, deep body of work. Not for everybody. Some of it is pretty straight forward, some is extremely unique, some is challenging.

I highly recommend Swans. Start with Soundtracks for the Blind, then White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, then Filth, then Cop, then Feel Good Now, then Public Castration is a Good Idea, then wherever you want to go.

it s.a.f. ain't Ariana Grande.

wow

I got my copy over the weekend. I have only listened to the first few songs but I'm just so damn happy. each and every year Dave and co continually blow my mind. I said this especially after last year's box set, but i truly feel so content - I'm of course not going to stop collecting, but I am also no longer chasing or waiting/hoping for a particular show. I feel set for life and everything else that comes out in the years to follow is all gravy.

hope everyone is well - I've vowed that in 2019 I am going to disconnect a lot more (no social media, less phone time, etc) so may only check in here from time to time, but hope everyone continues to enjoy these releases as much as I have been...

splice?

Is there a well engineered splice at about 5:50 of Around and Around? I can't totally tell. If so, it's barely noticeable. It just seems the flow of the music shifts a bit oddly there. There sounds like some tape weirdness somewhere during the H>S>F triptych, but overall the sound is really, really good. Ok Dave 10-29 next, then 10-2, then 4-23, then, then, then....

1977 seems almost like an inexhaustible well!

Thank you

I love any and all of the live Dead releases: Dick's, Dave's, from the Vault, Without a Net, Sunshine Daydream, the PNW set. All just candy for the soul. And also the JGB "Electric on the Eel" box set released recently! Let's not forget that the JGB live releases have been stellar too. Anyway, the few hours I spent yesterday with Dave's #29 was pure bliss. Great sound mix and the show totally sizzles from the get and never lets up. The "Filler"? Also Prime. The Morning Dew from 2/27 is choice. So I just want to stop and embrace the gratitude for this music and the people who help release it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

3 thumbs up!

Two for the show and one for the bonus tracks.

Already had a great recording of 2/26/77, but am always happy to get a greater one! Both this and DaP30 are shows I already have with added material I don't. Kinda perfect for me!

Strongly support 3rd disc filler! More please! Not so supportive of filler on 1st or 2nd discs as it disrupts show-flow, but my complaints are easily ignored...

Very happy to have received this at all since I have had both a change-of-address and change-of-credit-card since ordering the sub. Read too many horror stories here about hijinks ensuing from such things...

AND NO SKIPS! Had both the Birdsong skip in the 73/74 3CD release and the Let It Grow skip in DaP28. Nice to not have such issues this time.

How's about fitting a 4(or5)/82 show and a 10/89 show in the DaP series before DaP36, eh?

Ever since the site rebuild, I have not been able to log in without "request(ing) a new password", so I don't log in too often now. I suspect the problem arises from my browser being non-updated for years (due to a tangle of issues I have revolving around needing system compatability with a non-updatable program), but I wonder if some of the posters that are no longer here are gone due to log in issues

Sorry for your loss, Bolo. Living is often a brutal experience and our emotional systems don't seem to have any effective work-arounds to soften the blows. May you and your family have much to hold on to in this season of loss.

Set the tractor for Jan/70, Jim! Let's go!

First Wah-wah Dancin?

Love this show inside and out...and of course there are many moments of barn-burning. My personal favorite is the Eyes>Dancin'...and I believe this was in fact the first Dancin' they performed with the wah-wah pedal? Is that right? Also they've dropped the '76-implemented transition toward the end of the Dancin' jam, and it just heads right back to the final verse. Always wondered if this was planned, or they just 'forgot' to play that part, cause I don't recall ever hearing it done that way again up until it was retired some time in '79.

Enjoy this one Folks!
Sixtus

In re: Swing -subjective commentary colored by wistful nostalgia

Like Dave, this recording has a special place for me having been one of my prize acquisitions back in the cassette era. It was one of my best tapes and I listened to it regularly as a young teenager. This fact affects my perception, but my gosh what an exalted perception. This is one of my favorites.

Listening extensively over the weekend caused me to ponder why. One answer that kept coming to mind: KEITH GODCHAUX!! While one could debate whether this is one of the Dead's best ever performances, I think it would be hard to argue against this being one of Keith's top performances. He is so intuitive with his timing and tasteful fills. Those twinkling, rolling fills he does throughout the night are just superb. I cant really think of another show where he does this as often or effectively. Hyperbole aside, I think Keith was having a great night and is a big part of what makes this show so good. He is all over the Morning Dew from the next night as well!

This is an intriguing show because it contains no "jam" segment per se yet it happens to include at least two examples of what I consider some of the best improvisation the band ever performed. The jam in Playin is unique in several ways, but the lead into The Wheel contains superb improvisation especially from Garcia, Weir and Keith that showcases them at their best. Then we have the transition from Eyes into Dancin'. It is a very tasteful piece of music and, once again, I have to give Keith credit for making it so. To my ear he is the one that makes that transition so great with that repetitive lick on the high end of the keyboard that he carries on through the introduction until everyone is charging forward on the new groove. Then there are just really good renditions of some of their best material like Music Never and Help>Slip>Frank.

It is just such a lively show all the way around. Even the well timed finger whistling we get from a particularly tuned in head. That guy hit it at just the right moments: the transition into Dancin, the transition segment at the end of Slipknot, the beginning of Playin' etc. That whistle is an indelible part of this recording and I have a soft spot for it. I wonder if whoever it was listens to this recording and smiles wistfully to themselves about that night.

I know all of this is highly subjective and no doubt affected by my nostalgic familiarity with the recording. None-the-less, there is my take on it. I just love this tape!!

Dancin breakdown

I think they just spaced it Sixtus. That little breakdown is on a bunch of 77 and 78 versions.

re: Breakdown

thanks for that tip Wadeocu - and I thought I had a trained ear for these disco Dancin's. Some sleuthing may be in order....

Still, pretty sure it was the first Wah-wah! But I'd love to be shown incorrect....

Sixtus

BRAVO!

This sounds magnificent.

Kudos to all.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

16988 arrived this morning

16988 arrived this morning.
I was at home when the "Letter Carrier" arrived with the snail mail this morning. I live in an area where the mail is delivered door-to-door. I opened the door as the "Letter Carrier" was about the put the mail in the mailbox. I joyfully said, rather loudly,
"ALLL RIIIGHT! Grateful Dead at the Schwiiiiiggg 77 Daves Picks 29!"
I sort of startled the carrier and he smiled and said that he wished he had been there but was serving in the US Army as a 20-year-old Corporal. Turns out that he is a Dead Head also, and born 4 days after me on 10/31 - Halloween.
Before this DaP 29 arrived I was able to find set 1 of this show on cassette in my "archives". It sounded very good for a tape, but not really anything to get excited about anymore. I also found discs 1 & 2 from this 3 CD-R set and they were really good, but in mono and rather compressed to irritate me.
This one of my favorite shows.

Here on the official release, we have the full show in uncompressed Betty-board stereo and it is EXCELLENT!
SONIC NIRVANA!
THANK YOU TO THE POWERS-THAT-BE that got this chestnut released and to all us heads who kept on requesting the release this show.
We also are treated to an audio sample of 2/27/77 Santa Barbara and the "booklet"/folded one-sheet has reviews of the 2/27/77 nugget. Could this be a prelude to a future full-show release in the future?

PETERSEO is a robot!

or some kind of parasite.

yo Marye!!! throw him into the pond!!!

Out for delivery!....

....I have to drive across the city in about an hour. C'mon mailman!
....edit. Swing is here. #1978/20000. Soooo close 😔. Time to drive 🙄

Excellent sound

Lots of Phil.

Also had this on cassette, then CD-R, then CD-R upgrade, now the Full Norman.

Cheers to Betty, Dave, Jeffrey, TPTB, and ABCD Enterprises.
THANKS!!!!!!

Awesome H/S/F

Preamble to the 5-9-77 monster.

For my commute last week and this week I’ve been working my way through the 6-7,8,9-77 Box. Another fine ‘77 offering.

What a show

Amazing. Also, 302 Terrapins, only one time played as show opener. 11 times - that I count - as set two opener: 5/7/77, 11/1/77, 1/18/78, 11/6/79, 3/12/81, 10/8/84, 10/28/84, 3/29/85, 4/3/85, 4/13/85, 8/31/85.

One cannot have too many....

....Help->Slip->Franks. Even ones from Boise. The TLEO here is sublime.

Really wowed

Man, I am just blown away. This is an old favorite, but I must have forgotten just how good it is. Just about every song is really special. I almost guarantee that every song in this show is someone's favorite version of the song (I think this is my favorite HSF because of the slipknot). I think this is also one of the best Keith shows out there. On top of that, we get some pretty incredible unreleased (on SBD) material. This is the happiest I've been about a release in some time. It's doing that thing to me where it reminds that I loved x about y show and I should go dig it up again, which will turn into a multiple week rabbit hole. Thanks Dead.net folks!

In the spirit of immediately agitating about the next thing. Does anyone know if the festival express shows are in the vault?

Stoltzy

I'll be sure to check out the 81 wheel version you mentioned oh, thank you. Also wanted to let you know that I was listening to 11 19 1972 last night, end the determination I came to is that it's probably going to be released very soon, possibly the next 1972 show that we get. I got a feeling, a feeling deep inside... a very good buddy of mine pointed me in that direction last night, as it was on taperssection on this site. And as I started to listen to it on taperssection on headphones through my phone browser, I also put it on my music player at the same time so that there was maybe a 2-second delay between the two. I don't know man it sounded pretty wacky and cool to me! I am really impressed with that dark star, and Weir is a big part of it.

I am sure this has been…

I am sure this has been asked before, but will Dave's Picks ever be available digitally?
thanks, Rob

I’ve asked this before Rob…

I’ve asked this before Rob and the answer seems to be a resounding NO . No actual reason given though .

Digital DaP’s

CD’s are digital, 16/44.1.
So yes, Dave’s Picks are available digitally. Limited to 20,000 copies for 2019.

Keith & Stoz - 1981-08-28 - Long Beach - Wheel

WOW!!! I thought several things, the recording I have is GREAT. Apparently played the night before and broke out Cumberland after 7 years (what I read on archive). My recording of that is also Damn Good, listening to very nice Bird Song right now. The 2nd night recording maybe a soundboard, the first is a audience, both have amazing sonics and Jerry burned up the end of Wheel, Bob was very well recorded (everyone was). My next thought was this would make a nice box set. Small and affordable by all & a wonderful 81 recording.

...well I'd buy it :-)

Thanks for the heads up on Wheel, Mr. Stoz and K-Man, both shows in phone, I'll play at store tonight.

product sku

081227924317

Product Magento URL

https://store.dead.net/dave-s-picks-vol-29-1.html