"To my ears, the best Dead shows are those that not only fit the criteria that make them amongst the best of a year, but that are also completely unique for their era—shows that fit perfectly into their year of performance, but also fall somewhat outside of the norm for that year. Harpur College, Veneta, Cornell, Cape Cod, and Augusta are all shows that are objectively excellent, and if they are not the best from their respective years of performance, they are certainly unique. Miami 6/23/74 falls into that category: not only one of the very best shows from this outstanding year, but also one of the most interesting and unique. It’s certainly worthy of many, many deep listens." - David Lemieux
¡Ándale, ándale! ¡Arriba, arriba! We're back with a hot one from Miami, F-L-A. DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 34 features the complete show from the Jai Alai Fronton, 6/23/74, one with unparalleled sound quality due in equal parts to the Wall Of Sound and the beautiful sonic clarity of Kidd Candelario's tapes. The first set is chock full of dynamite takes on classics like "Ramble On Rose," "Mississippi Half-Step," and "Cumberland Blues." The second set delivers on the JAMS - one leading into a gorgeous "Ship Of Fools," one rare instrumental version of "Dark Star," and a "Spanish Jam," this is Miami after all! The show also offers up a "first" and an "only" - the former, a Seastones set featuring Phil and Ned Lagin and the latter, the sole Grateful Dead performance of Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock."
Limited to 22,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOL.34: JAI ALAI FRONTON, MIAMI, FL 6/23/74 has been mastered from the 7.5 IPS reel-to-reel tapes to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman. ¡Agarrarlo mientras esta calientito! (Get it while it's hot!)
*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.
Subscribed to Dave's Picks? With this release, you'll also get a bonus disc with selections from Miami 6/22/74. Excellente!
DaP 34 Cover Scans
Right about now on Sunday evening, I was scheduled to be flying back from Jazzfest with a tasty Dead and Co show at the Fairgrounds on Saturday under my belt. Obviously, that didn’t happen…so I’ve been spending the evening ripping, scanning, and tweaking that good old metadata on iTunes to my personal preferences. This was a great consolation prize in my mailbox yesterday.
I thought the cardboard packaging was awesome…more environmentally friendly, nicely minimal, and fortunately no damage to #7125.
Someone on the board requested cover scans, so here are my efforts (probably not up to the standards of our man Jeff Smith, but there you go…).
Dave’s Picks 34 Cover: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EffivMy86qUmnVUg_mOPM1pYwB-Q2meR/view?…
Dave’s Picks 34 Bonus Disc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_8QVLg4BJczkSYfsthpnwOBuN5uBwZTQ/view?…
Believe it if you need it, if you don’t just pass it on…
Nice Catch
Nice catch Jim, I love the Graduate, great movie. Can't think of it without picturing young Ben in the scuba gear at the pool party. Can't think of it without hearing Mrs. Robinson playing in my head either. Probably about time to watch that one again soon.
Daverock Dark Star magazine
Yes, I rememember Dark Star magazine, actually bought the first issue(sans colour cover masthead) when they hawked it for the first time outside an Emmy Lou concert. Steve Burgess writing was the best thing about the magazine. He had actually been behind a very good magazine, one issue only i think, called Trailing Clouds of Glory, which I bought at the afore mentioned Knebbworth event.
All of the Dark Staffers, Burgess, Steve Procter, Nick Ralph(?)worked at a comix/sci fi bookshop in Covent Garden/Soho ( dark they were and golden eyed, or something similar) where we used to meet and have a few pints, I was working round the corner, thats where I met my pal John Platt, later of Comstock Load, in my opinion the very best of the UK fanzines. Comstock Load and Bucketfull of Brains organised a great party/ concert at the Africa centre in Soho, where loads of new UK psychedelic bands played ( Braniac 5!!!!), with Alex Chiltern as the headliner, a geat evening, about the closest I ever got to the ambience of an 67 SF dancehall vybe.
Magazines...
Just checked the dark depths of a cupboard and found a stack of Hot Wacks mags, an even larger stack of Dark Star mags and some Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comics and The Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat comics. I love Gilbert Shelton comics.
My daughter's friend asked me recently how I survived the period '69 - '75. To be honest I don't know. Just lucky I guess. It was certainly a lot of fun.
@dogon: Maybe you are familiar with Shagrat Records. Below is a link to their website. You will find lots of familiar names there. Like entering a time machine.
Shagrat
Thanks Simonrob
Indeed, many of the old names and obsessions, Bridgit, Formerly Fat Harry, various Helpers, Mad River, Banana and Brainiacs....shame I only do cd and not vinyl, but a lot is already oop, but a trip down the winding memory lane. I lost touch with all this when I relocated to Sweden in 1981, but I remember the names of the reprobates who keep this scene alive, and long may they continue. Thanks again for jogging the memory synapses
Dark They Were and Golden Eyed
Dogon... yes I remember it well. Superb name for a shop. I was probably alerted to their presence via the Dark Star magazine. After getting their mail order catalogue for a few years, it became a regular port of call on my London visits at the end of the 70s. In fact, I still have some of the books I bought from them upstairs-Ace Books science fiction from Philip K. Dick. All sorts of barefoot in the head novels from the likes of Brian Aldiss, J.G. Ballard, Harlan Ellison and countless others. The shop had a great underground vibe, totally different from the science fiction emporium they have now in the West End, Forbidden Planet, which is stuffed with plastic monster and such like.
I used to see science fiction as being the literary equivalent of the music I was listening to in the 70s and on into the 80s. As the world moved on into different forms of post punk pop music, I moved further into the past. Where I happily still reside a lot of the time.
Mushy Doubt
Simonrob, can we continue this powwow by mail, it might get a bit too esoteric for most others apart from Daverock and Colin Gould?
Weekend things.....
Hey Dave, why pick on some poor young kid about wanting to see the Australian Pink Floyd? :-) My buddy has seen Brit Floyd a couple of times says their great. I always assume it's like seeing Dark Star Orchestra. Very good cover band.
Festivals/Big Events - I've been doing Lockn. Missed last year due to knee surgery, but have been there regular. What I like about Lockn, over Bonnaroo (and from the sound of it some of those English festivals), 1 act at a time. You don't have to choose who to see and it all occurs on one stage, no moving around. Lockn has been pushed back to the beginning of October! Might be cold in Virginia by then. Coming from the Dallas area, what I'm hoping for is incredible autumn leaf colors, since poor Dallas has no trees.
The Graduate? That's with Paul Simon, right? I always remember the famous end where he's banging on the glass yelling "Stella!"
My 34 SHOULD be here by 2 PM
#19570 made it home...
I was woken up by one of dogs freaking out as the mailman delivered this puppy at 6:30 am. Nice way to start a Monday.
On "Bermuda Triangle Weirdness" now... God, I love this show.
Peace
Simonrob
Love me some Gilbert Shelton also. I have some first additions of the first 5 Freak Brothers comics, along with many other underground comics that I collected back in the early 70's. R. Crumb is also a favorite. They are up there with my early first additions of High Times Magazine, I have all of them from the 70's from the first edition, first printing. Loved those centerfold pictures. Fire hydrants and buses today.
A word about packaging...
Sorry to hear someone got a "crushed" copy, but my reaction to this new packaging is that it's the best so far. CD sits tight inside corrugated cardboard, instead of rattling around in a bubble pack envelope.
I see this as an improvement.
Oh, and the music's great!
Streetcar
Stella was the characters name in Streetcar named Desire, Elaine was the characters name in the Graduate. Simon and Garfunkel did the music, Paul Simon was not in the film, that was Dustin Hoffman. Funny mashup there. If you watch the Graduate film closely, during the part when Benjamin is stalking Elaine at Berkeley, you will see in the background the original Print Mint, where such great underground comics like Furry Freak Brothers and the Zap comics among many others were printed. Unfortunately, it burned down in the 80's, taking with it most of the original art work housed there.
unkle and paul simon
you sure? that's the movie where paul simon says, "you want to fuck me mrs robinson?"
Streetcar is where Montgomery Clift tells John Wayne, "I could have been somebody...."
I don't remember the "print mint" in the movie, but didn't Stella make bread sticks? Heard she lost all her money and ended up Blue.
Dogon, DaveRock, SimonRob & All
Please don’t feel the need to discuss UK specific music/comic/cultural references privately. I’m sure that there are many of us stateside(more than you might guess) that have travelled to Europe, in some cases, multiple times. I personally have seen England from Southend-on-Sea, to Bristol, from London to Liverpool, Barnsley and in between. If your US brothers & sisters don’t understand EVERY reference, we may see something we want to investigate. I personally got the Mighty Baby box set just from comments here. Thanks!!
I finished disc 3 yesterday. Excellent in most every way. The DS/Spanish Jam segment, while thoroughly enjoyable, did not break any new ground for me, I loved it, and more so, the UJB & Casey Jones.
Bonus disc today!!
Stay safe all!!
Agree with mr ones
I don't know most of the names that get thrown out, but that forces me to look up and check out. Okay, maybe I didn't care for Hawkwind, but I have them in the collection now :-)
Jai Alai Fronton
Hi Life Fronton, that’s how I’m remembering how to pronounce this selection. I really enjoyed this show and the bonus disc over the weekend, I know I was lucky 20884 arrived Friday afternoon, a gift to charge up the weekend. I’m going in for a detailed listening today.
Sonic clarity indeed, a very nice recording and actual pictures from the show!
My favs so far, Cumberland Blues and a sign of the changing times, I’m really liking the Black Peter. I also spun the bonus a few times, the China Rider and PITB are really cool. This is why I subscribe for shows like this.
I hope the packaging damage was a rare thing. This cardboard drops nicely in the recycle, or better yet, repurpose the box by sending a gift to a friend.
Enjoy the Hi Life with Jai Alai Fronton!
Re: High Life Fronton
Never too esoteric for this crowd.. we embrace weirdness.
Speaking of... I was curious about the venue itself, which only lead me to seek a better understanding of the sport. This might be worth a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbehASCLMw
To think.. Whitey Bulger and organized crime might have been the catalyst for the downfall and decreasing popularity of the sport. Brings a whole new meaning to the world Departed.
Off topic but,
Some here may get a kick out of this. I called Emotiva Audio to talk to someone about an amp and speakers for music play and, this guy Steve out of the blue starts telling me about this lady named Betty and how her recording from the '70 are the best recordings he's ever heard in his life. He gave me some really good tech advise too.
Mr Ones, Dennis
Many thanks-gracious as ever. Maybe with Hawkwind, to be fair, you had to be there at the time. With flashing lights, rock n' roll, electronic interludes, poetry and great pair of tits...what more can you ask for at in a live gig when your'e 15 years old?
Maybe also I was being unfair about the fan of Australian Pink Floyd. I have seen a few cover bands myself-the Cosmic Charlies were the main Dead one in England for a while. Maybe still are. Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets are basically a cover band-same with Live Dead 69.
The funniest one was one I only read about. Some bloke doing his Jimi Hendrix act at a half empty pub in London about 20 years ago. He went for the look as well as the sound, so it must have been quite a surprise for the casual drinker. He apparently encored with "Wild Thing"...and surely he wasn't going to...he wouldn't.... but he did. Enter one furious landlord brandishing a fire extinguisher.
Four Winds
I just began purchasing Emotiva equipment. To my novice ears, it is an excellent value for the money.
thank you Dave for including Seastones
(Scooby Doo laugh)
tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee shlooooooooooooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arrived today!
Spinning it now. Sounds fantastic.
2nd set has been a regular in my tape collection/rotation since '93/'94.
Angry Jack Straw
I have a xpa-2 gen 1 and I love it.
Emotive is running a sale 30% of your purchase back in Emotive Bucks so I'm gonna get the XPA-DR2 Differential Reference for 1,600 and then 30% will give me $480 in Emotiva Bucks so I then can get the Airmotiv T2+ 1,000 value for $520. Offer valid till May 15th.
https://emotiva.com/collections/amps/products/xpa-dr2
https://emotiva.com/collections/frontpage/products/airmotiv-t2-loudspea…
You know how I often say....
....that I don't believe on coincidences? Well, on the day that a Grateful Dead show from Miami, FL is scheduled to hit my mailbox any minute, Coach Shula passes at the age of 90.
The 72 in my user name stands for two things. Arguably the best year for the GOGD and the Dolphins undefeated season.
Interesting, at least to me. Godspeed coach. The best ever. 🐬
The Dolphins logo....
....begs to steal your faced.
Gonna watch some old Miami games on YouTube as I wait from the postman.
This Dave's Picks 34
A great big THANK YOU VERY MUCH to forensicdoceleven for his contribution of the photos to this great release.
If I think I know Doc, he contacted dead.net and offered these photos that a photog/DeadHead took, offered them back to Grateful Dead Productions for free.
That's the right way to do it, folks!
Two thumbs up, way up!
DaP #34 and USPS
#2732 just arrived. Perfect condition with no visible damage. Very sorry to hear about others who weren't so lucky. My USPS tracking said "Shipment Info Sent to USPS, USPS Awaiting Item" as of 5/1 as late as this morning at 9:30 AM so perhaps it is USPS who isn't updating the tracking as quickly, as opposed to shipment delays? For those in the same boat, don't worry because it seems Help is On the Way.
#13131 is here!!!....
....double Marino numbers? Followed by a #1!? I can't make this shit up. Avatar for proof.
forensicdoceleven
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the contribution of the photos to this great release!
I hope all is well and you're recovering to good health.
My copy: 10291
NRPS 8 27 72
Just purchased Sunshine Daydream & before getting it in the mail, saw NRPS was about to release their warm up concert to the Dead that day. Thought may as well get it & listen to it all in order. Just got the NRPS disc the other day, & in reviewing the linear notes was glad to see it says "with Keith Godchaux - piano".
That's the good news. The bad news? I can only hear him on 1 or 2 songs. One for sure is "Lochinvar". Thought I'd throw that out there for those who may be pondering picking it up just for Keith.
Otherwise, the sound quality is pretty good. My 1st & only NRPS disc, so can't comment on how it compares to their other releases.
The Bonus disc looks like the sun....
....I love it. Sunny Southern Florida.
Donna's dress is very nice as well.
Thanks for the heads-up jmich
I found myself in the same situation with no tracking updates from USPS. Monday mail delivery came with no DaP34, but all is not doom and gloom. After reading the many raves here regarding DP31, I jumped on a good offer on EBay and it somehow made it from California to Michigan in just two days. Four discs of smoking hot '74 Dead, with three more on the way, hopefully tomorrow.
NRPS Veneta
If you're talking about the disc I think you just picked up your a lucky guy. That one is long outta print and worth quite a hefty sum. I've tried to order another one from the NRPS site on a number of times to no avail. Got my original copy but the box is long gone. Just remember it looked like the bus on blotter. Great show, energy, and completes the Veneta release, very nice.
Nevermind it got reissued on their site and I just grabbed one. Its gonna be released for Record Store day too!
Thank you for the cover…
Thank you for the cover scans. Now I just need to understand the illustrations...
NRPS Veneta
The currently available version on Omnivore Records is a remixed and remastered version. The original was on Kufala Records released in 2004. The sound quality on the new reissue is a noticeable improvement on the original. Keith Godchaux was not mentioned on the original release. Maybe they couldn't hear him either.
Wall of MoFo Sound
Can't wait to dig into the bonus disc....
#1418 safely in Utah
Wall of Sound
These guys were maniacs and innovators and it just makes me smile so much. No one I know really probably gets it, who knows maybe they do but when you listen to this recording and the last few releases have probably been FIRE. I forget what I was really gonna say just finished disk 2. described seastones to my friend as 'insane alien invasion' yes glad to have included i think i have another one on Dick's Picks 12 which is pretty much a jam from start to finish. Cold in Ohio today, thinking bout some Neil Young, but who can the weather command...
That’s good packaging, best so far
Sturdy and recyclable.
Way better than bubble plastic.
Bonus disc spinning first, sound quality = real and spectacular.
Thanks for sharing the photos Doc.
NRPS 8 27 72, part 2
I should have clarified that I was referring to the NPRS live CD that came out about 2-3 weeks ago. I don't know if it's their entire set. This is a single CD with 17 tracks, but about 3 of them are stage announcements (for better or worse).
Perhaps Keith only plays on a select number of songs. However, when that's the case, the linear notes usually says which tracks that person / guest plays on. After the listing of the band members (as noted in my last post) it says "with Keith Godchaux - piano".
Digging The Bonus Disc Cover
So what I see is a skull with a SYF on top looking towards a drum kit in front of a wall of sound, with a stage set up behind the skull, with a guitar and some amps and mics, all in what looks like a Jai Alai wicker device held out over water full of boats.
This Cumberland!!!!....
....is sooooo good. Hitting repeat.
I'm a self-acclaimed Cumberland aficionado, and this version brings the sauce. Worth the $28.95 price right there. Made my day ❤
Lanegan
I've been pretty much listening to nothing but Mark Lanegan, solo and with the Screaming Trees, the Grateful Dead and Weezer since the end of last week.
A snippet of Lanegan for the uninitiated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkBkm7pEhv4
Mark Lanegan sounds like the devil drinking whisky walking down a dark dirt road at midnight.
Weezer makes a nice contrast.
\m/
Re: Munsters and Cumberland
First... nowhere but here, I mean nowhere on earth.. to people have the address of the Munsters at the tip of their tongue, for immediate retrieval. Which is a good thing (I think).
Cumberland.. Love it, always have.
This is not the sign I saw this weekend.., but when bobbing my head up and down while biking to my truck listening to Harpur College on it's anniversary.. on the Great Alleghany Passage, there was a teeny tiny sign at a small obscure junction with one word on it.. "Cumberland." I took it as a sign. Considering Harpur had an early acoustic version of Cumberland in the first set, I took note.. and then went back into my head trance-like head nodding daze. On the drive home, my device next played the beginning of the acoustic set from 5/15/70. Guess what song came on again?
https://thetrek.co/trail-profile-great-allegheny-passage-c-o-canal/