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    marye
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    Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.

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  • Forensicdoceleven
    Joined:
    You can't blame gravity for falling in love…..

    Mornin’, rockers!!!

    Pick Of The Day: Dream Bowl February 22, 1969

    Relatively speaking, the yang to the yin of February 21, 1969. True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist…..

    I have the space, you have the time, let’s revisit. Officially released in October 2015 as part of Thirty Trips Around The Sun, one almost never hears about this show, possibly because it gets overshadowed by the blazing white hot glare of the Fillmore West Shows of February 27th to March 2nd. This is very much “of a kind” with those shows, featuring the typically sweet Mountains Of The Moon (always loved that song!), a long exploratory Dark Star, a fierce, crunchy Other One, a deathly Death Don’t, a fine Eleven, and a greasy Lovelight that clocks in at a mere 21+ minutes.

    Great music, great sound quality, I suggest you find the time…..

    The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once…..

    Rock on,

    Doc
    There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there…..

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Heads in Mississippi

    That's good to read - they opened with Mississippi Half Step - Franklins Tower the first time I saw them 3/24/81. A great start to the show for sure.

  • PT Barnum
    Joined:
    5-19-74

    In my experience, any show that starts off with Mississippi half-step uptown toodleloo is usually a great one and 5-19-74 is no exception. That pacific northwest box grows on ya, for sure.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    5/19/74

    I haven't played it this year yet, but it has become one of my most played shows from this year - mainly because I bought it on vinyl. But it is really good, too. To me, it's better than its song list suggests - the songs leading up to the Truckin' jam are well played and forward moving, and that final jam is superb. It has been castigated in some quarters for the vocal drop outs. A price worth paying, in my opinion. All three 1974 shows in the box it was culled from are top notch.

  • DeadVikes
    Joined:
    Dave's 13 and 42

    Hey Bluecrow, #13 is definitely in my top five. Love this show. Listen to it quite a bit. #42 hasn't resonated with me as much as #13, don't know why. How do you all feel?

    I will throw out Dave's Picks #7, 4/24/78, for our old buddy That's Otis. I believe you are fan of this era. Hope all is well out there for you and the rest of the crew!

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    5/19/74

    I've got a beta-max transfer of 2/24/74... which stayed in heavy rotation for a long time when it first hit my library, but low and behold Portland 74 has collecting proverbial dust in the old hard disk, too. Time for something brand new (to me).

    A Pat Lee master cassette passed down the generations.

    It's a little hissy, and I'm not getting much Phil at the start, but Jerry and Bob's gutiars are crystal clear. Jerry's voice coming in a close second in the mix with some occasional Keith flourishes wafting to the fore. Billy's cymbals sound crisp, if somewhat thin. Getting a nice Jamaican dub sound when he switches to the highhat. Kick is in there, clear, but with with a soft tone, and none of the hyper-compressed abrasive contemporary festival sound. Donna's harmonies are on, and blended well with Jerry and Bob for the Across the Rio Grande-oh finale of Halfstep. Jerry plays an aggressive outro solo.

    Mexicali: The mix and tape quality remain consistent. It's mostly a guitar oriented sound, but Bobby's voice is clear, if slightly too far back. Even in '74 they could do this one in their sleep. Have you ever heard a real train wreck during Mexicali? I can't recall one. A fan let's out a hoarse, "Whao!" apparently feeling the southwest polka vibes.

    Big Railroad Blues. Love me some BRB. There are short pauses in the tape where Pat Lee is clearly well aware of the need to conserve footage. Could do with A LOT more Phil in the mix. Might fiddle with the EQ in a bit.

    Black Throated Wind: Awkward song that I sometimes really like, and other times can do without.

    Scarlet: Crowd gives Donna a big cheer as the song reaches it's finale. Of course they egged Bobby on with some of his crazy antics, too, but it's nice to hear that early 70s audiences appreciated her contributions.

    Beat It On Down The Line: Always love this one. Nice double vocal from Bobby and Donna. Some unfortunate microphone feedback during Jerry's solo. Phil's backing vocals are there. The bass frequencies either never made it onto the cassette, or have evaporated through the generations of open reels and cassettes.

    Tennessee Jed: Nice bounce to this laid-back rendition. Another one of my favorite tunes, as I've mentioned before. Another nice, appreciative response from the audience who are almost completely unnoticeable for the majority of the time.

    Bobby McGee. I picture the audience mostly having a lie-down on the lawn during this first set. Just a nice day in the park with some live music in the background.

    Ok, well, that's as far as I'll get in this sitting, but really looking forward to that big Truckin' jam at the end of the show. Now spoilers! 😉 Just kidding.

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    Woodstock

    >DAVEROCK>

    "It's about 37 minutes long, but it seems more like an hour when you watch it."

    HAHAHA

    I'll be on the lookout for that CCR set. John Fogerty strikes me a somewhat difficult man. Brilliant songwriter and producer, though. Never get tired of Cosmo's Factory, in particular. Gotta get reacquainted with the first album. I recall it being more psychedelic.

    Got a trove of stuff to listen to after yesterday's catch up. Thanks!
    Not sure where I'll start, but probably with something that already has ID tags. lol.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Woodstock

    There was a good cd of CCR's set that came out a couple of years ago. Apart from Hendrix, possibly my favourite set of the whole festival. "Lovelight" was included on a dvd as an extra, on one of the celebratory reissues of the festival. I don't think I'm being controversial when I say that it wasn't there finest hour. It's about 37 minutes long, but it seems more like an hour when you watch it.
    The Dark Star, I've just remembered, was included in the 6 cd 40th anniversary release of Woodstock, too. That's okay. But it's not a show I would suggest as a contender for an official release.

  • rockthing
    Joined:
    Back from the... er... Dead: James "Blood" Ulmer info?

    Hey folks.
    Whew! Wall to wall autumn (deliberately avoiding the overly-insistent rhyme) and have taken the new year winter decompression to track a lot of the transfers of old vinyl I'd made back in August. Thanks to that, The Dead have taken something of a backseat in my listening during the new year as I've now got all of these other things in a convenient format.

    While tidying up an old hard disk, I came across a James "Blood" Ulmer show I must've torrented over ten years ago, but for whatever reason never unpacked. No info file, and so far various Googling can't even prove that the concert even happened. The directory is only listed as ulmer2_27_86. Anybody have a suggestion where I might look to find some more info on this? I checked out the taper forum, and the "Looking for..." forum, but there hasn't been a lot of activity over there.

    One new Dead show in my library, however:
    6/8/74 FOB which I've only had on once, but wasn't giving my full attention. I think I found it also unpacked on a hard disk while "house cleaning". My (slowly) ongoing exploration of Wall Of Sound audience tapes. Any takers?

    There is also a trove of late 60s shows that were binge torrented and then never unpacked. Can't wait to get to those.

    Well, I'd wanted to recap, but I'm not even out of August, so I'll spare you the flashbacks.

    >Oroborous>
    Thank you for the acknowledgement so many months ago.

    ● Just put the 2/24/71 Port Chester show on. This one I'd transferred from an old cassette. Haven't heard it in a really long time, and don't have as many specific memories of it, like the 2/18 tape.

    Oooh. This Bertha. Bump! Bump!

    Either my cassette was running slow or this is the most mellow Hard to Handle I've ever heard. Dig it.

    I love these really slow early Losers, too. It seemed like it might be vying for a spot in the Dew rotation in those days, but they eventually picked up the tempo to a slow trot as the years went by. This being transferred from a tape, it may just be a media issue. I sometimes cover this on acoustic, and always do it real slow and always only ask for 1 gold dollar, not ten. To me, these are the archetypal Losers.

    Epic Good Lovin' drum solo!

    Thanks for that ranking of that Feb '71 run. Found AUDs on the Archive for the 19th and 21st. Back in the day, I ended up with only 2/18, 2/23, and 2/24 somehow. I was trying to explore as many different eras as possible, I guess, so didn't go for a completist approach... I guess... who knows what I was thinking back then?! lol. I'd take whatever I could get. Those tapes accompanied me on many a road trip cause that period is just fantastic driving music....

    ● A good buddy lent me the 3/9/81 discs. I don't think he got the MSG box, just the single show on offer. Those were on in the car for quite a while last fall.

    My buddy was, like, "Dude. Check this China Cat," and he was not wrong. For me, because I'm less familiar with this era, I felt like there was some really unusual interplay between Phil and Jerry in there. Brent's synth work is pretty novel, too. Sounds like he'd been listening to some Steve Winwood. I could stand for a bit more of it, if I'm honest.

    Bird Song was the first tune in this show to really grab me, though.

    An electric Deep Elem? I'll take that.

    Uncle Johns is kind of a mixed bag. There are some really cool things happening, but it seems a little ragged at times too. That's just how it goes, but that's how I hear this one. No disrespect for hanging it out in front of a huge crowd.

    The Drums > Space > Other One is also fantastic. Sounds like someone (I'll guess Mickey) is playing with some microphone feedback, incorporating it into the jam.

    That Stella Blue seems to start out a little unsure of its footing, but by the end is soaring. That's a real highlight... I mean, I love Stella Blue pretty much any time you'll give it to me, but after a few listens this one really grew on me.

    I think I'm still a little partial to 3/7/81 at U. of Maryland, though.

    >bluecrow>
    Cal Expo rang a bell, but I've only got 5/26, 27 from 1993.

    5/26 is a 3rd gen cassette 1st set and a 4th gen 2nd set AUD. Not sure how that happened. Couldn't tell you anything about it off the top of my head other than that there is a heart mark next to Playin' > Drums > Space > and I tracked that all as just Playin' because that's how I roll.

    ● 5/27/93 is a partial board, but 7th gen cassette... only the 2nd set. I was doin' postage and blanks, so ended up pretty far out on a limb a lot. I'm not using headphones, but there's not a thing wrong with the sound quality. Might have just lost the first set, or maybe never had it.

    Pretty worthy Scarlet/Fire.

    Might skip Wave to the Wind so I can get an ear on the Cassidy > Uncle Johns > Cassidy Reprise > Drums segment. Nah. Wave to the Wind is 7 minutes long. There must be some sort of jam in there. Better be. Certainly are a lot of changes. Jer's on top of 'em. That's about all I can say.

    Cassidy is mellow and starting to jam out, but...ah, well, nice try. The seque into UJB comes across pretty forced. A bit more patience, and cooperation might have helped that jam. Good idea.

    The UJB jam, however is goin' off! Love how it is deconstructing toward drums. The band is showing a lot more patience here... oh, and the brief reprise of Cassidy is smooth as silk. You can hear Jerry hinting at it for a while. It would have been magic if they'd pulled that off on the way out of Cassidy.

    Drums could always be counted on to deliver in the 90s. I'll expect no less here. Nice beam drones. More like space.

    Oddly, Space just seems to stop and Jerry's there playing TOO on his own for a bit. Cool super distortion Bobby cutting is the perfect ground for Jerry's crystal clear lines. Don't appear to be any Martian vocal effects on Bobby's voice, which is a shame. I always liked that. Jer digs in to some overdriven runs after the first chorus which are now weaving nicely with Bobby's stabs and dives. Good mix. The drums are touch lost behind the guitars, maybe. Vince is real low in the mix. Say what you want about '93, dudes are goin' for it. Some heavy echo on Bobby's voice for the second verse, which immediately diffuses into Wharf Rat. Coulda dealt with a bit more TOO, but that was as smooth a transition as you can ask for. The thing about this era is that they have the in-ear monitors, and intercoms, so they didn't have to hint at anything musically. All anyone needed to do was call a tune into the ears of the others. Makes the transitions a lot more succinct, which can be both smoother, but also sometimes a little less thrilling.

    Wharf Rat is a tune that suited Jerry any day, any year. This tune is gonna be solid no matter what... at least as far as I know. Tape starting to sound a little muddy at this point for some reason. It was fine earlier. Love that Bobby is well-represented in the mix to add his coloring throughout. Is this after they fired Dan Healy? Well, I spoke too soon. The Life I Should found the limit of Jerry's voice on this particular night.

    Sounds like Jer's starting GDTRFB, but maybe it's just because this Sugar Mag slides out of Wharf Rat as easy as can be before Bobby takes the lead. Even Bobby's sounding a bit froggy at this point. Musta been something in the air. (Can't imagine what!) Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about, either.... Jerry's lettin' some overdrive licks fly throughout the Sunshine Daydream section. It's interesting because it's like you can still hear his clean tone at the core of his distorted effect. Pretty aggressive, if short. No encore on my tape, unfortunately.

    ● My only May 91 show is Shoreline on the 12th and it's FOB probably available on the Archive. Couldn't tell ya anything about it off the top of my head.

    >Forensicdoceleven>
    >JimInMD>
    >PT Barnum>
    RE Woodstock

    Perfect back yard recreation. Hahahaha. :)

    Just listened to my old, old vinyl copy of the Woodstock Soundtrack a couple weeks ago, and even that excerpt of Hendrix is totally face melting. If I recall correctly this wasn't The Experience.

    I'm not sure I've ever heard the Dead's entire Woodstock set. Last year I was surprised to learn that CCR, Mountain, and Johnny Winter had also played Woodstock. I'm pretty sure I'd never known that. They were also not part of the soundtrack or film. Jerry, at least, makes a memorable cameo in the film.

    PT Barnum> RE Fall '91
    Near miss. I've got 8/16, and 9/17 in the library. Couldn't tell you anything about them off the top of my head. If there's one thing this group always does, it's fill in the gaps. Cheers.

    JeffSmith> RE HDTracks

    DUDE! Thank you! I've been looking for a site where I can get minimum 16b44.1 quality downloads. Being on the other side of the world, shipping even CDs is murder. One of my favorite things about nugs net is that you can buy, not hi-res, but at least CD quality downloads. I think downloads sound better than CDs, tbh. Something happens during the CD manufacturing process, or at least it has begun to seem that way to me.

  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    2/23/74

    I forgot about this one.. haven't given it a listen since release time. I'll have to change that.

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Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.
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In reply to by The Good Ole G…

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Lol, ok, nother story coming...
Yeah this show started out a bit “speedy” lol, but as Jim says bout the time the full SB kicks in so they seem to slid into the zone. Really digging 81 a lot lately.....Dave?

Ok, story. Doing merch on Ziggy tour winter 96...we’re in Salt Lake of all places. Staying in same Holiday in on the main strip with the band. Had them in their own separate wing if memory serves. So we happen to walk down that hall for some reason and shit you not, as soon as we opened the door and entered the hall the ganja smell was so intense I swear I caught a contact buzz by the time we reached the other end of the hall LOL! My cousin too and he quit years before that....Salt Lake of all the places, too funny. I loved working with those guys they were so cool and nice, and perhaps the hardest working group I’ve ever seen, but man did those dudes like to burn, prodigious is an understatement! Dam, sorry, memory jog, next show, same tour, first time in Vail.
My cousin wanted to head back home that night even though we had one more in Denver next night. So small venue etc, since not carrying through all those draconian states, asked their helper guy Bali if I could get turned on...so he takes me backstage where a bunch of road crew etc (some going way back to the wailers etc) are sitting in this tiny room, about ten folks, and they break out this giant spleef. So I take a hit and go to pass when Bali informs me the custom is to sort of bathe in it, spend time with it, take several hits, almost what we would call bogarting, so who am I to break custom etc. well after this goes round a few times I’m now completely otta my mind lol. So I make a polite excuse to extricate myself since I am supposed to work. Well I was too loose to truck and had to stand in a back hall have a smoke and chill,out for a while since our “booth” is the penalty box of the tiny rink only facing out towards the main entrance, which Is about 15’ in front of us and where ALL the cops, EMTs etc are hanging...so I finally meander back and as I turn and stare at these authority types staring at us, I immediately get the fear, which my cousin sees and understands, of course laughing hard and giving me shit to this day! Fortunately, being such a small venue, he says go have fun but be ready to help for the busy time as people leave the show! Thanks bro, phew, of course it snows like three feet that night but we’ve given up our room, and it’s February in Vail so no rooms anyway, Oh, and there wasn’t a gas station we could find. So as Im literally the last car through the I 70 closure gate as their closing it, guy waving for us to stop but my cousin telling me to go for it....so as there closing the dreaded Vail pass and my first time on the white ribbon of death, still stoned to the gills, with like next to no gas, in a rental car we got in Cali with no snow tires! oy!
Luckily we found gas up in Frisco and made the trek but man that was a tuff drive! I’d recently moved to Colorado, but had never been up their yet. Glad I grew up in the North east!
Aaaa the adventures of youth!
Another not so funny Salt Lake tale was of old roommate/bandmate who got popped driving right after sparking up leaving Salt Lake on LOS tour early century....long story short he wrote a great song called Calivada highway where (a bridge is built from Colorado over Utah with hilarious lyrics, including the chorus about building the plumbing so it flows right through so we can say Utah piss on you! (No offense to all the good folks we’ve met from/in Utah, just a funny song about a sore subject)
The look on folks face when we used to play it, priceless! Hard to believe they have medical etc now, there and Nevada with full legalization. Remember the days with the intimidating road signs showing a cop and proclaiming something like “1 seed equals a hundred years” or some such scary shit. Glad those days are starting to end!

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Holy crap Oroborous, you are smoking today, keep them coming.

Yes, the Blu Ray is special with the audio blue ray mix. Love to see them give us a video release with this mix again. Had a ball seeing this show at the 2019 MUATM.
New Speedway Boogie!
Remember those days?
We need to get back to that.

Stay well and everybody hang loose.

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I agree this is a pick of the day forum, not today in GD history..

So lets try and mix things up a bit today.. picked at random, how about 12/5/71, one of my first tapes. When I wrote the song list on the XLII S label, I used a red pen. I liked the the tape so much, I thought.. hey, for the really good shows I will use red ink. This lasted for about five good shows and then I got another batch and had no red pen. The stupid things we do for really no reason at all that seem to make sense at the time. 12/5/71 Felt Forum, lady in red.

So my toast, to things that seem to make sense at the time. I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream.....

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In reply to by JimInMD

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12/5/71 Felt Forum, I will check it out Jim.
Thanks.

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In reply to by DeadVikes

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Holy crap this board sounds fantastic. What is it about a great sounding show that turns your day around?

I washed my hands in muddy water. Love it.

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ran·dom
/ˈrandəm/
adjective
1. made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision.
"a random sample of more than 2300 grateful dead shows"

You guys are going way out there!
I like it.

Strider you were at these Felt Forum shows right?!?
I seem to recall you talking about Jerry playing a Fender Strat if that's where it's at...
Far Out.

What was the Felt Forum like as a venue?

Located inside the Madison Square Garden seats between 2,000 and 5,600 for concerts named in honor of Irving Mitchell Felt.

Seems as though the GDs popularity in NY at this time had them going to larger & larger Venues.
I should find out the story about Bill Graham's involvement in putting this on, having closed the Fillmore East and and telling the press on 4/28/71 that he was tired and it wasn't worth it. More negatives than positives.
Apparently, there were still some positives. Like some big fat sacks of cash!

BG intro.. harboring some resentment about Bob's baseball game and for smashing his shoulder. Love this stuff.

Oh wait... this is sounding like a This Day in Dead History.. shit!

PS - Jim that Fire On The Mountain yesterday!! Holy Moly, I loved that. Show was way off my radar. Really dug it. 1981 is ringing my bell lately. I'm telling you that year is in the air. DL is gonna release some :)
12/4/73 is ok, but the band sounds a bit fatigued.

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I have been there twice when it was named The Theater at Madison Square Garden..

I thought it was a weird place. Kind of an urban theater.. few frills, lacking the ornate gold leaf feel and Gothic/Victorian amenities. Typical theater seating in semi-circle curving around the stage. I do not recall a balcony and I recall the seating having a very shallow incline. Madison Square Garden is directly on top of you, Penn Station is I think below you. I recall it as being tiny, I cannot imagine 5k people there, maybe if your date sat on your shoulders... To me it seemed considerably smaller than say the Beacon Theatre which holds under 3k people. Maybe they can get rid of some baffling walls or dividers or something. Must have been a wild ride to see the GD there.

I think one of the times I was there was to see the How the Grinch Stole Christmas as a theatre presentation right before Christmas with my kid.. NYC is (was, will be again one day) a fun place to visit just before the holidays so long as you don't mind spending a little quality time with like 9 million of your closest friends. Hot Tuna used to play at the Beacon every year around Jorma's birthday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A great time and place to see the Tuna.

Strider, wherefore art thou?

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Dug the Salt Lake show, but I think I liked 12/3 a tad more? You guys were right about the post drums! Wowsa...JG is rippin’ wicked good as the say up north. Glad I went back to it. Yeah, what is it about 81 lately? Dave.....

DV with the hit yet again. Forgot what a fun set list/show 6/17/91 is. And though the video is what it is quality wise, it’s so nice to watch them on occasion. I think the amazing sound on this one more than makes up for it though.
Think I’ve only seen this one a couple times so it was a perfect pick for my Friday night shenanigans!
That Giants box is awesome and yet another I haven’t spent near enough time with...

So from 81, to 91, to 71...
What version are you listening too?
Doubt I’m gonna have time for this today, but I should check it out ASAP. Had a crappy tape of part BITD (most of my tapes pre hiatus were crappy?) Actually used to play Muddy Water because of this tape, and it was easy lol.
Probably on a tape from one of our early shows we played out on? Man, someday I need to go through a bunch of that, but thats a huge project I don’t have time for and listening to much of that is painful...like seeing yourself on TV only worse.

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I went the first night of that run, 12/4/71. I listened two days ago by way of re-listen. Yesterday I listened to 12/5/92 Gila River Indian Reservation, ( not Tempe, Az as listed on re-listen). Was at the new Compton Terrace both days in 92 and December 90. Went to the original Compton Terrace in March 83, that was in Tempe. . Going to listen to 12/6/92 today and maybe Felt Forum 12/6/71 later. I remember the radio broadcast from 12/5/71 when it happened, WNEW carried it.
Was reminded just now about Acoustic Dead 12/6/80. Already loaded up in the iPhone.
Many Deadheads were waylaid by a major blizzard in December 92 trying to drive from the McNichols Denver shows to Arizona. It poured rain the day before the 1st Compton Terrace show driving from New Mexico to Superstition Mountains, where my 67 Chevy van died, but that’s another story.

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In reply to by Strider 808808

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Now this is not related to this Day in Dead History, but...

Do you all think it's just a coincidence that the longest Here Comes Sunshine (12/6/73) and the return of Here Comes Sunshine (12/6/92) happen on the same date?
Trippy, huh?!?!

Good Stuff.

12/6/71 is sounding good today, that transition back into The Other One from Me & Bobby McGee is tight! They were so on their game.

12/5/71 - I feel like I had a GD hour of Muddy Water & Comes A Time from that show, but maybe it was just filler on a tape, anyhow.. I've always loved that Comes A Time. The extra verse that Jerry sings is really poignant and always resonates with me. Even as a young lad, I could relate to that. Nice work Hunter.

12/6/73 - Gonna happen later today.

Strider - I'm curious of your take on how you viewed the scene in say '92 having been there back in the glory days and had been going to shows for close to 23 years at that point. So much had changed and yet, the magic could still occur. December '92 Jerry was back again and stayed that way for awhile. What was going through your mind during these December '92 shows?

Would love to hear. I caught the band in December '93 for my last show and I felt glad to be there, but a bit nostalgic. The band & the crowd felt like it was going through the motions that night, instead of feeling it. Coulda just been me.

But December '92 - Summer '93 there's some there there.

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I processed more torrent shows yesterday and loaded the ALAC files on a music player.
An hour ago or so started playing the first show displayed on the screen, and only just now realized that it is tomorrow’s anniversary.

12-7-68
Has some cuts but sounds pretty decent. Doing the 88674.miller copy.
Thanks Charlie.

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I brought an old friend to the Phoenix Dead shows in December 1990. He had seen them once before in the 60s at Winterland . The parking lot scene at Compton Terrace reminded him of a 1950s science fiction movie about people partying into the future while imminent disaster was ravaging the planet and the human race.
I vaguely remember an old British film from the 50s when the sun was getting bigger and would soon destroy the Earth. Beatniks were depicted having wild street parties. Saxophones and bongos. Nihilistic is the word that comes to my mind. This is a very generalized broad brush view of how wild the Grateful Dead scene became. Most Deadheads held down some form of work, myself included. So this is a comical view I hold about the later days of the Grateful Dead scene, (deadheads) I need to find that sci fi movie. Maybe it was “The Day the Earth Caught Fire”, 1961.

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That's rich Strider.
If you remember that movie please let me know, as that sounds like must see tv :)

Sometimes I wonder if this life is completely meaningless and totally absurd...

But most of the time I avoid thinking about that and listen to music to distract me and get some kicks.

I'm not one to tell people what to do, but if you skipped 12/6/73 Dark Star > Eyes of The World, do yourself a favor and pop it in soon before this ring around the sun is finished. It's big time. 3rd longest Dark Star or something for you statisticians.

And ConeKid is going Primal!!!

Primal Monday, I like the sound of that.
12/7/68
Rosemarinus officinalis, To wake the sleeping Beauty, she had to be touched by rosemary, a plant of many legends and ancient beliefs, and of many uses.
Also the flower of mourning.

How freaking cool is Robert Hunter?
And how inspired is a guy like David Dodd?

By the way in the annotated lyrics it seems to be in question whether or not they played Rosemary on 12/7/68.

You my friend can solve this mystery today!

The choice is yours, if you dare.

Good Stuff.

PS - and for a bit of randomness 6/9/84 Set 2 - Amazing!!

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Thanks Strider for bringing that '90 show on the res. back to mind. The scene was dusty but the liquor was clean. I had never seen a pre-show scene that wasn't paved and the freedom of no discernable authority was making up for the rag-tag that is selling to make enough to get to the next show. I thought the post-apocalyptic feel was from me going to a show solo but emotions can run strange in certain states of consciousness. It actually felt good to be back on the bus as it was my first show since the Folsum Field '80 fifteenth anniversary. Missed '92 Phoenix but caught my last ride at the '94 version and knew either Jerry or I wouldn't be at the next one. That turned out to be prescient as my next one was the 25th anniversary of my first show at Red Rocks 2003 with The Dead and Jimmy Herring.

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And where is Bolo? It has been a while.

I have been hitting up that 10/2/77 show quite a bit lately since Bob t turned me on to it. Just can't get enough of it. That Casey Jones and Dupree's are hot stuff.

December through January end up being long months, this year will be even worse.
How about a show released in ALAC and or FLAC for the faithful this month? That would help us all.

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Afghanistan? Angola?? It's got to be election season somewhere???

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December 7, 1968 gives us a cool view into the growth of the Dark Star suite.
With St. Stephen showing up in June ’68 time frame, it quickly finds it’s pole position following Dark Star and leading into The Eleven. By December ’68 the suite was about 6 months old. And on December 7th you get a great version of all 3 tunes. Dark Star clocks in around 13 minutes and has a lot of the flavor of it’s future self, but the songs growth in a little over 2 months will produce the stunningly magical Fillmore West ’69 versions. So by February ’69 this song reaches it’s zenith. But this version is definitely a point on the celestial sphere worth observing.

Fun show throughout and a rare glimpse into what the band was playing at this time. Despite the clipped beginnings, it’s a must have tape for your collection IMO.

I wish we had more shows from this time period (understatement).

Good pick ConeKid, I enjoyed that.

Also checked out the 12/5/92 Set 2 Strider was talking about and dug it. The band is playing well, good versions. Bob’s voice, it’s really gruff, but it adds a quality that I was digging. I think he had vocal cord surgery after this?

I like 90s GD. Shit, I might like all GD. Thanks for the ’90s memories!

October ’77, 10-2 is a ripper fo sure. Dig that Road Trips artwork from that month too.

Well, I picked up my bags, I went looking’ for a place to hide
When I saw Cameron Indoor Stadium from a ’73 December Night

I got as far as cleaning up the metadata and loading this on my devices last night... good to hear it this morning, better late then never.

The weight.. a song that carries special meaning for me. If you are bored one day, go to one of those sites that discusses song meanings and check out some of the interpretations. I think we all know what it's about.. but at least to me invokes one of those multi-layered, deep moments of reflection. For times when life is difficult but we have to find a way to pull through regardless. Sort of like 2020.

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Who has a pick for today? Jim? Bueller?

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I don’t listen to music at work, so it’s at night at home and in the car.

12-9-81 going now, but jumped to Bird Song, then Candyman, Cassidy, ChinaRider.
Now on Scarlet.
Yeah, not quite the same as 12-7-68, but I’m glad to have stuff from every year.

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Big fan of '81 Dead.
But... for some reason the 12/9 show hasn't really grabbed me up by the ears.

Let me clarify, I'm not bitching or trying to sound un-Grateful.
I'm happy to have this show to listen to and think about and with this release I know I don't need another version of this show so we're all good there.
But this is just me as a picky geeked out Dead Head discussing music with my homies during the ninth month of a global pandemic.
That all being said...
I think I have the same reaction each time I hear this show.
Which is: surprise.
Surprised this got released.

That's not to say I don't like it, I just find myself drifting off thinkin' there are some real smokers in December '81 and I'm not sure this is one.
First set is train wrecky, some pretty big audience patches needed, Bob being weird throughout.
That all being said, each time I look at the cover I think, what am I missing about this show, and so I give it a go.
I just haven't heard it yet. And yeah, didn't really hear it yesterday.
Personally, I think 12/3 smokes this show, but nobody really axed me that.

Now I'm listening to this China > Rider while I type and this is freaking good stuff.
But yeah.. this show hasn't reached December '81 go to status for me, but hey, that's ok!

And since we're talking.
Have we discussed Fade Out Tracks?
Since we're gonna be doing this CD medium for however long with Dead Releases, I'd love to propose something.
There's this cool trick I saw some bootleggers do when we were trading CDs BITD.
They'd add a separate Fade Out & Fade In track at the break point that way if you're not listening to the show on CD, say you were listening on a music playing device like a phone or what have you. You can just delete the Fade Out & Fade In track and the whole thing will be seamless again. So in this case, it'd look like:
Disc 1 Track Listing -
10. Looks Like Rain >
11. Fade Out

Disc 2 Track Listing -
1. Fade In
2. China Cat Sunflower >

So what I'm proposing is Cut those tracks so that Disc 1 Track 10 lines up with Disc 2 Track 2 and viola! Delete Fade In & Out tracks and you have Seamless Dead for all of us heads that are not listening to CDs and love seamless GD.

I sound bitchy. (read this whole post in the most non-bitchy way!! Just friends talking music here.)

Alright, Break time ladies and Gentleman.
But We'll Be Back Real Quick.
(insert big Jerry guitar fan)
See you in a minute or two.

Now, the total opposite side of this DaP V20 (which had a decent SBD in circulation for years) is an Unreleased SBD that doesn't circulate like...
December 10, 1973
Now this.. this here folks is a Go To!
Cause, it's all there is, there ain't no more (in circulation)
Supposedly there's what 4-5 songs that got excised due to "sub-par sonics".
(can't find any liner notes, anybody got the official explanation handy?)
From the one set list I found looks like Jack Straw, Jed, El Paso, BEW got nixed from Set 1 and a MAMU from Set 2.
But the rest is here in seamless glory for us to grok. And grok I must.
As the wonderful strains of 1973 Playing In The Band begin.
This sounds delightful..
I'm so Grateful for all you archival music releasing people, you are special, Great Work!!

Cast no stones

PS - JiminMD after your suggestion, I did read up on the meaning of the Weight, which I had never done. It was pretty fascinating the speculation out there. Now, what do you think it's about?

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Master Strider

You have summed up what I wanted to say in one line when it took me many.

I still have much to learn.

I hear you man, there are better 81 shows. Would be interesting to pick DL brain on this pick. Anyway, it comes off the shelve a couple times a year.

Are you thinking 12/10/73 for today??

I still don't have this from the download series.

Stay well out there.

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DV - Yeah, Bob T twisted my arm and got me to go out on this December '73 tour, even though he ditched me in Cincinnati, we hooked back up in Cleveland. Sick Dark Star > Eyes bro!!!
The Durham show was good, but 12/6 was probably the best so far and the stuff in Boston on 11/30 & 12/2.

Just a few more to go.

LMK if you're gonna try and make the show and have trouble gettin' tickets, we might know of an extra.

Keep on Truckin'

Best,
GOGD

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Fade ins and outs between CD’s is really annoying.
Charlie Miller has been making seamless transitions for years, not sure why Norman has never figured out the concept.
I fix all releases that need it with editing software before loading onto HD’s and music players.

12-9-81
Stella struck me as quite good last night. Don’t know if I never noticed it before, or noticed it before but then forgot.

For me, this simply means taking on additional burdens that were not of your making and how this impacts your life and can bring you down emotionally. How someone else's irresponsibility forces one to take the right action or do right in order to avoid a greater catastrophe or additional harm to others.

Before I wrote this I decided I should revisit SongMeanings.com as it's been perhaps 20 years since I did this.. and there was a quote from Robertson I had not seen before that shed light on the songwriting process for this song. There is mention that specifics were purposefully left general so the song could take on a special meaning to the listener, which is certainly true for me. It also went on to add that Luis Buñuel was a major influence to the lyrics, so I had to check him out and watched one of his more popular films on YouTube, "Los Olvidados" or The Young and the Damned (with English subtitles). A pretty good little flick with a deep plot similar to the meaning of the song.. in this movie a young troubled kid gets out of kiddie jail only to continue his life of crime and destruction including theft and ultimately murder ultimately bringing everyone around him, even the most innocent down with him by mere association. Not the meaning I took from the song but just barely one step removed.

To me, it still carries a deep, personal meaning.. like I said I was never meant to be the responsible one yet I have carried a whole bunch of people throughout my life including now.. professionally and personally. It's not very much fun, often depressing and exhausting. But we all make decisions in life that have consequences both to us and those around us. I am a severely flawed human but I do try to grasp and understand each situation and try to do right or at least the best I can. My own brand of pragmatism I guess and I really try hard not to burden others with my own stupidity or lessor actions.

To tie this back to the Grateful Dead, I quote Phil Lesh from the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on 1985-06-27.. when two people were swinging dangerously from the balcony just before Stagger Lee Bobby stopped the show pleading that they stop hanging from the balcony to which Phil added, "Do what yourself what you want man, we just don't want you falling on somebody else." How many times have we all been that person that the guy hanging on the balcony fell on?

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I think you nailed it Jimi.

It's funny, having spent a lifetime hearing this song and loving it, I'm not sure I ever stopped to think about what it meant. I just always loved the way Rick Danko would sing the Crazy Chester verse. It always gives me chills (even as I write this) how much emotion he's able to deliver in that line and the way he sings it.

The songs always been a favorite. Since it came out in '68, I've been hearing it randomly here and there my whole life. I remember hearing the NRPS version from 5/2/70 with Bob & Jerry singing in around '88 (on the GD Hour I believe) and just losing my shit. The Grateful Dead are playing the Weight?!?!

Then as luck would have it, having not seen the Dead since Alpine '88, I happened to catch a show in Frankfurt Germany in '90 and they closed the show with the song. I was so stoked, it felt like they were playing it just for me. And maybe they were that night. I had no idea they'd been playing it for awhile. Back then, if you were overseas, it felt like it :)

Ah... Good Stuff.

Thanks Jim, I enjoyed the trip.

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GOGD, you made some of that E 90 tour? Congrats.. so jealous.

I edited in a quote from Phil that relates this back to the GOGD, sorry to change my orig. post on meanings... Have we done 85 Saratoga yet? If not, we should try and fit that one in. It's been a while for me but it has always been one of my favorite tapes from that glorious summer of '85....

Oh.. and Cone Kid.. I get what you are saying, when I listen it's always digital copies, almost never the CDs.. but if had a hard cut from one song to the other it would sound really weird after the CD swap. I see the other perspective.

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Jimi - Yeah, you probably wouldn't be that jealous if you knew the circumstance behind it, but that's another story.
It was cool to see them in a place that small for sure!

DV - Tickets in the mail. PM sent.

I'm listening to Stella from 12/9 again to see if I catch the fever.
Short The Other One and another fade in before.. I'm not sure this will ever be my favorite. But I'm trying.

Meanwhile, loved 12/10/73 today and am gonna go back for more after 4:20ish this afternoon, give or take an hour or two :)

Good Stuff!

PS - '85 I'm still alive. Love me some '85! And Primal 12/11/69 stuff :)

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12-11-69 Thelma for tomorrow, some of it is on Dave's 10 bonus disc. Primal for sure But that Dark Star>Stephen>the Eleven>Cumberland to end the first set is the only time played and pretty awesome. Second set starts off with Morning Dew, can't beat that.

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I listen to new release CD’s twice to make sure they aren’t defective, then make a copy on a computer and type in the track names according to my system, then make any necessary edits and crossfades.
Then convert to AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, AAC-320, with each format on a separate HD. I then listen on music players and flash drives, so seamlessness (did I invent a new word? my spell checker thinks so) is mandatory.
The CD’s then go in a storage box (they stay cleaner that way).

At least with a 6-disc changer it moves pretty quickly to the next CD, so with a seamless transition between CD’s the gap is pretty short.
Single disc CD players are kind of like vinyl, but you get to sit on the couch for longer before you have to get up and change the disc.

My Garcia 15 showed up today. That’s going to spin tonight.
My Jimi in Maui got lost, so Uncle Beez sent me a new one.
People were discussing Anthem To Beauty the other day on one these boards. I’ve never seen it before, so I got one from Uncle Beez for like $6. Seems like a score to me.

12-11-69 tomorrow you say?
Sounds like a plan, and it’s even Friday night.

Edit:
The plastic thickness of the Garcia 15 CD’s is noticeably thinner than the Jimi CD’s.
Glad that the Hendrix Estate hasn’t decided (so far) to cut corners on manufacturing to save a buck or two.

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Wow.. detailed. I can only surmise you have a user's manual and a detailed binder for Policies and Procures to be obeyed when setting up your metadata.

Perhaps even thinker than the set of binders I use. (kidding of course) :D

Pretty cool cone kid.

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Got my methods pretty well memorized at this point.
But, I do have a written list of HD’s and what’s on them to help me remember, since each main HD has multiple back ups.
Along with all the audio formats there are also HD’s for video.

I'm anal about my metadata and hard drive structure (how to label shows, etc.). Anything I have worked on since 2015 or so that's not an official release I save lossless as Alac, Flac and Wav. It just makes it easier to share as everyone seems to have different preferences. I can totally relate to your P&P manual and attention to detail.

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I'm always a day behind and a dollar short..

But I am enticed for a relisten, thanks Sammy.

Doesn't 12/11 wrap into 12/12 in the bonus disc or something like that anyway?...

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One of my favorite Dave’s Picks. The Workingmans Dead material sounds so low key. Black Peter has a real feeling of pain and aging segueing towards the last breath. Feeling of fever and suffering.
Somehow a cautionary tale.
Caution on disc three is chant like or hypnotic.
39 years ago on this date I saw the Dead first time in four years since Winterland on 12/29 & 30/77. Before that was 10/20/74. The Dance for Disarmament on 12/12/81 was interesting. Acoustic accompaniment with Joan Baez and then an electric set. Will give it a listen today but it was the complete New Years run later that month that was truly epic. 12/26 Eleven Jam was quite the exciting moment. I went all five nights in 81 when it was still the Oakland Auditorium.
Where’s Bolo & LMG.

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Missed 12-11-69 yesterday, so now I need to make that up and earn extra credit.
Fortunately for me it’s the weekend and I’m not going anywhere (except outside later today to roast some coffee beans while it’s sort of warm and not raining).

I do have a legitimate excuse for not doing my homework, this week I received Jimi in Maui, Garcia 15, and the Anthem To Beauty dvd (watched it last night).

I see that I also missed
12-6%,7-71 (DaP 22 + bonus)
12-4%-73 (Winterland 73 Box bonus disc)
12-10-73 (DS8)

I better get to work because 12-14-71 (DaP 26) is around the corner.

Hope all this anniversary talk hasn’t driven away Oro.

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Dave's pick #10, but the bonus disc is the night before. Not that 12-12-69 isn't a great show too.

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48 years ago the last humans walked on moon. Next week Saturn and Jupiter will be in conjunction on December 21 the Winter Solstice.
Yesterday I hit a double header; 12/12/70 Santa Rosa Fairgrounds, ( killer Grateful Dead!!) and then 12/12/81 that I attended. Guadalupe Day. High Time.