Listen To The River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73 (20-CD)

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July 21, 2021 - 6:32am

1,587 replies

Srinivasan.Mut…

Joined:
July 2, 2018

What's Inside:
7 Previously Unreleased Complete Shows On 20 Discs
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 12/09/71
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 12/10/71
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 10/17/72
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 10/18/72
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 10/19/72
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO 10/29/73
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO 10/30/73
Sourced from tapes recorded by Rex Jackson, Owsley "Bear" Stanley, and Kidd Candelario
Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
Restoration and Speed Correction by Plangent Processes

Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 13,000

Steamboats and BBQ, ice cream cones and Mardi Gras - are you ready to laissez les bons temps rouler with the "gateway" to the Grateful Dead? Meet us, won't you, in St. Louis for seven complete and previously unreleased Dead concerts that capture the heart of the band's affinity for the River City.

LISTEN TO THE RIVER: ST. LOUIS ’71 ’72 ’73 is a 20CD set featuring five shows from the Fox Theatre - December 9 and 10, 1971; October 17-19, 1972; and two from the Kiel Auditorium - October 29 and 30, 1973.

The seven shows in the collection span slightly less than two years, but they represent some of the best shows the Grateful Dead played during some of its peak tours. The music tells the story of a band evolving, changing from one sound to another seamlessly, precipitated – in large part – by significant personnel changes in the Dead’s lineup.

The two 1971 shows feature the original Grateful Dead lineup plus newcomer Keith Godchaux on piano. This version of the band would hold together for the next six months as the Dead embarked upon its Europe ’72 tour. By the time the Dead returned to the Fox Theatre less than a year later, they were without Pigpen, who’d played his final show with the Dead at the Hollywood Bowl on June 17, 1972. A year after the exceptional Fox 1972 shows, the Dead came back to St. Louis, but played the much larger Kiel Auditorium, touring behind the release of WAKE OF THE FLOOD, which came out just two weeks before.

All told, the band played 60 different songs during these shows highlighted by blazing romps through “Beat It On Down The Line” and “One More Saturday Night” and wistful takes on “Row Jimmy” and “Brokedown Palace” (whose lyrics give the collection its name). Meanwhile, the copious jamming ebbed and flowed like the mighty Mississippi River on multiple voyages through “The Other One” and “Dark Star.” Naturally, the band paid tribute to one of its favorite rock and rollers and one of St. Louis’ biggest stars by playing Chuck Berry songs at every show in the collection, including Pigpen galloping through “Run Rudolph Run.”

Each show has been restored and speed corrected using Plangent Processes with mastering by Jeffrey Norman. The collection comes in a slipcase with artwork by Liane Plant and features an 84-page hardbound book as well as other Dead surprises. To set the stage for the music, the liner notes provide several essays about the shows, including one by Sam Cutler, the band’s tour manager during that era, and another by Grateful Dead scholar Nicholas G. Meriwether, among others.

Due October 1st, LISTEN TO THE RIVER: ST. LOUIS ’71 ’72 ’73, is limited to 13,000 individually numbered copies and available exclusively from Dead.net.

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March 4, 2022 - 10:18pm

#61

DeadVikes

Joined:
October 26, 2016

Adedhed68

Hey, we are hoping..... Needs to happen at some point...
March 4, 2022 - 9:00pm

#62

adedhed68

Joined:
August 13, 2007

Boxset 2022

Deadvikes, is that a definite on the next boxset? Wow that would be something
March 4, 2022 - 7:04pm

#63

DeadVikes

Joined:
October 26, 2016

Box Set

We will resuscitate him after he hears the news of the 2022 box set:

Alpine Valley, East Troy Wisconsin
Three shows from 1987
Four shows from 1988
Three shows from 1989
Video to boot.
March 4, 2022 - 6:40pm

#64

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

Interesting

Well, interesting, but it puts a damper on the fall 72 box. Hopefully HF isn't on suicide watch. Quick.. take some anti-depressant fungal cure caps.
March 4, 2022 - 5:50am

#65

KeithFan2112

Joined:
August 6, 2014

One More Comment on Audio

I found this article on dead essays blog spot a while back. It talks about Bear's recording history with the Dead, with quotes from the man himself from his site:

Regarding post-jail-time:

"I came back to a crew that was totally different when I left, and the job that I had been doing was split up amongst three other people, none of whom were willing to yield the territory. I met a lot of resistance in the scene, and after you spend a couple of years locked up, your social adaptability is not very good."
And another comment on '72 in his site:
"I was having some problems with the crew, many of whom had come to work after I had gone, and resented my drive to improve things onstage and with the equipment, which I decided was obsolete for the most part. They preferred to let things stay the same - an attitude I thought was due to simple laziness. The various problems, particularly the one of getting those who did my job while I was away to back off and allow me to return to my work, eventually inspired me to design the Wall of Sound... "

*****************
Also he said about late '72:

Bear recounts a mishap at the Vanderbilt University show on 10/21/72, when Bob Matthews didn't show up: "I had to recruit some of the kids from this college to carry the stuff back. Two of them took half our PA and split. At the next show, there's no PA. I said, 'I sent it to the truck.' A roadie picked me up and threw me into a water cooler."
Apparently some recording equipment was stolen as well, which may account for the rather poor mixes of many of the shows from 10/21 to the rest of the fall tour - either that, or personal squabbles & disputes at the board! (Did anybody listen to the 11/12 mix?) Some shows have missing or incomplete SBDs (from 10/21 to 11/13, though not everything could be in circulation). There are several shows where Bear actually resorted to "audience-taping", making nice room recordings of 10/27, 10/30, and 11/13.

None of our tapes from '73/74 seem to be Bear's work - apparently after the hassles of fall '72, Bear became more a 'behind-the-scenes' equipment tech rather than the on-site sound mixer.
March 3, 2022 - 9:56am

#66

Oroborous

Joined:
June 19, 2007

Jim’s correct,

But the mastering process can also change the overall sound.
This is why so many of the original CDs released after that format came out sound terrible.
It’s a stigma that has unfortunately continued even though they’ve made incredible advances in digital conversion, and stricter coherence to using original master tapes.
They were mastered poorly, especially the A/D conversion, which coupled often with not using the original master tapes, made them sound horrible. Not just CDs, DVDs etc also can be all over the place depending on transfer and what source was used. I’ve seen DVDs that looked better than Blu-ray’s because of this.

There’s a lot you can’t mess with in mastering, but there’s much that can be done too.
I think that’s a lot of why some of the newer releases sound better: Mr Jeffery has had significant time to adjust and perfect the mastering of the recordings. Like Jim says, you can’t re-eq or re-attenuate individual instruments etc on a 2 track, but you can adjust the overall eq, so perhaps that’s why one show from the same run for instance can have different “flavor” like your describing.

Multitracks, besides allowing for individual tweaks: (think Donna turned down to a normal volume with some auto tune) usually do have much more openness or spaciousness. Check out the 71 Capitol shows to see how big a difference there can be!
Oh, tape size and speed make a big difference too. The faster the speed and/or the fatter the tape, the better the frequency response and spaciousness.
March 2, 2022 - 5:29am

#67

1stshow70878

Joined:
September 11, 2014

Thanks Jim

I thought it might be something like that. That may also explain why folks are discussing a re-release of Europe '72 or a box with some of the other shows from that tour. I've got Rockin' the Rhine and Hundred Year Hall but only on tape, so I'm all for that. I need to revisit some of my old vinyl now that I have improved my main system. I don't ever remember Europe '72 sounding this good through my old amp.
Cheers and thank you.
March 1, 2022 - 8:17pm

#68

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

E72 vs. 10/18/72

The obvious answer is E72 was recorded using a 16-track professional recording system inside a truck they carried with them from venue to venue and 10/18 was recorded to stereo via two-track reel to reels. So starting with a 16-track professional master tape allows one to change the mix vs. a stereo master where the mix was already condensed to stereo at the time the recording was made (so you can't change the output of the bass or any other instruments/vocals). You can't really alter anything on the two track masters except the volume and some wizardry like compression. With a multi-track you can completely change the mix and the output / location of every instrument, panning the sound, etc. The sky's the limit with a multi-track master.

There's a good bit of low-level hiss on the 10/18 recording. This was recorded by Bear. I have a sneaking suspicion these master reels were played a few times over the years. They just have this flavor of being used a bit which weakens the quality of the master. I'm speculating, I am certainly not in the know here. To me, it still sounds very good and the performance so strong, I am not complaining. I will take the win.

Sorry for the detail, I bet you already knew most of this and to be honest.. I am not a recording aficionado, so I reserve the right to be fall on my face wrong. But this is all I have. Where is One Man when you need him?
March 1, 2022 - 9:09am

#69

1stshow70878

Joined:
September 11, 2014

Europe '72 vs. Light Into Ashes

Listened to these two on vinyl today and the sound is very different. The LIA is way more bass and mid focused and noticeably a bit lacking in treble. The LIA thread talks about the sound quality at more length. Hadn't listened to Europe '72 in many years and the sound was startlingly good on my copy from around 1975. The high end was so spacious, clear, and well defined it really surprised me. Lacking in bass by comparison but I hope they reissue that vinyl this year and balance that out. Maybe some of the recording aficionados here can clue me in as to why the totally different sound from these recordings from the same era.
Cheers!
February 22, 2022 - 7:45am

#70

bigbrownie

Joined:
November 9, 2010

Three is the Charm

I've just completed my third go-round of this box set: once on the big JBLs, once on the house system with the HDCD player, and once with headphones on the Marantz player...a unique experience each time. Two thumbs up! For all those responsible for making "Listen to the River" happen, I say "Way to go"!
And, yes, I can't believe this is not sold put.

BTW, inside my 30 Trips book I found:
ticket: 10/27/91 Oakland
backstage pass: 6/16/93 Louisville

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

What's Inside:
7 Previously Unreleased Complete Shows On 20 Discs
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 12/09/71
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 12/10/71
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 10/17/72
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 10/18/72
Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 10/19/72
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO 10/29/73
Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO 10/30/73
Sourced from tapes recorded by Rex Jackson, Owsley "Bear" Stanley, and Kidd Candelario
Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
Restoration and Speed Correction by Plangent Processes

Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 13,000

Steamboats and BBQ, ice cream cones and Mardi Gras - are you ready to laissez les bons temps rouler with the "gateway" to the Grateful Dead? Meet us, won't you, in St. Louis for seven complete and previously unreleased Dead concerts that capture the heart of the band's affinity for the River City.

LISTEN TO THE RIVER: ST. LOUIS ’71 ’72 ’73 is a 20CD set featuring five shows from the Fox Theatre - December 9 and 10, 1971; October 17-19, 1972; and two from the Kiel Auditorium - October 29 and 30, 1973.

The seven shows in the collection span slightly less than two years, but they represent some of the best shows the Grateful Dead played during some of its peak tours. The music tells the story of a band evolving, changing from one sound to another seamlessly, precipitated – in large part – by significant personnel changes in the Dead’s lineup.

The two 1971 shows feature the original Grateful Dead lineup plus newcomer Keith Godchaux on piano. This version of the band would hold together for the next six months as the Dead embarked upon its Europe ’72 tour. By the time the Dead returned to the Fox Theatre less than a year later, they were without Pigpen, who’d played his final show with the Dead at the Hollywood Bowl on June 17, 1972. A year after the exceptional Fox 1972 shows, the Dead came back to St. Louis, but played the much larger Kiel Auditorium, touring behind the release of WAKE OF THE FLOOD, which came out just two weeks before.

All told, the band played 60 different songs during these shows highlighted by blazing romps through “Beat It On Down The Line” and “One More Saturday Night” and wistful takes on “Row Jimmy” and “Brokedown Palace” (whose lyrics give the collection its name). Meanwhile, the copious jamming ebbed and flowed like the mighty Mississippi River on multiple voyages through “The Other One” and “Dark Star.” Naturally, the band paid tribute to one of its favorite rock and rollers and one of St. Louis’ biggest stars by playing Chuck Berry songs at every show in the collection, including Pigpen galloping through “Run Rudolph Run.”

Each show has been restored and speed corrected using Plangent Processes with mastering by Jeffrey Norman. The collection comes in a slipcase with artwork by Liane Plant and features an 84-page hardbound book as well as other Dead surprises. To set the stage for the music, the liner notes provide several essays about the shows, including one by Sam Cutler, the band’s tour manager during that era, and another by Grateful Dead scholar Nicholas G. Meriwether, among others.

Due October 1st, LISTEN TO THE RIVER: ST. LOUIS ’71 ’72 ’73, is limited to 13,000 individually numbered copies and available exclusively from Dead.net.

Hard to believe I'm the first comment

Guess I got lucky?

This is a box set to get on board with. I like the concept of "the river". Listened to 12/10/71 last night at store, very nice show, very nice recording off archive. "Official" release should be a-ok.

NOW WHERE IS DaP 39???? :-)

Plangent Processes ....

.... I am in! Dutifully ordered; grateful for the embarrassment of riches

2021 Box Set

Another big surprise from Dave. A St. Louis 71-73 combo, nobody had this on their radar screen. Just ordered mine. Never have seen a box released without a seaside chat. What the hell is going on? I am excited!

Yahoo!

You are the MAN, Dave!!!

And all the PTB.

:)))

Wonder what the box is gonna look like?

No pictures of the box!

OMG!!

So, everyone was right: it's a '71, fall '72, fall '73 box. The setlists really reflect the band's evolution, especially going from a 7-minute Playing in the Band to a 20+ minute version over the course of the year.

Beautiful the way this box will provide the pre-Euro '72 and post Euro-'72 band in all its glory.

$200? There's the sweet spot.

I believe this will take me a good deal of the w-w-w-winter to listen to, much less fully absorb.

Yet another multi-year geographic focus. Well played, Dave! Muchas gracias!

The record industry is killing me...

Is there no end to the releases this month!!!??!?!

We got the Joni, we got the Dylan, we got the dead, we got the lee morgan.

No way I can hide all this from my wife!! I can hide the mail when it comes,,, but,,,, that new book shelf to hold all this stuff I can't hide as easily!

LIstening to Birdsong from 10/17/72,,,, another one from the archive that is damn near perfect, official release should be even better!!!

At Last

Been waiting months for this announcement and it’s seven early 70’s shows which I love. Ordered immediately as I expect the 13000 will go quickly. Can’t wait for Autumn to listen to these shows. Now roll on DaP39!

Wonderful!....

....simply wonderful!

Got the Fox Box I Have Been Asking For....

....and then some. This is an instant classic.

Killer box set!

I just ordered 2, one for me and one for my brother. What a knockout!

Oooooooh....

....I like that cap a lot. SOLD!

Yippee

Of course I’ve ordered it!

OK, GD

You got my $$$ for a very appreciated release.

My first show anniversary was this past Sunday (7/18/82)...39 years later, the long, strange trip continues.

God Bless the Grateful Dead!!!

I Totally Understand Dennis!!

Dead Fox Box Ordered - check! Lee Morgan Lighthouse Box Ordered - check! Bob Dylan Bootleg Springtime In NY Ordered - check! Plus sundry Dave McMurray, Crosby, Drive-By Truckers, and Son Volt - check! Separation & Divorce - pending!

I just got notice the dog's license is up for renewal, so I can start by adding a zero on the end of that charge on the books...New cord for my tools, add a zero to the total....

Only one Cumberland?!....

....what a rip off. Cancelling my order (kidding).

wut

...this came as a surprise, however the pre-available sleuthing that was initiated yesterday has now paid off.

Thanks GD!

Sixtus

How fast will it sell out?

FAST!

Yes!

To Dave L - Thank You! Many of us (myself included) have been asking for the Fox shows in some capacity. It is clear you watch these boards. I know from the Seaside chat that these shows have been on your radar for a while. Still these shows have been heavily discussed on the boards in recent years so we are being given what we asked for. Adding the shows from 1973 is the icing on the cake.

Of course I ordered this box as soon as I saw the announcement. I can't wait to get it.

Right in the sweet spot

Count me in again. Great combo of shows here.

Thoughts

I was so excited to hear about this new boxed set. After learning about these shows, I’m even more excited. I’m glad that it spans three separate years in the Dead cannon, and the setlists look amazing. Even the shows without the Dark Stars, Other Ones, and other jam vehicles look interesting and captivating. Even more, I’m very grateful that some of this material is getting released separately as well. The 12/10/71 show is getting released on both CD and vinyl(!), and the Playin’>Drums>DS>Dew>Playin’ is getting released on vinyl too. Very smart decision. Overall, this is very exciting.

Three Comments

First, is it "Only One Cumberland?...." or, "It's Got a Cumberland!"

Second.. thank you GD/David Lemieux.. not many of you know this, but HendrixFreak has been both on a hunger strike and out on the ledge of 53rd floor of the Wells Fargo Building in Denver threatening to jump unless he gets a Fall '72 box. I am happy to report he is down off the ledge and finishing a greasy pulled pork sammy at the BBQ joint around the corner. Extra greasy...

Third.. Dennis, I am beginning to feel much sympathy for your wife.

All is good with the world again. As you were.

So I go downstairs.....

... after a morning of ordering more "stuff" from the cornucopia of musical choices being given us (or thrusted upon us), I head down to read my favorite monthly paper "The Funny Times".

There is the single panel joke. Guy at an AA meeting talking to the group.

My name is Roger. I own a plethora of music on original vinyl, eight-track, cassette and compact disc. Including most digital file formats. I was about to buy remastered rereleases on 180-gram vinyl when my wife said I needed help.

Bottom of panel labeled "Audiophiles Anonymous"

Funny, fate or cry for help?

I was thrilled when I saw…

I was thrilled when I saw this news. October 19, 1972 was the night I got on the bus. I thought the roof was gonna come off the place during the Casey Jones at the end of the first set. At that moment I knew I wanted more of this. I never missed a St. Louis show after that.

I've been waiting almost 50…

I've been waiting almost 50 years for these! These were amongst the first shows I attended (along with the Miami Rock Festival , a Kiel Auditorium show in late 1970, and Early 1971 shows at the Fox - THAT Fox show is when I got it; got on the Bus!). These shows were seminal! Thank you so much for releasing this set. I can HARDLY WAIT!

Listen to the River

Done! No problems ordering. I'm just glad I happened to be doing my morning emails when the announcement
popped up. Let the Games begin!

Well...

At least Doc gets more lovingly redone 71, Hendrix freak gets some fall 72, and congrats to the rest of y'all excited about this one....I'm getting disc 10 & 20 with big Dark Stars and fall 73. Sure I'll get hooked on the rest as is usually the case with releases I'm at first apprehensive about..
Curious how long this one will take to sell out?

Nice work

Thanks Dave and Co

oh my goodness

must be dreaming

A crowd pleaser

This box should be a real crowd pleaser. Thanks Dave and Dead.net -- everyone involved. Like the Pacific Northwest box, this regional, but, over the years releases are a nice touch. With that in mind, Dave please consider an MSG N.Y.C. September 1979 release. . .. Just sayin'. I predict it would be an instant sell out and another crowd pleaser.

I really can not wait to see the artwork, box, discs, booklet, inserts, etc..

Vinyl Me Please!

Great offerings! The "Run, Run, Rudolf" with Pigpen was on a GD Hour from the early/mid 90's. One of my required X-mas selections every year near the holiday. Cheers!

Finally able to complete my order!!

Dead.net didn't like my VPN so I turned it off while ordering.

I'm trying not to take this personally.

Yep. Ordered my copy too. …

Yep. Ordered my copy too. And i 2nd the request for an MSG box.

Good times...

Well, JimInMD has no idea that his mentioning Wells Fargo and BBQ sandwiches is clairvoyant, in that Saturday I had problems with my bank (WF) and went out for BBQ sandwiches.... All is well now. And topped off by this new box.

A rough patch has now passed and, if anyone needs a laugh, check out the avatar on the official announcement at the top of the comments page -- it's "Sri" or somebody likely not connected to DL and TPTB.

This sucker gonna sell out in a day or so, max.

What??

Only 6 versions of Beat It On Down The Line???
Count me out.

Ordered! Now trying to…

Ordered! Now trying to decide if I should grab the 12/10/71 5LP set too. Any idea if that one is Limited Edition too?

I Left St. Louis, City of Blues

Oh wow.......a true 70's Show-Me box set, and vinyl to boot.....sign me up! And I just scored tickets for Phish in Denver on Labor Day weekend!!! Not a bad days work.

Yes I'm still alive and lurking.

Be well & Be good dead folks!

KCJ

Edit: BBQ in St. Louis? Laughable...head west

Ordered!

Grabbed the hat as well!

Very excited

The acoustics of the Fox are incredible. I've seen Dylan and Neil Young solo there. I can't imagine seeing the Dead there. The Kiel Center (now called the Scott Trade Center) is awesome too, but the Fox is the best in St Louis.

I'm 2 hours SE of St Louis,…

I'm 2 hours SE of St Louis, so 90% of my concert experiences are from there. Love the Lou!

How do you order it, though?

I can't seem to get through to the pre-order page. It looks plenty good -especially the 1972 and 1973 shows, but I'm drawing blanks trying to order it at the moment.

looks great

DaveRock

Did you select the three ALAC files? They have to be selected even if you don’t intend to download them. The lower pre-order button should then work. If that isn’t the problem then I can’t help It seemed pretty seamless to me. Good Luck.

Edit certainly easier to order than submit the comment 3 attempts and I had to replace the word downlo(ads) with files

Daverock!

Try turning off your VPN. That worked for me.

Wait, what!?!

7 shows, from '71-'73, and there's only 1Wharf Rat?

Phew!

Stillwaters & Colin-thanks for your advice. It was not choosing to download the three tracks to listen to that was stopping me getting through. It does say its a required field, but as I am not going to listen to them I assumed I didn't need to fill in the field.
It would have been ironic if, after checking on here every day since Doomsday to see if a box had been announced, then seeing it had, and that it included shows from the 71-73 era - I found I didn't have the wherewithal to order it !

Now I know why I had a hankering for BBQ yesterday...

Had the Brisket Bomb along pork bellies and hush puppies yesterday for lunch - you guys and gals north of Boston, check out The Rusty Can in Byfield MA...

Looking at Compendium - a Feeling Groovy Jam, a Mind Left Body Jam, a couple of Darkstars, TOOs, Birdsongs plus a Cumberland and a Here Comes Sunshine, wow all I need is a Black Peter - woops check that box too.

Now the important part are the two vinyl ala carte's worthy???

Thankful Dead

I’m actually happy this box set is from the 70’s. I have enough Grateful Dead albums. Had it been a box set from the 60’s, 80’s or 90’s, it would have been harder to pass on.