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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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Okay, distortion on this increases as they move to the electric sets. Decided to move on to 10/4/1980, which has a fresh transfer in 2021 from Miller via Gans. Sounding really good so far.

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Dusty Hill, ZZ Top bassist.

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It was probably cheaper and easier to just throw in a cassette and hit record, then do something else for 45 minutes.
And when the show was over you could play the cassette in the car, boom box, living room, etc.

Should have kept Betty around.

Enjoyed 4/10/78, another solid show, but I felt it didn’t quite match 4/11 or 4/15. Couple miscues and though the sound was still awesome, have to grade it slightly less than the aforementioned....

12/7/78: good show, listened to most...haven’t had a good chance to hear it all continuously.
Seemed decent but I’m not sure it hangs with spring? For me anyways....

10/80: looked at the 2nd, but was in a hurry and the versions seemed all chopped up?
Haven’t really had time.
Did finally hear 2/14/68 for first time. Yowsa! Primal Dead fo sho!
It’s a little unpolished but man what a set list and energy etc...

Cassettes Masters: definitely way easier to just pop in a cassette and it would be easy to remember to flip at drums, where having to constantly change/thread reels etc, while riding a complicated mix, would probably not worked out well. It’s a shame because listen to any of the late eighties/early nineties multi-tracks to get a better idea of what might of been...the resolution and frequency response is amazing, it sounds more accurate than any 70s show I’ve heard, EXCEPT multi-track! I think they should release all the good multi track shows they have, then dribble out the rest. I know their trying to space things out, but why? Most of the folks with the most interest, and probably the most disposable income will be dying off or losing interest sooner than later. RELEASE THE MULTITRACKS SMITHERS!
But I’ll still take cassette masters of good shows versus nothing...As long as it’s good quality etc. I don’t get hung up on it, imho, it’s pointless to compare as of course a good cassette is not going to compare to a good reel.
I’m finding more and more it’s pointless to compare any shows except those within a single tour...

Agree with you 100%. Get the music out.

10/4/80 show sounds much better than 10/2/80. Check it out if have time. I love these shows and believe we will continue to see new transfers pop up.

Yes, 4/11/78 is A++. Hopefully it gets released at some point.

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Release the hounds..
Agree with what you guys are saying. A little behind.. did a last minute, hurried road trip to Baltimore to fulfill a few family and friend obligations, finished with a rocking party tonight, just getting home.

Good fun.

2.14.68, in my humble opinion.. one of the best shows I have ever heard.. Oro.. can I get you the music from the bonus d? Contains one of my more liked Violas.... Added to the 2/14 show and it's wowwow time.

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Wowsa, thanks Jim, that’d be awesome! (check PM)
Looking forward to hitting 2.2 up again this WE along with a bunch of other “new” stuff!
And maybe some I’m behind on here.....

Was thinking of hitting 4/12/83 as a 39 warm up?
A show that’s near and dear to my heart that flys under the radar....

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4/12/83 sounds good to me.

No clue when I will receive my #39.

Looking forward to the Seaside chat.

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Looks like mines scheduled for Tuesday, we shall see?
Interestingly received notice, but took a few days for tracking to kick in...

Hopefully DV yours will just magically show up this WE!

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Another 50 coming up. That was my first outdoor Grateful Dead concert. I used to think it was Hard to Handle when the audience rushed the stage. Looking at the set list it had to have been Mr Charlie as I know it was the third song when Pigpen stepped out in front and electricity (allegorical) burst forth to the crowd. I also remember being down in front of the stage when they played Dark Star / Bird Song.
Highly recommended for a listen tomorrow.

I was literally just looking at my Deadbase and thinking it was time for ole Doc to illuminate us again, and now that we know you were there it makes it’s that much more fun!

Oh Great Doctor, where out thou?
Oh, I was looking back at my spring 83 notes after the announcement, and totally agree with what the wise one recently stated: Providence was top shelf fo sho!

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Still working my way through 4/12/83 and it is sounding good so far. Will need to to finish up tomorrow and then on to Yale Bowl, 7/31/71. If memory serves a chunk of this is on RT1. 3...

If Doc is the King of 71, Oroborous is the sage of 83. Looking forward to your take and everyone else's on #39.
Did I hear correctly from Dave that Norman used Plangent for this release?

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I do remember I might have been the only person dancing for the first song 50 years ago. Up for Truckin’. Sugaree was a first. Then Pigpen brought the house down.
My old friends Mr Jimmy, Theresa and Dan were also there. Same three friends also at Veneta a year later. Speaking of Veneta, Ken Babbs’ memoirs to be published later this year. Ken Babbs was central to the Veneta performance, not GJ or the so called “pole guy”. Had historians taken time to learn about the gentleman on top of the douglas fir they may have discovered how he was central to many of the mind manifesting discoveries of the old original hippie days of western Oregon. As were more than a few assorted players, movers and shakers, from several different camps, school's or philosophies.
V-Guy, here here on Santa Fe 1983. Maybe my favorite two Dead shows I attended through the 80s. Part of the reason being I lived north of Taos and it was all down-hill from there.
Down hill with Jean-Claude Killy, Goin’ South with Jack Nicholson .

That is cool Strider. I will have to check that Ken Babbs book out. Gunther your kid is waiting for you at the Kiddie corral.

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I listened to the complete July 31, 1971 yesterday late afternoon and into the the night. Aside from my copy of Road Trips that is only part of that Dead show I had never heard the complete concert since being there 50 years ago. There was a fresh new sound that brought a flood of memories during last nights listen. First a couple quick corrections. I mentioned Pigpen stepping out in front during the third song. Obviously he was playing the Hammond B3 organ while singing Mr Charlie. Another correction is from reading the notes of Blair Jackson in Dead Base 50. Blair states that the audience rushed the stage during the first song Truckin’ but it was indeed the third song, Mr Charlie when people poured on to the grass in front of the band. My friend Danno who I have stayed in touch with for over 50 years also correlates that sequence of events. Practically nobody danced during the first two songs. It was as if it was a high school dance where hardly anyone was wanting to be the first up and dancing.
On a side note the best writers involved in the history of the Grateful Dead in my biased opinion are Blair Jackson, David Gans and Dennis McNally. I have to include Rosie McGee in that mix as combined writer and photographer who was there from the beginning (or damn close) of course add in the books by Jerilyn Lee Brandelius (GD family album) , Phil Lesh (Searching for the Sound) , any of the books written by Mickey Hart ( Song Catchers my favorite) Bill Kreutzmann’s book with ghost writer Benjy Eisen. Must include John Barlow autobiography. So much for book reviews
What struck me about 7/31/71 was the high energy that comes through. Jerry is candid as in effervescent, both singing, playing and commentary with the audience.
Another aspect I remember was the moon was out, and I looked this up on the internet, it was waxing gibbous at 60% illumination.
Another important note, my old school classmate and friend Missy Infante attended her first Dead show that night. I mention her to honor her memory as she passed on in recent years.
So those are some of the flashes I can remember from Yale Bowl, July 31, 1971.
This was at a time when I was earning money cutting oak for firewood. It was how I paid for my first trip to the Bay Area a few days later to visit my sister who was living in Sausalito. That trip included my first two west coast Dead shows that were at the Berkeley Community Theater mid August and then hitchhiking to Oregon to visit my brother and his wife who were spending the summer living in a tipi 35 miles southeast of Eugene. But that’s a whole other story.
Yale Bowl Grateful Dead was an amazing night.
Jerry Garcia would have been 79 today. Also, today Ramblin’ Jack Elliot turns 90.
“ Rollin with my baby down by the San Francisco Bay”.

To Mr JG. Hope yer digging the jam...

STRIDER: thanks for the tales, always a pleasure!
Your Yale description let’s us be there, instead of in our mind.

Interesting show. CM SB Audio started out less than stellar but was pretty good bye and bye...
Really dug the Dark Star, perhaps the spaciest of the year so far?
Perhaps this show is a slight step back from some of the earlier beasts, but it’s another solid, very enjoyable 71!

4/12/83: glad you liked it DV. This one goes under the radar, which is a shame, as I think it hangs with most any other on the tour. Among other highlights, forgot about that sweet Rat!
Of course I’m big time biased on this one;
- My 10th show
- front row between Phil and Bob (closer to Phil)
- first show tripping (purple dot I believe, had beautiful death experience)
- first time seeing new, awesome varilights etc
- first time hearing, awesome new Meyers PA
- first time seeing/hearing Phil’s new awesome Modulus 6 string bass (perhaps new Bob guitar?)
- first Help/Slip/Franks, which besides slight early vocal hiccup was awesome
- first (I think?) NFA fadeaway/chant to end, then Mickey came back out and they quietly pick back up and fade back into for encore NFA, followed by sweet Baby Blue!
One of those shows that even after the lights came up nobody moved right away, many still doing the chant! The kind of night where it appeared like A LOT of people were tripping, total 10k mind meld, gives me shivers to recall....

BABS memoir, bet that’ll be interesting!
Loved Last Go around, and that bus one, but don’t have Water Buffalo?
Guess we’ll have to talk to Santa about some books...

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Who Shot the Water Buffalo is a great book by Ken Babbs. The title has a funny twist , double meaning. Any of us old time wild land firefighters knows what it refers to. Once they get to that point in the book.
Pick of the day. I have been staying on the 50th anniversaries of 1971 Dead shows since January. Otherwise taking a break from Grateful Dead music. Kind of like smoking ganga all the time. The effect may become lack luster. As was said in the old days, “space your trips”. Although yesterday I did watch the black & white video of Robert Hunter sitting in with the Garcia Band 1980 at the New Jersey Capitol Theater. Tiger Rose “where the children play ringolevio”.
Speaking of books, “Ringolevio” by Emmett Grogan was one of Jerry Garcia’s favorite books.
On the subject of the mountain west states. Ironic that the people who lost the most , true Natives and in the case of Montana where I lived from 1975-1981 the Blackfeet treated me the best. Very similar here in New Mexico where I’ve lived most of my life. But respect has to be earned and that doesn’t happen overnight.
As an old professor Joseph E. Brown who taught Native American Studies at the University of Montana used to finish his class by saying, “Be of good heart”.

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For the reference, I’ll definitely have to check that one out. Love Babs, what a character!
I’ll bet his memoir will be very interesting after all he’s lived.

And thanks for the rest of your sage words of wisdom.
You should write a book!

Been really digging 71. Was sorta a flyby year for me until nice folks like you and Doc helped show us the light.
His job was to shed light, not to master...

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Maybe 5/14/78?
Got my server back, up and running and need to HEAR, some good sheet mon.

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The 30 Trips show, yes, this one smokes. On it!
Thanks Oroborous.

I was going to offer up another Spectrum show, Dave's Picks #32, 3/24/73. Maybe tomorrow.

My #39 still has not shipped, 😩.

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Good Housekeeping tunes!
Kept the mother rolling with first disc of 2/14/68 etc. shizzle fo sho!

Next chance I get we will get down to tge funky sounds of 3/24/73!

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Hey Now. I guess this thread /is/ called "Pick of the Day", not simply "Now Playing with Discussion", but I'm just gonna bore you with stuff I've been listening to lately.... and then you probably won't see me again for a month, so, hey, decent trade-off, I'd say.

First off, right now I've got 3/24/93 Chapel HIll rollin'. (I'll explain later) It's weird how in the second set the band totally sees-off Jerry's attempt to start Crazy Fingers out of the Playin' Jam. Phil basically sounds like he's just thrown his hands up, and completely stops playing. In fact, basically every just stops, er... dead. Only Vince seems game to find something to do. When Jer finally gives up, they launch into Box of Rain. After they finish BoR Jerry immediately starts Crazy Fingers again and they actually do it, and do they ever.

Whadda ya figure's goin' on there? Did Jer "forget" the pre-written set list? was it like a super-tease, or did Jerry just get vetoed on his audible? The Playin' jam was sounding cool and a spaced out transition into Crazy Fingers would've been killer. However, Box of Rain into drums would have been, let's just say, unusual. It seems Billy's got some bidness to take care of, 'cause it pretty much immediately turns into a Mickey Beam solo.... as did the 3/25 drums, but Space takes off into a Spanish Jam that seems to go on and on, thankfully. When they launched into GDTRFB I was thinking, wait, what song were they just playing, did I space out?... well, I guess in a way I got spaced out. ... Now that I think of it, there may have been a "We Want Phil" chant starting in the Phil Zone, but it's not audible in the SBD, and I can't remember if that was actually before Box of Rain, or not.

The Crazy Fingers is actually really cool, btw. SPOILER ALERT there's this momentary, and initially slightly awkward, little Playin' reprise before someone gets on the intercom (you can hear the ambient noise disappear for a second... yes I'm listening to a board for once) and seems to call it off. All of these questions seem to typify the sort-of cool, detached, risk-averse nature of this period. Haven't found an AUD source from the Dean Dome that has much life to it. Might be some new ones. It's a basketball arena designed to amplify cheering voices, not music, I'd imagine.

Anyway, just wanted to take a peak at Jer the last time I saw him, in Vegas back in '94, and the same YouTube uploader also had the second night from Chapel Hill, which is notable for its nice Terrapin, and perhaps more so for the stellar Morning Dew. Jerry keeps trading sly grins with someone, and getting an outright laugh out of watching Bobby do his thing. I actually read the comments on YouTube videos 'cause, wow. there are some opinions out there. One dude mentioned this Crazy Fingers from the 24th and how the first night had "always" overshadowed the second. In my mind it had been the other way 'round, which sent me to the Archive this monsoon-drenched morning. Yeah, nobody goes back to listen to 90s Dead, I know. Even the band seems bored sometimes, but there are diamonds in the rough. More often, however, there are outright wth? mysteries like the one above.

The other one... on heavy rotation has been the 50th Anniversary Skull & Roses 180g vinyl. Missed the propeller variant waiting for the credit card roll-over date. Anyway, wow, the bass is boomin'. I mean, it's not overpowering booming, but there is a LOT of Phil. I A/B'ed it with the single disc CD, and even though there's a lot of Phil on that too, he's allotted a lot more low frequencies on this version... which is odd, because people will tell you that you can't put too much bass on vinyl or it'll cause the needle to skip. No fade in, but Bertha also starts a few seconds earlier than on the CD version. There's some little warming up noise before they hit it. Pretty superfluous, but, hey, 2 more seconds! I have not heard the OG Skull and Roses vinyl, but I actually debated on picking one up from Discogs instead of getting the anniversary edition, which ended up being released three weeks late. The price is comparable. Maybe next month.

Speaking of records skipping, I've had the 5/4/72 Olympia Theater vinyl for, what, less than two months and Bertha is already skipping. I think I screwed it up with the generic replacement stylus that I installed back in April. Apparently the Sure stylus/cartridge division has gone belly up. I've kept the old needles lying around, and found one that had been swapped out really early for some reason, so I went back to that. Otherwise, I can't figure out what the problem could be. I play my records, but consider myself more careful than most when handling them. Hard to say. I might have damaged the record, or stylus myself, but it looks like I'm in the market for a new cartridge. The vinyl had no problems at first, but I have records I bought 30 years ago that still play fine, while this one is skipping after 5~10 spins.

The difference between Phil's bass frequencies on the Olympia Theatre record versus Skull and Roses, is beyond description. Phil is fully present in the Olympia Theatre release, but he couldn't deliver a bass bomb if he tried with the frequency range he's assigned here. Wanna compare with the Europe 72 album, but actually don't have a copy of Europe '72 in any format. Just ordered a green label '72 pressing. It was a mint for one in decent condition, but so will any 50th anniversary that might come out next year be. These are supposed to sound amazing. They've already done a bunch of Europe 72 reissues recently, so it might get the Live/Dead treatment.

Two non-audio notes about the Olympia Theatre box are regarding the photos used for the inner sleeves. At first they seemed really dark, and not particularly interesting. The photo of out-of-her-mind-on-Owsley Donna was of interest for how calmly she appeared to be peering out into the spotlight, but a closer look reveals a rather wild set to her jaw, or perhaps I'm just projecting. The other photo that finally grabbed my attention was the Side 1 photo of the band, completely washed out in red lighting taken from stage left, almost behind them. Bobby is standing out front in the spotlight singing and Jerry and Phil appear to be standing behind(!) Billy with Pig at the organ stage right harmonizing with Bobby. So, Jer and Phill would totally just retreat into the shadows when they didn't have any singing parts in those days? Fascinating. Might depend on the stage. You don't see that in the Veneta footage, but there really weren't any shadows that day, were there.

Anyway, my answer to a question nobody asked.

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In reply to by Oroborous

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At the risk of double-posting...

Strider 808808>

Wow. A Joseph Epes Brown reference! Thank you! Black Elk Crying For A Vision from a mid-70s omnibus made a huge impact on me in my late teens, but I've only recently got round to picking up The Sacred Pipe in its entirety. You actually studied with him!? m(_ _)m

The Ken Babs book sounds interesting. I know what a Water Buffalo is, but not the expression about shooting one.

So many Dead-related books. I've got a ton wishlisted, but there's only so much time in the day. I've been interested in the Owsley book for a while, but have yet to pull the trigger.

I wanted to hit that 7/31 show last weekend but just couldn't get it going for one reason or another. Couldn't remember if I already had a copy, or if I only knew it from legend.

DeadVikes>

3/24/73. That's always a good idea! :D

Oroborous>
Oooh, 2/14 at the Carousel. That's cookin', ...or cleanin' I guess in your case. ;)

Not sure I'm familiar with 5/14/78. Had 9/2 on repeat play last week, or so. We often talk about years regarding the Dead sound, but a few months can make a big difference with these cats. :) Thanks for the tip... as if I need any encouragement..... up to Brown Eyed Women now, listening to the matrix and downloading the mono AKG source. Lovin' it! Never had any problems with '78, myself, other than the stunning disappointment of the GIza shows :0 IDK, I usually associate 78 with the great groove they've got goin' on here in the 5/14 show. Wow. BEW is hot, and that was just the first guitar solo. Damn. Cheers, folks. Whatever I was supposed to be doing this morning has just gone out the window. lol. :D

There's no rules here, feel free to ramble on and off topic, on and off the pick of the day. Great posts.. sorry about the record skip.

I am better suited to hang here than some of the other threads, no era or keyboardist is out of bounds and a very positive vibe. It all flows like a very well tuned show... Just my two cents.

Good to hear from you. You are right, a couple of months did make a difference with the sound and performance from year to year. Shoot, I was always thought from one night to the next, you could hear a big difference sometimes.

JimInMD>

Hey, man. Thanks for indulging me. I won't say I don't have preferences for material, and so forth, and occasionally find myself in hyper-critical moods, but that's what discussion is for, I reckon. Ten people all sayin' "killer" isn't very enlightening, but it certainly makes for quicker browsing! ^^; There's good stuff happenin' right through their career, and it's fantastic to be able to watch (listen to) the evolutionary process, even when it sometimes feels like the spark is not what it once was. The goddess still shines upon them.

Just did one full run through the 5/14/78 Providence show. Day-yum. I had ta start takin' notes.

This Let It Grow is cookin' and what the hell is this crazy hyper jam? Whoa-- That Jerry tremolo picking is out of control, no, totally IN control. Perfect. I think I'm starting to understand something I read about the band's veer toward gluttonous virtuosity in '78. This is some killer playing (see, I said it). The dancers must already be picking their asses up from the floor. They're gonna need oxygen by the time this tune is over. I've tried to find merit in the Giza shows, but I think they really can only be described as nothing short of disastrous. I have not heard the compilation that was finally officially released. Keith is goin' nuts here. Really on it. It's impossible to think that just a year from now the lineup will be totally revamped. Holy Shxt! That's not even the ending jam! This is off the hook.

Sampson & Delilah continues the absolutely rockin' high energy trip.

Ship of Fools is a nice surprise. Jerry's diction seems kind of odd. He still has that silvery tone, but maybe the old pipes are already startin' to show some wear and tear. When was the laryngitis show? That was '78 wasn't it?

Estimated is nice. Really searching, possibly a touch on the aimless side, but I'm not really gonna complain about Jerry jammin' a minute or two longer. Might relisten to this.

Eyes is off to the races, but Phil is just shredding the arpeggios. I think that's Phil playing in the upper register just goin' over and over... hard to tell, but that's usually where Phil's bass solo goes.

Dude, the NFA jam is 15 minutes long and that doesn't even include a St. Stephen, or GDTRFB (yet).

Ahh, Bobby takin' a little time out for a little on-the-job slide training. lol. :)

Man, they brought the HEAT to Providence. I can see how this'd be good music to do housework to. Done. Lickety split.

Ok. I really did have other stuff to do today. So you're rid of me for a while.

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Rockthing, Since that LP is almost new a skip could be a tiny chunk of pressing material. If you can't see a visible scratch going generally sideways debris is possible. Get a bright light and a hand lens to look down in the groove. I've had luck with a toothbrush for removing a chunk as well. Soft things obviously. I still use a discwasher brand record brush every play and sometimes without the liquid for a quicky dusting if it was cleaned recently. Also use that hand lens to examine the tip of the stylus. If it still looks pointy and not missing a chunk or too rounded it may not be the stylus. In my dormitory days where my roommate or friends may have been doing the DJ-ing I discovered my Shure M-44E (basic mid level cart.) had a slightly bent cantilever but still played fine. Vinyl is the best. Good luck and cheers.

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All this talk about Montana. I better check it. Rock-thing, I’m impressed you know about Joseph Epes Brown. I lived in the Bitterroot Valley for a time in the 70s and was friends with Joseph and his family. I also used to sit in on his class. Informal student. He would have me share stories of New Mexico in his class, Southwest Indian Religions. I’m still on the trail.
Grateful Dead forever!

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In reply to by Strider 808808

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How does 4/4/88 Hartford sound? Edit. Jerry was sick during this show. Recording sounds fantastic, Jerry is hurting.

There is a fresh Miller transfer from June of this year. Recorded by Healy and Pearson.

I will start the campaign now for more 88, oh and while we are at it, more 79-81.

Peace folks.

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In reply to by DeadVikes

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Full Disclosure, I just finished 5/14/78 today.. great show, but I get the feeling one day soon, I will have to be more descriptive with my show reviews.. RockThing is probably right, albeit I am an in moment kind of fungi.

Additionally, I want to do 5/14 74 to.. as I think I might be going to Montana Soon... so I think that was the suggested pick today, but for us slackers that were behind.. can we do this the day after tomorrow by chance?

I think this is a big tent group, all picks get covered eventually.. castles made of sand, slip into the sea, eventually....

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My second and last time seeing Frank Zappa was in 1974 at the Berkeley Community Theater . They performed Montana. Kin Vassey on vocals was over the top outrageous. Who writes this stuff?

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In reply to by Strider 808808

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Unexpected day off....um-hmmm.
Nuf said!

Me and Hanna r going to Montana...

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In reply to by Oroborous

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I fit this show in with my morning work. Not the most focused listen, but enjoyable nonetheless. It's a decent show, especially post drums. Jerry does sound haggard in this one.. which is too bad. You almost have to ignore his singing to get the show.. even in Stella Blue he seems to be projecting his inner Kermit the Frog. Poor Jer but his guitar work is mostly spot on and Brent/Bobby deliver at the end. I'm a sucker for Dear Mr. Fantasy.

It looks like Dave's Picks 39 will get bicycle delivered to the top of mount crumpet today.. looking forward to that and will definitely give it a spin. I don't know who impresses me more, Santa - with his yearly feat of delivering presents to every kid on earth or MaryE for hand delivering all these Dave's Picks by bicycle four times a year.

Somehow I will start feathering in Missoula too. I honestly have not listened to this show in a very long time. It's a classic. Lots going on in GD Land, including an impromptu party at Chez Oroborous.

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In reply to by JimInMD

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Devoured, man I love that DS. Hangs with 12/6/73 in my book. Really dig the soft cloud landing into China Doll after that juicy sky walking dissonance! Big Sky indeed!

Perhaps a nice project for Kiethfan as I know he’s spent mucho time on them: list biggest, weirdness Dark Stars...say 72, 73, 74...
68/69 are sorta in different class, and not much/many that fit the criteria elsewhere?
Say top 10 long, weird, awesome DS’s...

Ok, onto 4/4/88.
Cool start!

PO has my 39, so hoping they’ll get around to releasing so I can hit that and catch up on the 71 stuff I missed the last few days.

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Yes, let me apologize for this pick. Jerry sounds terrible, must have been really sick. Like the Kermit the Frog reference Jim.

Just goes to show you don't offer up a pick until you hear Jerry.

I still don't have my #39 either OB. Don't even have a date yet.

Enjoy it Jim. Let us know.

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In reply to by DeadVikes

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Personally, that doesn’t bother me much, especially doing cores etc.
And hey, he’s ripping much of the time on the ole git-tar!
Spirited show too. Good Cassidy.

Sorry about your 39 : (
Somehow, mine just showed up, and since they’ve streamlined the packaging it fits in the box so we don’t have to mess with waiting in line etc.
AND...looking like I might get tomorrow off (probably just jinxed myself)
If so, all hells breaking lose LOL.

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...with 'interesting' Jerry vocals is 4-7-85 Philly. Personally, I do like the show and listened to it a heck of a lot back in the cassette days. I'm not necessarily offering it up as suggestion. But, check it out sometime at least. Maybe I'll tune in now. BTW, I have an old friend from back in the day that flew cross country to attend 4-4-88 because he won tickets on a radio call in. Flew from WI to Hartford to check out the show. I think this might be the show Jerry purportedly threw the mic due to frustrations with his vocals. Or at least it was from the same run. Forgive me if someone already brought this up. Take 'er easy Deadheads! :-)

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In reply to by wilfredtjones

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Checking it out now.. I'm a fan of 85.

Agree with Oro on pick of the day, a bonus of this thread is it draws me to shows I haven't hit before. I get as much out of the road less travelled than the superstars we all know and love.

We had a week of stunning weather here the Mid Atlantic this week.. highs in the mid 70's and sun. Not too hot, not too cold.. tie dye t-shirt weather. It looks like the temps and humidity are ticking up and the dog days of summer are upon us. After rehabbing my hurt wing I plan on spending a good bit of the rest of this month in the water listening to Gold Ole Grateful Dead. Have a great weekend all.. be safe play dead.

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In reply to by JimInMD

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....day late and a dollar short, but I'll check it out.

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In reply to by Vguy72

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Best Easter Sunday ever, and one of my favorite shows attended.
Yes JG has the tour “cold” going on, but if that doesn’t bother you this show smokes!
First time to the Rectum, which would become the venue I saw the most Dead shows at (13, and another JGB in 89).
Still GA in 85 and not overly crowded. Wasn’t up front but pretty close when Phil stepped up to the mic (I think before the lights were down?) and started yelling “hi a, hi a, hi a kids, can ya hear me” and just like that our tripping arses were shot out of a canon!

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Just finished the first set 6-pack. REALLY creaky Jer-Bear vocals, but as I have found with a lot of 85, the music is fierce - almost like Jerry is making up for the fact that he can barely eek out the lyrics with his guitar. The copy I found on the Archive sounds good too - you can really feel the energy coming from the band. The 85 energy reminds me of the raucous 78 sound, like the band is constantly teetering on the brink of destruction, holding on by a nail. It is exciting, but I don't know if it is my favorite. However, the "Bird Song" and the "Dancin' in the Streets" are both really solid, with the "Bird Song" achieving lift-off and taking it pretty far out there. Good stuff.

I see a "She Belongs to Me" coming up in the 2nd set - a song that I really wish they would have kept around a lot longer, and I am looking forward to that. Sometimes Jerry's old shot voice actually adds something to the songs, and from other versions I have heard (the one from Dick's Picks 21 - November 85, Richmond) this is one of those songs that can actually benefit from the creaking and the croaking.

Anyway, fun show! Thanks for the rec!

Is anyone else checking out the Cal Expo 89 shows this week? (8/4,5, and 6)? There are some real gems to be had there!

Peace

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In reply to by Thats_Otis

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"Did you ever just know you're not going to remember the chords?"

There's an edge to 85. Jerry's tone is the same but he is attacking the front edge of his timing on notes and chords.. aggressive and edgy. His vocals, even on the good nights, had this harsh richness to it.. too much chasing the dragon me thinks.. but they brought out all these great tunes (some starting a year earlier).. the old arrangement of Dancin' in the Streets, Midnight Hour, Do it in the Road, Smokestack, I could go on. Anyway, I really liked this show, but Jerry sounds like Kermit the Frog, probably not going to be the next Dave's Picks. Man he could play, I like the energy from this period.

Edit: Love the She Belongs to Me.. but I don't think it's near the best of the year. Same with MDew.

Jim, Wow! That is quite the experience. Definitely not one to share with the kids.

Otis, do you have a pick in there? I have actually never listened to any of those Cal Expo shows.

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In reply to by DeadVikes

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I edited it out. TMI I guess.. I thought it was funny though..

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In reply to by JimInMD

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Okay Otis, I will check out 8/6/89.

Hope you all can check it out.

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Hi everyone hope you are having a good summer!!! Question, a friend asked what you think the best Althea is??? I know asking for the best is a reach... I love the song, gave him a few choices and you tube videos like ESsen 81 and Alpine Valley 89.... looking for a few other audios to give. Thanks all... been stuck between the May 73 shows and Jersey City Jerry Bday... thanks.... Bob t

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In reply to by bob t

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BOBT: always dug 3/15/90, perhaps not the GOAT, but a beauty and sound is fantastic on that release.
One on Go To Nassau I believe is no slouch either?

4/7/85: in my memories this show will always shine.
Now...maybe not all I used to think? Still a good show.
Fierce playing, fun show, etc, but you guys covered it pretty well.

Missed Cal Expo, though I’ve YouTubed at least one of em?
Gave 39 the “first” listen treatment: Mucho Bueno!

Been trying to catch up on the Doc train, so caught 8/4&5/71. Dug 4, 5 was ok.
Heading to the 6th and 7th today.

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In reply to by Oroborous

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I passed those along.... I always forget about go to Nassau CD's... listening right now... Bob t