You can listen to Grateful Dead records over and over again and never understand the attraction they have for certain people until you attend one of their concerts. Sometime during the Dead's usual five-hour set, it will all click: Jerry Garcia's Indian bead string of notes on the guitar, the ozone ooze of the vocal harmonies, the shifting, shuffling rhythm of bassist Phil Lesh and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, and the distant echo of the oldest of American folk music. - Columbia Flier
"Certain people" will know that we're coming in hot with one that's got all these things and more, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 41: BALTIMORE CIVIC CENTER, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, 5/26/77. Yes, there's still plenty of spectacular May '77 to go around. Nearly chosen for Dave's Picks Vol. 1, 5/26/77 delivers three-fold. There's one count for the energy - all the precision of the Spring tour conjuring up the raw power of the Fall tour that was to come. There's another for the setlist which featured beloved songs from WORKINGMAN'S DEAD and soon-to-be favorites from the freshly recorded TERRAPIN STATION. And a third for its element of surprise (or shall we say surprises) from an astonishingly peak 15-minute "Sugaree" to new delights ("Sunrise," "Passenger," "Jack-A-Roe') to a rare first-set finale of "Bertha" to the second set's "Terrapin>Estimated>Eyes," traveling leaps and bounds towards the improvisational journey that is a nearly 17-minute "Not Fade Away."
Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 41: BALTIMORE CIVIC CENTER, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, 5/26/77 was recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.
Green Bay game and The Grateful Dead tonight
going into the commercial a 70's? One More Saturday night....very nice
blues and blues rock
The first time I saw a real blues singer/band /guitarist, as opposed to a rock band that played blues songs was B.B. King around 1980. It was, not put to fine a point on it, a revelation. I'd only heard a couple of his 1970's albums by then-"Midnight Believer" was one-and although it was alright - it was only alright. But live it was a different world.
I saw a few after that - Albert King, Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy come to mind. The most recenet I can remember seeing was The North Mississippi Allstars, about 3-4 years ago. Well worth checking - quite trance inducing.
Also Catfish Keith. He is an American who came over to England quite regularly in pre-pandemic times, bringing with him his trusty National Resonator. Mainly blues/gospel in the Blind Willie Johnson style. The singing might be a bit ropey - but he's got the guitar style down pat. Nice guy ,too.
Must have been something to see Big Mama Thornton live.
crow told me and innovation
My buddy summed it up years ago for me, 2 types of musicians.
Refiners and definers.
I was walkin' through the woods......
So, like many, I got my first Beatles album in about 1964 and my first Stones album a year later. On the latter, I could see on the credits that "(Jagger/Richards)" meant that Mick and Keith had written the song.
But what the hell was "(Chester Burnett)" or "(McKinley Morganfield)"??? These "names" seemed so foreign, I didn't understand that these were people's names. (How stately, how dignified: "McKinley Morganfield"!)
But I decided, based on the blues sound, that I had to find out. So in my teeny bopper years (say, 10-13) I sought out the truth: the basic blues I loved was written by Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. Major discovery. Even while I turned on the Hendrix and (yes, sadly) Grand Funk Railroad, (better) Ten Years After, and Janis, I began my journey to the blues. At first, the R&B and soul on the radio: James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin. Then BB King, Albert King, Freddy King, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, finally Robert Johnson and Lonnie Johnson.
I feel privileged that I got to see BB several times (his call-and-response with the audience, powerful horns!), Freddy several times and Albert just once (but in Chicago from the lip of the stage).
Without 400 years of oppression, torture and murder, no blues. No blues, then no jazz, no rock 'n roll. In short, no blues, no nothing. Nothing to move the soul or the feet. And it's global, in the context of world music. Would that we could have gotten there without those 400 years and their crimes against humanity. But that stretch will reverberate on this Earth until humans die out. Which may not be all that long, the way we're going. OMG! Best put some world-weary Lonnie Johnson on and sing along.
Stellablue
I like the new artwork. I think it is a lot different. Stella, if you want to surround yourself in Hendrix, and the slew of 60s icons, along with the dead playing viola lee, I would highly recommend the complete Monterey pop fest 67' on criterion dvd box. It is chock full of beautiful music and hot chicks too. It also contains the full dvd 'jimi plays Monterey' with 49 minutes of hendrix. If you are younger than the rest of us on this site (sorry guys) you may not have seen it. This will put to rest the whole 'trey' fiasco to bed. I love fish, but only the haddock, and tuna variety.
Go to Nassau 1980 tapes?
Any Dave's picks is good news to me so another 77 is welcomed and the sound samples sound great to my ears; but, I do understand the clamoring for more 80s/90s or even 60s. With the quality issue of the 1980s tapes in mind I do wonder What's become of the three night 1980 Nassau run? I think all three were recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour Radio. Did The GD, likewise, record them -- or other shows from that time period.
Perhaps an expanded Go to Nassau with all three nights could be released? They were strong shows as the excerpts on the official Go to Nassau demonstrate. That could scratch 'The more inclusive years' itch. I would buy it despite already having Go to Nassau which I love. If there are other shows of similar sound quality from that period. . .. Spring 1980 Selections Boxset!!! A compromise could be a matrices of boards and tapers copies? Go with what you got to include more years.
And Dave if you are reading a Fall September 79 New York City @ Madison Square Garden would be a great official release! These were Brent's first N.Y.C. shows and solid were those shows. It's a sell-out mini box waiting to happen.
I dream of Radio City/Warfield tapes being rediscovered in that Raiders of the Lost Ark Warehouse for complete box sets. Let's manifest these dreams.
Melkweg 1981anyone w/Grugahalle??
Who he?
I was confused by the names of blues authors too. Who was this "McDaniel"? If they meant Bo Diddley, why couldn't they say Bo Diddley. He did. Often. Also curious that Robert Johnson's " Love in Vain" was credited to "Payne" on my old "Let It Bleed" album. It has been credited to Johnson on the most recent ( and definitley last) version of the album I got-the 50th Anniversary cd.
Blues Interpreters
Not my favorite interpreter but a Muddy & Wolf Joe Bonamassa at Red Rocks show is on PBS next Saturday. Probably an old one recycled for begging. I find him difficult to watch but there's no denying the skill of the once child prodigy. Virtually all the true blues legends have said speed doesn't equal soul, starting with the "British invasion" blues interpreters. But influencers they are and thankfully many of us did trace back the true roots eventually. Give me a Stevie Ray any day.
Cheers
Remembering Baltimore '77
Burnin' the Seats of the Biscayne
or
Leavin' Town a Quart Fuller
by Rich McManus
The trip to Baltimore from the District of Columbia is virtually a straight run up the neck of a guitar--almost as invariant as a string. You get on I-95, point the car north and let about 30 minutes go by.
My brother Tom was the wheelman for the ride up to catch the Dead at Baltimore Civic Center. He was then in his first year of law school and, with proceeds earned from pumping gas, had bought a 1962 Chevy Biscayne, which is basically a living room on tires.
The bench seats, front and back, were full of guys. There was a cassette player, but it was one of those $89 models plugged into the cigarette lighter, with speaker wires trailing into the rear of the car where they attached to tinny speakers free to wander the car's rear deck as the vehicle pitched and rolled up the highway. At several points, the speaker wire was spliced by hand; once in awhile someone had to reconnect errant strands.
The tape for the ride up had to be one I had just scored in Chapel Hill, where a kid named Ivan Spector had allowed me to dub cassettes from his reels. He had permitted me to copy an April 1977 WNEW radio performance including a song I had called "Inspiration," and another I labeled "California."
So we had recent Dead to enjoy as we rolled up 95 on May 26, 1977. Somewhere along the way, a pipe was filled and passed across the expanses of the Biscayne interior. Hand to hand, to mouth, and front to back, crossways, frontways and oops, it fell into the crease in the back seat.
"A prophet on the burning shore..." Ten minutes after the pipe had made its rounds, reports of the scent of smoke reached the driver. Some in the back seat complained of warm bottoms. But there was no smoke or visible flame, just a persistent odor of burning leaves.
Tom pulled the Biscayne into a gravel lot near the Civic Center and we all hopped out, more curious now about the source of the smell than about the impending concert. We pulled the rear bench out, flipped it upside down and discovered an ever-expanding black circle in the straw matting that formed the interior of the seat: the thing was on fire, albeit a slow burn. The only thing with which to douse the sleepy blaze was cold beer. It seemed a shame to spend beer on the little fire, but that's what we did, then reloaded the bench in the car.
On the walk up the ramps inside the Civic Center, I wondered if such a secret fire would outwit our attempts to extinguish it. Would there be just ashes when the show was through?
We were in the balcony, on the left side as you faced the stage. Jerry was on the far side. All I really remember from that night is Bobby chastising the crowd for arriving late to the show, and Jerry grinning broadly as he rocked back and forth playing, the music rising out of him and his bandmates. They seemed like happy spectators at a circus they had called forth.
The pipe came with us on the trip inside. There was a girl sitting by herself in the row in front of us. The custom in those days was to pass what you had around. I leaned over to interrupt her concentration on the show, but she declined. She couldn't take her eyes off the stage.
Walking out after the show, I was convinced I'd just seen the best Dead show of my life. Which is exactly what I thought after leaving perhaps a dozen previous shows. "How can they play any better than that?" we wondered, worn out, giddy.
"Roll on up, gonna roll back down." One of the guys in our group, Dan, was from Baltimore. He knew of a corner bar nearby where the bartender would fill any container you had with beer, call a price, and you could walk out the door.
From somewhere within the acreage that is the trunk of the Biscayne, Tom produced an empty glass Tropicana jar. He disappeared into the corner bar, which on that May night was wide open, not even a screen on it, and emerged moments later with a frothing jug that the barman guessed was worth around $2.50.
"Took a whole pail of water..." The seats were mercifully cool as we whisked down 95, passing the glass from mouth to mouth. The dirty little six-banger under the hood was purring that night, past exits and overpasses and open spaces that are no longer there. It would be almost 20 years before we learned that people taped the show that evening, and would share that show (thanks Rick Wurster and Tom Melvin!) with whomever showed an interest.
Back then, it was as likely as your pants suddenly bursting into flames that the world's greatest rock and roll band would roll all over the world for 30 years, amaze everyone, and preserve performances--for that broad bench seat that is the future--that burn, unextinguishable, like a secret fire.
Good story Rich
Detroit Land Yachts.
I’m not familiar with the Biscayne but in the mid-80’s my friend had a 67 or 68 Oldsmobile Luxury Sedan that could easily fit 8 teenagers comfortably.
The Great Trek To The Greek
1984
Drove from LA to Bay Area on 7 13 84
Mike's 69 Ford LTD
big ol' thang
AC didnt work
But it got us there and back
gr8 story Rich
had an olds delta 98 that was as big as that biscayne, that back seat was literally a couch on wheels.
Third Listen - Dave's 40
Ok I gave this Dave's release a third listen over the last few days. I really like it. I think Spring 90 was more together and energized, but Summer 90 is pretty damn good. I'm finding I like the second day, 7/19 a little better. It has a Foolish Heart, one of my favs, and some really great guitar work by Jerry throughout. The jam after Playin is really cool, as is the jam out of Uncle John's. I found myself playing those jams a few extra times, they were so good. Jerry sings with passion on all the ballads, even if his voice isn't as sweet as it used to be. The crowd singing the NFA chant at the end gave me shivers, and reminded me how much I loved to see the band with a crowd of deadheads. With such excellent playing, I even look forward to hearing the US Blues encore when we get it in a couple weeks. No shipping notice for me yet.
That was Rich
Wow, great story, Rich! Really nicely written. I could almost smell the back seat burning.
Pretty sure I was at 7.13.84 along with Proudfoot. We used to call those early summer shows at the Greek the High Holy Days. I still wonder why there has never been a Greek box. Tape quality issues, maybe? I sure remember those shows fondly.
I think maybe that particular show was the one where we decided to get a room at this motel on University Ave maybe a mile from the Greek. Which was convenient cos we were none of us in especially good shape for driving after the show. We had like six of us staying in a one bed motel room. We couldn't really sleep, for various reasons, but fortunately a party started up in the parking lot. The whole hotel was filled with Heads, evidently, because some guy started playing tapes out of his van, that night, but instead of complaining everybody just started hanging out in the parking lot, passing around beers and whatnot. I still remember this one couple, they might've been the owners/managers, they were older, the guy was wearing turban, and they were watching us all with wide eyed amazement, wondering who the hell were these crazy people and what was that music?
Re: Trivia
I had to google it.. so that's cheating. (hint - 2nd show at one of our beloved theatres). But now I know, the things you can learn here at dead net. Good recording!
Tough loss Buffalo Bills
I feel sorry for any Buffalo Bills fans. Your defensive coordinator should be fired immediatley.
Sports can be a cruel, cruel mistress
Both teams deserved victory
Proudfoot, you lose
Because Jimi said that at multiple shows over the years.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! You lose trying to be too clever by half!
As for Rich's story, "let 30 minutes go by" -- that's too easy. Driving a straight highway while the lysergic is screaming in your veins was no pice of cake, I can tell you from experience. Better to find that local motel with the van and the tapes! And the time to give it, oh, say, about 8-10 hours....
As for the make/model of the vehicular accomplice, ah that brings back memories! My buddy Moose managed to get his hands on a 1959 Ford Fairlane, the vehicle with fins big enough to achieve escape velocity. Which we did, unfortunately, with four people abreast in the front seat and six across in the back. Which came in handy when I, with help, positioned myself horizontally with my head out the window, hurling as we jetted around the curves on Buffalo Pass, heading up the Continental Divide outside Steamboat Springs, Colo. in the glorious summer of 1974 (well, maybe less glorious for my compatriots who had to hold me in place to prevent my ejection from the Fairlane... ah to be young again!
As for the Milkweg shows in Amsterdam, I prefer the ones the GD played in the 20th century. But what do I know about 1881? Fortunately, before my time.
As you were...........
No Tom Brady in the superbowl....
....I slept pretty well last night.
Request official release...
9-19-72 (my first show, the Vault is missing the first reel; please let it be found in the Owsley stash of unmarked tapes)
8-12-79, Red Rocks (Purple Dragon ruled)
8-13-79, McNichols Arena due to monsoons (Purple Dragon ruled, Night Two)
8-14-79, McNichols Arena due to monsoons (left the Dragon at home because ... I had to)
yes to the requests
and no Tom Brady? :)
that mofo is good at what he does, though. unbelievable.
as is Patrick M. wow.
Branford
Saw Branford Marsalis play with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on Saturday night at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was about as far as you can get from jamming with the dead, but it was excellent.
I think he mainly tours with his quartet, but if you get a chance to see him, I recommend it. He's still got it.
Branford
I’ve seen Branford twice, both times with the Dave Matthews Band. Good times for sure.
Still no shipping notification for me…..yawn
BTK — I’m a Buffalo Bills fan. I’m really hurting today. The coaching staff really let us down. No two ways about it……….this one is going to sting for awhile
not to prolong the frustration, but...
how did the coaching staff let things down?
no need to answer if you don't want to
Neil Young sang, "only love can break your heart". He should have included "sports"
I remember a certain Super Bowl when all they had to do was hand the ball to Marshawn...but they passed in close quarters...and those fn Patriots were GIVEN the game
you'll feel better when the Chiefs lose next week
Homage Sports Tees....
....I don't like any of those teams, but thanks for getting my hopes up. Next!
Road Trips bonus discs
Question for those of you whose memory is better than mine. Out of curiosity, I was scanning various sites to see what the Road Trips bonus discs were selling for. A bunch of the descriptions say "sealed", just the bonus disc. As I recall, the Road Trips bonus discs were shrink wrapped with the Road Trip release instead of separately shrink wrapped. Is my memory faulty or are sellers shrink wrapping the bonus discs?
I apologize if I've derailed the Dave's Picks conversation with this question.
Mind the gap.
Branford, Buffalo, etc
Saw him once with Buckshot LeFonque in 94 or 95. At this point I remember being there but don’t remember any specifics about the show.
Buffalo:
I don’t watch a lot of football but hey, at least the Sabres are doing better than the Habs.
And Truckin’ Up To Buffalo is a good DVD.
Hey Lemieux, no not you Mario, Dave, aka Vault Guy, more video please.
Pretty please with back bacon on top.
Road Trips Bonus Discs
Correct - Road Trips Bonus Discs were shrink wrapped
with it's companion - not seperately.
2/17/79
Billy The Kid - 2/17/79 is not in the Vault. There are no complete SBDs with Keith in '79. Too bad, because they started playing some older tunes they hadn't touched post-hiatus until Winter 78-79 (plus there was all the new Shakedown Street stuff). They could have put a nice box set together if they had Betty Boards. Oh well, what can you do. There's a pretty good AUD of 1/10/79, which has a Shakedown, Stagger Lee, Miracle, and (drum roll) Dark Star.
Still wondering if there's enough cowbell in 5/26/77 to wow me. Shipping notice is in - we will see.
Keith fan 2/17/79
Keith fan , I have a soundboard of the full show, I believe I got it back in the 80s. I was at the show, it was a great show.
Day 13
I really appreciate folks who wished me well. Just spent day 13 in bed, and I sure am hoping to get back to work this week.
I listened to Dave’s 10 tonight-Thelma 12/12/69, a thoroughly enjoyable, Pigpen filled show. Will probably play the bonus disc from the 11th tomorrow.
I happened to see Wynton Marsalis at Blues Alley in DC in January of 1984. Quite the memorable occasion. Branford on sax, Jeff(Tain) Watts on drums, dad Ellis Marsalis on piano, and a 15 year old Charnett Moffett on bass. We even got to stay for the second set, and had a set Break chat with the non-Marsalis fellows. This was not recorded, although in December of ‘84, they recorded a double album at Blues Alley, with Kenny Kirkland on piano.
If music could heal, I’d have been back to work 10 days ago, but it’s still the BEST!!
Branford
Have tried to post a couple times last few days, apparently i can't pass the robot test, will try again. Did save the post, on Jimi and The Blues, so may inflict it later on. Also saw Branford during the Buckshot days, they played at Dartmouth's Webster Hall, great show. Folks might remember he had a part in that zany movie, Throw Mama From the Train. Best of all was a most unusual encounter. In another life, I covered golf events as a journalist. Every January at this time (except last year) including right now, there's a massive event called the PGA Merchandise Show held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. For people in the golf biz, not open to the public, over the top industry showplace product release and sales, major networking etc. There's an opening ceremony the first day... turns out Branford is an avid golf nut and was asked to provide brief music eleven years ago. So at 7:45 am on January 27, 2011, Branford and his band started to play in the huge greeting hall, while thousands of golf people swarmed inside the doors, virtually ignoring him. They played for half an hour, then the welcome speeches began. I strolled over when the music stopped and had a nice chat with him, who cared about the speeches.
Re: Mr. Ones
I must have missed the original man down post.. get well my friend.
DMCVT - chill Branford story. How lucky.. hope you both had a good time.
Re: Pretty Please w Bacon on Top
To Cone Kids post, : They way to Dave's heart is through salmon and sasquatch sightings, not bacon. I loved the logs in the latest seaside chat too.. log rolling is a nice accent.
More videos please, I agree. For some reason, and I think it might be financial, they are not pushing videos. I like them, especially the stuff they have, not the multi-camera bootlegs. I am not sure why they did not sell so well. argh.
Keith Fan 2/17/79
Good news, KeithFan -- 2/17/79 was the one full 1979 show in the returned Betty Boards.
A search for "The New Alphabet: ABCD GD" will take you to a 2020 JGMF post with a pretty comprehensive listing of the returned reels.
Dual release. 2/17/79. & 4/22/79
These two shows would be great if they were both released together, Keith & Donnas last show, and Brents first show. These were the first tapes I got when I first started collecting tapes back in 1980 or 81. I got them through my brother he also got 2/9/73 and 5/26/73 at the same time
Last 5
Trouble Over Bridgewater - Half Man Half Biscuit
Cammell Laird Social Club - Half Man Half Biscuit
CSI:Ambleside - Half Man Half Biscuit
Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral - Half Man Half Biscuit
Achtung Bono - Half Man Half Biscuit
Some might notice a pattern!
I’m getting in the mood for their new release in February ‘The Voltarol Years’.
re: More Video Please
....be sure to go onto YouTube and check out Christopher Hazard's channel if you have not done so already. He is in the process of marrying up the best audio (a lot of Charlie Millers' where available) with whatever video may be present - albeit this is not video from the GD's video feed; it is typically fan-shot video that is cleaned up and then married to the audio.
He's been releasing stuff at an awful consistent clip, usually several shows a week; and not just GD, a lot of Jerry Band too. I happen to be buddies with Hazard's right hand guy who is supplying the video, so I usually get tipped off about a new show being put up a day or two in advance.
If video with solid audio is your thang, this will scratch that itch.
Be Well People.
Sixtus
Do tell, Sixtus
Are there any videos/audio from '74 or earlier?
As for official video releases, I wonder if there's more production work and cost and, therefore, financial risk, in releasing video with well-synched music?