A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear. - Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell, Owsley Stanley Foundation
With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43. The two virtually complete performances from San Francisco 11/2/69, Live At Family Dog At The Great Highway, and from Dallas 12/26/69, McFarlin Auditorium, are complementary in their clarity and consistency thanks to Bear himself, and in their ability to foreshadow where the Dead were headed in the years to come. If the two killer 20-minute+ "Dark Stars" don't get ya, how about the Pigpen-centric sets featuring "Midnight Hour," "Next Time You See Me," "Big Boss Man," "Good Lovin'," and the once-lost-now-found complete rendition of "Dancing In The Streets," or the first full acoustic set ever performed? And we're certain you'll be fascinated to uncover the "Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes" as told by Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell in the liners.
Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43 was recorded by Owlsey "Bear" Stanley and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.
*2 per order. Very limited quantity available.
it's not a bad thing, no one said it was a bad thing
and I'm glad that ebay profiters are not buying all the Dave's up so that they can sell them for double the cost on ebay. What, in my opinion, is bad is that ebay used to be like an online garage sale, a place where anyone, and I mean anyone, could go and sell some things and make a few extra bucks on the side and get rid of some stuff that they did not want anymore. Now, that simple practice is being closely regulated by the federal government.
Now I know that a five year old may not know that having the federal government regulating everything is a bad thing, but you would think that if one is reading these posts, they would know that most people don't want the federal government in their business.
So if someone gets to make a buck without paying taxes on that perceived profit, as a working schmuck as someone put it, they would be against it? wow
What's next? perceived profit made from garage sales? so much for free enterprise
This is so wrong it's not funny, the rich pay nothing in taxes, avoid as much as they can, and yet, the federal government goes after free enterprise and profit off of anyone's old stuff that they might sell on ebay.
Now do you see how this might be conceived as a move in the wrong direction?
I'm the tax man
yeah, yeah, I'm the tax man
don't ask me what I want it for
if you don't want to pay some more
Sold Out
Glad to see it, despite avaricious secondary sellers, we are the market for Rhino/WMG. It's a matter of when not if, a 60s box might have been pushed further off if this did not sell out quickly. I grew up with a lot of music around, all early dead vinyl, starting 1967, in the library a few feet away. This first era will always be most sweet spot. This release whets our appetite for more, it is there. From Dave's seasides, the next box is known within and the one after is on a short list if not in early production, let it be 60s. We are truly fortunate to have such a treasure trove between commercial releases and the various archives. Will a 60s box sell better now or years from now when more of us dinosaurs are deaf or passed.
Nick1234, I love it. The hottest point of the year in the hottest year and you are talkin' scotch, a winter tipple for me. Would never challenge anything on that list, Islay-centric though it be, other than to add a few. How amazing is it that some of the best Islay is made within a mile of so of each other in the SW, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. One could walk between them easily, but maybe not for long. I have not sampled the two newest producers but have been fortunate to sip a couple of rare Port Ellens. The only distillery on Jura next door makes an excellent one when aged. Jura is where the deer way outnumber the locals and George Orwell wrote 1984. The Lagavulin Offerman tempted me, ageing in Guinness casks sounded a bit weird but its quite good. Also Laphroaig Cairdeas, Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or and Aberlour A'bunadh.
Another great movie quote
Anthony Hopkins in Legends of the Fall: “screw the government, screw em”
Who Knew...
Turns out I hear folks quoting Anthony Hopkins from Legends of the Fall regularly;)
DMCVT
Aberlour A'bunadh is something special but the days when it was £25 a bottle are long gone. Yes, I tend towards Islay and Highland whiskies, Speyside doesn't normally do it for me. I had a couple of bottles of 13 year old cask strength Caol Ila from Cask 88 last Christmas and ooh that was good. I'm also an appalling tea snob.
Next year's bonus disc
I bet they put together two shows from Owsley's banana boxes, 1968 or 1969, and if you don't subscribe you will only get one show. I better subscribe next year.
Hendrixfreak, Nappy and Crow Told Me....
....check your pm's. TTB is approaching.
Bonus disc
BTK - yes, that's the risk in not subscribing - the off chance that they do something like that ! Buying all the dodgy ones so you don't miss the one good disc.
latecomer
I am a little late chiming in on this pick, but this is outstanding. I was fully expecting another 83 or 84 show and to be getting two full 1969 shows! I cannot wait to hear these shows.
Vguy, Hendrix Freak, Crow, I am hitting the TTB and Los Lobos show in Aurora, IL next week-- I will let you know how it goes, but I expect it to be a stellar show. This will be the first show I hit with my wife since Steely Dan in 2009, while also meeting my best bud from WI and his wife. I am really looking forward to it. Thoughts on the TTB releases "I Am the Moon?" I find much of it a bit down for my tastes, but that closing track from the first part-- Pacquio-- is a fantastic Allman-style jam.
I am the moon....
....I personally think it's outstanding and looking forward to my first pilgrimage to Red Rocks.
Alternative Source?
"A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault."
Both of these soundboards have been available on archive.org for many years. So what is Dave talking about, saying the boxes were sealed and undisturbed for decades? Are Bear's tapes an alternative source from the circulating recordings? I guess that isn't something the label wouldn't want him to mention here or in the video.
Anyway, here's hoping those boxes contain soundboards from July 1970 Fillmore East and November 1970 Capitol Theater. Of course there's no way, but one can dream.
Sun King and Simonrob
Thanks for the Gram tips! I already have "LIVE AT THE AVALON BALLROOM 1969, but was not aware of Desolate Angels live. Just ordered it, looking forward to more Emmy Lou harmonies.
Re: Pigpen Lives
I also noticed these shows circulate in good quality.. I assume we can think Senor Latvala for that. As for anything after Feb 1970, New Orleans.. unless it was performed in California, Bear would not have been there to hit record as the long arm of the law revoked his travel privileges. This continued until they began recording in earnest again in 71 with just a few exceptions, mostly in New York where the house made their own tapes.
...but I like the way think.
Dodgy shows? Sacrilege. :D
One edit, Unless I am missing something, the setlists or CD song list has not been disclosed, which does give some hope that there is some uncirculated material here. Probably nothing, but well, we can hope!
California Dead 1970
The Dead played a number of shows in California in 1970, that look like they would make killer releases. They did runs at the Fillmore West,, Family Dog and the Euphoria Ballroom , hopefully they are all in that banana box of Owsleys.
Bear 1970
Bear was not arrested again until July 15 at his home in Oakland between the two Euphoria shows. So those June FW shows could be in those banana boxes. I'm curious?
Anyone know how Bear was able to record the February FE shows? His bail was revoked in NOLA, so he would have had to been released. So was he arrested again in July for being in NYC in February?
It gets quite confusing
I am Grateful.
Sam
Happy belated release date......
54 years ago on July 18th 1968, Anthem of the Sun was released. Anthem of the Sun & Workingman's Dead, my two favorite Grateful Dead albums. I love the expanded version of Anthem, with the Alligator from the Shrine Auditorium included.
Coincidentally...
...and without realising it's birthday, Anthem was the last album I played about three hours ago. I agree - it's an incredible album. Best psychedelic album to come out of the States. Or anywhere probably.
Anthem of the Crow
I love love love Anthem. One of the top 3-4 GD albums ever, IMO, and certainly one of the trippiest.
That's when they were really on the cutting edge, making a record that didn't sound like ANYthing ANYbody had ever done before. This is an album for heads, and a giant "FU" to the record company, which wanted short marketable tracks they could get on the radio, not side-long psychedelic suites that were "mixed for the hallucinations," as Garcia said. I've never gotten tired of it. In fact I've been listening to it a lot in recent months, trying to put together a longish essay about it. No idea where I might publish such a thing, maybe just put it on the web somewhere, I guess. I'll let yall know if I do.
Last five:
Herbie Hancock: Crossings (unbelievably and extremely psychedelic record from HH's incredible and incredibly under-rated Mwandishi band)
TTB: Ascension (second installment of their four-part I Am The Moon project, and like the first, it's solid from front to back with a couple instant classics, can't wait to hear this stuff live very soon.)
GOGD: Road Trips Vol 3 No 3 (Pulled this one out because I couldn't stand the anticipation waiting for DaP 43, and I realized this was pretty similar, from a couple months later, with opening acoustic sets, the Live/Dead suite, lotsa Pig. It's fucking great, obviously.)
King Crimson: Washington 2021 (been binging on KC lately, the latest incarnation is just so good live)
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Mosiac (one of their very best Blue Notes, Freddie Hubbard is on fucking fire)
Anthem To Beauty
A good documentary about making those albums.
I got it on DVD a while back for dirt cheap.
Anthem was the first GD CD I bought, but had to make a tape copy on a friend’s stereo so that I could listen to it in my car tape deck. It’s my favorite ‘studio’ album, followed by Blues For Allah, which happens to be the second GD CD I bought.
Ok Gnarlywood, let’s get those DaP43’s shipping….
Re: SamT
I'll try looking into that. By May, when they were back in NY. .the May 15th Road Trips was recorded by Bob Mathews.
Dicks Picks 4, Valentines day was essentially 2 weeks after the New Orleans bust and Bear did record that. He also recorded the tracks on Dave's Picks vol 5 from Feb 2, 1970. But those are the last shows he recorded outside California that year so far as I can tell. It's possible he had not gone to court or had any formal travel declarations placed on him by then. I'm not sure. ..but after 2/14/70.. that was it outside CA until his release from prison.
So sad.. but that's a piece of history and man are we lucky he decided to record the band in as high fidelity as he could with the equipment he was able to cobble together at the time.
Anthem of the Sun
First time I heard it was new years 82-83 on the Rose Parade route. I loved it immediately.
Ship of Fools was in a dream last night, so I listened to Mars Hotel today while doing some paperwork. A tasty little sucker, I tell ya.
Bear
Jim,
I have been thinking about that all day. After his arrest, he surely new he might be incarcerated or put under home state arrest. What incredible forsight to encourage Pigpen (and Pig to agree) to play the accoustic numbers alone, and then with Jer and Bobby on those Valentine week shows. In my opinion, that February FE 70' run was the Dead at it's very best; probably, only equaled by the 69' FW shows. However, the FW shows were done to produce a live album (live/Dead) and the setlist varied little as perfection was attempted to be obtained. I think the 69' FW run is analogous to playing at a symphony and the Feb. 70' FE shows are more like performing in the most kick ass roadhouse! We are blessed!
Sam
I'm late to the Anthem Of The Sun anny....
....but better late than never!
Getting high and getting dialed in.
Listening to Anthem in the 70's
I can remember taking mushrooms once, about 1978, and going into Oldham, to see two bands-Here and Now supported by The Fall. The atmosphere in the club didn't seem quite right though, so I decided to walk round town for a bit. Then I set off on the 7 mile walk home, with my thumb out, to hitch a ride. After a while, a small car pulled up with an extremely jolly vicar sitting inside it. He gave me a lift home while asking me questions about whether I believed in God or not.
Back home, my parents were both asleep, so I put on Anthem and listened on my headphones. At the climactic moment of Jerry's solo on side two, the needle got stuck in the groove and the same phrase kept going round and round. Strange what you remember.
Anthem to Purple/ Daverock, very funny story
I came home from a Grateful Dead show in December of 1979, at the Oakland Auditorium ; I went to bed and put on Anthem of the Sun with head phones, and as it was playing , I heard the color purple. Daverock, that is a very funny story, I can just see you driving along with that religious man, trying to keep it together when he started yaking about God.
South Park Bikers
Staring THATMIKE as Cartman
Google it, or the full episode “the f word”
Grateful Dead, 7/29/66, and Anthem
Had longer commutes this week, so quite a bit of listening got done, today I did the bonus disc 7/29-30/66 that was part of the 50th anniversary edition of Grateful Dead, and they were playing fast versions of those songs, as well as the really obscure stuff I wish they'd force Bob, Bill, and Phil to listen to at some point, and maybe revive Cardboard Cowboy. Bob's guitar totally absent from the mix, but surprisingly good bass in parts. Pig's organ overshadows all. And not necessarily in a good way, though he's not that bad at all. Viola Lee was pretty good, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue may be my favorite part of the shows.
Listening to Golden Road on the album, I wonder how it wasn't a Touch of Grey type hit in 1967. Seems like it fits in enough, but is also ahead of its time enough that it would have pushed things a bit further. Jerry's solo and tone rival anything Messrs. Beck, Page, Clapton, and Hendrix had put down on their respective first albums. I skipped most of the rest for Phil's 1971 mix of Anthem. New Potato is cued up on deck for the next journey.
Gonna line up the 1969 official releases for my next bit to get ready for late '69 Dead coming down the pike. And 2 Dark Stars, taboot, taboot!
A day's adventure
Have a lil' snack
Go to Seattle Art Fair
Captain Beefheart followed by Anthem of the Sun on headphones
:)))
Anthem of the Sun
I love Garcia's lead out of Alligator, ("First there is a Mountain"), it never fails.
Lead guitar out of Alligator
That is miraculous - the highlight of the album for me. Also maybe the best example of the two drummers playing together at their primal peak. The sound of colours exploding.
Fire in Th City
I believe it was released as part of the Golden Road Box Set, I could be wrong, I'm prety sure Rhino released it on something. My brother has the 45 of it.
Nappy, Vguy check your PMs
Wondering if you cats are making TTB next weekend and, if so, whether you have a spare tic for either night or both.
Everyone else: sorry to be blatantly ticket-mongering on our forum, but I gotta do what I gotta do.
Okay now I'll be adding…
Okay now I'll be adding Anthem of the Sun to the vinyl stack I'll be listening to tonight. Playlist, in no particular order, looks like this so far:
Donald Fagan - The Nightfly
Iron & Wine/Calexico - Years to Burn
Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Men at Work- Business as Usual (pulled from the basement this afternoon a freshly cleaned)
Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun
That should do it!
Anthem/original mix
I always thought the original mix of both Anthem and Aoxomoxoa , were way better then the remixed versions. Never cared for the remixed versions, compared to the original versions.
Good morning everyone
I haven't been around here in quite awhile. Nice to see all these familiar names, and arguments :)
This pandemic made me really sick of internetting for awhile there. Mrs Deadguy seems content playing Words With Friends and watching dogs do funny things for hours on end. I guess I needed something more.
I've spent a lot of time organizing my digital music library. Instead of just one giant directory of Artists and Albums, I've got it all grouped into genre's, sub-genre's, playlists. I've got a folder called "Stuff I dont know what to do with yet." I've got another called "Stuff I can probably delete when this hard drive fills up."
I've been branching out a little more with my listening. I probably listen to 1 or 2 Dead shows a week now, down from 3-5 at my pre COVID peak. Been getting more into the " jamgrass" scene . . . Billy Strings, Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band. And lots of jazz, as always. My local Jazz Festival was back this year after being virtual only last year and canceled outright in 2020. OhMyGawd that was just my soul needed. I'm still a little sketchy about seeing shows indoors, but I'm trying to maximize the outdoor events while I can.
Last 5 -- Dead Edition
5) 5/25/72
4) 5/26/72
I always like to play the "follow the calendar" game with my Dead shows, and with all the hype I decided to go with only E72 shows between April 7 and May 26. Which bled over well into June because why not?
3) 6-14-91 View From the Vault II DVD version
Mrs Deadguy went out of town for a night with her Mom amd sister. I took FULL advantage of the situation. ;) Work the next day SUCKED
4) 7-12-87 Giants Stadium Box
TBH I thought this one was kind of meh. The 89 and 91 sets are way better.
5) 7-19-74 Daves Picks 17.
This was the first Daves Picks I ever got. I dont think I'd listened it since back when it was new. It still rocks. The closing sequence, from He's Gone until the end . . . WOW. Maybe the best jam sequence ever without a Dark Star or Other One.
Last 5 - Not Dead Edition
5) Christina Vale - Make Myself Me Again
Ms. Vale is a really good bluesy-folksy singer-songwriter- slide player from Nashville. I found her on Bandcamp. The title track is my daily mantra for 2022.
4) Bubblemath -- Edit Peptide.
Another Bandcamp discovery. These guys are wild. Thet call it "math rock". Its like prog rock, sorta, but goofy and self-consciously ironic like early Phish. Cool stuff.
3) Sun Ra - Ellingtonia Vol. 1. A comp of Sun Ra performing Ellington tunes. Which is sort of like Jim Morrison singing Beatles songs. Good stuff but some of the recordings are a little rough. If only Bear could have hooked up with Sun Ra at some point.
2) Dire Wolves -- Grow Towards The Light.
Dead adjacent psychedelic folk replete with medieval style chanting. Very cool, and HIGH-ly recommended for my Dead Head compadres.
1) Elvin Jones -- The Complete Blue Note Recordings.
This has been pumping through the ole headphones since I started writing this post. Top tier Blue Note from the best jazz drummer ever.
This new Dave's Pick looks friggin awesome.
Fire in the City (March 1967). . .
. . . is included on "Birth Of The Dead" (The Hendricks Sessions), and on "Complete Studio Rarities 1965-1987". Yup! That's Jerry!
Oct. '80 Warfield
Looked up the show that one of this week's Tapers section highlights.
10-3-80 Third set electric.
Haven't done the research but 15 acoustic sets in that Warfield run
and all I have is the For The Faithful and Reckoning releases.
Must have missed the RSD Warfield LPs.
Seems like there is a lot of acoustic still unreleased?
Or are there Dick's and Dave's that cover this territory?
Cheers
Edit: Check out Gregor's story about passing out literal pounds of weed at the Folsum '72 show just posted today. Priceless and legendary!
Dire Wolves
That Grow Towards the Light album by Dire Wolves is fantastic. I picked that up a couple years ago just on the basis that I dug the trippy album cover, really paid off, cool trippy jams from start to finish.
Last few Grateful Dead -
Shakedown Street - that album always does it for me, just has a fun, summer vibe to it in my mind.
Dave's Picks 28 - June 17, 1976
Dave's Picks 2014 Bonus Disc, 12/11/69 - still my favorite bonus disc
Last 5 everything else
Tame Impala - Lonerism, an album so nice I listened twice. The track Mind Mischief in particular does it for me, the official video available on utoob has a cool trippy video to go along with it.
Black Angels - Phosphene Dream, that album really hits the spot sometimes.
Chuck Berry - Definitive Collection, can't go wrong with an hour or so of Chuck, tunes Nadine and Maybellene always do it for me.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Quarters, some cool psychedelic stuff, picked it up recently.
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain, cool album with 10 minutes of auditory bliss provided by Eddie Hazel on the title track.
Warfield 80
Unfortunately, a lot of those Warfield 80 tapes were apparently erased,or taped.over.
Anniversary show 7/24/87. Dylan & the Dead
35 years ago today ( not to long ago) I was up in Oakland, to see the Dead & Dylan put on a great show. The Dead really tore it
up, I believe the show has been released on dvd. I had never seen
Dylan before, so that was really cool. Of course the highlight of the night, was when Garcia sat down at the pedal steel and backed Dylan on "I'll be your Baby Tonight". , that alone was worth the price of admission.
Dylan/Dead....
....caught the Anaheim one. My second show!
They didn't click to me until my third one. Then I really got it.
Warfield 80??
I have a hard time believing they would erase or tape over the master tapes; if true, what were they thinking??
For years, there were rumors that the Beach Boys' Smile sessions were taped over, which turned out to be untrue.
Last 5:
Budgie: Never Turn Your Back on a Friend
Budgie: In for the Kill!
Budgie: Bandolier
Judy Henske & Jerry Yester: Farewell Aldebaran
Flying Burrito Bros: Flying Burrito Brothers 1971 LP
DaP43
Like many others, I can't wait for this release...but how long will it be before another 68-70 is issued? We now know you have the tapes Dave L. & TPTB...don't make us start rumors of a 'Banana Box Conspiracy' lol.
Last listens:
1. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Moanin'
2. Joni Mitchell - Hissing Of Summer Lawns
3. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
4. Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
5. Poco - Pickin' Up The Pieces
6. Poco - 2nd S/T
7. Poco - Deliverin'
8. Trio Of Doom - S/T. John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius & Tony Williams...what couldn't they have done?
Hope all are well.