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    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.

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  • DeadVikes
    Joined:
    Plangent

    First time used was the Winterland 73 Box.

    FW was a multi track release.

  • That Mike
    Joined:
    MoFi/RVG

    I also have some of the RVG jazz releases in my collection, and I have always found the sound first rate, and you raise a good point Charlie - Van Gelder both engineered the original recording, as well as the RVG remastering.

    I have only limited MoFi (Mobile Fidelity) in my CD collection, as I don’t collect vinyl, such as a Burrito album or two, and some non-music releases from The Firesign Theatre, so I can’t say definitively they sound “better”, and if the vinyl is vastly superior, but based on this disclosure of digital copying by the company, I’d have to say they have somewhat “exaggerated” the fidelity quality. I noticed yesterday they were re-releasing some Eagles albums under the MoFi label on CD, at an extremely premium price, ie - two and half times the regular price of the “regular” CD. Will it sound two and half times “better”? Hmmm.

    Buyer beware. And with vinyl, I would be extremely wary.

  • icecrmcnkd
    Joined:
    Analog and Digital

    Just so happens that last night I listened for the first time to Little Feat 9-19-74 Electrif Lycanthrope vinyl, with the signal running out the turntable’s USB cable, into a Mac, and then digitally recorded by Audacity. The signal then went out a USB port and into a Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 100 (digital to analog converter) and then to a Cambridge Audio AXR100 receiver.
    So, went vinyl>analog>digital>analog and it sounded great.
    I digitize all my vinyl as I listen to it and wil eventually (when I learn how to use the software) process the files and export as 24/96 FLAC for use on music players. My vinyl will thus be ‘portable’.

    I only started buying vinyl when 2-27-69 was released (now have 2/28 and 3/1 too). These all say Plangent Process on them whereas the FW69 Box does not (I don’t have the physical CD’s but was told that the Box does not say Plangent) which would imply that the reels were re-digitized using Plangent (assuming that a tape player device like shown on the Plangent website was used, rather than just taking the digital files from 2005 and processing them in some way).

    Some vinyl, like 5-8-77, just sound like the CD was copied to vinyl.
    But 11-10-67 sounds better on vinyl than CD to me.
    I didn’t buy the Lyceum vinyl box but often try to get the RSD releases. Vinyl takes up a lot of space and I’m rethinking whether I should keep buying vinyl. But, I’m already contemplating getting Waiting For Columbus on vinyl, since I’m going to get the CD Box.

    I’ve been upgrading my stereo system to Cambridge Audio as my Onkyo stuff stops working. Two years ago my Onkyo receiver died and I replaced it with an AXR100. The sound quality improvement was instantly noticeable.
    Over the last several months my Onkyo 6-disc CD changer has been having dropouts, but when I rewind and play the same part there wouldn’t be a dropout, so the CD wasn’t defective. Bought a laser cleaner but that didn’t fix the problem, so I started looking at a new player.

    Decided to get the DAC Magic 100 first since I put all my CD’s in ALAC format and onto microSDXC cards for use on portable music players. One of my players that I use with the stereo, iBasso DX120, has a port and cable for connection to a DAC where the DX120 acts as a transport (reads the digital file and transports the 1’s and 0’s to the DAC). The sound quality improvement with the DAC was instantly noticeable, so totally worth the investment.

    My Onkyo 6-disc changer has 2 digital out ports, so I was able to simultaneously connect it directly to the AXR100 receiver, and connect it to the DAC which then connects to the AXR100 with analog stereo cables. By switching the source buttons on the AXR100 I could hear the CD that was playing through 2 different pathways and the DAC Magic source definitely sounded better.

    The AXR100 has gone up $200 since I bought mine 2 years ago, so started thinking that if I wait until my Onkyo 6-disc changer dies, I might pay more for a replacement CD player than if I buy one now. So I bought a Cambridge Audio AXC35 CD player and, again, there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality (worth it to give up the convenience of a 6-disc changer). I run the CD player directly to the receiver with analog stereo cables but it is also possible to run a digital connection to the DAC. Both ways sound excellent.

    So, equipment does matter. I’m very pleased with Cambridge Audio and the slightly higher price over brands like Onkyo, Sony, etc is worth it.
    I’ve heard and read that early CD’s often sounded worse than cassettes because the record companies would half-ass the digital mastering. So digital got a bad reputation. Also, DAC’s matter and cheap CD players probably have a cheap DAC. Phones have cheap DAC’s too.
    The Normanized CD’s that we are getting now sound spectacular, and yet they sound even better with my new stereo set up.

  • Charlie3
    Joined:
    RVG

    Interesting post on the analog v digital sound debate. I have a few of the Rudy Van Gelder Edition jazz releases and the sound is consistently excellent. Since he is responsible for both the initial recording and the digital remastering, the sound quality of the recording is pretty much entirely attributable to his skill at both stages of the process, so pretty interesting to see his take on the debate. When I am browsing for new jazz to pick up, it always makes me take notice if I see that something is an RVG Edition.

  • That Mike
    Joined:
    Analog vs Digital/Vinyl vs CD

    I’m no longer a vinyl buyer for various reasons, but I know a number of posters here are. An interesting article in the Washington Post entitled “How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire/ MoFi Records claimed its expensive reissues were purely analog reproductions. It had been deceiving its customer base for years.” some may find interesting, how basically a label that prides itself as issuing direct from Masters (at a premium price) have actually been using Digital mastering. Deceptive. I personally have thought the new wave of vinyl is an overpriced racket, and this plays into that.

    As I’m by no means an expert I’ll let the jazz engineer giant Rudy Van Gelder speak to it: “From 1999, he remastered the analog Blue Note recordings he made several decades earlier into 24-bit digital recordings in its RVG Edition series.[15] He was positive about the switch from analog to digital technology. He told Audio magazine in 1995:
    The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.”

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    Rotund Americans

    We eat a loooooot of high fat, refined food.

    Yesterdays dinner: takeout fried chicken tenders with mac and cheese on the side.

    I have lost about 17 pounds over the past year, but still eat a lot of chunk fare.

    Look at pix of people in the 1930s and 40s, 50s, even 60s. Slender.

    Then came the 70s and the weight was piling on.

    Oh yes, lots of sedentary time in front of screens, too.

    It beats starvation, I will say that.

    I think I'll go for a walk

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Its not just him

    I was surprised at how rotund most Americans were when I went. I believe they watch a lot of telly. Or whatever's taken the place of telly.

  • simonrob
    Joined:
    Feat!

    Just finished listening to the last disc of the "Waiting for Columbus" 8 CD box. The original album is well burned into the brain of every Feat fan, but the 3 live shows (Manchester UK, The Rainbow, London and Lisner Auditorium, Washington) that are added to this release are all really good and varied enough to warrant release. I can highly recommend this to any fence-sitters. There is so much energy in the performances and the band are really tight. They played 4 nights at The Rainbow and I was fortunate enough to have been present at one of them. I don't remember which one, but it wasn't the show where Mick Taylor put in an appearance and it wasn't the below par show where Lowell George and Paul Barrère were suffering hangovers so there is a 50% chance that it was the show in this box that I witnessed. That show will always be right up there amongst the best shows I ever saw. I was surprised at how rotund Lowell George was at that time, but he could still tear it up.

  • carlo13
    Joined:
    Ferret face

    Frank burns was such a great, and annoying character. Hot lips told burns she would tell Donald about burns including his butt along with hers, and ferret face mocks loudly "I'll tell Donald, I'll tell Donald."

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Dammit!....

    ....still. I could see Hawkeye saying that.
    Animal House is also great.
    "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"
    One of my favorite M.A.S.H scenes is when Trapper and Hawkeye dig a huge hole outside the Swamp when Burns is still sleeping then fill it with water and sound an air raid siren.
    I hope I don't need to tell you what happens next.
    Edit. I just got a notification from Netflix that The Sandman is up and running. A great DC/Vertigo comic series born by Neil Gaiman that I never thought would be translated to the screen. I have 14 comic book long boxes from my comic book collecting daze. To quote Flounder, "This is gonna be great!" I hope you're right Flounder.

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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.

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No notice,, just in the box today. I think the number was 3786.

Rip will have to wait until tomorrow,,, heading to work.

The meth-heads await me.

oh,,, where is the little feat shit?

Oh and my 24 lp's???

Bastards!!!

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In reply to by wilfredtjones

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It's better than "Go To Heaven".

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17 years 3 months

In reply to by daverock

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Jerry in a White suit!
Hell Jerry in any suite ; )

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4 years 1 month

In reply to by Oroborous

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There's a good representation of 76, true
One more, please, Dave
7 18 76

7 18 76

7 18 76

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#12158 landed!
Sounds fantastic!
Not the worst cover ever! I've seen worse!
Who cares about the cover!
Love the teeny-weeny note about 12/26 Cold Rain & Snow being snipped! Why? "It will appear on a future volume"!
That means another 1969 special down the line!

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11 years 11 months

In reply to by Cloud Hands

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#725

After a few sub par years, Dave has redeemed himself.

Rare songs. Fantastic recording. Outstanding stuff. The acoustic songs from 12/26 are worth the price alone. For some reason that part of the show reminds me of the scene when the Blues Brothers played Bob’s Country Bunker and had to revert to some country and western songs to get the crowd onboard.

Enjoy.

One of the main reasons I check in here is to hear words written like the words you just wrote. Gives me hope.

In the same breath.. PFox is my new buzz crush villain. try decaf, indica instead of sativa.. whatever it is you are doing try something that gives a more positive view. Always look on the bright side of life. whew whew.. whew whew whew ah whew.

Looking forward to getting #43 this week.

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4 years 1 month

In reply to by JimInMD

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I listened to that lp today

I like a lot of it
Alabama G
Althea
FLAS
Antwerp's Placebo
DEMI

All good the whole thing

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17 years 3 months
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For shipping info.

Really do hope I will get this volume since being a subscriber ... but this is the first time I haven't recieved any shipping info before other people have already got their copy of the actual record ...

Micke Östlund
Växjö, Sweden

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7 years 4 months
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Received mine yesterday, no shipping notice.

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17 years 3 months
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The order status for my orders does not show that #43 has shipped yet.
Certainly I have not received a shipping mail yet.

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17 years 3 months

In reply to by simonrob

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Usually get a shipping notice, but nothing so far. Looking at some of the other posts it seems as though they are receiving copies without notices also, so I'm hoping this will be the case with mine, but they don't make things easy !
It's even more annoying as this is a '69 release, and really looking forward to an upgrade to my SBDs.
Sent an email to CS for an update.
**** UPDATE ***** Received a Shipping Notice today, so that's a positive bit of news !

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Interesting conversations here lately. Based on some entries, I cautiously but hopefully opened my mailbox yesterday, and…nothing!!
I’m usually one of the last to receive, so not bothered at all. With so many people gushing about TTB, I loved Derek Trucks Band, but TTB for some reason, just doesn’t blow my skirt up.
Saw Phish last night, and tonight also. Just good to see/hear ANY live music.
Re:PFox. I don’t recall him EVER having a positive word to say about anything, just a troll, happy to keep trolling. His must be a sad, sorry existence.
Very excited to wait for my D43, see a second good show tonight, and keep on keeping on.

Music is the Best!!

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Are you gonna rip in as cd order or put in show order?

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Met both these fine gentlemen last night at the Rocks, with a monumental Los Lobos set that combined that band with Derek and Susan and various TTB members sitting in. The hybrid band really took it out there and, for my money, jammed as hard as any band since the good old GD of the '70s. Of possible interest here, during TTB's set Susan sang Angel from Montgomery and wove in a verse from Sugaree.

I lucked into 10th row center seats and Vguy texted me he's in row 22, seat 97, so before Los Lobos hits the stage I head up to find him. As I approach row 22 I see a guy making his way across row 22 fist bumping every single person in that row, including some who initially didn't look up, but this guy waits til they do, then fist bumps them and about 20 others. This guy makes it to the end of the row as I'm closing in and spryly moves on to the outer stairs as I yell "Vguy"! No reaction. I pursue. He's got the gray beard, the Make America Grateful Again t-shirt, etc. Well, it IS Vguy and we have a good chuckle on the stairs and fire up a fatty. Much yukking about just about everything.

Between Los Lobos and TTB I make my way up to row 28, seat 1, and have a good chat with our man Nappyrags and his buddy. When I told him about my encounter with serial fist-bumping Vguy, he broke into a big smile. I departed with, "Try to behave!" and got a baleful look. So I threw in, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" and the big smiles came out again.

And I met up with a half-dozen pals of old as well as a few Red Rocks friends who I see every year at shows up there, and innumerable hotties of every age, shape, size, color. Oh yeah. (I go for the music, but I return for the hotties....)

Yes to what someone posted earlier: that being out with folks at live music is just what the doctor ordered. We (my cousin and I) ate a mushroom, a gummy, had a little tequila and beer and a doobie and all was well.

When I got home, there were my two copies of DaP 43 in the mailbox, just waitin' for me.

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I like when I read about board people hooking up. Connections made can last a lifetime. Glad all had fun, the Rocks are a special place.

On the rip front,,, went with two folders, one for each show in order. Shame about the Cold Rain that was trimmed for space (I assume). I think we'll see it come down the pike someday. I may fill in space with the board copy I have, will see how the two cuts blend.

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Nice nod to Pink Floyd, Mr. Ones, Wot's...uh the Deal indeed. Always dug Obscured by Clouds, cool album.

No Dap 43 yet, no shipping notice, no worries. No ripping for me, I'm just a simple luddite who will put the disc in the tray and push play.

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listening to Dark Star at the Family Dog

I Swear at 22 minute mark (+-),,, they were gonna go into Tighten Up (by Archie Bell).

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Got my DaP 43 from the mailbox about 10 minutes before heading out on a road trip yesterday. No mailing notice received, just a welcome surprise in the mailbox. Listened to side 1 on the road, getting ready for a morning excursion where side 2 gets spun. Lovin' it. This is my Dead.

Right now, listening to 5/14/70 on youtube, with one of the hottest LoveLights I've heard. Jerry smokes on it right out of the gate.

Gotta do the full run of unreleased uploaded 1970 shows from the archive. Have gone at many of them already, but damn, what fire and energy they have.

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In reply to by frosted

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In the seaside chat Dave said that it will be on a future DaP.

Once I get my DaP43 I will listen to all the CD’s to confirm that they are not defective, and will then import to computer and arrange the songs by show and order. When the missing Cold Rain arrives I will add that.

Hoping to find DaP43 in the mailbox tomorrow even though I’ve not received a shipping notice. Monday after release day has been pretty standard for me the last several DaP’s even though I would get a shipping notice about 10 days earlier.

Dix8 5/2/70 had its CR&S severed, too.

Hmmm.

A future Daves, huh?

C'est la vie

Be kind daily, my fellow Deadheads.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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It was included in the vinyl version of Dicks 8. For what it's worth. I'm not bothered these days if they miss a song out for whatever reason. It's not as though they will omit anything vital. We have all heard a vast quantity of Cold Rain and Snow's and if you haven't heard the one played at 5/2/70 you are missing...absolutely nothing.
I can't see much point in including an omitted song in a future release either. Probably stick out like a sore thumb. I suppose if you rip them you can make up a full show...but Like Charlie3.. I don't rip cds very often.

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Yes Dennis, I know I've heard one in a jam before. Maybe the Mammoth Garden show Denver April 1970? All we need now is those horns in the bridge.
Cheers

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17 years 2 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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....checking out some local brews, fist bumping everyone I see.
Last night show was better than the first night for a few reasons imo.
#1. Met Hendrixfreak. Good to finally meet you man. Sorry Nappy, but after the end of that Los Lobos set, I was in a whole nother world. I was just soaking it in. I'm sure we'll meet again.
Which takes me to the #2 reason. The end of that Lobos set. Hendrixfreak nailed with with the hybrid band magic. Simply outstanding stuff.
#3 reason. Sugaree.
#4 reason. Got incredible seats. I can't remember the last time I waited in line 3 hours for good seats. But I told myself it would be worth it and I was right!! Met awesome people in line again and it carried into the show. Hello to Quentin, Alyssa, Sam, Mel, Nikki and Josh. Yall are cool.
In fact, everyone I met in Denver seems so nice and chill. Impressive.
Also impressive are the number of Subarus here. Literally every third car I saw lol.
Good times. Good vibes. Just what the doctor ordered. Smuggling back some rocky mountain edibles and prerolls. Shhhh. Don't tell mom.
Now, let's see if that Dave's is waiting for me at home. Time to......fly. 🤢

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Thanks Vguy and HF for your time and comments. We love you guys!
So many Subies because they get good mileage, reliable, and go in the snow.
Almost the Progressive's (read hippy) car of our era like the VW was BITD.
Same boxer four configuration only water cooled and not as polluting.
As to why we're chill? It's Colorado, why not be chill. We've got it pretty good.
Cheers

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9 years 7 months
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Realizing just now that the illustrious VGuy waltzed right past me last night in row 22 at Red Rocks!

I appreciated his "Make America Grateful Again" t-shirt at the time, he must not have seen my House of Guitars tee or I know he would have stopped for a fist bump!

Next I get to stroll down to the mailbox to pick up DP 43 (no shipping notice, but I got the heads up from my account with USPS- pro tip).

Let the good times roll! And now back to your regularly scheduled Gathering Flowers For The Master's Bouquet...

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17 years 3 months
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So as I am wont to do, I separated the tracks into two distinct shows upon import to iTunes (69-11-02 DaP 43 Family Dog, San Francisco, CA, and 69-12-26 DaP 43 McFarlin Auditorium, SMU, Dallas, TX) and lo and behold each show is 1 hour and 58 minutes. Synchronocity indeed, as Hunter's old DNC website promulgated. Total surprises here, "What it is is that Bill, who's the drummer that sits over here, is somewhere over Omaha, right now, on a plane, somewhere. Or at least last we heard. Yeah, he's on his way here, though, and they assure us that he'll be here in manner of moments. So Bobby and I are gonna regale you with some old standards while we're waiting around."

....believe it or not jack baller, I do recall seeing you! Were you waiting in the upper north lot line by chance?
I get a lot of shout outs regarding my Make America Grateful Again tee. Not ashamed to say its my current go to concert apparel. Awesome conversation starter!!
Home safe to more monsoon weather. Flight was delayed an hour due to it. No Dave's but thats OK. Still riding high. Had a blast!
Random fist bump to the peeps in the room across the hallway at the Best Western playing some moe. this morning. That was cool.
I'm far for illustrious however. Just a music junkie who gets off on meeting awesome people. Which was pretty simple to do at those shows. Mission accomplished.

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Death Don't Have No Mercy is the greatest achievement of the early, raw Dead. It fit the spooky blues element to a T, was a great showcase for early Jerry's electric blues soloing and fit the whole "dead" theme around the band at the time... fantastic version here.

Glad to hear so many enjoyed themselves recently at Red Rocks. Yes, it is an amazing place and the crowd always feels like family at any Dead-themed or similar vibed show. We always talk to strangers and have fantastic times and joints are shared far and wide.

I did not attend... Derek in the Allmans was more my speed, but he is an unbelievable talent and all respect to his current band.

\m/

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I got a chance to listen to everything on disc 2 and 3 except Speedway Boogie and Love light at the end of 3 on my driving day trip today.

Whoa is about what I have to say, more jazzed about this than any release in the past several years. This instantly rose to my top tier. Gotta give it some more listenings first, but it smokes. It seems somewhat more coherent and well threaded than some of the other 1969 and 1970 DaP releases, though I love them all. Two late 60s Dark Stars also, what's not to like?

Taking the liberty of detailing some more thoughts on it here. Side one gave me the feel of a good solid 1970 set, with the electric and acoustic sets being so late in 1969, might as well have been early 1970. Was driving on a mountain road when listening, so couldn't take detailed notes, but loved the inclusion of Little Sadie, with Garcia's smokeless touch.

I also enjoy the stage banter from this period. Garcia just had a way with words and phrasing when he talked. He could read the phone book and somehow make it sound interesting and amusing.

Then things get cooking.

Disc 2 starts with a deep and mysterious Dark Star of the late 60s, including that jam about 2/3 of the way through that you sometimes hear (which some here can probably name, though I'm not that fully immersed). The second Dark Star, on disc 3, has the jam interlude also. It's one of those anthem-like melodies that Garcia pulls off from time to time, and made me think, man, this might be just the thing that accompanies you when you're on the way to that better place in the after life if there is such a thing. Just got the hair on my neck standing while I drove. Both Stars are superb IMO, but will take more listening for me to sort out.

St. Stephen on disc 2 seems a tad more subdued than usual, probably to ease back a bit in between the intense Dark Star and a rollicking Eleven. Still quite a good transition.

Death don't have no Mercy is probably the most searing version of that I've heard. Garcia inhabits the role of the lost soul left bereft by the demise of his family. Scary good.

Black Peter is a decent acoustic version. Uncle John's Band starts with some aimless strumming - feels like they hadn't yet settled on the opening riff we all know so well. But it's well played. My only minor complaint is that again Phil's voice here and in a few places on the high registers just seems a bit off to me. I am not a musician so don't know if it's slightly out of tune or that he just doesn't have a good singing voice. It's easy enough to overlook, though at times I've wished they just would have let Jerry and Bobby do the vocalizing and harmony. Still works ok for me though.

Disc 3 pops out with a solid Casey Jones. Hard to Handle is interesting -- mostly the 1971's where Garcia and Weir cut loose are definitely my favorites, and it seems like they were trying to get their legs in a lot of the 1969 and 1970 versions, with less guitar soloing. Jerry cuts loose on this one though, but not with the same approach as the 1971s. This is probably my favorite that I've heard outside the 1971s.

China Cat/Rider hit the spot as usual. High Time is normally one of my least favorite and to me boring early Dead tunes, but they did alright on this one, compared to many.

Me and My Uncle had that extra Texas edge as they played it in Dallas, and the Dark Star was another stellar effort, so to speak, from my point of view anyway.

Will finish disc 3 tomorrow, but I have to say this one has exceeded my expectations so far.

Well done, Dave and Dead net!

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In reply to by frosted

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OG series
Wink of an Eye

Some psychedelic references

"My old buddy you're movin' much too slow"

:)))

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I have a ritual where I rip the CDs to 320 kbps mp3 and WAV, put each show into its own dated folder, store them on redundant USB drives, and then upload the mp3s to my phone, ordered by date.

For something like DaP 43, I usually alter the artwork, so every show has unique cover art when I scroll through the list. I made a whole new 11/2/77 Seneca show out of the bonus tracks from DaP 12 & DP 34. That left 4 missing songs, but there's a fine Betty Board to fill those gaps. There was some Dicks Picks looking artwork online for 11/2/77, so it worked out nicely.

This Dave's Picks 43 is just what the Doctor ordered. I've had these shows on SBD a while, but I rarely listen to them. There's a part of me that says "wait for the Full Norman", so these are pretty fresh. I couldn't be happier with this pair of shows. I was hoping for some late '69 and it came :D

Just finished a second run of 11/2/69. Great set list - very happy to get that Midnight Hour in there.
I thought The Eleven vocals were very solid. That has to be one of their most difficult to do well. I may listen to that one again and then queue up 12/26.

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Will have to listen to 8/1/73 today. Pretty sure this was the last Dead show he played a Stratocaster.

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This is one of the most refreshing Picks in a while. Also agree I can't look at the cover without going cross-eyed. I might need one of those "alternate" covers you speak of KeithFan.

Someone mentioned the onstage banter. It really is refreshing to hear the young Jerry and Bobby yucking it up. Happy Birthday Jerry. You were a long way from So Many Roads on DaP 43. Your soul is a flower in the Master's bouquet.

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OKAY

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For JG!

EDIT: Subbies, have 2, 4 over the years, poor man’s Audi lol.
Nice balance of features, good in snow and mountains without having to drive a huge gas hog.

Glad you guys had a great time and enjoyed the shows! It truly is a special place!
Would love to hear what Nappy has to say?

Heading into town to the PO this morning with nervous anticipation!

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Have they l shipped already? Mine looks like it was never shipped. I have a subscription and was really looking forward to listen to these shows.

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Aug. 1, 1973, fresh off three GD shows in the past five days -- Watkins Glen x 2, got home July 29, then went to July 30 & Aug 1 shows with The Band. On Aug. 1, the dense crowd up front parted (I'm a little audience left, but close) and a girl rode on a guy's shoulders to the lip of the stage and handed up a birthday cake for Jer to much applause from the crowd. I think a roadie handled the cake, cuz Jer was already strapped in (last time with Nash Strat, you say?).

Those two shows are a blur, perhaps understandably. Would LOVE to hear those released. They gotta release a Jer b-day show at some point before I shamble off this mortal coil, no?

Edit: I was two weeks shy of my 16th birthday at that show.... started young.

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I've been seeing posts on social media for days now from people who've received their copies but, so far, I've not gotten the "your order is on the way" email. Is this a widespread issue, or is it just me? I'm dying to hear these shows!

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Having only digested discs 1 and 2, I have to chime in with a 'Holy...' add whatever expletive you normally use. This is one fantastic release. For the Family Dog show, there is so much unique here-- on disc 1, the Big Boss Man stands out with its guitar and vocal intro. But the Dark Star with its thematic jams, top notch Eleven and as someone noted, the Death Don't... is chilling, haunting, amazing. So damn good. Face-melting stuff. The acoustic set at SMU is stellar-- Little Sadie! Can't wait to listen to the electric set tonight.

Those TTB Red Rocks shows sound amazing and the setlists look great. Jealous you got a full on jam with Truck and Tedeschi joining Los Lobos. We got one song of Susan singing with Los Lobos, but a full on jam-- that is the goods.

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40 years ago today, I saw the fellas play the OK Zoo Amphitheatre. It was Jerry's 40th birthday, and of course we wished him well with a Happy Birthday To You. Twas a nice show on a great leg of a super summer tour. Folks were saying that the band partied hard the night before in Austin after the show that was immortalized in Thirty Trips.
Jerry looked a little pale and sweaty but rose to the occasion.

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All with a release date of 07/29 (not complaining, just stating facts. Looks like they bit off more than they can chew):
1) No Shipping Notice on DAP 43 yet for me
2) No shipping Notice on Europe 72 releases yet for me
3) Still unable to download Lyceum

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Deuce it is frustrating as hell and you are not alone. I feel exactly the same. One would figure when you bought all three one would have come thru on release day. Horrible customer service and quite honestly do not need the downloads now I will wait to see if the big ticket ever shows but I will not wait for ever.

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We were next to the soundboard and, just behind it, there were at least two stereo mic setups, so someone has that jam preserved. I wonder what it will sound like? I thought to go ask for a dub but also thought, no, this is a moment, I don't need a tape. The shrooms were coming on and I'd smoked part of a doob with Vguy so that maybe half-hour segment was truly delicious and powerful. Still, I would be curious... Seriously, I've seen TTB a fair amount since its inception and have seen Lobos since the mid-90s and that was one monster jam. If anyone finds the recording on one of those platforms, please tip us off.

Just to help ease the worries: there have been several instances of Dave’s Picks that have shown up with no shipping notice etc. Back a few years it seemed to be status quo, so most likely nothing to fret over.
Perhaps crank up the Tom Petty in the mean time as the waiting IS the hardest part!

PS, nothing in my PO Box either : (

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The Lyceum box I ordered arrived today - but it's status on the board is that it hasn't shipped yet, and is still being processed. So it doesn't look as though they bother too much with those notices.
Incredible speed in which I received this box, I have to say. UPS couldn't actually hand it over to me, as they don't accept payment by card for VAT, but now I've done that on the phone, it should be here with me tomorrow.

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