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.
Randoz
11 2 69 death dont is reeeeeeally good, yes. Creepy too, as I heard it on my way down to Oregon to see my awesome M&D. They arent in their 40s anymore, ya know
Addams Family 7 19 87 in Oregon I WAS THERE MAN! THE PLACE ERUPTED!!
thanks for the AG lyrics Dennis "weed to chaw"...that's NC slang ;)))
Tom Tom...any luck?
Songz and such
Look up Jim (dont call me Jimmy) Page...he has a tune called "going down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead"
7th son...my discs play fine.
The 3 greatest albums of alltime
In no particular order, Workingmans Dead, Anthem of The Sun, and The Best of Muddy Waters, all to be played at my beer and bbq sessions this weekend. Today we're BBQing tri tips and drinking Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Andy and Barney
I have a disc by the somewhat avant gard-tarist Henry Kaiser (Those who know History are Doomed to Repeat It) that has a vocal version of Fishing Hole on it. Pretty funny, never knew there were lyrics.
"Well now take down your fishing pole, and meet me at the fishing hole....We may not get a bite all day, but don't you rush away, What a great place for resting bones, mighty fine for skippin' stones...."etc. etc.
Also always enjoyed seeing Clarence and Roland White with the White Brothers/Kentucky Colonels progenitors guesting as the bluegrass pros on that show on occasion.
Billy the kidd - I did a three day canoe trip with a buddy on the Middle Fork of the Eel river back in the '80s. A beautiful, jade green river along the tracks of some obscure north country railroad in the thickly tree covered cliffs above it. Usually only ran full enough to navigate early in the summer after the winter/spring rainy season before the water got too low. A few light rapids, with a bigger one at the end, but mostly a serene float trip with some nice sandbar and boulder lined camping spots. Just was warned not to climb up into the hills there and accidentally stumble upon some guarded pot farms. So we didn't do that.
I also liked your choices of Daves picks and Dicks picks from several pages back. Many of those are among my favorites too, plus I'd add the Ladies and Gentlemen...release as part of the prime Dead for me. Of course, that just scratches the surface, and the whole late '72-'78 is like a different world of goodies once the Pig flew off.
Even Worse
I can't quite recall the Andy Griffith song because it's being blocked by the Candyland game commercial whistle. It's just going through my head over and over.
Overseas Dave's Picks - let me get this straight - you pay for your subscription, the righteous tunes get delivered to your post office and.....they hold it hostage and put a ransom on it?
Took a detour back to St. Louis '72 Dark Star. Bit different.
#24393 arrived in Scotland
My subscription copy #24393 has arrived in Scotland. Delivered by Royal Mail via France with no fees or taxes to pay. This is the highest number I have ever received. Just an observation as it's all meaningless to me - highest number as good as lowest. Think this will be my fave Dave's. Saturday listening is now perfect.
Dave’s 43 Where Are You
I’m glad to see DaP 43 is making it safely to it’s destinations. Even Dave L was chiming on his Twitter account that his copy showed up a few days ago (the cynic in me says “Bullshit you JUST received it”). As my last year to subscribe, I thought Dead.not would get it right just once. I guess this pales vastly to the numerous problems subscribers are having getting their Lyceum downloads - sounds like an absolute train wreck, and as usual, the Customer Service team at Dead.not is MIA.
My rant is over. Cathartic, but man, what passes for customer service now, and I don’t just mean this site???
Theme Songs / GD
That's Mike - to the benefit of all, I do not recall the theme song from Car 54 Where Are You?
As you were
1stShow, since you asked...
Bonnie at the Rocks last Thursday was truly magnificent. I've seen her maybe 15 times since ~1980, including most of her Red Rocks shows. (Missed last year, if she played. I was hunkering down and big shows were too expensive.)
There's been an arc to Bonnie's career and, as you probably know, in the 1990s she really upped her game dramatically, putting drink/drugs behind her and creating a string of hit albums (in part due to producer Don Was, but the material was strong). She moved from mostly blues and R&B to a broader spectrum of music that includes pop, which worked well for her -- and me. She's always done ballads and non-blues but raised that to an art. Since then she has become a global superstar.
I provide that prelude because maybe 3-4 years ago her Rocks performance was a little short and less intimate than in the past. I chalked that up to her being in the midst of world tour where she probably has to pace herself. I thought, "Okay, that's the way of the world, but ... too bad. Maybe she's 'too big' now?" But maybe she was just tired or I was too expectant (sometimes the basis of disappointment).
Well, Thursday night Mavis Staples warmed up the joint and the crowd was ready for Bonnie. And she came out to genuine adulation and has a way of appreciating that with the grace of a genuine star. And she proceeded to deliver an amazing set that went everywhere -- some of her rockers, some tear-jerking ballads, pure blues, killer slide work, shout outs to friends and family in the crowd. And she took her time, allowing everything and everyone to breathe between songs, talked with the crowd... Warm night, no threat of rain, one night prior to a full moon. Almost too much killer weed in my row, where everyone pretty much bonded before and during the show. Longtime friends in surrounding rows. The whole package.
When Bonnie spoke, the place (10,000) was dead silent, listening. Then she sits down and knocks out an "Angel from Montgomery" for the ages. The longtime band is crackerjack: George Marinelli/guitar, Ricky Fataar/drums, Hutch Hutchinson/bass, new guys on another guitar and keys.
I can't cough up the setlist, but after all these years, that had to be one of her best performances ever if not THE best, at least by Red Rocks' standards. And a wonderful success story. She came to share positive vibrations, she said, and she did. (No mentioning the state of the world, etc.)
Good medicine, thanks for asking.
Yes, DaP 43 is mighty fine
Hope everyone gets theirs soon.
With DaP 43 and Lyceum vinyl, Dave/Rhino were able to release an early-80’s Box without causing much of a mutiny.
That’s some good strategery.
So, what’s on the horizon?
DaP 44 - how about 10-31-91? Bruce/Vince need to be represented in the DaP series. Note that 10-31-91 has a Dark Star.
2023
Wake Of The Flood anniversary
Box - either all 73 shows with ABB, or 12-18,19-73 and a few other from that tour, all Plangentized and Normanized.
Would cool if ABB released 12-31-73 next year.
Excellent Review HF
Thanks mucho. Looked up my Bonnie ticket from Red Rocks.
7-28-91 So I'd bet you were also there.
Chris Isaak opened. Damn he was good! Fantastic ballad crooner.
Will have to research that set list. She introduced us to her new hubby onstage.
It was Michael O'Keefe (Danny Noonan from Caddy Shack). Wait, what?
They lasted until 1999.
Cheers and thanks again
Bonnie Raitt
My wife and daughter and a couple pals will be at Bonnie's show in Bend Oregon Monday 8 22
Watched 2011 documentary about MP 1964 bus trip
last evening
Looks like the best of times and the worst of times
Can you imagine what it would have been like to drink some of their orange juice?
I am very glad their filmed it, and filmed it in color.
Being around Neal Cassady...
Nappy Rags
Calling Nappy Rags, where art thou?
Don’t think we’ve heard from old Nappy since he went to the Rocks?
Hope your ok? We can come bail you out!
Maybe he’s back on the road again with The Lobos?
Or, gulp, maybe that kitty finally ate him 😮
The cost of listening
Keithfan - I haven't had to pay any hidden charges on any of the recent Dave's Picks I have ordered. It used to happen periodically a few years ago, and was one of the reasons I stopped subscribing. So far I have been able to get what I want with no trouble.
Box sets are another matter. Huge hidden costs, on top of the shipping costs, with VAT and God knows what. I was talking on the phone to a friend when the 24 album Lyceum set was delivered, and she heard how much extra I had to pay. She was astonished ! As with the Dave's Picks if it's something I really want, I'll still get it...but I have to be a bit more selective than in years gone by.
I would rather see a film about The Merry Pranksters than meet them. They came to England in 1999, and put on a kind of show at a theatre, showing clips of the 1964 bus trip etc, interspersed with comedy routines and monologues. I can't remember all the people who were there-definitely Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs. They weren't people I would have wanted to hang out with, I'm afraid. I'm sure the feeling would have been mutual! I used to love reading about them and watching whatever footage I could find-but I'm not quite so enamoured now. It was all so new in 1964. It's not now. Mind you - credit where credits due - they did host The Dead.
I did meet Ken Babbs at some event in 1990
A brief hello nice to meet you kind of thing
He was fine at the event....we didnt hang out or anything, though
To Oro...
Hi and thanks for asking...I got back from Denver on the 2nd and by the 5th I was sick in bed with Covid...musta let my guard down a bit (maybe at Coors Filed on Sunday)...my Wife got it from me so we've both been home dealing with it...kinda funny how previously she told me she had seven personal days coming to her that needed be used by the end of August but there was no way she could use them all...guess what...with over the counter remedies and a big batch of gummies I prevailed...just no stamina or energy so back to bed I go...
Nappy, my man, so sorry to hear this
A friend who's 70 just got covid and he went on a 5-day treatment of Paxlovid and it seemed to work.
Hard to nail down where one picks up a virus. Many of us suspect the airports (if not the planes).
Best wishes on the recovery.
11-2-69
definitely an Eyes jam in that Dark Star. That Big Boss man sure hit the spot too. First time I saw Big Boss man performed it was Furthur 96 Ratdog with Johnny Johnson, the performance in 96 had the same pace and feeling that this one does. The more I listen to this release, the more I hear.
Nappy ......
Nappy, hope you feel better soon, your the coolest. Back to the bbq, I'm going to play East-West, play it for you and Marye.
Currently in Winnemucca, NV....
....for our granddaughters wedding. Will be walking her down the aisle. She went with a Hawaiian theme. Should be a great time.
Sorry to hear Nappy. You're an awesome dude. Sorry we missed each other at Red Rocks, but at least you can't say you got it from me! JK. Get better guys.
Get Well Soon Napster!
Hope you and the misses are back to normal asap! I think we can all rest assured that Mr Jinx is there and in control ; )
HAWAIIAN THEME! As in Hawaiian shirts etc, perhaps leis…grass skirts! Tiki Gods and torches! PROPER!
Congrats, you must be a proud bumpa!
Went to a Vegas wedding once: courtyard tropical pools and water features and palm trees and tiki huts and torches, we all wearing Hawaiian shirts, shorts, flip flops, with drink in one hand and big cigar in other with head full of strong Cali bud etc. Best Wedding Ever!
Book em Danno....
....and re; pineapple on pizza, The pizza was actually created in Canada in 1962 by a Greek immigrant called Sam Panopoulos.
It's not even Hawaiian!
Aloha!
I'll eat it btw.
Hawaiian slide guitar
Some beautiful music comes to mind - Sol Hoopii - a master of slide guitar.
Hope you have a quick recovery Nappy.
Winnemucca
Congrats VGuy on the wedding - awesome to hear.
Winnemucca forever in my memory as home to one of the greatest surprise road dinners I have ever had. My GF (at the time) and I heading from the southwest back to northwest early 90s via Malhuer Refuge in SE Oregon. 3 week trip, We typically camped way out there in backcountry almost every night but for unknown reason reached that town after dark. Looking for a bite to eat, nothing on the main strip was appealing. Somehow then driving on back streets. Seems to me the place was in a old 2 story wood sided house. Walked in and they seated us at a long communal table, no menu, just began bringing out large serving bowls of food, red wine in carafe. And then a big juicy steak. It was a Basque restaurant. Damn it was good. Place for locals. Basque were sheep herders migrated / hired from the old country into the mountain west many decades earlier. Just an astonishing meal in all respects. Ate there one other time. The guy seated across from us was an engineer for Burlington Northern(?) Railroad. Described seeing a mountain lion leap across the tracks in the train headlight on recent 3 am run.
Nappy Proudfoot
Nappy hate to hear that, hoping a peaceful speedy recovery for you both.
Proudfoot: I had been meaning to post about the magic trip documentary. I loved it, although I am a huge fan of NYC nostalgia. Like every few years I want to watch Taxi Driver, or many other movies to see how the city changes and morphs. Oh yeah, watched Midnight Cowboy last month first time.
About this time in (August 2x)1986 my brother were in NYC on some business and pleasure. One day walking down the street I see a couple of guys wearing the uniform so we stopped and talked for a bit. Turned out they were brothers too in from Brooklyn. We invited them up to the hotel and got them high (smoke) but then they said wish they had some blotter. We as it happened, we had some of that also, So we dosed em good. We had bought tickets the day before to see Dizzie Gillespie that night at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village. So the brothers took off so we could get some down time before uptime. We told them that around 1 am we would be in a bar right down the street. So my brother and I crashed for a while, got up had a little caffeine smoked some then dropped about 7pm.
early show was 7, we went to later show I think at 11. Man when we got in the cab to go to the Blue Note we were so incredible high we just didnt care. Didnt try to hide nuttin.
Get to the Blue Note and end up sitting behind the drummer. The drummer's back was right next to me, I mean 5 feet away, and the whole stage wasnt but about 10X15ft, so we were real close to it all. Still rank that in my top 5 shows I ever saw. Yall were discussing so much jazz stuff recently I had t chime in a little. Dizzy and his band cooked and cooked hard. We get out around midnight, and my brother and I see a gentleman sitting on the steps of a brownstone. He was burning one so my brother asked if he had any, of course we had plenty back at the room but we wanted to buy a little street weed. He sold us a very reasonable $20 bag. He also pulled out another joint and we started smoking it. Right as we gettin close to finishing it he said, "that has crack in it." Probably the 2nd highest I have ever. Dosed, crackd, weeded drankin. We get on the subway to get back to our hotel area and where we said the deadhead brothers we be. Now subway at 1 am or so on a Friday night back then was like riding in Barnum and Baileys fun car. Folks were wild. Now the conductor was one of the funniest guys ever. He kept rappin about what stops were next and then the 2 after that. It got so f'd up in there my brother and I just broke out in uncontrollable laughing. We were so far out there, the folks on the train just thought we were nuts. Of course we were, we took a couple hits apiece and to this day the only time I smoked crack.
Now did some free basin earlier but got off all of that in 1986. Had a buddy that had a cocaine concentration house for lack of a better term, and going out to the middle of nowhere and being around those nut jobs, just had to get away as I figured they would get busted one day, which they did. Now starting around 1980 I got into all sorts of moving things, ahh a middleman type of thing. But another story for another day, as supper is calling.
Cheers to all and everybody, stay safe, dont let your diligence down just yet.Not sure what I am going to do as far as more shots.
But man, groovin on 43. Lovin it.
Wedding Bell Blues
VGuy - Congrats on your granddaughter’s wedding, I think the Hawaiian theme is cool! The closest I got to a different kind of wedding was attending one in a field of a working farm, where the cows came up to the fence we were sitting by to watch the Preacher perform the service.
Nappy - best of health to you.
Gary F - Nice to see you, hope all is well. Great story on Dizzy Gillespie - a giant of jazz, you were fortunate to see him, and in his “home field” aka The Blue Note, too!
Two more sleeps until I see Emmylou, it has been 13-14 years since the last time I caught her show. A rare treat, and a gorgeous voice.
Well hello Emmylou
Goodbye heart
I happened to see her as part of the Down from the Mountain tour back in 2001 or 2002
I also love her and the Hot Band's cover of Jambalaya in Ken Burns' Country Music film
Love
It
The guy who turned me on to the GD was/is an Emmylou fan
MIKE MORRIS, WHERE ARE YOU???
Only One
Entry all day?? Y’all must be listening pretty heavily, just like me. I can’t get enough of this release. I realized while listening that Next Time You See Me is a song that never really stood out to me, but this version on disc 1 is no doubt the most raucous, on fire version I’ve ever heard. Pig is wailing, and Jerry is in flames!! So damn good!! And the Good Lovin’ behind it is unique to me also. It’s not a particularly stellar version, it just doesn’t sound quite like any of the other versions I’ve heard. So I still need to keep listening, because there’s just SO MUCH to hear. Also, I feel the need to list my top 5 Dave’s Picks, in order:
5-Vol. 14–March 1972
4-Vol. 6–12/69 & 2/70
3-Vol10–12/12/69
2-Vol. 30–1/2-3/70
1-Vol. 43–11/2 & 12/26 ‘69–Please see Jim if you can’t understand how this could possibly be #1.
There, I went and did it. I’m sure 98% of everyone here would agree!!😂🤣
I was busy driving the newlyweds....
....from Winnemucca to Vegas so they could catch their flight tomorrow for their honeymoon in New Orleans, so that's my excuse. Grandpa chauffeur reporting for duty. Avatar apdated accordingly. Hannah is very special to me and the wedding was fantastic. Wishing her and David all the best. Hes a solid dude and his dad is also. She's in good hands. Go grab life by the horns and do wonderful things. We got your back.
Going to see them again here in Vegas for Def Leppard/Motley Crue/ Poison/Joan Jett on 9.9. My treat. Their first concert. 😳
Vguy Congratulations
Vguy, nice photo of you and your granddaughter. I wish the new couple the best of everything.
A thought, Mr. Ones...
As forensic doc characterized mid-February to late September 1971 as "sledge hammer rock," I suggest that 1969 is the year when the band sounded different on different nights depending on how the band members were feeling. After the interstellar explosion of '68, in '69 they acquired great facility in execution and, I think, you'll hear a lot of subtleties in 1969 performances that suggest that I'm not completely out of my mind.
Just a thought.
P.S. Best wishes to Vguy's newlyweds. Go, Vguy, go!
Daves 43
This was the first Dead I listened to after the 24 L.P. journey back to the Lyceum 72, and my first impressions were - this sounds a bit rough! I liked the sound of Jerry's guitar, and his playing of course, but it all seemed a bit herky jerky to me. From Dark Star onwards they sound like a different band. I suppose this was a variation on the jam they had been playing for about a year, and they were well versed. Whereas the blues and country covers, 8 of the first 9 songs played, were comparatively new to the set. That's just a first impression - I'm not dismissing the first 9 songs by any means, and I'll be playing the whole show again soon.
12/26 impressed me right from the beginning - lovely sound to the acoustic guitars. I wonder what the crowd thought when they announced they were going to play some acoustic songs as the drummer hadn't turned up? Presumably they had a young audience at this point, who had come to have their minds blown. Thinking back to when I was a teenager, if a full throttle electric band turned up and did that it might not have gone down too well with the home crowd. It must have seemed a bit like when Dylan went electric-but in reverse. Anyway..... I thought the final cd was great. Well, it all is...these are just my first impressions, and subject to change.
Anniversary show 8/15/81. Portland, Oregon
41 years ago, I hitchhiked up to Oregon to see the Good Ole Grateful Dead play in Portland and the next day down in Eugene. What a wild trip, met and partied with some cool folks, and had an unforgettable fun time!
HENDRIXFREAK
Thanks for the observations. I LOVE any and all subleties, anomolies, weirdness etc.
But......I thought we were ALL completely out of our minds!!
Music is the Best!!
Music is the best....
....Phish's Friday show at Alpine Valley attests to that. Holy Moley. Good shit.
Getting caught up.
Hannah & David's plane is getting ready to take off. Zoom lens engage!
Trying to keep up with Vguy....
Dooood, are you in Wisconsin (isn't that where Alpine Valley is?) or freakin' Las Vegas??
Or...... are you in both places at once......
Vguy the Fist Bumper rides again.
P.S. Hey Nappy, hope you're feeling better!
Daverock etc
I have similar thoughts, first night first half is on a good, better, best scale I’d call it a good, but from that DS onward, wooosshhh, what’s better than best!
I Like the first set/set list, just think the execution is not as tight? Jerry sounds frustrated and even comments on it at some point? Fun stuff though.
Second night same thoughts as you: great right outta the gate and never looked back!
Amazing Bear Mix! I always did like bananas, “please sir, can I have some more?”
Definitely top shelf DaP for moi.
Speaking of variations in 69, if your looking for a unique but awesome 69, check out 8/3/69 courtesy of the Doc on POTD.
Envy on my part, Billytk
I used to have those on cassette...gotta listen to those on archive
Yo BTK... were you at 8 28 81 Long Beach?
Proud foot 8/21/81. Longbeach
Nope I didn't make it there, but it sounds like a fun place to see the Dead, Longbeach. I did see them about 2 weeks later at the Greek Theatre, I think that the 1981 Greek Theatre run was the best of the Greek runs in the modern era, that being 1981 - 1989.
Nope, I wasn't at that show....
....I was listening to it though.
I am heading to Taos, NM Thursday however to see my aunts and uncles and cousins. Hotspot for my moms side of the family. Havent been there in five years and we're not getting any younger. Going to check out My Morning Jacket there as well. Playing at Kit Carson Park.
Last Five.....
Larkin Poe - Self Made Man (sister band from GA.) They got that southern gospel /country/americana/rock/grundgy sound. Really good stuff. Love discovering new bands and these two girls bring it. Gonna check them out more later.
Moody Blues - A Question Of Balance
My Morning Jacket - Self Titled
GOGD - Dallas '69
Phish - Alpine 8.12.22
Larkin Poe
I really like those cover versions they do on youtube. It looks as though they did them in their own home, just the two of them. Great "Come On In My Kitchen", and a nice selection - "War Pigs", "One Way Out" and a really good solo "Johnny B. Goode."
Going deep into the Larkin Poe rabbit hole....
....they sound wonderful, and do respectable covers of Who Do You Love and Crocodile Rock as well Daverock.
Megan plays the lap steel. Respect.
Just enough twang.
Holy shit. Their next tour date is in Vegas on the 25th!!
Stars aligning.