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    What a setlist!... Made me jealous of those who saw this era live. Great sound… like ‘77 was yesterday. @derekb192 on 10/1/77, YouTube

    Wow! Just as when you think eyes is gonna go to drums out of the bliss comes dancing! One of my all time fave moments! Not just classic 77 but classic ever dead! - @emrysdavies1215 on 10/1/77, YouTube

    ...this show was off the hook from the very get go. The Casey Jones is the best I've heard... beginning a jam that goes through each member going off on an instrumental solo. The end has them jamming so hard you can no longer hear them singing through it. Now you know you're in trouble (The Good Kind) when a show starts like that... Weirtheir on 10/2/77, Dead.net

    Holy hell, the 10/2/77 Betty Board sounds incredible... I just wanted to pay homage to this unreleased gem, which features the lovely, tight playing you'd expect of a 77 show with some of the highest audio quality I've ever heard ... What a treat. u/monsteroftheweek13 on 10/2/77, Reddit

    I told my mother I was going into Portland with friends. I never told her where I went... @jamesmoore3694 on 10/1/77, YouTube

    We know where you've been and we're taking you back with the twice as nice DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 45: PARAMOUNT THEATRE, PORTLAND, OR - 10/1/77 & 10/2/77. Back-to-back complete previously unreleased shows on 4CDs? You betcha! Why? Because we couldn't pick one over the other of these two nights that have been described as "fire," "mind-frying," and "crispy" (bit of a theme here) too many times to count. Witness it for yourself when you dig into the inventive medleys and pristine sound, not to mention the first "Dupree's Diamond Blues" since '69 and the first live "Casey Jones" since '74.

    Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, this release was recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson (with a boost from Bob Menke, more about that in David's video) 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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  • That Mike
    Joined:
    Oroboros

    Great story, well told!

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    The Tale of the Oroboros

    Or is that tail? Epic tale well told Oro-1.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Cheers
    DiP 18 is my favorite Dick's.

  • Oroboros
    Joined:
    45 years ago, Madison Wisconsin!! And the next morning......

    was my 'brush with greatness.' Apologies to you all who have heard this tale, but with this anniversary and the releases of shows from '77 and '78, I want to spin this old chestnut again (hopefully some haven't heard this).

    But first grab a cup of coffee (or your preferred beverage) and get comfy, because this will take a while. Brevity is not my long-suit, so bear with me on this, but the background/back story is info it help it all make sense. Back in 1977, myself and my girlfriend (now wife) and two buddies decided to road trip from Nebraska to a New Year’s Eve Dead show run at the Winterland in San Francisco.

    I toted along with me a clay sculpture that I had made the prior year. It was a one and ½ foot (in circumference) dragon that was biting or consuming it’s own tail. It was fired and had ‘scraffitto’ (my own designs) carved into it’s ‘hide’ and then stained. It was the biggest piece of clay sculpture I have ever made. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to give it to the band on New Years Eve show.

    So away we go on the trip and get there and secure tickets for the shows on that Winterland run. The shows were unbefuckinliveable and that old Winterland was such a great venue. We were all sitting on the sidewalk on Dec 31st waiting for the doors to open early. We heard Bill Graham was going to let us all in early and we were going to play ‘freak’ volleyball until Graham played us movies from his collection (16 MM of Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man and the original Beatle’s Magical Mystery Tour) before the start of the show tonight.

    I thought that I better try to unload ‘Oroboros’ now (it was heavy and how was I going to talk that past the gate?) so I spied a door that said Backstage. No answer. The line of people on the sidewalk started getting up and moving to the door. Banged even harder thinking “I got to get this dragon in there so I can go in and play before the show tonight, this thing is heavy”, and as I pound harder the door yanks open so hard it draws me into the doorway, where a gigantic black man in a red Winderland shirt stopped me from being pulled inside with his had on my chest. “What do you want?” he bellowed. Startled, I said “I want to give this to the band” and held out the dragon in both hands. The giant took it in his immense hand and immediately the dragon shrunk to the size of a keychain. And he asked “Wow, what is it, I’d like one” and I explained “it’s an Oroboros, and that is the only one there is”. He grinned and said “Cool, who do you want me to give it to?” and I stated “Garcia, give it to Jerry Garcia.” And the door closed quickly, like in Dorothy’s first attempt to get into the Emerald city in Wizard of Oz.

    So, I happily hurry into the show and needless to say it was a singular experience: with those movies starting in the afternoon, the celebratory/raucous/colorful crowd, and the Grateful Dead 'playing in' the year of 1978. As each of us entered we were handed a piece of paper that had the message "Good things come to those who wait, surprise at midnight" with the stealie logo on it. Once inside I was stopped by ‘Rainbow’ Rose who had an eyedropper of liquid party favor in her hand. She said “ just one dollar per drop, on your tongue or for the adventurous, a drop in your eye.” Wow, this was going to be some night! One on the tongue, please!

    When you entered Winterland, you could go into the 'big hall' surrounded on all sides by an elevated balcony (complete with theater seats). You could also go into a bar, which was playing black and white videos (on an old fashioned 'big screen') of past performances of Hendrix, Airplane, etc from Graham's Winterland archives. Very entertaining, hey, the New Riders are starting to play, I got to get in there, the sound is loud and they are rocking the house.

    Anticipation is high and the Dead came out for the first set. Our party favors are now starting to engage...things began to sparkle and the old Winterland venue takes notice, and her walls start to sweat and then to sway with the strains of familiar music and the Dead coaxes this old hall to join us in our dance.

    Bill Graham got into the act dressed as Uncle Sam and he rode his motorcycle down a cable suspended high above us from the back of the Winterland auditorium to the stage. As the Dead improvised/noddled into the New Year Uncle "bill" Sam slowly moved above us illuminated by a spotlight. The hilarious part was as Uncle BoBo (as Bobby called Graham) was on this motorcycle, and as he approached the stage, the combined weight was too much and he sagged below the lip of the stage. So as the stagehands ran out and to drag ‘Uncle Sam’ onto the stage, Jerry and the band were all laughing as they saw his hilarious arrival to the stage. Then they burst into Sugar Magnolia, along with confetti explosions, as balloons dropped from the ceiling of the Winterland for our NYE celebration. Also on stage flanking the Dead were a gal and guy dressed in diapers as the new year's babies, dancing their asses off.

    And as I squinted at the band, I noticed in between Billy and Mickey’s drum set, sitting on a monitor with a white candle by it was the Oroboros ! ON STAGE with the Dead. Then I watched as Jerry walked over to it and he lit his cigarette off that candle. And when the stage lights went down between songs, the Oroboros was illuminated by the candlelight. I was 'on top of the world' (dead reference intended). If you google the song 'Fire on the Mountain' from the NYE show in 1977 on Youtube and at the conclusion of the song (7:20 or so), the camera focuses on the Oroboros by the candle (as we hear Bobby waxing about 'technical difficulties'). It is an old black and white movie/video, but I did show that to my three sons to prove the old man's story was true. But the boys still rolled their collective eyes at me, but I am used to that.

    We walked out into the cool San Francisco early morning and drove through the fog back to Nebraska. Now fast forward to Madison, Wisconsin 2-3-78 and I made the road trip to catch the show. It was a killer night and the Dead were in fine form (second half was in DP 18). The 'Cold Rain and Snow' was thunderous and Phil's bass boomed out to shake that snow off the roof of the venue.

    The next morning before I left the hotel, I got a wild hair and called the front desk “Could I have Jerry Garcia’s room please” and the phone rang and Jerry answered! I said “Hey, I’m that guy that brought that dragon to the New Year’s show” and Garcia said “Meet you in the coffee shop in 20 minutes”. I couldn’t believe it what was happening but stumbled into the Madison Hotel coffee shop at the appointed time and looked around and saw Jerry Garcia seated at a table with a ravishingly beautiful raven-haired Gypsy woman.

    I walked over an introduced myself and ‘shook the hand, that shook the hand of PT Barnum and Charlie Chan’. Jerry beamed that smile and gestured for me to sit down. “Man, how did you fire that dragon, so that it didn’t explode in the kiln ?” Jerry asked me. I told him that I had cut it in half lengthwise with a guitar string (that a friend had given me) and then put it back together. We locked eyes and he exploded with laughter and I followed with “Ironic, huh?” And he said “No, not at all, that makes perfect sense.” And we laughed some more. Then the Gypsy Beauty said “where are you from” and I replied Nebraska. And she stared at Jerry and stated “He came all the way up here from Nebraska to see the band”. Jerry shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows and said “we didn’t ask him to come” and looked at me and we both howled with laugher. No deadhead was she!

    We talked more about art and the dragon, I didn’t know at that time of Garcia’s interest and practice in art. He was completely engaged in the topic of art, but quick witted with ‘turn on a dime’ twists, turns, and little quips. (Sound familiar to a band we know/love) Garcia was so focused on listening, not acting like he was the center of it all. He was locked in on taking time with me and talking about our shared interests, along with side commentaries on a variety of topics. The Gypsy woman asked “You went out to San Francisco and then traveled here?” and I stated yes and turned to Jerry and asked why don’t you come back to Lincoln? He said “you mean to Perishing Auditorium?” and I corrected him “no it is Pershing Auditorium, after the General” and he quickly retorted “no man, it was Perishing, really.” And we erupted in laughter again. There were some drunk frat boys yelling ‘boogie” at the top of their lungs at that ’73 Lincoln show, but the music was still topnotch! Anyway, I asked Garcia “could you bring your Circus back to Nebraska?” and Jerry grinned his Cheshire cat grin and said “who knows”.

    I saw it was time for me to leave them to eat as their breakfast arrived and excused myself and took off. Jerry brought the Dead back to Nebraska, that summer on 7-5-78. I taped them on my Nak 550 (my best aud tape of all) and then I had to follow them to their (and my) first Red Rocks shows.

    So that is my story of that time in space (or space in time). Garcia was totally a gracious, engaging, and kind man to this DeadHead who approached him for a moment in time. So to make a long story short (which I am constitutionally incapable) Jerry was focused on what he could learn, not what he could teach, on humor/laughter and valuing another person and really listening to their experience. He was so inquisitive, asking questions and then sharing his own thoughts. I have often thought about that lesson he taught me that cold Wisconsin morning. And for the rest of my life.

    Apologies for the thread hijack, so everyone can return to your regularly scheduled programming.

    Teachers open the door, but we must enter by ourselves

  • Angry Jack Straw
    Joined:
    Insomnia

    Is the worst. I’ve had it for years.

    Melatonin will help you temporally but it wears off after a short period of time as your body acclimates to it. Chamomile tea is mildly effective. Of course the best remedy is a couple of shots of bourbon.

    I’ll reuse an old joke and tell you to put on some Dead and Company. You’ll be asleep instantly.

    In all honesty it sounds like you might have something else going on there with your legs. Probably worth going to get checked out by a doctor.

    Good luck.

  • That Mike
    Joined:
    Proudfoot Counting Sheep

    Proudfoot - Everyone has a remedy for insomnia, here is mine, and you’re right, insomnia sucks. There is some science to the “478” Rule, which works for folks with insomnia, or anxiety. Breathe in deeply through the nose for 4 seconds, and hold it for 7 seconds, then exhale deeply through your mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat. Studies have shown lower blood pressure and reduces heart rate, leading to greater relaxation. I’ve tried it myself, with success. Good luck.

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    Insomnia bites

    Hard.

    Lie down CANT SLEEP TWITCHY LEGS CANT BREATHE
    Get up sit there DROWSY AF think I will lie down
    Repeat

    Ever since fookin' Covid

  • rasta5ziggy
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    Random Stuff

    Loving #45. Starting 2nd set, 1st show now. Great music. I was a 1-3 show/year person beginning in the early 70's, and I got to wondering if I ever caught a '77 show. My only one was in Bloomington, IN on the IU campus on 10/30. I always wondered why they never returned to do another show there.
    Also, I read a lot of chatter here about an Ark box. Curious if anyone here ever attended a show at the Ark, or is this just an urban legend of a great venue. Lots of places I would have loved to have seen a show but never got the opportunity (Labor Temple, Electric Circus, Thelma, to name just a few).
    I've never heard a bad Passenger, either live or on CD.....really allows Jerry to make that guitar scream.
    I love all the DaPicks, because I prefer full shows. That was my issue with Dick's Picks is that you rarely, if ever, got a full show. And I loved the Road Trips series, even though I got in on that party too late and only have 2 (Big Rock Pow Wow and Valentine's Day), and those are full shows.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Norman is a genius....

    ....as is Betty. As is the best band in the land. Hit the spot. Can't go wrong with Drumz -> The Wheel imo.
    Onto some Doors. People ARE Strange indeed. Especially these daze lol.
    10.1 this weekend.

  • carlo13
    Joined:
    Holy mackerel

    That DITS jam is sweet as honey. Eyes too. A spliff is needed for that dancing jam.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    #4773....

    ....gonna start with 10.2.
    Checked out the following show in Phoenix off and on at work earlier. Good shit.
    Edit....check out Donna on Duprees 💎 Blues. Very nice.

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What a setlist!... Made me jealous of those who saw this era live. Great sound… like ‘77 was yesterday. @derekb192 on 10/1/77, YouTube

Wow! Just as when you think eyes is gonna go to drums out of the bliss comes dancing! One of my all time fave moments! Not just classic 77 but classic ever dead! - @emrysdavies1215 on 10/1/77, YouTube

...this show was off the hook from the very get go. The Casey Jones is the best I've heard... beginning a jam that goes through each member going off on an instrumental solo. The end has them jamming so hard you can no longer hear them singing through it. Now you know you're in trouble (The Good Kind) when a show starts like that... Weirtheir on 10/2/77, Dead.net

Holy hell, the 10/2/77 Betty Board sounds incredible... I just wanted to pay homage to this unreleased gem, which features the lovely, tight playing you'd expect of a 77 show with some of the highest audio quality I've ever heard ... What a treat. u/monsteroftheweek13 on 10/2/77, Reddit

I told my mother I was going into Portland with friends. I never told her where I went... @jamesmoore3694 on 10/1/77, YouTube

We know where you've been and we're taking you back with the twice as nice DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 45: PARAMOUNT THEATRE, PORTLAND, OR - 10/1/77 & 10/2/77. Back-to-back complete previously unreleased shows on 4CDs? You betcha! Why? Because we couldn't pick one over the other of these two nights that have been described as "fire," "mind-frying," and "crispy" (bit of a theme here) too many times to count. Witness it for yourself when you dig into the inventive medleys and pristine sound, not to mention the first "Dupree's Diamond Blues" since '69 and the first live "Casey Jones" since '74.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, this release was recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson (with a boost from Bob Menke, more about that in David's video) 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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12 years 3 months
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Been away for a few days. Thanks for the help. Read the interesting article. Downloaded the great music.
David and the Dorks indeed!!

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Leapin' lizards Sandy! Just exactly HOT!
It's all transitional with a band that evolves constantly.
Peak K & D era with everyone in fine voice on this.
The TMNS is exceptional in this fine foursome.
I said I wouldn't pre-listen but glad I did.
Cheers

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I’ll give my current top 5 Dave’s “Desert Island Bonus Discs”.

2020 Bonus Disc- 6/22/74
2015 Bonus Disc-3/21 & 3/27/72
2013 Bonus Disc-12/21/69

and these last 2, I can’t decide which is best

2019 Bonus Disc-1/3/70
2014 Bonus Disc-12/11/69

Some highlights:
6/22/74-29 minute Playing in the Band
3/21/72-Truckin’>Drums>Other One>Wharf Rat
12/21/69-2 minute Good Lovin’>Drums>Other One>Cumberland Blues
1/3/70-Entire Disc
12/11/69-Entire Disc incl. Cumberland!!

Did someone say Cumberland??

I dare anyone to play ANY of these discs and not lean back, relax and smile!!

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Box set '23
From Egypt With Love '78
I don't see TPTB going with a '73 box set as it would just a bit to obvious.The other day I posted about a stand alone release I have a very good prediction for a standalone release that's very timely, Bear's Choice Volume 2.

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7 years 7 months
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Where is the setlist?

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4 years 8 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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I planned a road trip around the Dead "on the Rocks" in '82 and a couple of weeks later, caught the Jazz Festival in Telluride (a week or so after their big BlueGrass Festival). 40 years ago, I thought Telluride the best, now I might consider it a draw! Unfortunately, I passed on the Dead in Telluride in '87... and after all these years, I made it back and the venue hasn't changed much at all (good!). From my notes from summer of '82 (be kind, this was a long time ago and I was young!).........."The amazing thing about the whole area is that it is in a bowl, so the weather really forms in the bowl. Spontaneous is the next best word for Colorado weather. And the sound of the music could be heard bouncing off the walls split-seconds after it is heard from the speakers. Personally, I like this whole amphitheater best of any I’ve been at to-date, including Red Rocks. So at one point in the evening, the sky clouded and lightning lit up the sky directly behind the stage. It was incredible and the crowd loved it. Then, the thunder would boom and bounce off the walls of the bowl and literally rumble. YEEEEAH! And between sets, they shot off fireworks off the hill right above the crowd/stage. Was incredible to watch the trails shooting all over the sky. Too much - lightning, thunder, fireworks, jazz!! "

vguy...same thing happened to me when I acquired Garcia 18; I had never heard Valdez in the Country before, and when I popped that one in, the jazzy nature of it really struck me. It's god a really cool groove and Jerry rips it up with his comrades. It's a good one and now you're making me go bust that one out and have another listen.
Funny how things work like that, eh?

Be Well People!
Sixtus

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In reply to by carlo13

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1977-10-01 - Paramount Theater - Portland, OR

01 - Promised Land
02 - They Love Each Other
03 - Mexicali Blues
04 - Dire Wolf
05 - Cassidy
06 - Deal
07 - Passenger
08 - Tennessee Jed
09 - Minglewood Blues
10 - Peggy-O
11 - The Music Never Stopped
12 - Bertha ->
13 - Good Lovin'
14 - It Must Have Been the Roses
15 - Estimated Prophet ->
16 - Eyes of the World ->
17 - Dancin' in the Street ->
18 - Drums ->
19 - Not Fade Away ->
20 - Black Peter ->
21 - Around & Around

1977-10-02 - Paramount Theater - Portland, OR

01 - Casey Jones
02 - Jack Straw
03 - Sunrise
04 - Brown-Eyed Women
05 - El Paso
06 - Dupree's Diamond Blues
07 - Let it Grow
08 - Deal
09 - Tuning
10 - Samson & Delilah ->
11 - Scarlet Begonias ->
12 - Fire on the Mountain
13 - Finiculi Finicula
14 - Playin' in the Band ->
15 - Drums ->
16 - The Wheel ->
17 - Truckin' ->
18 - The Other One ->
19 - Wharf Rat -.>
20 - Sugar Magnolia
21 - Johnny B Goode

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Seems like they raised the price a little this year, wasn't it $30 or $35 last year? I'm lucky I subscribed but I'm guessing the shipping is $10 still. So nearly $50 for each Dave's picks seems like a little too much for the casual gd fan to shell out, can't say I blame em. This is a top notch show that I expected to sell out fast so I'm surprised it's still available, but with the price bump, I suppose it makes sense. Regardless, I'm psyched for it to land in the next week or so.

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I think the four disc releases have always been more.
You don't have to pay that difference or any shipping if you subscribe early.
A value for sure.
Cheers

Topchinacat, It seems it always rained at some point in every Telluride Bluegrass but I did see two dry Jazz Fests. The setting is impressive surrounded by those tall peaks. Even more impressive from the top of lift 12 which is said to rival Swiss views. The best ski area in Colorado all things considered. "It was great. But don't tell anybody" - Mike Dolgushkin in Deadbase X re: the first Red Rocks shows.

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Instead of just having a box set from 1969, I think it would be great if they released a box set that included shows from 1967, 1968, 1969, & 1970, two or three shows from each year. They could start with 3/18/67 the original Grateful Dead 5 members . Also include acoustic music from 69/70 shows. That would be a killer of a box set!

Even the rains better in America. There were no trippy natural psychedelic effects when it rained at festivals in England that I can remember. Unless you'd taken some, of course. Knee deep in a muddy bog more like. You can see it in the photos of Bickershaw.
I thought that was a strange notion mentioned by Strang3 - a casual GD fan. Then I wondered if I was one myself in the context of this board. I typically listen to 3-4 shows a week. With no missed songs.

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can't seem to stop playing these:
If I could Only Remember My Name
It's All Coming Back To Me Now
4-way Street
CS&N
Crosby & Nash Wind on the Water
Deja Vu
Miss you David, Vaya con Dios, mi amigo
I will try a pallet cleanser with 2-21-71 Grateful Dead live at the Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY

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10 years 1 month

In reply to by PT Barnum

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PT - I am the same way the last few days. Lots of Crosby being played. A hell of a talent, for sure.
You’re right - a little Dead might just be the tonic. Perhaps a ‘78 vintage.

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Me and Oro have been banging the drum for a primal box defined as you have: 67, 68, 69, 70.

I have a feeling they're seriously light on '70 shows. But there's only so much time.

It was interesting around 2003 when The Dead and The Other Ones toured. I met so many people who were there for the live thing and the scene but had no idea about the archival releases. As we've discussed, those are two different experiences. I like both. Especially the very early GD I missed in concert.

Man, I'm a little crisp as it is. I took a fair amount of LSD in the 1973-1979 phase, and this is my 50th year of continuous use of psychedelics: first lysergic, then (due to its absence) the shrooms -- point being, I'm kinda glad I missed those early lysergic fests cuz I'm crisp enough as it is.

Rambling, as always. As you were.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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.... but, Valdez In The Country.
Outstanding stuff.
So is The Last Of Us.
I beat that game.

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Should definetly be part of the BIG 1960s DEAD BOX SET. Would also make a great dual release along with 4/5/69.

I used to think I'd have loved to be in say, London or San Francisco around 1966-69 when acid first appeared in large quantities. I'm glad I wasn't now. I think I'd have been swallowed up whole. It was 1976 when I first collided, the last year ( I think) before acid was scooped up in the infamous Operation Julie drug bust. It was still around, but it seemed a bit weaker - different in some way. Mushrooms seemed far better, to me, but I stopped for about 6 years anyway.
Then I moved into a flat surrounded by fields of mushrooms, and I thought I would see what would happen if I tried a few again - this time on my own. It felt very different taking them in my 30's to how it had been in my teens/early 20's. My last trip was when I was about 36. I used to get flashbacks, which I quite enjoyed, until I was about 43. They just seemed to fade away in time, and I realised one day that I was no longer so visited. I can't imagine what I would now be like if I had continued to take them. As it is, I am often criticized for seeming to be in world of my own. Hard to know, one way or the other. Who wants to behave like everyone else anyway?

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Interestingly (probably to me alone) I have never had a flashback. I have memories of key insights or phenomena but no flashbacks. I have a few memories of tripping to the GD still emblazoned on my soul. The mushrooms in the backcountry erase the barriers between me and my surroundings; I "understand" the rocks and the vultures... Funny, they always circle at least once and dip low, probably to size up whether I'm potential carrion -- which of course every living thing is. I had alienation in teen years but these days I feel pretty good about life. I do not take psychedelics for pleasure or fun; it's always a day of reckoning and resolution. It still takes a little courage for me to face the truth. But it makes me a better human being. Didn't Paul McCartney once say something like that?

Okay, another TMI from HF. SOP!

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There was that fugue state for days after 7-8-78 but I've written that off as tripping while still ill with flu. Not advised. Early hallucinogens were all for fun but did provide some clarity as to purpose or more accurately satisfaction with the current state of myself and the world. That unease with what you're doing with your early twenties life and realizing you're not going to change things by luck. Got me off my butt and to a better place. But the clarity of thought and the hilarious happiness was always a bonus benefit. When it all clicks and you see the wheel is turning and it can't slow down. Hard to stay in that mode when it wears off but that is the challenge of learning. It takes practice and still does every day. But I digress.
I want to live where DR was with the magic growing in your back yard. Just make sure you're eating the right ones!
Cheers
And HF, I'm a Littleton (unincorporated, now Centennial) product as well. Arapahoe & University area from 1967, when I was 10, and my sister still owns the family home there.

No, during those years I didn't take mushrooms as a party drug. I liked it best taking them on my own, in my flat, on a Saturday afternoon, and then going out to meet friends later in the evening. I did take them when I went out occasionally - The Dead at Wembley being a case in point, but those at home were the best. I felt I made all sorts of positive changes in my life at that time, too. I started doing voluntary work, which I loved, went to University to get qualified and started going to meditation classes with the local Buddhist organisation. Something I have done virtually every day since. I also got engaged to be married - so it wasn't all good.
It was what I call a happy accident moving into the flat a short distance from where mushrooms grew. Once I knew exactly what to look for - I was a bit tentative the first time, I seemed to see them all over the place. The local reservoir was the main picking ground, and the cricket pitch about 100 yards from my flat was a good resource. I stopped because I left the area, not because I felt I needed to, or because I felt I was harming myself in any way. Suddenly, I felt the time had passed.
Those flashbacks, if that was what they were, were just visual, and a bit trivial. The look of my face used to change in the mirror when I was shaving. Like watching Dr Jekyll turn into Mr Hyde. The same thing with other people's faces, if I looked at that them for long enough, their looks used to change. Doesn't happen now.

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I only surface around release time, but I am curious, anyone get a shipping notification yet for this one?

Edit: I just got a shipping notification 8pm EST

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10 years 9 months
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It's like the Golden Rule -- so simple, yet so difficult. Taking the fabric of love and oneness from the psychedelic experience and hanging onto it for application in real life is, I think, the big challenge. I was a cocky kid and 50 years of tripping combined with life's knee to the groin has humbled me considerably. I can still be a pompous ass for laughs with friends, but the preciousness of life, empathy for others' struggles, and lending a helping hand ala Daverock is what it's all about. Some people know that without psychedelics, so I just need consistent reminders.

1stShow, are you still in Littleton or I thought maybe Montrose? Let me know. We'd have a hoot together.

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10 years 3 months
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...now HF. Since '79 actually with a stint in PHX '90-95. Montrose after that.
Can't do Denver anymore. Lots of history like jumping cars off the whoops on County Line Rd. at 70 mph. Gunnison was my refuge. Ft. Collins twice too. Great town. Jose's Mexican restaurant downtown Littleton. Tortilla Flats on Sante Fe was better. Arapahoe H.S. tribe of '75. Maybe I'll come back for 50th, LOL. But I digress.
It would be a hoot! If I am coming your way I'll let you know, likewise if you are on the Hwy 50/550 tour let me know.
Cheers

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7 years 7 months
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Thanks. That's a sweet set list (2).

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3 years 1 month
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Maybe they will release 2/13 & 14/70 as complete shows for Bear's Choice 50th anniversary, remastered and in the order the show was played, that would be a knockoout!

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8 years 1 month

In reply to by adedhed68

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Nothing in my inbox yet. Good to hear you got one. I am guessing this weekend isn't happening. Not sure what the release date even means at this point.

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10 years 9 months
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Brilliant suggestion. Typically, anniversaries don't move me -- unless they're personally conveeenient! Like an expanded Bear's Choice, or a monster '73 box. Even better: both + WotF expanded.

A man can dream. As I do, regularly.

1st Show: I spent several years in a cabin the Spanish Peaks on the New Mexico border. (I'm sure you can figure out what I was doing there...) After a bust, moved to Steamboat for years, drove dog sleds for cash and adventure. To Chi-town for school. Back to Pueblo, CO, for a book on Spanish colonial exploration, then up the Front Range to a dead end road in Littleton. Spend most of my free time in the Dinosaur Country in NE Utah, NW Colo, SW WY. Love my home and web of life here but unsure of next step. (Probably another GD show!!)

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10 years 2 months
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Spent a lot of time there too. Vernal has become a fossil fuel nightmare though now. Wells everywhere. I liked it better when the tar sand experiment went bust, say early 80's. The laundromat has special machines for oily Gilsonite rags. We said wtf is Gilsonite? Wife did her masters thesis on the rock art of Nine Mile Canyon. Love the McKee Spring area next to Dinosaur Nat'l. Mon. and of course the Ashley- Dry Forks petroglyphs too. Let's roll! And Steamboat! Ski The Glade. Sweet in fresh powder which they have plenty of. Many a day there when I was in Ft. Fun but a long drive.
Cheers
Now back to our regularly scheduled program: Why is 45 not sold out? Have they not listened to the listening party? Just exactly hot! It has been slow here in these parts since about the holidays.

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10 years 9 months
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I mean, like a ham on rye....

I prefer to think of myself as Snidely Whiplash, from the Dudley Doright cartoon. Tying damsels to train tracks is SO much fun. Especially the ex- .... KIDDING! (A little.)

1st Show, I've spent 35 years trying to cover about 3000 sq miles of Dinosaur backcountry, scribbling away now. We've taken up pack-rafting -- the one-man inflatable rafts from Alpacka -- for the Yampa, Little Snake, Green etc. Up to Class III.

I think the $40, 4-disc format might slow sales. Who cares? A lot of people are missing out. Wait, I care, cuz the success of the Vault program keeps it going. If I gotta buy one at retail, so be it.

That would be a great release, the whole run in the order it was played. Including 2/11 - although the fact that the Allmans and Peter Green joined in on that night might make it more difficult to release. Maybe not, though - an Allmans set from this run has already come out.

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10 years 2 months
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... Nyah-ah-ah! You well dressed dastardly ne'er do well. We got as far in as Echo Park one time camping and looking up at Steamboat Rock. Truly awesome, and I don't use that word much. You are taking the early explorer's super highway, the rivers, to see what would be very difficult to get to otherwise. Very cool. Not many do that.
Cheers

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4 years 4 months

In reply to by 1stshow70878

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why do you think the reindeer can fly?

(actually, according to Beavis and Butthead, it's because Santa beats their asses with a whip.)

I can retire in 6 years...

BACK TO WORK , PF!!!

The myth I heard decades ago was that reindeers in Siberia ate amanita muscaria hallucinogenic mushrooms. Their urine was then drunk by Siberian shamen and both parties then flew off into the night. According to this myth, as I remember it, Santa Claus was not a person, but a magic mushroom.

.... according to Cheech & Chong, reindeers can fly because of some magic dust Santa gives them.

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17 years 6 months
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The trend seems to be three year periods. If a '60s box is on the potential consideration list, a set with shows from '67-'69 wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. '68-'70 or '71 would basically still be the same general band.

Certainly WotF will be big. So many possibilities. A February FE complete set for Bears Choice would be awesome, but don't see that happening as the meat of those shows was a Dicks Pick.

Whatever they release it'll be cool. Hoping to see some late 1990 or something from 1991 in the Dave's Picks series later this year. Well overdue to break that seal.

Sounds markedly less appealing than licking toads.

I'm out, but I like your spirit.

Apparently, there is documentation of people in Siberia that boil fly agaric, discard the water and then prepare/cook/do whatever to the mushroom which includes tripping. I also heard there is a subspecies in the UK that is not as toxic as those here, but was unable to find documentation on the web as I wrote this (which probably means it's BS, i.e. do not eat this mushroom, repeat DO NOT EAT IT). Anyway, interesting stuff.

DO NOT eat the red mushrooms with white dots. Repeat, do not eat the mushrooms that make you puke.

My brother knows his mushrooms (and birds, lizards, dragonflies, reptiles, well he puts Mr. Wilson to shame a regular nerd but loves the GD and I both got high and tripped with him for the first time, but I digress) anyway we were walking up the river trail from my house one day perhaps 8 years ago or so.. and he reaches down and pulls up this tiny mushroom and says, this might interest you Jim.. I can't be sure here but I think it's a psilocybin species. He twisted the tiny stem and it immediately turned blue.. which interested me to no end (oh the thoughts).. he said, don't get your hopes up, when dried this is probably 1/100th of a gram, good luck finding the other 99/100th. Still, this area is not known for magic mushrooms but I believe he was correct.

I love mushrooms and still do them, not for fun, more like brain maintenance.. focus on introspective and self-regulating, a brain cleanser.

anyway... As you were with the newfound wisdom not to drink reindeer piss, lick toads do not eat red mushrooms with white dots, aka live long and prosper and Play Dead. Been channeling the Swing lately.. I really haven't listened to it since it's release.

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15 years 2 months
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I have a shipping notification. The email no longer contains a tracking linq and the tracking number isn’t recognised by USPS. The order info in the store also doesn’t appear to allow tracking. Watching the package move across the US and then disappearing for a week or two added to the fun of the delivery. The new store info also doesn’t show the expected shipping dates for the items any more. How is this an improvement?

Edit: As suggested above I tried UPS. They are aware of the item. I look forward to its eventual delivery. The new Dylan box is dangerously close to me in Manchester but the delivery isn’t expected until tomorrow.

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10 years 3 months

In reply to by JimInMD

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I don't know of any mushrooms that grow in the UK that are part of the amanita group, and are less toxic that the muscaria one. There is another called amanita pantherina that is even more toxic. That one is nicknamed the death cap. As far as safety is concerned, the clue is in the name. As I understand it, none of these contain psilocybin, and the effects are completely different from those that do. The amanita group seem to cause delirium. Not really psychedelic at all.
I have always liked the look of these mushrooms, red with white dots. A real emblem of otherness. But I wouldn't eat one. At best the effects sound ghastly. At worst they could kill you.
The most common psychedelic mushroom in England was the psilocybe semilanceata. In the early days I used to look out for bluing of the stems, too, as an indicator I'd picked the right ones.
As ever, and as with most illegal drugs, their illegality adds greatly to the dangers of taking them. There seems to be a steady accumulation of scientific evidence that indicates psilocybin is of benefit in helping to alleviate all sorts of medical conditions. As well as something that spreads joy to those not diagnosed with anything.

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9 years 1 month

In reply to by Colin Gould

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My email does have a tracking number which I pasted into the UPS app:
Says expected delivery next Tuesday.

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10 years 3 months

In reply to by icecrmcnkd

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I was quite surprised to get this last night. Came quicker than I was expecting. I notice it does have a reference and a tracking number in the email. I don't bother trying to track things I order, unless a month or so goes by, and whatever it is hasn't turned up. As I often forget what I order, it's always a nice surprise when the postman knocks on my door with another parcel. What's this, I wonder. It's usually a nice surprise, anyway.

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13 years 10 months

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I have read that picking magic mushrooms is illegal in the U.K. and that people have been 'busted' while out looking and picking them. I think it is the same here in New York state not that that the cops go looking for 'criminals' doing so. Regarding the medical benefits, Big Pharma will swoop in if they are legalized to isolate and patent and profit. We can count on it. Government agencies which claim to be separate, independent and not part and parcel of a for profit corporation will authorize all of it too. Maybe they create a drug that will help my occasional cynicism and sarcasm?

Oh, by the way, got a shipping notice a few days ago. Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile!

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Are the best. I did them constantly in college. Decided to stop for no other reason than the belief that something that much fun eventually had to have some side effect.

More recently, John's Hopkins is running a study using mushrooms to help stop alcoholics from drinking. It has proven to be very successful. There is also a cool documentary, Fantastic Fungi, about the relationship with mushrooms and trees. Well worth checking out.

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10 years 3 months

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Yes, possession of mushrooms containing the active ingredients psilocin and psilocybin is illegal in Britain. It's illegal to pick them now, and possession can lead to a 7 year sentence. If you are caught growing them you could get life! I don't know if these sentences have ever been handed out though. Bizarrely, it isn't illegal to buy grow kits - the spores aren't illegal, it's just once they start growing you've broken the law.
Up until 2005, it was legal to pick them and take them home. But illegal if you then prepared them for consumption. Around 2004 there were several shops in London selling them fresh, from all around the world, cashing in before the law changed.

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