Grateful Dead

Yes. I suspect Pig was resting from his short reunion tour with the band in December '71 and fortifying his commitment to sobriety in what had to have been an unfathomably difficult lifestyle change (if not in terms of medical necessity, then certainly in practice).

"Ace" was recorded from January - March '72, but recall that Pig's alcohol-related health problems forced a touring hiatus in August '71 that culminated with hospitalization in September for bleeding ulcers, hepatitis, and spleen problems. He was only able to rejoin the Dead beginning early December in Boston, at which time I recall Phil describing Ron as shockingly frail in his book. Not surprisingly, Pig's contributions are limited, and while progressively more energetic throughout the month (at least to my ears), they are still anemic by historical standards; though by NYE he sounds beat.

In retrospect, it's a miracle that the Dead community (once and future) got Pig back in functional form for the brilliantly recorded European tour, especially given how quickly he dropped off radar for related health problems afterward.

EDIT: And yes, "sabbatical" serves as a neat and entirely appropriate bit of shorthand in conversation among those who know....

essentially it was a dead album with everyone on board contributing except for Micky who was on a sabbatical, (as i see it) and Pig, why wasnt Pig contributing? was he too sick at the time?

CC, your post invites a bit of confusion by suggesting that you saw both the Dead and TSOC on the same NYE bill at Winterland in '69; though 50 years is an understandably long time. It's hard to imagine, but the Dead were not playing on a West Coast home field that December 31st, and were rather in the midst of an odd eastbound triptik that took them to Dallas on 12/26, Hollywood (FL) on 12/28, and the Boston Tea Party on 12/29-30, while closing out at the Fillmore East on 1/2-3/70.

Indeed, the '69 NYE playbill on the poster you linked does not name the Dead. So TSOC and the GoGD were on opposite coasts at the decade's close. In any event, here's a link to a CM SBD for the Dead's '69 NYE show:
https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1969/12/31?source=87994

Incidentally, I couldn't find a poster for Boston NYE, but here's one from the night before (it would appear the promo dept. missed the spirit of the "grateful" dead; you'd think an impossibly early incarnation of Maiden was playing that night!):
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YQBsfGwVEeo/TUSkqEWWy3I/AAAAAAAARQs/qRvbGdWK_…

However, you are correct that the Dead played NYE '70 at Winterland, but, consistent with the playbill cited in Deadbase50, the following promo poster does not show TSOC on the same stage, but rather NRPS, "assorted friends" (apparently Hot Tuna), and Stoneground (note also, "lights by Little Princess 109").
https://img0.etsystatic.com/030/0/8448089/il_570xN.542921874_q4nc.jpg

Checking Deadbase, here's a link to what seems the complete NYE '70 show; however, it appears to be mix of AUD and FM broadcast that provides poor sound quality through Cumberland (even so, the Truckin' opener is well worth a listen), but thankfully improves in time for the set's highlights at Cryptical and China>Rider through close at UJB.
https://relisten.net/grateful-dead/1970/12/31?source=88719

Regardless of which show you attended, either would've been a great way to kick off your own personal attendance record! Got a story?/K

Thanks for sharing this post i really like this post

You may want to post this on the Dave's Picks 31 thread so more people see it. Most folks are there.

I can not find the 1st GD show I attended anywhere in GD archives. No GD archive lists the same bands that I saw that night, as confirmed by the Sons archive which has the poster from that night:

<<Wednesday, December 31, 1969: '1969 New Years Eve 1970', Winterland 2000 Post Street at Steiner Street, San Francisco, California
The band was billed only as 'The Sons' on the poster printed for this show. Also on the bill: Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna. Lights by Brotherhood of Light. This show, from 8:00pm to 8:00am, was promoted by Bill Graham Presents In San Francisco.>>
http://brunoceriotti.weebly.com/the-sons-of-champlin.html

How do I update my address for my Dave's subscription? Want to make sure #31 gets safely home!

Could you please explain the logic of "limited releases" as it applies to an "alternative" business model, such as the grateful dead" The "limited release" model is a concept taken from the good old music biznezz, in order to promote sales, keep prices high, and maintain collector value of limited products.
I "missed" the window for daves pick's 30, a rare release from the year 1970, the first show that I recorded 1/3/70. I was disappointed, but managed to get one on a record/cd selling site. I paid double, but I still saved $$$, as I do not want to purchase a "subscription" to the daves picks yearly releases, as I am primarily interested in obtaining music from the 1966-1970 period, and not many releases are from these years. I guess I could always buy a subscription, and then sell off the unwanted items on another site for a profit, which is what this concept does, encourages a "black market". I do not consider this to be "progressive" in the least. I would rather purchase through GDCORP, as I have in the past, but if GDCORP wants to encourage this type of atmosphere, I am forced to participate in order to get what I want, and I am grateful to the sellers who have made it possible to get what I want. But it sure seems contrary to what Jerry's idea of business was.

Hey there! I work for a Farm Craft Brewery in Virginia and we recently got accepted to have taps at the Lockn Music Festival this year. I have created a piece of art that combines our logo and labeling with a Stealie and would love to get it made into shirts for our team and possibly release a small barrel batch of bear grateful dead themed. We of course need right to use the Stealie and want to do things right! Could you please point us in the right direction of making this happen?!