WHAT'S INSIDE:
Five complete, previously unreleased performances on 17CDs
Des Moines, IA 5/13/73
Santa Barbara, CA 5/20/73
San Francisco, CA 5/26/73
Washington, D.C. 6/9/73
Washington, D.C. 6/10/73
Recorded by Kidd Candelario, Betty Cantor-Jackson, and Owsley Stanley
Newly restored and speed-corrected audio by Plangent Processes
Mastered by Jeffrey Norman
Liners featuring notes from Canadian author, Ray Robertson, The Owsley Stanley Foundation, and Legacy Manager and Audio Archivist, David Lemieux
Art and Design by GRAMMY® Award-winning Art Director, Masaki Koike
Custom-dyed Tenugui and an exclusive poster featuring an illustration by Mary Ann Mayer
Limited Edition Individually Numbered To 10,000
Exclusively At Dead.net
"There’s the simple fact that the band members were old enough and experienced enough by now to be virtuosos on their instruments (what other group—rock or jazz or any other kind of music—could boast a trio of spectacularly singular talents such as Garcia, Lesh, and Weir?) but were still young enough to want to play and play and play some more, the happy, itchy inclination of youth. As a few of the shows in the Here Comes Sunshine boxed set attest, it wasn’t unusual for a 1973 concert to exceed four hours. And within the shows themselves, there are nearly nightly examples of hour-long orgies of tune-linked songcraft and juicy jamming." - Ray Robertson, HERE COMES SUNSHINE 1973 Liners
8 years in and the Grateful Dead are a little bit of everything to everyone. They are putting up textures and tones of rock, of jazz, of country, with set-morphing vibes and long stretches of improvisations that are completely keyed into the sum of their parts. Keith Godchaux is here with his cascading notes. Donna Jean too. Both finding their footing and keeping things steady in the wake of Pigpen's unfillable gap. The spring of 1973 feels transformative for the Dead - no more so than the May and early June shows, complementary yet remarkably different, soon-to-be cornerstones of everyone's tape collections, and now, 50 years later, set to be part of the band's official canon.
HERE COMES SUNSHINE 1973 is a limited-edition, 17CD boxed set with five previously unreleased, highly sought-after Dead shows, including: Iowa State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA (5/13/73), Campus Stadium, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA (5/20/73), Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA (5/26/73), and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C. (6/9/73) and (6/10/73).
During the spring, the band road-tested most of the songs they would record that summer for WAKE OF THE FLOOD – their first studio album in three years – including early live versions of “Mississippi Half-Step Toodeloo,” “Row Jimmy,” “Stella Blue,” “Eyes Of The World,” and, the set’s namesake, “Here Comes Sunshine.” Also tucked into the collection are songs destined for the Dead’s 1974 studio album, FROM THE MARS HOTEL – “China Doll,” “Loose Lucy,” and “Wave That Flag,” a precursor to “U.S. Blues.”
The new repertoire slipped neatly into the fluid setlists alongside songs honed on the 1972 European tour (“Jack Straw,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Brown-Eyed Women”), Chuck Berry perennials (“Promised Land,” “Around And Around”), classic country (“Big River,” “The Race Is On”), and incredible jam sequences: “He’s Gone”> “Truckin’”> “The Other One”> “Eyes Of The World.”
Due June 30th, the individually-numbered, limited-edition 17CD set features vibrant graphics and custom-designed folios by GRAMMY® Award-winning Art Director Masaki Koike, a custom-dyed Tenugui and an exclusive poster featuring an illustration by Mary Ann Mayer, and liner notes by Canadian author Ray Robertson, The Owsley Stanley Foundation, and David Lemieux. And, of course, it features newly restored and speed-corrected audio by Plangent Processes, mastered by Jeffrey Norman.
Digital convert? We've got you covered too. On the very same day you can collect your hi-definition download.
ONTHEBUSSINCE77 I second that on an all music edition !
I was thinking the same thing on the number released on this one. Still can't believe I missed it. Honestly had every intention but just dragged my feet too long. For now I settled for the single show and maybe a box will show up at a decent price someday.
But speaking of 'music only editions', do we think there's a chance of others someday? Europe 72? My lord there's got to be enough interest out there to sell several thousands more of that wonderful stuff!
All Music Edition is available as a download
As soon as the download problems get fixed.
Glue on 5-26-73 CD1
Took photos.
Will need to inspect all the CD’s closely.
So apparently if your CD’s haven’t come loose from the sand paper holder it’s because they are stuck in the slot with residual glue.
This release is looking to be another epic fail by Rhino.
Sad, sad, sad…..
There Came Sunshine
Glad to hear that folks in England/UK are receiving their box sets!
I'd love to see Lemieux's production team work with Rhino figure out a way to generate more "All Music Editions". The production for the Europe '72 steamer trunk itself is obviously not going to come together again, but those beautiful rainbow-hued cardboard packs for the 22 shows all contain lovely liner notes and pics that many fans would love to have.
I've heard people opine that the problem with this is that only the most dedicated fans will buy a set of nearly two dozen shows from 2 months containing 22 versions of Mr. Charlie, 20 Black Throated Winds, 19 Casey Jones, 13 Tennessee Jeds, etc. But it feels like the set could be reimagined; suppose it was not re-released merely as the shows sans steamer trunk, but instead recreated as four mini-boxes? For ex. England/Denmark (6 shows), Germany (5), France/Lux/Neth. (6), and England II (5).
I mean, only with the Grateful Dead could a 6-show box set be called a mini-box ;) but there you go. This would make all the music available again, and in more bite-size chunks. Completists (so, that's probably all of us here reading this lol) could buy all 4. Sure, Rhino would have to pay an artist and a production designer to create four new mini-boxes, but that's a nice problem to have. And as mentioned, the liner notes and sleeve designs are already extant. Feels like there's a decent amount of profit in this model for Rhino, while for fans, even a fairly high price point per mini-box (for example, $179USD) would still come in at far less than the *lowest* starting asking price ($1500) today for a Steamer trunk.
Glue, continued
ICECRMCNKD: Thats it, exactly. When I read about Daverock prising loose his CDs, I knew why. Distracted by catastrophic floods, a little too much rain around here, roads closed, wash outs, comparisons to tropical storm Irene damage. Good time to listen to music... if possible. 5.13: Made it through first disc, all good, Second disc was fine until the last two minutes of PITB. Thats where it started to skip, because of dried glue bits on the outer edge. Took twenty minutes of very very gentle swabbing with isopropanol and there's still a smudge film. There's five other discs like that in the box. The glue holding the cardboard sleeves together was not dry before the discs were jammed inside. One disc is scratched in multiple spots, all scratches are parallel and about an inch long, as if a slightly gritty disc was jammed into the cardboard sleeve. CDs play from inside out, so if there's less than a full disc, or say 50 minutes of content, the very outer edge could have glue bits and play just fine, so it would not effect the 5.13 third disc. Close visual examination or a fine sense of touch may reveal glue along an outer edge, anyone who has to prise a disc out is likely to find bits of glue. Which could wind up inside your CD player....
Re- releasing boxes
Obeah - that's a good idea, re-releasing sections of these big boxes. Pink Floyd did that with the Early Years set. As it goes, it seems more likely that The Dead shows from boxes will get re-released as vinyl editions rather than on cd-which is obviously a bit exclusive.My big omission was Fillmore West 1969- a mini box I guess - and I have been buying the records as they have come out. I'd still buy the cds of that run, though, if they were re-released.
Time to take a deep breath and look at the rest of the cds in the 73 box.
Dead Heads up on skipping/tracking
I was experiencing all sorts of tracking errors on the first disc of the set. First, I tried playing on multiple players, then I tried cleaning the laser lens of my players, finally I cleaned the disc (for a 2nd time). After that I made it through the entire disc without skips or tracking issues. I'm going to try the disc on another player before I determine that I am satisfied, but I will definitely be cleaning all the discs before I play them and test for skipping and tracking.
-edit- Now my DaP's 1-4, that's a different story!!... :-( :-( :-(
In the U.K.
3899 is in the house. I’ve visually checked the discs - no glue or scratches, but the proof is in the pudding, or CD player!
physical media
Not that I don't trust downloads, but on releases such as this the cds, the package, are objets d'art, and I like to see them and handle them, read the printed notes, as well as enjoy the magic and beauty of the music itself.
Cone Kid and DMCVT - the glue is generally easily removed with some 91% isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth, if so inclined. Scratches are another issue.
Another disc added to the list of problem children yesterday, Disc 1, 5/20, Santa Barbara. Ripped file for Playing has a 10-20 second stretch of static, skips, dropouts. Looking at the disc it has a very fine angular scratch, main body essentially parallel to the grooves, that I missed in my initial inspection. Crosswise I don't think it would have been a problem but running with them yeah it is. Tried 5 times, same basic result, slightly different each time, last one was the worst. Losing a few notes of Promised Land is one thing - but a problem like that 12 minutes into an awesome Playing is another.
Cleaners and polishes for scratches
Anyone have any luck with the commercial products available?
I remember the folks at Hastings seemed to have some magic juice and a cleaning machine that could get their movie rentals to play again. Brief searches turned up stupid answers like tooth paste. Um, no. How about that stuff that fixes plastic headlight covers or the like? Doesn't do anything for the glue blobs but the thread seems to have figured that out with the alcohol.
Cheers
91%
Yep, will see if I can source some 91% tomorrow... maybe WMG can include a small vial with every box set in the future. I considered trying some 151 Rum too, but why waste that, right? Given the extensive flooding in these parts, a little glue is the least of my concerns at the moment... it was the anticipation after waiting for two months, I just wanted to play all that music at once. And that towel? Very handy for mopping up.
That piece of cloth in the Box
That’s for cleaning the CD’s.
You need to supply your own isopropanol.
I used 70% i-PrOH and Q-tips. It removed the glue but there are still blemishes on the disc plastic, possibly from the solvent that was in the liquid glue.
I so wanted these shows
but I have come to the realization that even though the problems are in the most part resolved (even if it takes months) rhino and the people who control these things just can't seem to get it right when it comes to the Grateful Dead. Why is that? I have had in the past so many bad discs, don't play, scratches, skips, digi skips and total dropouts. Yet if you purchase something else from rhino from another band, these problems never seem to occur. It is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery that is stuck in a quagmire, and until these crazy and sometimes mind boggling imperfections are somehow corrected at the source, I'm afraid that these complications will continue.
Is it the discs made in Mexico? Is it the process? is it the engineers at rhino? why does this happen and why have the powers that be allowed it to continue. Sad, the greatest American band, with the greatest guitar player that ever walked the earth, are reduced to poor workmanship, imperfect production and down right crappy releases. Why can't these problems be addressed and corrected?
I did not buy this release and I have been fortunate to acquire it from kind folks right here at Deadnet. After hearing all these problems, I'm glad I did not take the plunge. Thank you kind heads, you know who you are. :)
I thought that piece of cloth....
....was provided to wipe away tears.
Here Comes Sunshine Cover Art
Here’s a linque to my corrected scans of Masaki Koike’s cover art for the 5 shows in the Here Comes Sunshine box. Sorry it took a while, but I just got mine yesterday, and the folders for each show are wider than my scanner (don’t look too closely for a splice across the middle). There’s some great music in this one! Onward
dropbox "dot" com/scl/fo/i7anf4lju186geyqk4szr/h?rlkey=odvrh2r6boff1ma3alstabsfa&dl=0
Not just the discs that are substandard
In this case, the packaging is too. It's a pity they can't just ship them in functional boxes that protect the discs. Instead, they seem to be trying to produce what they consider to be works of art, with no thought to disc protection at all. Didn't the last box win some stupid award? Terrible - maybe they are aiming for that every time at the expense of preserving the discs.
I seem to have been lucky, having said that. One globule of some foreign body on one of the discs in 6/9/73 which wouldn't come off when I wiped it. I'm not playing it just now. - as I am going through the shows in the order they were played. Looks like I'll be ordering some of that solution that has been recommended!
I thought 5/13/73 was a really great show. Maybe the best one I have heard so far from the first half of 1973. Odd how the show seems to end after the the 3rd cd - when there is still a 4th cd to go. A quick nosy in Deadbase - obvious when you know - they slipped the encore in early as it wouldn't fit on it its rightful place. No problem with that at all - although it would have been nice to have it mentioned on the cover.
We received our box and…
We received our box and every single disc either wouldn’t load, or wouldn’t play. We own every single box set they have released, along with every Dick’s Picks, every Dave’s Picks, every Road Trips, and every other release of the Grateful Dead…. Including bonus discs. Every single one of them plays on our $1,000 Jolida tube CD player. Except THIS box set.
Clearly this is a manufacturing problem that Rhino needs to address properly. Too many people are having problems to just blow us all off.
We own almost 5,000 CD’s in our collection and every single one of them plays perfectly in our player. This set is the only ones not loading or playing. All 17 of them. Clearly it is the discs, not the player.
If they can’t provide a product that will work in any player designed for CD’s then they need to find a solution to their manufacturing problem. This should not fall on the consumer to deal with, and I intend to hold them accountable on this matter.
I won’t accept a refund because I paid for this box set in order to hear these performances. If their discs don’t play in my player, then they need to repress the discs so they do.
I paid for this box set in good faith that I would hear this music, and they promised to deliver the goods. I kept my end of the bargain, so now they need to hold theirs.
Rhino, start pressing the CD’s for the All Music Edition
You’re going to need those CD’s to replace all the defective ones you sent out in the Box.
Also, an FYI, let the glue dry on the packaging before inserting the CD’s.
A solution?
Dear Rhino,
As I've paid over $200 for a Grateful Dead box set which is defective, I feel as if there are two ways you might respond...
1. Refund my purchase price. You can send me a pre-paid label to ship the entire box back to you. I won't mind, but I'll be very disappointed that the music is no longer mine to listen to.
2. Send replacement discs. All of them. UMC did this for the Richard and Linda Thompson box set, "Hard Luck Stories," so this fix is not unprecedented.
I await your response...
Bummer to say the least!
Reading the comments about defective discs, glue and customer service woes is a bummer to read. I can imagine the disappointment: You're 'psyched' to get this in your hands and to quote Lynyrd Skynyrd "Turn It Up!"
While it will take time, it will be made right. Reading the poster's comment about how come Rhino gets other bands releases just exactly perfect. . .. But with the Good Ole GD #$%@ always seems to go side ways. . .. Why is that??
Des Moines
Done with disc three, no problems yet. Gearing up for the big disc four. Couple of shows (Jimmy Webb, Graham Nash) and a couple of summer parties through the weekend, so my dance card is full. I'll get back to y'all next week. And by the way, 91% isopropyl is also great for cleaning out yer bong.
Not just The Dead
I have had occasional issues with box sets by other bands, too. The worst has been the T.Rex1972 box that came out last year. A lot of people stated on Amazon that the cds wouldn't play on any player. Mine did. But when I tried to play them again later in the year, mine were the same. None of them would play at all. And It felt too late and... and I couldn't be bothered to be honest, doing anything about it. Also the aforementioned globules of glue on cds in a King Crimson box-although all those would play eventually.
When so many people have defective discs, you would hope the company concerned would replace the discs en masse, without expecting people to return the originals. That happened to me with individual discs in "The Early Years" Pink Floyd and the "Five Years 1969 -1973" David Bowie Boxes. I think all we had to do was notify the company concerned with purchase details, and replacements were sent out.
No issues with my discs
I've had no issues with my discs so far. Where's the quality control? I don't get it. Some people don't have any issues and others have issues.
Big kudos to JEFFSMITH for the cover art. Great job!!!
Bad Disc
Yep, defective disc here ... Disc 4 from 5-13-73 ... some kind of damage to outer edge of disc ... disc will not play all the way through ... I sent an email to customer service but just thought I'd add a message here as well
Order # 137400000062002SF_US
Please help :)
Artwork
Thanks Jeff for the art work, looks grate!
Is anyone keeping a spreadsheet or something of the skips and dropouts? I don't own a CD player, weirdly, but still buy the physical product and noticed some of the ALAC extracted files have skips. Hoping I can compare the issues others found with the extracted discs to see if there is a match.
HC Sunshine Box Set Never Received
Disappointed is all I can say. I pre-ordered, was charged, received a confirmation and order number. Ahead of shipping, I received a tracking number, which remains to this day in a "Label Created" status. Box set never received. Contacted Dead.net only to find out several days later... Sorry, we are sold out.
Yes, I know. That's why I pre-ordered. That's the point of pre-ordering. To avoid such things.
I was offered a 10% coupon. Thanks... I can obtain that just from signing up for a new account here.
Never had any issues with any previous orders. If they messed up, I get it. It happens, but to offer me a 10% coupon is really rubbing salt in the wound.
Anyone else have this happen to them?
Warm enough....
....not yet. But 118 degrees forecasted for Sunday, which would set a record. "Only" 108 today.
Sciota
It is possible the box is still on the way. Taking its own sweet time obviously, but I wouldn't give up yet.
Easy for me to say, I know. I would give it until this coming Monday before truly panicking.
10% coupon? That is so very kind (eyeroll)
Mr. Cheerful at your service,
Proudfoot
Only 108!
But it’s a dry heat ; )
Experienced 115 once in Phoenix, it really was a dry heat, but still pretty hot!
We needed to use a pay phone…my cousin and I would take turns because after a couple minutes your sneakers would start to melt to the blacktop. But hey, at least your not bucket brigading water like ole DMCVT in Vermont!
Hang in there folks, it’ll be Labor Day soon enough!
I remember 109...
...because 109 degrees in the Bay Area isn't normal. This was July 2000. We lived in an apartment that was built back when a hot summer's day meant 89. So after a three days of sustained high heat culminating with the aforesaid 109, the south-facing wall got so hot that it apparently melted the paint on a black picture frame. We didn't realize this until we moved out a couple of years later, though... we went to pack up the frame, and there was a black rectangle of paint on the wall!
115
First time I encountered 115 was in Palm Springs. It was 40 years ago almost to the day - July '83. We were borrowing a friend's timeshare... no wonder he wasn't there in July. The pool was barely refreshing; I remember it was in the 90s. Anyway, one afternoon we decided to walk to the grocery store, which was maybe two blocks away. The sidewalks were so hot that everything was all shimmery. It was like a fun house mirror except without the fun. Waiting for the stoplight to change was agonizing because the cement underfoot would begin to burn your feet through your shoes if you stood in one place too long. Once at the store I remember burning my hand on a shopping cart. And just inside the store was a man who was completely incoherent, apparently suffering from heat stroke. I remember the paramedics showing up and one of them was complaining that he'd burned his hand on the handle of his van... heat doesn't discriminate, it's an equal opportunity pain inflictor...
PHX in 1990
We moved there in May and in June it hit 122 degrees.
Locally claimed 123 but who's counting.
We said what have we done moving here.
Nice for at least 6 months a year though.
Cheers
Edit: We had previously lived in Gunnison CO in the 80's and endured a minus 48 degree night. (the night the furnace broke) so the swing was 170 degrees, lol.
anecdotal report
Through 5-13-73 on 3 complete close headphone listens on different players, twice on CD and once on the digital or 'ripped' files. All good despite minor scratches and glue removed via 91% bong cleaning solution. Nice, if not mind-blowing show. Very tight, but there are mix issues. Definitely worth future listens barring a 'self-destruct' feature e.g., my DaPs 1-4. :-) :-) :-)¯
Be well all and as always stay Grateful. On to 5-20 in a bit...Fingers firmly crossed...
Rhino's Business Model
I didn't get to order this set in time. Just didn't have the money to spare this time around. That brings me to a point I've made in the past. Remember, before Rhino, when you could just purchase releases as you saw fit at your own leisure? Now, here we are. Rhino insists on making virtually everything in numbered, limited quantities which negates the very idea behind music being for the ages. And they seem to have mangled this one big time with all these horror stories of unreadable discs and glue on the playing surfaces. This kind of issue was present on The Doors 40th Anniversary releases in 2007. There were manufacturing issues which rendered many of the discs unplayable for the first song or two. They also managed to completely botch the vinyl covers on those releases in 2007. At what point do all these bands under the Rhino umbrella decide enough is enough? Not yet, I suppose. I do hope all of you with disc issues are given replacement discs as should be the case.
# 05678 arrived
I don't see any glue or obvious scratches but of course who knows?
Have had great luck in the past (10 yrs ago, maybe?), only once received a defective disc and it was promptly replaced.
Hope for the best as I play through these shows.
Ditto to the complaints on slotted cardboard sleeves which I usually end up tearing to get the disc out.
Pretty packaging, but would be as happy with shelf friendly more plain CD covers, especially with a reduced price.
Gotta admit I loved the poster as it reflected the band members when I first got aboard the bus.
Wonder what the date was she drew this nice pointillist Dead portrait.
"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."
pointilist poster
I believe I first saw that poster included with old copies of the original LP Wake Of The Flood. So the picture is maybe current to 1973.
I'm through all but the second set of 6.10....
....so far, so good. Good thing this wasn't sent out now, or it would have melted in the mailtruck/porch.
I hope that Sphere doesn't start sagging.
To be fair though, a record did occur last/this year. 293 straight days under 100. Beat the old one by three days.
Being born and raised here, I'm pretty much used to it. 48 below? I'm Nicholson in The Shining.
It is a dry heat so shade and sweat helps. Better than 96 degrees and 80+ humidity. Shade does jack shit and at a certain point, ones body can't sweat anymore.
I learned a new term the other day. Wet bulb temps.
The wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be reached under current ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only. Even heat-adapted people cannot carry out normal outdoor activities past a wet-bulb temperature of 32 °C (90 °F), equivalent to a heat index of 55 °C (131 °F). Copy/paste.
We don't have a pool, but a couple of casinos near us offer free pool access to locals, so that's cool.
Not ordering any vinyl until September for obvious reasons.
Phish's Summer Tour is off to a hot start in Alabama btw.
Alabama Getaway!
91% did the trick
Three bucks at CVS and an hour of time spent to obtain, then cleaning glue bits off HCS CDs. Surprised that 91% worked so well when the 70% just melted it enough to smudge. Of course it does not fix the scratches. Hope someone, anyone at WMG/Rhino checks these boards and sees all these comments, absolutely will send replacement request for the scratched CDs. Did not want to wait five weeks to replace 6-7 glue edged CDs, like when I requested replacement for a defective CD on DaP 46. Now I can listen to an entire show... wowee zowee!!! The artwork is great but this concept of lightweight cardboard slip cases, not so much.
desert heat
I've lived in the Palm Springs area for 15 years and was born/raised in the midwest... I personally prefer heat to cold, but that's just me. I'm in Vegas (cooling off a few degrees!) and took a walk over to the Sphere yesterday ... and nope, it hasn't melted yet! just like the cold, one prepares for the seasonal ugly weather and looks forward to the paradise weather that will shortly ensue. And I was here (Vegas) for the Dead with Steve Miller opening... great shows, very hot (pun intended), with a perfectly timed LLR with bolts of lightning comin our way. BTW... I really enjoyed them at the Aladdin... super-trippy to a casino loaded with gambling Heads!