Dave's Picks Vol. 47: Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO 12/9/79

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July 18, 2023 - 9:35am

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Who's ready to boogie with a little Brent-era Grateful Dead from the Gateway to the West? DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 47 features the complete unreleased show from Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO, 12/9/79 and you're going to need stamina because this one is high energy from start to finish.

By the time December 1979 rolled around, Brent Mydland had fully cemented his place in the Grateful Dead canon with his twinkling keys, harmonic tenor, and songwriting skills. No more is that evident than at this show boasting 25 songs including soon-to-be classics from GO TO HEAVEN like "Alabama Getaway," "Don't Ease Me In," "Lost Sailor," and the Brent-penned "Easy To Love You." It's also packed with whirling takes on fan-favorites like "Brown-Eyed Women," "Shakedown Street," and "Terrapin Station." And you've never heard a 2nd set quite like this with eight songs before "Drums" including an improvised "Jam" launching from the end of "Saint Of Circumstance." It doesn't stop there though, with a blazing finale of "Bertha>Good Lovin'" and perhaps one of the best versions of "Don't Ease Me In" the band ever did play. We've rounded out Disc Three with an extra nugget from '79.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, this release was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

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September 13, 2023 - 9:28am

#491

JimInMD

Joined:
June 27, 2011

Re:

I'm with Oro on the snow, no bueno.. it's a terrible drug that ruined many a life of the people I grew up with. It seemed my high school friends that didn't go to college all got 'high paying' jobs (for our age) in contruction, landscaping, cable companies, UPS, whatever.. and all started doing blow... and all experienced serious problems. Going to school, we couldn't afford it that much. A friend in 87 or so turned me on to the idea that the stuff was no good.. stay away.. Danger Will Robinson. And pretty quickly I heeded his advice.

As to Chucks comments.. well said. I saw a few shows where I walked away wondering what could have been or what happened. One was that last show at RFK in 86. Well.. they got much better after that, then they got worse but still had their moments.

In the end we got what we got.. if I have one regret it's that I wish I would have gone to a few more shows. In hindsight, I probably went to as many as I could afford. A very positive experience on my life, I am grateful for that.. and grateful that I got to meet many of you here, and for those I have not met yet.. I at least get to read about your excellent stories, views on life and takes on music and all good things.

Oh, I really liked that interview with Whiz on recording Europe 72 and the most excellent 5/26/72, which they played on SiriusXM last night at 9. Serendipitous it comes up on these threads today. I will listen to it in its entirety very soon...

Be well people.. rock on. or as Mr. Burns said after his first dead show:
Excellent!
September 13, 2023 - 8:00am

#492

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Wiz

My memory fails as to his direct relationship. He was a technical type within the Organization. Now where placed I am not sure. Under Bear directly, maybe under Betty. In the documentary, he talks about the very last show of E72 and maybe some other things. He was the last tech in the recording truck, that is, recording switching tapes etc. This last show was pulling him in, blowing his mind. When Morning Dew came, he left and locked up the recording truck and went to go watch. He gives a deeply passionate discussion of that Morning Dew, that it was so incredibly emotive. That Jerry was crying, he began crying and was absolutely blown away with that version. He never went back to the truck and felt fortunate the remaining tape was able to record the whole show. That is my understanding, and from memory 4-5 years old, and my memory is not that great. May have to go back and watch Long Strange Trip, think it is still on Amazon. Might need to re-listen to that show as I became overwhelmed by the last years offerings and didn't make it through the whole E72 box this year. But can renew the listen as I am still digesting HCS and #47, and a lot of other stuff also. I also went thru the From the Vault 1-2.

Here is a direct write up over at rick turner. Anyone want reference website, DM me or look up Grateful Dead's Wiz.

May 12, 2020
Dennis “Wiz” Leonard’s Notes on Europe ’72

Here are my old friend, Dennis “Wiz” Leonard’s tech notes on the recording of the Grateful Dead’s great live album, “Europe ’72”. Most of my blog is my own writing, but I asked Wiz if I could share this, and he graciously said, “yes”. This is the clearest explanation of how Alembic did live recordings that I’ve ever seen. Wiz now works at Skywalker Sound…he went way big league!

Dennis Wiz Leonard Europe ’72 Technical Liner Notes By Dennis Leonard
“Less is more!” This was the motto of Alembic and many of the sound artists in the S.F. Bay Area’s growing community of folks trying to advance the state of the art in both “live” and “recorded” sound for rock ’n’ roll. One can hardly mention this philosophy to recording without touching on the Alembic PA system and its unique qualities.
The new paradigm for live sound: the Alembic PA. In 1964 The Beatles played at Shea Stadium using a circular array of Vox Grenadier Column speakers, a box quite similar to the Shure Vocal Master Column. This approach to sound for a stadium was doomed even if all the girls did not scream. Fast-forward to ’67-70 and things were not much better.
The Alembic PA was the first really hi-fi approach to a live system. It had direct radiator low-frequency elements rather than horn-loaded boxes, which were the standard. It was an electronically crossed-over three-way system using McIntosh MC-75, MC-275, and MC-3500 vacuum-tube amplifiers and Ampex MX-10 vacuum-tube mixers as the front-of- house console. It eventually evolved into the famous Wall of Sound. This was a philosophic approach, brainchild of The Bear, put together by some of the most talented engineers in the Bay Area, and the same philosophy was applied to the task of recording bands.
Alembic Recording did not have a truck to pull up to a venue. We had gear, and we often built a studio at the venue in a room somewhere backstage. Sometimes we would haul the gear to the gig in a rental truck, then unpack and build the studio for the gig in the truck, take it apart when we were done, and take it back home.
Recording Europe ’72 was a monumental task, and we came up with a great solution to building a truck which we could fly airfreight to and from Europe. A video-production company was letting go of a pair of cargo containers built for them to ship a portable video-production remote unit by airfreight. This was perfect—when set back-to-back, these two rode in the top of a 747 airfreighter. Each container was built around a reinforced floor, the sides and top latched on and off.
We moved all of the components of our Ampex MM1000 16-track into a video chassis that put all 16 sets of AG-440 electronics down below the transport which was then on a 45 degree angle. This was not only more robust, but it was also going to allow us to run 14-inch reels. This took place in an all-night marathon. When we started, Ron Wickersham was not sure all of the original cabling would work. We were lucky it did! At around 5 am, the new machine was rolling; no cables needed to be cut or spliced from the original wiring loom!

Another obstacle was that the capstan speed in an MM1000 was derived from line frequency. Ours was a 60-Hz machine and we were going to 50-Hz land. Ron came up with a solution which would also solve another problem down the road: He built a precision 60-Hz crystal oscillator; we drove a McIntosh 275 vacuum-tube amplifier and picked off a tap on the output transformer, which would give us 120 volts with enough current to run the capstan motor at our precise 60 Hz/15ips, also now immune to line-frequency fluctuation. The other problem arose when we tried to get Ampex to give us their 207 tape on 14-inch reels. Ampex 207 had a thinner backing; instead of the traditional 30 minutes one got out of a 10.5-inch roll, 207 would give us 45 minutes, so a 14-inch reel was going to run 90 minutes—very desirable when recording a band with long sets, like the Dead. Ampex would not build the reels; we had to do those ourselves. Remember, we were running the recorder’s capstan on an oscillator, so for building the reels we hooked up a variable-frequency oscillator. We would ramp the machine up to 60ips to pack the tape. Each of the 14-inch reels had a splice in it. Ron and Sue Wickersham and I spent a few nights at Alembic having a 14-inch- reel-building party.
The recording rig was quite simple: “less is more.” We recorded the Dead quite often, so a lot of what we did for Europe ’72 had been tested and proven.
We built the rig at Alembic. One of the newly procured containers had the 16-track and an outboard equipment rack, the other . . . a custom built cabinet which was our tape library, and this cabinet also had our monitor console, Revox two-track, cassette machine, and Orban reverb units mounted on top of it. A carpenter met us at Heathrow airfreight in London. When the gear arrived, we took the sides and tops off of the two containers (which were left there in storage for the tour) and had them forklifted into our rental truck for the tour. The container floors were about ten inches high, so after the two were in the truck, the carpenter secured them and built us a filler floor so that the recording truck would not have a split- level floor.
We wired the truck up and hung drapes and the 4310 JBL monitors, as well as many other things at the first show venue, Wembley Arena.
The flow of the rig, starting inside the venue, consisted of the following:
Two nine-pair snakes plugged into a custom Alembic split. AC from the stage ran to the truck with the two nine-pairs. Once inside the truck, the AC power was conditioned in an automatic, motor-driven variac made by General Radio. This was to, hopefully, prevent severe voltage fluctuation. The split plugged into the rack, which held a patch bay and minimal gear. We had a couple of Ampex MX-10 tube mixers and some limiters. The limiters, by the way, were used only on vocals for our monitor mix; we did not want to do anything to the vocals on the 16-track record master.

One of the big “less is more” philosophic bits of Alembic magic was the use of transformers in the input section of the MM1000. Ampex offered modules which plugged into an octal socket on the back of each 440 record amplifier. We used these sockets for the transformers, which would allow us to take microphone level right into the tape recorder, totally passive—no electronic noise added and no record console electronics to fail.
The MM1000 fed a very small, 16-track Alembic monitoring console built by Ron. Janet Furman was our technical engineer and not only fixed things, but also set up the 16-track to the custom equalization we were using with the thinner-backed Ampex 207 tape. We could monitor, solo, and build a two-track mix on this. We recorded to a Revox B77 and a Sony cassette machine, and we also had some pretty simple spring reverbs for our two-track mixes.
Shows seemed to generally fit on two 14-inch reels and a ten-inch reel or two. Tape changes were quite interesting: We did not have a lot of room and had practiced this quite a bit, and it took three of us to do this at high speed. In an effort to not run out of tape during a performance, we had an indicator-light system of communication. Under Jerry’s monitor wedge there were three small lamps mounted on a piece of wood. The lights could be lit from the truck. A green, yellow, and red light: Green = we are rolling and in record; yellow = if you can wind it down and stop, we need to change tape; red (if, in fact, the band did stop for us) = changing tape, not in record.
This, of course, did not fit in with the way the Grateful Dead worked. There were not going to be any rules. Early in the tour, I tried a “yellow,” asking for a possible wind-down of the jam so that we could change tape. Even though this had been an idea we had discussed Stateside, Jerry was having no part of it! As I switched on the yellow light, I looked at Garcia on our 13-inch B&W TV monitor. He looked up at the camera, knowing I was watching, and simply smiled and nodded no in a very friendly way. Don’t fuck with the music!
We did some tape changes while the band was playing. We really did not want to interfere with the flow of the music.
I was in the truck for the tour, parked in front of the Ampex 16-track. Since we had no record console in the path to tape, the 16-track itself was actually the only place to make any level adjustments, so with our custom MM1000, all 16 of the AG440 record amplifiers were clustered together in two stacks of eight, easy to keep an eye on. Betty Cantor did our live two-track mix in the truck; she was around eight feet away. The band really had no set lists in those days, so as the show went down, I would write one on each of the tape boxes. Bob Matthews was at front of house. We would chat on our intercom after songs, and he, Betty, and I would decide how many stars to give a song: Three stars meant it was a really good performance! The star system was used when we got back home in order to focus on candidates for the Europe ’72 album.
Twenty-two shows in two months (57 days) is a vacation tour. The current tour-booking standard is to average 4.5 shows a week, and the Grateful Dead Europe ’72 tour was booked at around 2.5 shows per week. It does not get much better! Although it was an amazing time, with many days off, we took recording this tour very seriously and there was no relaxation on a show day at all.
It was a high time for everyone. The music was just amazing and for me not seeing any of it except on a small B&W TV was OK. I did, however, get inside on the last night. Due to circumstance, I was alone in the truck. We had, only minutes before, put a fresh 14-inch reel up and had 1.5 hours before the next tape change. A microphone onstage needed attention and I had to go inside. I did this with a bit of trepidation; I really did not want to simply leave the truck, but no one else was available and the mic needed to be fixed. The band was in a spacey jam and was very unlikely to produce levels which would be a problem on tape.
I locked the truck, went inside, and quickly fixed the bad mic, which was just a bit loose on its stand. As I went for the stairs to leave, the band dropped into “Morning Dew,” which has always been a favorite tune of mine. I decided to stay. Dynamically, the levels in the truck—which was now “running itself”—were going to be fine, and I had to stay! I parked myself behind Jerry’s rig for the song, a time I will absolutely never forget.
Fast-forward to Alembic Studios, 60 Brady Street, San Francisco. The band is choosing the final songs for the album. I am walking down the hall towards the control room. Jerry bursts out, very animated as he catches me, “Hey, Wiz. Guess what? ‘Morning Dew’ from the Lyceum is for sure going on the album.” (Big smile from Jerry.) He says, very emphatically, “And no one was in the truck!” (Bigger smile.) The Grateful Dead’s music was built on taking chances, embracing the unknown, letting serendipity have its hand. So the fact that, while no one was in the truck, a true pearl was recorded was not unusual at all! It was just an affirmation that we were letting the muse guide us in an invisible and mysterious way.
The tour was a truly magical time. It changed my life forever! If I were to be marooned on an island with only one piece of music I could ever listen to, “Morning Dew” from Europe ’72 would be it. Jerry’s solo says it all!

Oh… One more anecdote, I got back to SF after a quick trip to Vermont to get my dog Zach… Got back to Alembic in time to meet the gear, we were now at 60 Brady street… Big M (Bob Matthews) grabs me and says, “Hey remember we had to fast wind some tapes off, so I want you to play the tour, the whole tour, so all the reels are playback packed at “Tails out” the control room is yours” So I said, “hey I’ll just live here till it’s done, ok?” Big smile from Big M… What a drag, I had to play the whole tour, update thoughts (Star System) on quality and I put another pair of 4310’s in the back of the control room and played the room miss through them… (Surround sound) sat and did a live mix for I am not sure how long, I would play and sleep, sleep and play… But it was pretty constant… Stop every show to clean the heads….. Then I moved up to Fairfax and really slept..
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September 13, 2023 - 7:51am

#493

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Sixtus

I have been dabbling in Goose's pool this year. Definitely very enjoyable stuff!
September 13, 2023 - 7:44am

#494

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Wow

In the mid 80's we a had massive gak parties. Some lasting several days and going thru massive amounts of cocaine. My last dalliance was summer 1986, sort of lines up with other events of 1986. I was born with a heart condition, thought I should stop as the heart palpitations might lead to an arrhythmia. Just before that, Crack started to come out. Remember being in a friend's friends house that had turned into a Crack lab. Man were they a factory. Started to change my views about Coke. Trying to put puzzle together on 86. Only time I smoked crack was in Manhattan, August 86. My brother and I had just left the Blue Note watching Dizzy Gillespie. We were already high on white lightning (name for blotter - and yes there is that deeper connection to Bear and The Human Be-In). We were walking the streets around 2am and we come across a cat hanging out on the front of a brownstone. He was smoking and we started talking. We ended up buying bag of pot from him. He also pulled out another joint and fired it up and then passed to us. After smoking it he told us it was laced with crack. There was only one other time that I was that high and that is the show I wrote yesterday saying I would write about it next year on anniversary of show. We were so incredibly high, that at 3am on a packed subway, New Yorkers were freaking out watching us. It was a ball. I have posted about that night a couple of times here with a lot more detail. So somewhere summer/fall 86 was my last ride. Not sure of timing, remember the party but not the time. Know it was shorty after NYC August 86, but then when was the crack house event...timing of Jerry getting sick. It is all a big blur now. But dang, that feeling of doing two quarter gram lines up each nostril was absolutely amazing. That is, a buddy of mine took a gram divided into four lines and each took two.

Hmmm, I do remember an ear nose and throat doctor soaking my throat with cocaine before she sent a camera up my nose and down my throat. That was 2004, so I guess that counts too.

Everything has its purpose but all things in moderation. Guess that is why I never crossed the line and became an addict to anything.
September 13, 2023 - 7:43am

#495

Sixtus_

Joined:
November 8, 2014

Goose at the Boston Pavilion

...headed to Goose the next two nights at the seaside pavilion in Boston; looks iffy with thunder expected for most of this afternoon/evening, but tomorrow looks good. Will be the start of their Fall tour here before they head to Europe in November for the first time. I've been on this ride for the past 18 months or so, and I have to admit it's been amazing so far with no limits in sight. Each show is literally the best show you've seen, until the next one. Where have we heard that one before?? They are on a true roll. For any who may be skeptical, this is a full-hearted prompt to go and dip that toe into the waters to see what its all about. A lot of stuff on The Tube with a U, and Bandcamp has all of their shows and albums to listen for free (it's all also on Nugs).

Also saw that Phish announced their first festival in many years, holding a spot for next summer already.
In Delaware of all places!
Hey Garth, we're in Delaware....

Be Well People!
Sixtus
September 13, 2023 - 7:20am

#496

Gary Farseer

Joined:
August 1, 2015

Proudfoot

check DM.
September 13, 2023 - 7:05am

#497

Oroborous

Joined:
June 19, 2007

Toot toot totsie

No Bueno!

It was around, luckily we were too poor for that. (It was expensive then)
Occasionally, maybe for special occasions, or weddings or NYE etc, but fortunately only rarely.
If you’ve never, don’t bother.
September 13, 2023 - 6:58am

#498

Oroborous

Joined:
June 19, 2007

Sheik

My understanding is the Fillmore 71 tapes were chopped up to use for Skull Fuck and other things.
Supposedly that’s why they did Ladies and Gentlemen: to use the best of what was available…
September 13, 2023 - 2:25am

#499

daverock

Joined:
September 1, 2014

When your day is done..

Cocaine never appeared in my orbit when I was young, so I never took it either. I'm sure if it had appeared during my teens I would have had a dabble - I believed in living adventurously. I suppose I could have had a go later in life, but I never felt it was worth it, all things considered. I am not sure what the characteristics of a coke inspired jam would be.

I would watch a biopic of Jerry if it was on the telly. But I would have very, very low expectations.
September 13, 2023 - 2:02am

#500

sheik yerbones

Joined:
February 5, 2008

multitracks recordings

Recently listening to Three from the vault, St Louis 71, and Europe 72, I am just asking about the multitracks recordings if there is anything about Fillmore East 71 (a full show 27 or 29) or the final run at winterland in 74 (full show) - St louis is a good show but the sound is not as shining as the others. I return to the capitol 71 shows, they are so good, great shows as a quintet.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

Who's ready to boogie with a little Brent-era Grateful Dead from the Gateway to the West? DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 47 features the complete unreleased show from Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, MO, 12/9/79 and you're going to need stamina because this one is high energy from start to finish.

By the time December 1979 rolled around, Brent Mydland had fully cemented his place in the Grateful Dead canon with his twinkling keys, harmonic tenor, and songwriting skills. No more is that evident than at this show boasting 25 songs including soon-to-be classics from GO TO HEAVEN like "Alabama Getaway," "Don't Ease Me In," "Lost Sailor," and the Brent-penned "Easy To Love You." It's also packed with whirling takes on fan-favorites like "Brown-Eyed Women," "Shakedown Street," and "Terrapin Station." And you've never heard a 2nd set quite like this with eight songs before "Drums" including an improvised "Jam" launching from the end of "Saint Of Circumstance." It doesn't stop there though, with a blazing finale of "Bertha>Good Lovin'" and perhaps one of the best versions of "Don't Ease Me In" the band ever did play. We've rounded out Disc Three with an extra nugget from '79.

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, this release was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

While looking for music for my morning walk...

7/30/83 popped up on ewe 2oob.

I was lucky enough to be there

40 years ago. FORTY!

It sounds really nice

DP 47

RowJimmy7,

Thank you for the kind encouragement. I've spent $300 this year on Dead.net music (with every order I have had to send an email asking where my ordered music is).

The kicker, I live close enough to pick up the music from where they ship.

It is as if they are pushing me away from buying the music legally.

Odd...

So, no last fives?....

....been a minute. I have like last twenty's, but I'll keep it concise.
The Beatles - Hard Days Night
Phish - Rift vinyl
Clutch - Book Of Bad Decisions
King Gizzard - Fishing For Fishies
GarciaLive 20 - Cape Cod. Great show.

Anniversary show 7/30/83 Ventura

40 years ago today, I was down in Ventura for a wild weekend with the Good old Grateful Dead. The Dead kicked the the whole thing off with China Cat Sunflower, what a show, what a weekend! BIG. FUN!

My Last 5...

Has been rather Phish heavy, guess acclimatizing myself to Vermont, and preparing for Saturday night at SPAC on 8/26 (I lucked out and got pavilion behind sbd):
Phish 7/15/22 Great Woods, my last show
Phish 6/18/94 great show that features a few Mind Left Body Jams as well as a take on Peaches en Regalia
Phish 11/28/94 Bozeman, MT, the 44 min Tweezer was runner up for A Live One, but a 2:15 snippet (from around 16 min) became the track Montana on A Live One
Phish 7/22/97 Walnut Creek, a top shelf show that featured a lightning jam during Taste
Phish A Live One, still love disc one, still cannot stand the Tweezer they did pick, but the Harry Hood and Squirming Coil are great

Still unpacking, and getting an idea where things will go in my music room. Finally have an actual dedicated room for it. To paraphrase Will Ferrell in Step Brothers, "So much more space for activities!"

Meisner in threes...

Celebrities always go out in threes, or at least oftentimes it seems so and it's a harmless macabre game to play with no real disrespect to anyone... hell, I'd be happy to be mentioned in the same breath as Pee Wee Herman and Pauly Shore if we all drop in the same week.

Meisner went with Tony Bennett (class) and S. O'Connor. I always hated her music and attitude but have come around to having a little bit more sympathy for her as time has passed, and to be sure, tearing up that pic of the pope on SNL was very punk rock.

In the middle of a Dead binge... we just got home from North Dakota and Maine and have been to about 10 states for the last month. Boy am I glad to be home in hot as hell Colorado (they say more rain is coming) and I'm trying to get through that last box from 1973. Other than E72 I don't think the Dead were ever better than 1973 it's just butter. So far, a skip on disc 4 during China Doll is the only manufacturing error. If that's it, I may not even bother Rhino. Other than the spooky beginning I can't stand China Doll, and there's always Stella Blue which is sublime and good all the way through.

Dave's 47 #13002 in the house. Will try to get there soon. At least no atonal shrieking from Donna!

Last five: (excepting the whole new box set binge of 1973)

Alice Cooper - Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
Shooter Jennings - Shooter
The Power Station - The Power Station
Foghat - Fool for the City
The Meters - Kickback

\m/

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Yes to KGLW. Been picking up several KGLW albums over the last couple of years, lots of good stuff to check out. Got Fishing for Fishies on my list of things to acquire as well as In Your Mind Fuzz, they just haven't hit the top of the list yet. Dig the experiments in microtonal tuning albums they put out, Flying Microtonal Banana, K.G., and L.W., all three have some cool stuff. Dig albums Quarters, Float Along Fill Your Lungs, Butterfly 3000 as well their collaboration with Mild High Club on Sketches of East Brunswick, but Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava really hits the spot.

I have strongly resisted purchasing any new vinyl since the early '90s, but Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava forced my hand since KGLW seems to be releasing their new stuff only on vinyl. Glad my fortysomething year old turntable works 'cause it's a fantastic album from start to finish, probably my favorite KGLW so far, really didn't have any choice but to pick it up. Probably no choice but to pick up Changes as well based on the songs I've heard so far from that one.

Hill Country Blues

Sad Days and Lonely Nights - Junior Kimbrough
Thickfreakness - Black Keys
Burnside On Burnside - R.L. Burnside
Shake 'Em On Down - Mississippi Fred McDowell
Legends of the Country Blues Cd1 - 1930 recordings of Son House

Plus 1973 Dead of course. 6/10 again yesterday and the I st set of 6/24 this morning.

Ventura 83...

We were at alot of the same west coast shows, BTK ... always loved the fairgrounds location, right at the water, a short couple of hours from LA. On one of the days, got very close to the stage in front of Uncle Jerry and snapped a few good shots that I still have ... include Bill Graham backstage. Good times had by all (as usual!)..........tcc

Last 5 non GD

China White: Danger Zone
David Bowie: Diamond Dogs
David Bowie: Heroes
Joy Division: Closer
China White: Addiction 2

ALVARHANSO/Last 5

Mr. Hanso, Tweezer is my absolute FAVORITE song to hear played live, and I've been lucky enough to hear 15 or 20. But you are SPOT ON with your comment on the Tweezer from A Live One. I can't stand it. It's boring and goes NOWHERE!! It's most assuredly my least favorite Tweezer that I've ever heard. I missed a Phish touring year in 2023 for the first time since 1996. Next year for sure.

Last Five:

Peter Gabriel- Before Us: A Brief History
The Beatles-Live At The Hollywood Bowl
The Beatles-Live from the Apple Rooftop (It's a bootleg)
Grateful Dead-KEZAR!!!!!!
Dixie Chicks-Gaslighter

Music......STILL the Best!!

Explicit

I’ll do a last five in the next day or so.
I’ve been streaming a ‘Psychedelic Rock Channel’ on Amazon Music. The tracks are as you’d expect although in 1.5 hours there was no GD. Two tracks were marked as EXPLICIT one was ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys. I suppose you could see an oblique reference to suicide but otherwise WTF. The second was ‘Samba Pa Ti’ by Santana. I think this is the first explicit instrumental I’ve heard. Oddly ‘Venus in Furs’ by The Velvet Underground is not explicit at all!

Some Blasphemy

Watched D.A. Pennebaker's doc. on Monterey Pop last night.
The final performance featured blew everyone else completely out of the water.
Ravi Shankar! He and his accompanists were completely in tune with each other and I cannot remember when I've seen a performer work harder at his craft. Everyone else's performances cited there were lame in comparison, including Jimi (blasphemy!). OK, Janis was also a force of nature doing Ball and Chain, as evidenced by Mama Cass's slack-jawed awe, but so many were just out of tune and weak efforts. I'm sure if I saw their whole performances I would have a different opinion, but just WOW. I'll be seeking that LP or CD of Ravi's set now for sure. I have a whole new appreciation of him and the ability of his sitar playing to make so many interesting and interwoven sounds. He was wicked fast on that difficult instrument. And that tabla player! Ustad Allah Rakha was simply awesome and I don't use that word much since it became too common to describe everything.
Cheers

Meisner in Threes........

Ledded,

Read your comment, along with other recent postings.

Just read about Pee-Wee Herman.

Stay positive and healthy.

Ledded....

....how did you hear about Paul Reubens a day before he died. Or was that a crazy coincidence?

13694

in the house.

Anniversary show 7/31/83 Ventura

40 years ago today it was day 2 down in Ventura, It was kind of a recovery day from day 1. I don't remember much about the show, I believe the crowd sang Garcia happy birthday a day early.

Happy Birthday Jerry!

:)))

We still miss you

At 7/31/83 between second set and encore the audience chanted "ONE MORE SET!!!"

jersey city

50 Years ago tonight Happy Birthday Jerry The Grateful Dead The Band Jersey City

I met #6652 accidentally, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where today

weed is legal for the first time! There MUST be a Deadhead on the government team who picked Jerry's Birthday as the day MN makes marijuana legal, no?! One party here has tried for years to legalize weed, but was always blocked by another party (the other party actually ran candidates on the ballot under the small legalization party just to draw votes away from the large pro-legalization party!). Last fall both chambers of the MN legislature ended up in the hands of one party in a surprise (they were each controlled by a different party for a long time), so then it was full steam ahead for legalization, given that the governor was always on board. We won't have retail here for quite a while, as there hasn't been enough time yet to get the system up and running, but as of today weed is legal for adult possession, cultivation, and consumption. Marijuana was fairly decriminalized in most of MN years ago, but this is a new era, obviously. The law includes the potential release of some folks who have been rotting in prison for weed, and also the expungement of weed-related crimes, plus the attempt to have some non-white-males involved in the weed businesses, so it's really quite progressive.

LAST year the one party got through a bill that made THC edibles legal, but only if the THC was derived from hemp, and only if it was the Delta-9 variety. So we've actually had THC seltzer and gummies available all over here for about a year. But the seltzers just don't taste that good to me, and I struggle sometimes to get a gummy to kick in at the right level at the proper time, so better times are ahead for us here . . . :)

Be kind, rewind . . .

p.s. Mr. Ones, I LOVE "Gaslighter" by the Chicks--that song gets my head bobbing every time!

UHHH...Wot's Uh The Deal??

This posting is only for anal-retentive OCD types (Like Me!!). I couldn't figure out why when I added the times of the Disc 3 tracks, it came up over 80 minutes. Space from Chicago is listed as 7:42. On the disc, it's 3:48. Which begs the question...Did Dave or Jeff Norman actually have to shave 3:54 seconds of the ACTUAL Space in order to fit it on one disc?? Only idiots like me want to know.
After 1 listen, this music is up front, in-your-face LOUD, and I like it. Still not my favorite era (even though this is about when I saw my first show). If anyone can explain to me IN DETAIL, how Easy To Love You is anything other than formula yacht rock, with banal lyrics and a melody only an AM radio could love, I'm all ears. Love Brent, but he's NOT a songwriter (IMHO). Let's discuss!!

EDIT: I think I figured it out. The Space from St. Louis is 7:42. Someone was not paying attention and just repeated the time from the St. Louis Space. Where's an editor when you need one?? I'll do it!!

#5724 Has Landed

Barely catching my breath after the Here Comes Sunshine box and Garcialive 20 and this show from St Louis 12/9/79 sounds amazing. It's got all the bells and whistles of 12/26/79, but more punchy. Norman knocked this one out of the ballpark.

Alabama Getaway, Promised Land, Brown-Eyed Women and Cassidy right out of the gate is already top tier performance quality. First time hearing this show. What a great. Thanks Dave!

Yacht rock

Nice term

I always liked easy to love you

Opinions opinions opinions

Respect to Brent but I never liked I will take you home

Aaaaanyway...

Hopefully my new Dave's is going to be in my mailbox this afternoon

Ventura 83

Too damn hot especially driving from SF in a Bug that we couldn’t turn the heat off 🤣

car heat

I drove through Savannah, GA when it was 103F in a car that had the heat on full blast for the entire drive to Florida. Good times!

Dave's #47 has landed.......

in the Bay Area, how appropriate on Garcia's birthday.

6744 in Plano

Very nice, my era though :-)

Agree with Mr Ones,,, Loud, crisp in your face recording. Vocals maybe a hair hot, but the instruments are spot on.

If this came from cassette..... should lay to rest about cassette masters.

So,,, how much of the uptown 12/4 has now been put out. Quick check made it look like the chunk b4 this chunk.

I'm gonna like this one.

spinning it now...

So far, so good. 12/9/79 has not disappointed me. I am about halfway through the 1st set (Disc 1). it is a typical setlist for the era but played well. No doubt Brent is the catalyst for that, but I do agree that some of his original tunes don't do it for me. I am looking forward to 2nd set and the bouns material from 12/4/79.

* I took a break from this show to listen to the free stream of the Phish opener for tonight, which is Ghost. It is still going as I am typing this.

A spin on my last 5- shows I have seen:

Dead & Co 6/5/23 - show was good, the traffic getting in was not
Ziggy Marley 7/19/23 -*was awesome . opened for TTB
Tedeschi Trucks Band 7/19/23 - great show, great band
Phish 7/21/23 - good show, nice, not thrilling, but nice
Phish 7/22/23 - pretty good show as well. Everything is Right achieved liftoff as the 2nd set opener

Mine arrived today

Yes, appropriate for JG's birthday, BTK.

:)))

I got an offer to buy an extended warranty for my car....

....in the mail today.
That being said, I went with Dave's 44 Autzen Stadium '90 for my Garcia birthday listening tonight.
That's in my wheelhouse.
I arrived at the top of the 7th inning, but at least I made it to the game!
The seventh inning stretch was just exactly perfect.
Edit....yay! A Cumberland.
I only glanced at the setlist and saw Feel Like A Stranger, then turned my head.
Phish fans are funny in that they always seem there is a theme regarding MSG runs.
Today it was "Garcia/The Dead".
First song was Ghost. Second song was Reba. That's GR. Two into Grateful.
"Are they going to spell Grateful Dead"?
No A song after. Hopes were dashed lol.
Including mine. Was crossing fingers for Alaska.
But they did play Timber (Jerry The Mule) later.
It's a cult man. Sign my ass up.
King Gizzard is just all over the place.
Pigeon hole those guys. I dare you.
All Over The Place - The Bangles.
Hey. I smoked a lil herb so go easy, because these just come to me.
Legal in MN now btw. Where's Deadheadbrewer?
The music never stops.
Double high five edit to GratefulHan.
You had a blast and you know it.

Landed in manhattan…

Landed in manhattan yesterday on Captain trips Birthday!

Do you think they sent these…

Do you think they sent these late on purpose or just got lucky?

what a long strange trip it's been

Still truckin, just a little bit slower and a bit more tattered. Been thinking about Jer alot lately, miss him and those days. Check out those jams put up in his honor, some real good ones. Love ya Jerry, no one will ever shine the light like you. Peace, Love, Jerry.

Lockstep Indeed

I've only listened to the first set so far but I'm already sure this show will be placed into rotation. The energy bobs along even and consistent, as you expect from early Brent era. Sound mix is quite balanced and Phil in particular sounds fabulous. Just listen to him throw down his input toward the end of Alabama Getaway. After that, I couldn't not listen to him the rest of the way through. Only minor critique is that Jerry's Row Jimmy guitar line regresses back to early 70s mode. And it doesn't fit. But that's not actually a critique. Not even a quib. More a noticing point of how the band was no longer the band it used to be. Always further and onward! The only way to go. Maybe Jerry noticed himself...... that fretwork during Candyman.... pure Tiger.

DaP 47

So far, so good. I am through Shakedown Street and approve of this release. I like DaP 31 too, so not surprised I like this. Mr. Norman has done a fabulous job as it sounds fantastic for a cassette master show. I wish he could have done the Alpine 82 Dicks Pick, clean that one up. Great to get another Shakedown Street and like this one, but I feel Shakedown really took off as a slunky, funked out jam in 1987-- July 1987 Pittsburgh has my favorite version and the Anaheim 87 version smolders.

Ah, Brent tune debate. I admit that for many years, I really didn't listen deeply to the lyrics of most music, including the GOGD. I saw my first show in 88 and caught Brent's last shows at the World. I really liked him and what he added musically to the group. I think musically the band never fully recovered from his death as it was lacking that extra gritty oomph from fall 1990 onward. I liked some of his tunes, too-- especially Just a Little Light and Blow Away.
What got me listening to the lyrics more was an outing where I was playing Blow Away from Dozin' at the Knick and a friend pointed out how the song's lyrics are written from the perspective of an abuser-- he is asking to be commended for 'I never held you against your will.' Ugh....

That said, I like the jams in Blow Away (JFK 7/7/89 anyone) and still enjoy Just a Little Light. I think his tunes were too personal compared to the Jerry and Bob songs, and they were usually about some trouble with his lady, told in a much darker way than traditional blues songs. When I heard a 'Don't Need Love' on a recent listen, all I could think was 'We all need love, Brent is wrong.'

I Was Talking to Myself

while walking out to the mailbox this morning, and I said, "Wouldn't it be great if Dave's Picks #47 just showed up today completely unannounced?" And here it is, #5173.

Days Between

I've been listening to a JGB double cd called "Don't Let Go" today in commemoration. It features the 5/21/76 show at The Orpheum. Some beautiful playing. Very laid back. In fact I fell asleep in the bath this morning listening to the 1st cd. Lucky I didn't drown myself.

Musings

June 76...a lot has been released, but nothing from the Chicago dates (So Many Roads has some, some I say, of 6/29.)

I wonder if any Chicago dates will be released. Hmm.

Yes Daverock, that 5 21 76 release is good. I listened to it pretty regularly back in the day. As I recall, the Knocking on Heavens Door is the slowest thing I have heard from JG

Glad you didn't pull a Jim Morrison this morning (respect to ol' Mr. Mojo Risin')

1979

a STELLAR year for Grateful Dead

STELLAR

It's been a while since I heard Brent era GD

Brent Songs / Don't Let Go / DaP 47

> I think his tunes were too personal compared to the Jerry and Bob songs
Brent himself said as much. "The stuff I write, I feel, isn't necessarily lyrically Grateful Dead. The stuff I write is a little tight to the vest, as opposed to painting images in your mind, which is what most Grateful Dead songs are real good at. My songs don't really go in that direction." (Not sure the original source - I came across it in Gans/Jackson.)

Daverock - glad you didn't drown. Don't Let Go (5/21/76) is indeed an excellent show. I really do enjoy the JGB with Keith and Donna. And Ron Tutt (RIP) was so good with that lineup. Back in the day I had the 29 July '77 show on tape. I always knew it was good... but I didn't know it was so good that it would become the first 'Pure Jerry' release!

Well, anyone who listened to me ramble this past Spring knows that it took the better part of three months before I finally received my subscriber's copy of Dave's Picks 46. So imagine my surprise when I got home from work and DaP 47 was leaning against my door!

Brent

His songs have grown on me for sure over time.
My favorite is 'Just a Little Light';
That one really shined in Spring Tour '90 and hit its peAk around then, IMHO.
I could've envisioned them jamming out on that one over time; there were hints of this in the aforementioned tour as well as into that last Summer.

That description of his songs versus the rest of the bands' seems spot-on to me; and perhaps that may be part of why his songs may be off-putting to some? That and just the general approach to the music itself was different;
But they still are robust, volatile, emotional, and most importantly, inspirational.

Just my two cents; which ain't worth much these daze.

Be Well Peeps!
Sixtus

DaP 47 listening update

I got to listen to the rest of the show and it is really good. Shakedown Street is fun as I expected it would be. The rest of the 2nd set is solid and I found that jam that follows Saint of Circumstance to be interesting. The post drum tunes are a high energy and well played.

Revisiting the Brent discussion briefly, I don't normally consider Easy to Love You as 2nd set song as it is in this show. However I always liked this tune so it works for me.

On a related note, the Taper's Section for this week has most of the bonus material for the Wake of the Flood 50th Anniversary CD. I think I will have to check that out.

1095…….

Has made it to the Carolinas. I’m so glad UPS didn’t strike. Caught a break there.
I love Fall ‘79, including Dap 31. Release the whole tour Dave! It’s right in my wheelhouse

Easy To Love You

Credit: Mydland/Barlow.

Don’t necessarily blame Brent for the lyrics.
Also, ‘79 is an early version, the lyrics changed later.

Best version?
Possibly 3-15-90.
Or maybe that’s just the best sounding commercially released version so far.

7526

Impeccable sound quality has become the “Norm” with each new release. Thank you for that.

Try as I may, I can’t get past the heavy synth sound. The tempo is a bit fast for my liking too. Still, I will take it over Dead & Co. all day long.

Glad to see Brent getting a bit of love. Always enjoyed his contribution.

Easy to Love You is my favorite song of his. Nice to have another version and probably the highlight of this release for me.

For other Brent songs, really like I Will Take You Home, even though it was vastly overplayed. Was lucky enough the catch the only Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues. My problem with a lot of his songs are the lyrics. They seem “forced”to me.

Biggest disappointment on this release is the Shakedown. I was really looking forward to it, but it’s somewhat of a letdown. Gonna spin 4/6/82 now.

How everyone enjoys their listens.

Syd Barrett

1. Rats
2. Gigolo aunt
3. Effervescing Elephant
4.Baby Lemonade
5. Maisie

Knockin' On Heavens Door

PF and Obeah - cheers. Yes, that was the track that encouraged me to slip away. Quite seductive in a way. I've always liked the space between waking and sleeping - but once there, it's not easy to hold on to it without drifting over. "Such a long long time to be gone and a short time to be there".

Anyway - I should listen to a lot more JGB. I've just ordered a double cd called "Pacific High" from February 1972, which looks as though it was a radio broadcast. Features Bill the drummer apparently.

Pacific High

You will like that. It's one of my favorites. Its one of the best ever.

Sixtus, Brent and give me a light here

Totally agree on Just a Little Light. This is a song I'm so sorry was never fleshed out. It had such potential. In my minds eye it has a downward spiral, that could've led into something incredible.

Don't forget Blow Away,,,, I always liked that one.

Daverock, thanks for pointing out Pacific High. Turned out I have a copy of it in stock, thanks to our time travellin' tractor driver,,,, nice recording at least on Expressway to Your Heart.

Shakedown for Angry Jack...

My DaP47 hasn't arrived yet, but am looking forward to it, especially the Shakedown (Mrs. Cat's fave). But I agree Angry Jack, the 4/6/82 version has always been one of my favorites.

For Days Between, I pulled up Don't Let Go from JGB Live .... I am amazed every time I listen ... this its PURE JERRY on guitar: after the lyrics he jumps into a rambling, blazing and compelling journey, complete with blistering strumming with a seamless, effortless landing to close it out. To me, it showcases his guitar genius, being a master of timing, technique and musical leadership.

I am so lucky to have seen Jer and the boys 50+ times in the early/mid 80's ... and be in the presence of that magical talent. I am eternally grateful to them all for giving so much of themselves for so long...what a gift!! ....................tcc

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