Grateful Dead

It doesn't appear anything is selling out this year, regardless of the year.

I would think this box would be gone by the end of the summer, but who knows, the first two Dave's are still available as well as the last two years Box Sets.

Put me down as wanting the full shows released. I definitely prefer to listen to full shows.

though I still like the Dave’s format (enough 77 though), but I understand why some folks are dialing things back.
I agree totally otherwise.
Really, when you think about it, most bands play THE same set every show, or damn near, often year after year!
So comparatively, the Dead’s not so bad. Again, I think it’s just some of us have been listening to too much? Ok, blasphemy I know, but no matter what you dig, if you’ve done it a looooot over the last 50 or 60 years you might experience at least a little burnout?
So even with hundreds of songs in the set list, after all that time, I think it natural that maybe some have grown long in the tooth? And of course it’s often situational.
But hey that’s perhaps just me, as we know some folks here that only seem to listen to the same 2 or 3 years, and years where the set lists were significantly repetitive, and don’t seem to tire lol.
I think earlier the band didn’t worry as much about repeats for two reasons: they wanted to get the new material out, Bob especially likes to saturate the newbies, and second, not many people were going/traveling to so many shows.
I think they thought about the sets more later on, as so many folks “toured” or did blocks like we did.
In my early years, I was lucky if I saw a few one off shows relatively close by. When they started playing multiple nights at one venue it was a game changer in many ways including set lists etc. You could now see 2 or 3, or even 4 shows without a repeat!
So yeah, a box of shows from a same tour, especially from the earlier years, is likely going to have some of “those” songs repeated. But like Daverock states, it’s the jewels were after, and hey, that’s what the skip button is for lol.
I can understand Dogon’s etc point about getting saturated and too much etc, but personally I’d rather get the whole show as a completist and just skip or delete from playlist.
If I was younger and if the digital only, no clutter/stuff generation, I’d probably still get the sub, rip it, then give it away, or sell it to cover the cost. That way still supporting the cause, because when sales drop to a certain level it’s all over now baby blue…
But I’m also fine if a show is smoking/must have but not complete, as long as we get the jewels! Ddddaaaawwkkk Ssttttaaaarrrrrr Jerrryyyyyyy!
Yes sir, it’s all bout dem jewels, the weirder the better!

It seems to me that repetition is a characteristic of box sets generally. I have quite a few that have multifarious versions of songs included - here's one by Jerry Lee Lewis - 25 versions of a song called "Break Up"! This is on "At Sun Records-The Collected Works". It's clearly not for someone who just wants to hear only his best work.

I wonder if Dead box sets, and the Daves Picks series are similar? I would expect there to be some dull moments on the upcoming 1973 box - going off what I have already heard from this year. To me it will be worth it for the jewels. A lot won't think that though - it just depends how much of a completist we are. There are definitely shows in box sets that I don't think warrant releasing in their own right - but which just seem to be there as a build up to the better shows. I listened to 6/7/77 last week - and that seems a bit like that.
Same with Daves Picks. I have got a bit tired of that format, which is why I no longer subscribe. I now just want to cherry pick shows I think I will like, rather than buy everything. That might be a mood that is becoming more prevalent.

Very good Oro!

…it’s the listener, and this listener has perhaps just heard some of these songs too often.
So not the songs fault it got played too much, or that I’ve listened too much!

Not wishing to rain on anybodies parade, but for me the crux of the matter is the sheer number of times these songs appear on the artifacts we listen to at home, ie not in the moment of the concert. The Dark star/ el Paso/ Dark Star is of course magnificent but very often the little songs(Cowboy or other covers) dont really go anywhere. This is the problem when the Release Everything model won over the only release the Best Stuff tendancy. Of course sometimes the best stuff does include whole concerts or even whole runs, sometimes a compilation would do just fine.
I mean how many El Pasos do we need? Or even - sacrilige -Lovelights? ( hej, wait a minute, wait a minute...)
For me the Europe trunk is magnificent even with the occasional longuers , sorry, mostly down to Pig, and the very best shows should be released uncut, but a fair few not exactly stellar shows have found their way into the various box sets or Daves since then, even taking into account our individual preferences for certain eras or line ups, the best bits of these shows could of course been compiled into anthology releases. Perhaps, just perhaps stuff taking so long to sell out these days might be down to the fact that so much is already out there, which appeal to the completeists and stamp collectors on Dead Net, but not the average Joe, who may just buy a wrong un, factor in the scalpers, and the notorious difficulties getting access to this stuff/ non existent customer service, and perhaps we are nearing the end of the golden road chosen back in the middle of Road Trips.
Thanks for listening, As usual YMMV! Respectfully and
Back to my breakfast

Yes, contrasts like that are great. Another good one was when Me and My Uncle mysteriously appeared in middle of The Other One. 8/6/71, comes to mind.

once something sticks, it's stick-y. Maybe those songs are deemed "cowboy" because they use "cowboy chords"? Getting stickier now....

I'll say this, I think it was 8-1-73 when the GD did Dark Star and dropped into El Paso, went back into Dark Star, then Eyes. (Setlist Programs confirms this memory.) Just a brilliant example of what the band would do to f*** with our heads. And, indeed, when Dark Star resumed, we looked at each other (thank the gods we didn't go it alone) like, "What just happened?"

Probably the best placement of an El Paso in GD history. And they had to have discussed it beforehand as the transitions were flawless.

Just another of my patented, yet completely pointless remarks. Thank you!

It's always struck me as a bit odd that the Dead's country rock covers are often referred to as cowboy songs. Johnny Cash wasn't a cowboy. "Big River" is one of the great songs Sam Phillips recorded at Sun Records, and I associate it more with rockabilly than I do with cowboys. For me, the term "cowboy" reminds me of Hollywood westerns. John Wayne and all that.

Definetly my favorite version. It would have been very cool if Garcia would have pulled it out for an encore instead of Quinn the Eskimoe in the 80s.