Dave's Picks Vol. 51: Scranton Catholic Youth Center, Scranton, PA (4/13/71)
Look out Big Boss Man, Pigpen's on the loose! We're shedding our lovelight on the not-to-be-overlooked Spring 1971 tour with DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 51, featuring the complete unreleased show from the SCRANTON CATHOLIC YOUTH CENTER, SCRANTON, PA 4/13/71 AND the 2nd set from the previous night at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, PA on 4/12/71.
These gems find the original Grateful Dead quintet delivering some of their most inspired, energetic, and tightest performances. There's a dab of WORKINGMAN'S DEAD, a splash of AMERICAN BEAUTY, a great foreshadow into what would soon appear on SKULL & ROSES. And you'll need nearly all those fingers (or those toes) because - count 'em - there's eight classic covers ("Mama Tried," "Hard To Handle," and a rare "I Second That Emotion," to name a few) done as only the Dead could do them with Mr. McKernan and his magical harmonica.
Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 51: SCRANTON CATHOLIC YOUTH CENTER, SCRANTON, PA 4/13/71 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering.
P.S. We had a little extra room on Disc 2, so please enjoy the final five DP48 bonus tracks to complete 10/24/70, St. Louis, MO.
Oooh! Pigpen April 1971.
Certainly looking forward to hearing this.
Artwork
I don't like it.
I really think they should have put Joe Biden on the cover and I don't love him.
I certainly know the difference between April '71 Grateful Dead and November '71 Grateful Dead, but I feel like this doesn't help with the "lack of variety" comments.
Altogether though I am pretty excited for this one.
Edit: ok, so skeleton Biden maybe not the best Idea...lol.
Last April 1971 release
Was October 2000. Phish had just begun their first hiatus, and Dick's Picks Series had 17 releases to go, the entire Road Trips Series, Download Series, and 50 Dave's Picks all preceded it. Yes, we got 2 of the Port Chester shows as bonus discs for American Beauty and Workingman's, but that was one with Mickey, one post-Mickey. Now we get a feel for them 2 months into a return to the original 5-piece lineup. If this was another Novemeber/December 1971 release, I'd be right there with you not seeing much merit, but based on Ladies and Gentlemen... and the shows I've listened to from April 1971, I'm happy with this. As happy as if it was April 1969? No, but, this does seem like a different era as promised. Also, I'm always happy with lots of filler.
Well Alright!
Looking forward to this one! Especially so considering the bonus material from St. Louis and Pittsburgh.
Dave got me good
Back in Dave's 2024 Subscription preview, he gave a hint for Vol. 51 that went something like, "it'll have a [band] lineup we haven't seen before," and most of us, yours truly included, felt that meant a post-Brent show was to come. But nope, it's the Keith-less 'bar band' Grateful Dead. (For those keeping count, the Dave's Picks series includes four releases from 1971 prior to this upcoming '71 release. However, those first four shows all feature Keith.)
Ya got me, Dave! I'm really excited for this one. Set II from 4/12 really helps round things out - now we'll have an Other One AND a Lovelight. And the rest of 10/24/70 St. Louis? Please and thank you.
Nice The Office reference I guess....
....otherwise a meh cover. But it's the music that counts.
Now we're talkin'......
A couple nights of Pigpen, spring '71? Now THAT made my day (and it's still morning in Denver). Plus some fall '70 featuring "Attics"?
THIS is why I subscribe.
Now that Dave has cleared the deck for DP 51, I'd give it til month's end to cough up info on the year's box set.
P.S. I note the Compendium doesn't list 4/12 and 4/13/71. So we turn to the Doc to enlighten us on these nights. If he feels like it. Or we can just wait to crank it up and hear for ourselves.
Right on
Alvarhanso, I noted the same thing in the #50 board just before this went live. I would not be happy with another fall 1971 release either, but April 1971 when spring 1971 releases of the last 25 years consist of FTV 3, Ladies and Gentlemen and bonus discs to AB and WD! We are overdue for an April 1971 show, plus throw in the filler material and this has the makings of a great release. We have Pigpen in his prime with what are almost certain to be fantastic versions of Hard to Handle, Good Lovin' and Lovelight. I love April 1971 Grateful Dead.
It's All Good
Heard neither Scranton nor Pittsburgh, but I'm quite familiar with Bucknell (4/14) and Princeton (4/17). What a great week! For that matter, the East coast run from Manhattan Center through Fillmore East makes for one heckuva month. Truly stoked for #51.
Bar-band Dead!
Love this release. Early '71 always has a very gritty energy to it, with just the core five band members. Instead of focusing on acoustic sets and long psychedelic jams, there was more of a focus on hard-charging straight-ahead rock 'n' roll.
Thanks again to Doc for beating early 1971 over my head years ago... I didn't appreciate this era enough until we had some discourse on and off-line.
Hey Doc, did you ever complete the 1971 project, reviewing all 1971 complete with photos and setlist, etc? You sent me your draft a/o 5 years ago and I still have it. I refer to it occasionally.... your notes on 4/12 were very positive, while 4/13 had little detail at the time.. perhaps you have updated it since?
Dave hints at a future release in 6 months that is compiled from some short shows, so I assume that will be some '68-'69 stuff.
Thank you Dave!
Seaside chat up now
He mentioned the 30 Trips choice of 3/18/71, had kind of blocked that one out. Not a big fan of that one. Way too many sound issues (onstage and on the recording), and an incredibly uneven performance has left me nonplussed about that one since the giant box came. Seems like they chose it just so they could use its Ain't It Crazy (The Rub) for Dr Rhino's unboxing video. Dave also mentions recording issues with 1st set of 4/12/71 preclude its full release.
congratulations
to the Mighty Grateful Dead on your soon to be recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors. Wonder if Jerry would boycott this honor too? Shame he's not here to make that choice. To go or not to go...
Dave's 51 two more shows I have not heard, what's not to love?
Now that we all know what 51 will be, wonder if 52 will be the ever-elusive Bruce/Vince release? I won't hold my breath.
42 years ago today
My first show
Today's announcement of Dave's 51 is a very nice way to celebrate it
God Bless the Grateful Dead
Kennedy Center Honors - Wow
This caught me by surprise.
Not sure why anyone would suggest they might not accept this. It's not a commercial event, or a Grammy contest pitting artists against each other. Instead, it's honoring their legacy and contributions to American culture, which are too numerous to name. They had a huge influence on 60's culture, changed the way people AND musicians think about music, pioneered psychedelic rock, changed the face of touring rock 'n roll, changed the music business, .... I think I heard someone say there are about 800 Dead cover bands all over the country, which implies a lot of ardent fans recreating the music and a voracious demand creating crowds to go see them. I could go on for pages...
Who will perform on their behalf? Billy Strings? Horsnby, who inducted them not the R&R HOF? John Mayer? (Mayer may be too much of an insider at this point to do the honors). Trey????? Trey would make sense since he and Phish are basically the modern-day Jerry/GD, closely following the Grateful Dead's playbook. So many similarities
The Grateful Dead at the Scranton Catholic Youth Center?
The wolf is in the henhouse.
Kennedy Honors
Billy Strings is well on his way to becoming the next in line for carrying the Dead tradition. I think he would be a great choice.
Why not a homage to miners and the Cumberland Blues?
Not a big fan of the artwork about a fictitious company. Would've been a perfect time to do a coal miners motif especially with a Cumberland Blues in the first set. Have Penguins and Steelers stickers on his hardhat to represent Pittsburg.
Minor first world problem - looking forward to the release. Psyched to see D&C in Aug!!!
I'd love to see someone not jammy do the honors for Kennedy Honors. I was blown away by Phish performing Watcher of the Skies during the RRHOF induction for Genesis; Heart performing the Led Zep material for their honors as well as Prince's amazing solo during While My Guitar Gently Weeps as amazing performers outside the box showing the talent of the honoree... Just please not have Dave Grohl distract with his tendency to overdrum like he did with the version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Joe Walsh and Gary Clark Jr. No knock on Dave, he's an amazing talent and incredible work with both Nirvana and Foo Fighters.
Anniversary shows 7/17 & 18/ 82 Ventura County Fairgrounds
42 years ago I was down in Ventura ( along with a lot of other folks who post on this forum) for a knockout weekend with the Good old Grateful Dead. It was the Dead's first year playing down in Ventura and probably my favorite, but they all were crazy fun times.
Dave's #51. Great release !
Great release Dave, keep them comming. You guys put out a great product and do a great job.
Can't Wait
For this release. To have a nice amount of the original 5 works for me. I remember enjoying some time years ago with the five, with Keith, no Pig, no Donna,. I think she was pregnant. The jams from what I can remember drew me in hard.
Congrats on the Kennedy Honors to the four remaining members of the band. A nice recognition from the four.
“It goes without saying that the Kennedy Center Honors represents the highest of reaches for artistic achievement. To be recognized alongside the artists who have in the past received this honor is beyond humbling,” the remaining rockers Phil Lesh, 84, Mickey Hart, 80, Bill Kreutzmann, 78, and Bob Weir, 76, wrote in a collective statement.
They added, “The Grateful Dead has always been about community, creativity, and exploration in music and presentation. We’ve always felt that the music we make embodies and imparts something beyond the notes and phrases being played — and that is something we are privileged to share with all who are drawn to what we do — so it also must be said that our music belongs as much to our fans, the Dead Heads, as it does to us. This honor, then, is as much theirs as ours.”
Acknowledging their almost 60-year journey, the musicians also said that they’re “beyond grateful for this recognition” and concluded, “Thank you, Kennedy Center, and to all the folks who had a hand in bringing us here, for this incredible honor.”
Waiting on shipping notice!
Any more info on the cover?
Might be in a minority of one here, but I rather like the cover.
Being from the UK I know absolutely nothing about Scranton, so just done a few minutes research to see if I could learn something about the place.
Can anyone give any steer to decoding the artwork? I get that the Penguin is a reference to Pittsburgh and the picture on the wall is the Catholic Youth Centre. Is the guy at the desk the Miner's Union Leader John Mitchell? I guess the train might a reference to Scranton's significance as a railroad centre, or the gravity railroad built there in the 1850s.
Anyone have any other clues?
Senior Moment
Obviously the truck and the train are song references. Duh!
Artwork - WAG - The Office TV Show
I think the artwork is tribute to the US based version of The Office TV Show, which takes place in Scranton PA at the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Steve Carell stars as the Regional Manager Michael Scott.
Bob Lopes and Others
I watched the first 5 or 6 shows of the Office but it just didn't do much for me. Now I know some shows need more time to get the pieces working together, between writing and the cast members and all. Should I dive further into the show to see if it grabs me?
a shoutout to Office UK
I couldn't get into The Office either, Gary - I got to same spot, maybe 6-7 episodes, before I gave up. However perhaps this because I saw the original. IMHO The Office (UK) was outstanding. Written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, among the cast are Gervais and Martin Freeman oh and don't forget Mackenzie Crook (PotC, GoT) in an early role. Crook steals every scene he's in. But if British humour isn't your thing don't give it another thought.
Speaking of TV shows....
....RIP Bob Newhart.
One of my late dad's favorites. Mine too.
Guess I should have known
Was flipping channels last night and was watching a few minutes of the Big Bang Theory. It was about 10 years old, and had Bob Newhart as a deceased Jeddi Knight, in robes and all. I thought a lot about Mr. Newhart and how much I really enjoyed Newhart from the 1970's (both when watching live and reruns). Thinking about how great it was Chuck Lorre and CBS honored Mr. Newhart by bringing him back to a modern comedy. Naturally, I thought wow he will pass soon. Had no idea it would less than 20 hours later. Sometimes life makes sense but most of the time it doesn't. Will miss him much.
Edit: when I did the search to confirm, one of thesuggested searches was "Where is Bob Newhart today?" D'oh, won't answer.
RIP Bob
I have the 1960 LP titled, The Button-down Mind of Bob Newhart which has some of his classic early routines. Nobody did that "other end of a phone conversation" bit better. Flawless comedic timing. Glad he didn't stick with being an accountant.
Cheers to Bob
Newhart
Bob Newhart was part of the fabric of my life, even if mostly in the form of background wallpaper. He was a bit before my tv-watching time, but my wife remembers her family listening to the "Button-Down" album. At some point during the quarantine years we decided to revisit some of the 1970s material that I quasi-knew, including the Mary Tyler Moore show and Bob Newhart show. So I finally got to see why these comics were held in such high regard. Newhart was one funny dude. And realizing that names that I *did* know, like James Burrows, Glen and Les Charles (of Cheers), were busy working as writers or directors back on these shows. Sorry to hear that Mr. Newhart has left us. Thanks for the laughs, sir #ht
Love it!
I'm totally down for a Pig set. Going way back to the tests, the Dead were a sloppy, jangly-ass blues band. And amongst all the day-glo weirdness, Pig held it together. I love the blues, all my favourite rock music was birthed by the blues.
Saw the Stones a couple weeks ago in the Mile High city, saw Slash's blues band last night. Slash playing blues is phenomenal, his talents are really better served playing roots music than overwrought Axl-bloat.
Check out Slash's "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" cover/video on youtube. Bitchin'.
We were due for a Pig set. Whatever your era is, they circle around and drop something for everyone now and again, with a liberal dose of 1973 and 1977 thrown in for good measure.
I love this band.
\m/
I'm Excited
This will be totally different from the Dave's 48 '71 show. We even get a whole set for the 3rd disc with a TOO.
RIP Bob! Thanks for all the laughs. I watched that episode of Big Bang recently too Gary.
Peace
Up in Heaven...
There was a mighty chorus of "Hi, Bob!" One of the most brilliant comic minds of all time. His wickedly dry sense of humor was influential on everybody from Monty Python to Garry Shandling, Jerry Seinfeld, the aforementioned Burrows and Charles of Cheers to The Office, ironically enough, and, of course Big Bang Theory brought him renewed fame, as did Papa Elf to Will Ferrell's eponymous Elf. His wife's brilliant idea for the twist ending to Newhart, and his sticking to his guns to do it (and she had the idea during the 2nd season, years before Dallas did it). I've actually said upon the passing of many a comedy legend that it was sad, but the day Bob Newhart goes will be a truly sad one. Glad it took a long, long time for that to happen. Have been watching lots of his bits. Love when he hosted SNL, and Chris Elliot and Chris Farley are playing "Hi, Bob". Hilarious. Time to put on one of his records, via the youtubes. Absolutely loved those; nobody had better timing than Bob Newhart. Nobody. His material is richly absurd, but devastating satire at the same time. Pretty cool to see how appreciated he was by folks around here. Humor and music are two of the best things we can possibly have in life, and we need to celebrate them more and try to get past the things that tend to divide us.
Even the crew was unaware....
....of Pleshette showing up in the Newhart finale.
No spoilers!
I remember watching it and going "whoooah."
Now, here I am, watching Bob Newhart. Like a comphy blanket and simpler times. Sigh....
Cover Art?
I liked the last two covers better, but anyways. I was under the assumption that the cover of this pick (51) was a Catholic Grade School motif. Meaning that skelly dude at the desk is the principle. Not some television show man. Either way the artist themself is very talented indeed, so much in the details! Comic book style.
Anyways, thanks to Dave and crew & I'm looking forward to the Pigpen pick!
A raise of the glass to Bob Newhart
In one of his shows he made a face of disapproval in reaction to another character that still makes me smile
A great talent
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We get a rut-ro. Then get up to a massive computer outage associated with windows machines and anti-virus super hero Crowd Strike. Crowd Strike is responsible for the outage as they updated one computer file and then pushed it out to its major customers, some that run 10's of thousands of microsoft machines. Oops. Massive airline issues and the eastern part of the world is more impacted than the western part. Question: Can they contain or will it spread?