Pick of the Day, with Discussion

Post reply Log in to post comments

April 6, 2020 - 9:47am

8,079 replies

marye

Joined:
May 26, 2007

Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.

Comments

sort by

Recent

Recent Oldest A to Z Z to A

Reset

May 17, 2020 - 9:26am

#7211

The Good Ole G…

Joined:
December 29, 2015

5/15/70 = The Music Experience Category

Presented in three segments, an evening with the Grateful Dead featuring the New Riders Of The Purple Sage falls more into the category of a music experience than a concert. - Jeff from Variety May 27 1970

I spent the weekend having that music experience, Friday for the Early Show & Saturday for the late show. And it all lined up on the 50th anniversary.

It was an epic revisit of some beloved shows. Throughout this revisit, I couldn’t help thinking as I listened to the amazing quality & completeness of this material that I would’ve killed to have these tapes in high school. It was unattainable for me then. But I used to dream of it…
Well, we’ve got them now!

These two shows represent the first “an Evening with the Grateful Dead” at the Fillmore East and the last time they did Early and Late Shows there. By this point the NY heads had learned that the early shows were kept short & the true magic happened in the late shows.

There’s magic in both of these shows, but the “true” magic definitely happens in the late show.

I decided to do the full meal deal on these two and grabbed the NRPS sets as well, which are both nicely recorded by the patched in Fillmore East crew, I believe.

Early Show -
Acoustic 9 songs = 46 minutes
NRPS 8 songs = 30 minutes
Electric 7 songs = 1 hour
Over 2 hours of music

Late Show -
Acoustic 10 songs = 51 minutes
NRPS 13 songs = 1 hour 13 minutes
Electric 14 songs = 2 hours
Over 4 hours of music!

TOTAL BOTH SHOWS = Over 6 hours of music!

The Acoustic set for the Late Show is one of the best ever, as previously mentioned here on this thread. Pigpen teases Good Lovin’ in the early show a couple of times, and throughout both shows, they didn’t play it until like 5 hours later and boy when they did, it is Hot. The Dark Star > St. Stephen, incredible! Throughout it all you can feel the Fillmore East vibe, especially apparent during the closing Turn On Your Lovelight rave up after about 6 hours of melting minds.

What it must’ve been like in the Fillmore East that night! The Dead lit that place on FIRE. While listening, I sat there shaking my head so many times, amazing amazing stuff here folks, just amazing.

The only real flaw in the music we have here is the omission of the late show Candyman*, which suffers from a reel flip on the FE crew tapes & was left off the official Vault release. That makes me curious to compare the uncirculated Vault version of the Bob Matthews recording to the FE crew version and see if there’s some patch material. It is an amazing version of Candyman! Very similar to Calebration version from 8/30/70, but earlier and more intimate, somehow. Jerry’s voice is just amazing on both of these shows and in 1970 in general.

I’ve always had some issues with this release due to the tracking of the songs being cut up and spread out on various CDs. I’ve had them in the right order for years in my music player, but the in’s & out’s weren’t working for me, causing my completist OCD to flair every time I listened and therefore avoid repeated plays. I understand the reasoning behind these edits and am not complaining, just saying. But this weekend I found myself with the time and finally re-tracked the songs, especially the late show, added the NRPS and was able to fully immerse myself in the music in it’s original order at this high level of quality.

At the time of these shows, Workingman’s Dead was done and pressed and would be released shortly after this show (the exact date seems to be in question, but in my research it drops about 10 days later.) This show represents the new material as good as any shows from this time. You get every song that would be on Workingman’s Dead except High Time (played quite well the night before) and you get the three songs that they’d already written and were performing from American Beauty: FOTD, Attics & Candyman.

Cool point of interest.. Robert Hunter would be writing 3 more new tunes very soon after this, all in one day, when the band headed to England for the Hollywood Music Festival on 5/24/70: Ripple, To Lay Me Down, Brokedown Palace.

* The Late Show Acoustic set group of Black Peter, FOTD, Uncle John’s Band, Candyman is a must hear in it’s original order, even with the reel flip. It’s some of the finest representations of these songs at this point in the Dead’s recorded history. Also of note the missing banter after Candyman leading up to Pigpen’s performance is fun and worth a listen. Jerry announces that they’ll finish off the Wooden Section with a gospel tune with some NRPS, Pigpen says wait a minute don’t I get to play a song before you do that fuckin’ religious song? And Bob hops on the mic asking the crowd if they wanna hear Pigpen, and does his Dog Suckin-ist man in showbiz rap. Then you get to hear the rare set up & crowd situation of Fillmore East, somebody does a Tarzan Yell, and Pigpen says “Heard You’re Fired!” (Sonny Heard), another Tarzan Yell, “You’re fired twice” and then a female audience member does it too, it just makes you feel like you’re there. And then you get Pig’s two fine acoustic tunes from the release.

That brings me to wonder if David Lemieux has ever posted the 5/15/70 late show Candyman from the Vault anywhere? I’d sure love to see if we can patch this FE crew Candyman with the Vault version. It’s worth an ask as the version is sublime.

David Lemieux may we request a 5/15/70 Late Show Candyman please? Thank you very much!

Well if you made it this far… thank you very much!

I wonder how many people actually saw both shows from that night and lived to tell about it.. if you’re out there, I would love to hear your stories.

To wrap it up, when I first heard “rumors” of these legendary shows the Dead would do in 1970, with an Acoustic Set, the NRPS and The Electric Dead and they’d call them An Evening with the Grateful Dead, I would drift off and think how amazing it would be to hear that!

Well some 35 years later, it’s as amazing as I’d always dreamed it would be.

PS - Yesterday’s pick of Garcia, Bob Weir “Ace” & Mickey Hart “Rolling Thunder” was the perfect music to come down from this here wild trip through 5/15/70.

Thanks Bolo!

PPS - Strider88: Thanks for that great story!
Everyone Else Here: Thanks for picking shows to listen to everyday and for your wonderful input and insights.
BobT: 7/13/84 you say, I’ll listen to that.

Be Well
May 16, 2020 - 8:33pm

#7212

Vguy72

Joined:
June 29, 2007

Pump Song = GSET....

....Main Ten = PITB.
That's how things work. Eep Hour.
Dead Horns are under represented.
May 16, 2020 - 8:22pm

#7213

Vguy72

Joined:
June 29, 2007

Bob T....

....that show will be a Daves at some point. Just biding our time. And yes. And it was released. 36 years ago.
Rolling Thunder is the shit. My neighbors are firing off fireworks in celebration!
May 16, 2020 - 7:35pm

#7214

bob t

Joined:
November 21, 2007

Anyone want to listen to 7/13/84 tomorrow?

I know it's not released but it will be something different, and I could go for the Scarlet>Touch>Fire second set opener and was as Dark Star encore.... bob t
May 16, 2020 - 3:16pm

#7215

Gollum

Joined:
November 22, 2010

Rolling Thunder

First impressions. What a gem. I can't believe I'm just hearing it for the first time now. Thanks to Wiki for the album notes and credits.
* Two jams with Jerry, Mickey and Zakir Hussein! I love Zakir and have been lucky to see him live a few times. I knew he worked with the Dead and Mickey before but didn't realize they went all the way back to 71/72. Top shelf stuff.
*"Deep Wide and Frequent" - a major highlight. A guitar blizzard with Jerry, Cippolina, and two other cats I haven't heard of before. The guitars are all great here, but the only one I can recognize for sure is Jerry (maybe Cippolina)
*David Freiberg does some nice vocals. Freiberg seems to get lost in the shuffle of fine San Francisco musicians and it's nice to hear him here. "Fletcher Carnaby" is an oddity- a menacing song with Hunter lyrics.
*The arrangements of Playin' in the Band ("Main Ten") and Greatest Story ("Pump Song") are interesting and the expert horns are a nice touch. Garcia playing "Insect Fear"? Well I don't know what Garcia is playing exactly, but it's unmistakably Jerry.

[Vguy- yes, alas, "Walk in the Sunshine", the poor thing. at least the Dead identified it as a turkey early on]
May 16, 2020 - 3:09pm

#7216

bluecrow

Joined:
September 21, 2015

Garcia -"I'll do some weirdness - it'll be weirdness, weirdness"

"Garcia" is a favorite album. LP Side 1 introducing 4 classic Hunter-Garcia songs. LP Side 2 is a brilliant, sublime suite of music and sonic weirdness. One of the songs at the core of my GD "universe" is The Wheel, and Jerry's pedal steel here is out-of-this world beautiful!

Not sure if everyone here knows it - there was an expanded version of the album released by Garcia Family/Rhino ca. 2005. 1 CD, OOP, pricey nowadays on the secondary market but to my mind very much worth tracking down. Very cool liner notes by Hunter, he was in the studio - he describes lyrics for The Wheel coming together as he listened to Jerry's pedal steel. A fascinating bonus track is the Late for Supper/Spidergawd/Eep Hour alternate take. Jerry begins by playing a series of crashing chords on the piano, letting them hang and fade to nothing. I love listening to each banging chord in its fullness. At the start of the track, Jerry's telling Billy K. what he's about to do re the chords, and then he says - "I'll do some weirdness - it'll be weirdness, weirdness, weirdness." Ha!
May 16, 2020 - 3:03pm

#7217

Vguy72

Joined:
June 29, 2007

YOU GET TWO PLAYIN'S WITH ACE AND ROLLING THUNDER....

....plus two "Whooo's!!!" to start.
Forgot how beautiful The Wheel is on Garcia. Pretty darn good trio here. Grate album covers as well. Rolling Thunder's is stellar. Agreed.
May 16, 2020 - 2:16pm

#7218

Strider 808808

Joined:
June 20, 2007

Dr Frank Lippenheimer

Garcia, Ace and Rolling Thunder are all three by far my favorite solo records by said artists.
Only listened to early show yesterday of 5/15/70 . Late show today. Maybe Garcia later. So I will Garcia later on the (72 alligator)
May 16, 2020 - 2:15pm

#7219

daverock

Joined:
September 1, 2014

Nice covers

I've only got these three albums on vinyl, and I got them down from the attic a few hours ago. I haven't listened to any of them yet, but I am struck by the covers. You can really appreciate them in this larger format. The one for Rolling Thunder-as can be seen by your avator, VGuy - is beautiful.
May 16, 2020 - 1:18pm

#7220

Vguy72

Joined:
June 29, 2007

❤ the horns on Ace....

....Poor Walk In The Sunshine. The red headed stepchild of the record.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Currently Listening To...

Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.

68 and Loud

I completely agree.

On occasion and if I'm not careful volume gets the best of me. One day I might live to regret this. Thankfully, that day was not today.

A new one for me. Some sound weirdness especially in and around banter, but what the hey.

I don't know what it is, but I have soft spot for The Eleven, Born Cross-Eyed and especially New Potatoe Caboose. Good show with some vintage grease to end the night with me feeling a little dirtier than I did when I woke up.

If there's no pick for tomorrow, I suggest the next in line. It's a partial, starts with a rare Clementine. 1/20/68 Euraka Municipal Auditorium. I think we should set up a go fund me to find all the missing reels, there's a couple missing from this show. It would be something for them to be found.

4/30/88 at the Frost

Hey Jim, I know you have had a lot on you plate this year. Thanks for checking this one out. Yes, the recording is decent, not great. Like a lot of 88 recordings out there. Still think they have some good ones in the Vault.

I liked the show, anytime I see a Hey Pocky Way, I am in. Nice Shakedown to open the second set. Love the triple Encore with China Rider OMSN.

It is good to get out of the comfort zone once in a while Doc.

Carousel Ballroom 68, okay Jim, Ok will have to que it up this morning.

Enjoy the weekend out there.

Edit. Oh and after the carousel ballroom I will be moving on the 12/9/79, Dave's Picks #47. Love this one and I need some 79. If I had the keys, I would be putting out a big 79 Box.

Lewiston, for your consideration

44 years ago today, there when Roy Buchanan along with Levon and His All Stars opened for the Dead. My last in person show, on the bus since their first album, however things had changed so much.... Doc was there, a wild late summer scene, part of my farewell to Maine.

All is worthwhile if the soul is not small.....

Hey rockers!!

Yes, we were there and had a blast. Beautiful day and tremendous music. A very fine show by the Dead, one of my all-timefavorite in-person Dead experiences.

Would make a solide offical release. It is worthy......

Doc
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for.....

All is worthwhile if the soul is not small.....

Hey rockers!!

Yes, we were there and had a blast. Beautiful day and tremendous music. A very fine show by the Dead, one of my all-time favorite in-person Dead experiences.

Would make a solid official release. It is worthy......

Doc
Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for.....

9/6/80

Hey DMCVT,

Love this show and will get it going again this weekend.

And yes, it would make a great releasen.

Pretty sweet you and Doc were there.

9/6/80 Lewiston

I'm in - hopefully sometime this weekend I can transport my mind and spirit into late summer beautiful day/evening Maine. Sounds like a dream show and setting. Very cool that a couple of you guys got to be there. Didn't realize this was the last show before the Warfield run. Long and heartfelt write up on grateful seconds (he was there). Comment at the end from a guy who was 8 at the time and lived a "bike trail" away from the fairgrounds. Listened to part of the show from his clubhouse. Rode his bike over and snuck in. Totally dug the Drums. Made major bank (for a kid) collecting cans and bottles for deposit afterwards (which is exactly what 8 yr old me would have done.) Think I might travel John Deere with the Jim Wise FOB.

Been Gone

But back this week. I can do Lewiston again.

As I recall there is not a good soundboard that circulates, right? And the one that does is first set only and it sure does sound like an audience (or ultramatrix on steroids at least).

High energy though.. like Gainesville, there must have been something in the water.

You have to wonder if this was recorded and if so where the hell are the master tapes? I think someone (Parrish??) tossed out the language that some of the master reels were left on the seat and when the truck pulled away they must have flown out the window or something.

I'd love to see more reels (and cassettes) returned.

Anyway, Lewiston Me for me tomorrow.

Edit: Started tonight - why not? Gave up on the "soundboard" and settled on the Jim Wise same as Bluecrow. Good news, Bluecrow.. The John Deere Broke down and was sitting in the yard for the last half of the week. I got it working today. Had to replace the solenoid. Damned electronics are always interfering with time travel. Just imagine if this broke back in time before Jebediah Solenoid created the first working model for riding mowers.. we would have been screwed.. I mean, nothing wrong with being stuck in 1980 but why not go back another 10 to 15 years...

High energy is right. Pretty good audience.

Follow-Up

While I was in the neighborhood, I took a quickie with 11/28/80 Lakeland Civic Center - Lakeland, FL (30 Trips).

I figured why not.. most enjoyable, especially To Lay Me Down. Not sure why I like that song so much, but I do.

More 1980

Ah, yes, more 1980. You don't have to twist my arm. A shorter show for the time period, but still really good. Will get it going after I finish up Dicks #36, which was mentioned on some other threads. Such a great show, but apparently didn't sell well at the time. No idea why.

My Favorite Non-Multi-Track 1980 Release

Random Musing - 1980

My favorite non-multi-track 1980 release has got to be Dave's # 8, 11/30/80 Fox Theater. Love how that Matrix worked out. If anyone remembers the seaside chat, he was spot on.

Crowd noise was not as big an issue in 1980 as they could play in some pretty intimate venues. Also, as the age of the cassette master replaced the lovely Ms. Cantor Jackson, a lot of those early soundboards are a bit sterile sounding without the crystalline highs and the booming lows. Blending those early 80's soundboards with one of those near perfect audience masters works. When they aged out of the smaller, cooler venues (thinking after Jerry's coma and In The Dark) audience tapes had to compete with hundreds of the guy next to you screaming "JERRY!!" at 95 decibels, this was no longer possible.

That SBD/Dr. Bob matrix is almost exactly perfect (or as good we are going to get for the time).

On the opposite side of the same coin, I think some of the Ultra Matrix's have a bit too much of the guy yelling JERRY! then I sometimes want to hear. Thinking a lot of 87 suffers from this, and by then the audience tapes were no better.

Anyway, if Mr. Norman can pull of similar wizardry I wish they would do more like DaP#8.

Being that it’s the anniversary

9-16-90 playing now.

Wonder what the Black Friday RSD release will be.

Music comes from a place we don't know...........

Mornin', rockers!!!

Pick of the day? September 24, 1972. Because..............Dark Star!

Minor rain storm headed my way................

The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils......

Rock on!

Doc
Music comes from an icicle as it melts, to live again as spring water......

9/24/72

Oh yes, this is a great show, I am in.
Thanks Doc.

Why Not

It's an early audience, but contains one of the few Seven's that were recorded.

09/29/69 Cafe au Go-Go - New York City, NY

It's no betty board, but an interesting inflection point in GD history, so maybe worthy of our time. Primal GD on the heels of WMD Americana GD.

Despite the recording quality, it's pretty good for a 1969 audience. Worth the trip for the Seven alone. Plus, it's pretty short. Something different, something quick, and well, it's really something.

So why not mix it up with a shortie from the fall of 1969.

9/29/69

Will mix this in as I listen to the new box today. Thanks Jim.

Hope everyone had a good summer

Been a while, just wanted to say hello. Watching the Dark Star from 10/18/74, cool to see video of Ned on stage, as well as see Jerry interact with the head nod. Enjoyed the April 78 release. With the 50th anniversary of the Winterland shows a few weeks away, doesn't look like anything is happening. Be good everyone. Bob t

Bob T

Hey Bob T, how have you been man? Hope all is well.
Yes, love that bonus footage from the GDM soundtrack. Might be one of my favorite UJB.
I have been traveling for work this week so still haven't made a dent in the new box, but loving it so.far.
Good thing there is no rush at this point.

Picks

Hope everyone is enjoying the new box set. Really enjoying it so far over here.

If anyone is interested in a pick, it has been a while, how about 5/16/81, Barton Hall from the 30 Trips box?

5-16-81

Started playing it last night and finished it tonight.

Good call DV.
And I’m having a Bell’s Octoberfest too. They’re gone from the store but I have 5 more cans in the fridge.

Conekid

Nice Conekid, must be esp.

Enjoyed the show again, nice Shakedown Bertha, Sailor Saint. Show ends with that audience patch.

Enjoy the last few Octoberfests. Still have a couple six packs to get through. Would buy a few more but the self life of this beer is only 3 months and it goes bad fast.

Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal…..

Good morning fellow rockers!!!

October 19, 1971

The second great seismic shift of 1971. The Yang to the Yin of February 18. Similar, yet different. Old, yet new. A vision of the new era. Change can be for good if you combine audacity with safety………

An old friend missing, a new guy who seems to fit in right away. Six new songs. The return of the complete CE/TOO/CE suite. The unusual occurrence of back-to-back Garcia songs twice in the first set. The first of the Fall 1971 FM broadcasts. One of only two 1971 shows that featured both Black Peter and Brokedown Palace. There ain’t no grease, but there’s plenty of Bakersfield left, as well as big jams.

Not without its rough edges, yet somehow it hangs together oh so well. Absolutely historic and worthy of a serious listen……

Rock on!!
Doc
He who rejects change is the architect of decay, the only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery………

10/19/71

Oh, yes, Doc this is a good show at the University of Minnesota at the Northrup Auditorium. Good idea.

Some may never live, but the crazy never die.....

Morning, rockers!!

This is for AJS. He'll know what I'm talking about...........

October 20, 1984, Carrier Dome. The last show we saw on that tour, maybe not Augusta level but very enjoyable. We had a great time. Maybe it was the liquid 25, courtesy of Deadhead Fred, a little drop'll do ya!!

Or maybe it was the music. Worth a listen!!!

If I had known being insane was so much fun, I'd have gone crazy long ago.....

Rock on,

Doc
No one can drive us crazy unless we give them the keys......

Doc & Angry Jack

10-20-84 - Syracuse

I was there also, think I met doc in the bathroom during drums,,, he was wearing a tie-dye :-)

My records show we rated Jack Straw at end of set one, a plus 2. Also second set opener of Shakedown got a plus 2 rating from our crew. We have the Black Peter that night at a plus 1.

Thing I remember was the air pressure blowing you out of the exit doors,,, deadheads LOVED this,,, kept going back in just to be blown out!

My wife went to Syracuse (both her parents also!)

Carrier Dome

Love the energy of this show. I'm pretty sure I tossed this out for a pick of the day a few years ago. I was not there, but hey.. we make it to the shows we can and hope for magic and a lightning strike or two.

Still, an enjoyable show and how about that Jack Straw. Another one where I wish I was there.

10-20-84 playing now

Just finished set 1.
It’s a Miller, but the file on my music player doesn’t have an ID number.
Vocals are pretty weak in some places. The playing seems to be trying to make up for it.
Shakedown poking around now…..

Edit:
I would have had fun had I been there.
Drums/Space was good.
I’ll listen to it again.

Most jokes state a bitter truth…..

November 7, 1971
Harding Theater, San Francisco, California

Deadicated to bolo24, because I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail……

Great and classic show and a long-time personal favorite. It has pretty much everything you could ask of the Dead in this era. Rockers, Cowboy songs, hot jams, the unusual coupling of Dark Star and The Other One, an unbelievably smoking NFA transition jam (maybe the best ever?), plus even the often-expected equipment difficulties, AND jokes from the audience! The circulating broadcast copies are excellent quality and highly recommended. The band sounds loose, and the crowd sounds juiced. OK yes there’s no Pigpen, but still highly highly recommended, a classic of the first rank!!

Rock on!!
Doc
It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes

I guess I missed it....

I didn't see the notice about the next Bear's Journal, John Hammond.

If you missed too, it's available on Amazon and Bear's site.