Friend of The Devils: April 1978 (Dead.net Exclusive) [19 CD]
WHAT'S INSIDE:
Curtis Hixon Convention Hall, Tampa, FL 4/6/78
Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, FL 4/7/78
Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, FL 4/8/78
Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA 4/10/78
Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA 4/11/78
Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC 4/12/78
Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA 4/14/78
Huntington Civic Center, Huntington, WV 4/16/78
Recorded By Betty Cantor-Jackson
Newly restored and speed-corrected audio by Plangent Processes
Mastered by Jeffrey Norman
Liners By Author Steve Silberman
Artwork By Acclaimed Artist Matthew Brannon
Limited To 10,000 Individually Numbered Copies
Dead.net Exclusive
It’s been said before but April ‘78 was an incredible month for the Dead. Like May ‘77, you could throw a dart and guarantee you hit a stellar show. - KyloRensPecs, r/gratefuldead, Reddit
.... April/May '78 has a lot of the same qualities of Spring '77 but with some extra edge and a much bigger sound from the Rhythm Devils. A really special era that often gets neglected. - viewtiful_alan, r/gratefuldead, Reddit
Sportatorium - April 7, 1989
when drums started I thought, oh s*#!, i hate drum solos and Billy and Mickey stopped me in my tracks. Wow, these guys are really good. Little did I know the pervasive influence this phenomena would have on my life. - pearlybakerbest, Dead.net
Huntington Civic Centre, West Virginia – 16 April 1978
This is another must-hear concert by The Grateful Dead. The sound and mix are almost ‘absolutely perfect'... It’s difficult to pick out highlights because everything is played so well; the band are tight, Donna is great and the set list is strong. - Grateful Ted, gratefulted.co.uk
We're hitting the bullseye with the eight previously unreleased stellar shows that make up FRIEND OF THE DEVILS: APRIL 1978. Filled to the brim with peak performances from the Grateful Dead's post-hiatus period, this collection captures the historic tour where "Drums" begat "Space," morphed into "Drums">"Space" and cemented the Rhythm Devils' second-set power move from the music business to the "transportation business."
Spring 1978 finds the Dead consistently weaving spontaneous magic, showing signs of great promise and potential - from the no-nonsense rock'n'roll in Tampa, where scholars cite the first "Drumz" leading into "Space," to the lengthy communal get down in Pembroke Pines to Jacksonville where the twain emerge fully formed, offering the primordial opportunity for "soul retrieval." It's evident in the dynamic range delivered on back-to-back nights at the intimate Fox Theatre and through the laid-back unity of the band's performance in Durham at Duke, a comfort that carries over to Virginia and West Virginia where the playing is unbridled, bursting with momentum, threatening to carry itself away. And nowhere can you hear that more clearly than through Betty Cantor-Jackson's original recordings, reliably crisp, bright, and vivid.
Individually numbered to 10,000 copies and exclusive to Dead.net, FRIEND OF THE DEVILS: APRIL 1978 has been mastered by Audio Engineer Jeffrey Norman using Plangent Processes tape restoration and speed correction. Steve Vance designed the collection’s custom box, which features a removable wave drum. (We invite you to unleash your inner Rhythm Devil.) Acclaimed artist Matthew Brannon created the set’s original artwork. The collection also includes a 48-page book with original liner notes by author Steve Silberman and photos by James Anderson, Bob Minkin, and more.
Amused Contempt
My cat looks at me funny sometimes.
When this happens I am careful to look in my shoes before I wear them and make sure there's no poop in my headphones. You cannot be too careful.
Fly By Birdies
Hummingbirds buzz by my ears in an extremely close dive bomb while I'm out on the back deck pruning my photo~period pot plants. Then as I am stunned momentarily, the lil arial acrobats proceed to float there a few feet right in front of my face, screeching up to high heaven something fierce!
Oh yeah, their little feeder is right next to my marijuana!
RYXS
I find that often the hummers do those up face front things to let me know the feeder is low, get to it. Here they will chase each other away from the feeders, even though there's ample real nectar in various flowers around the yard, very territorial about the feeder since it's the pure jazz. Spectacular to have them hover inches away or buzz your head within inches, they also have learned to hover in front of blink cameras, perch a few feet away on a clothesline watching the feeder, preen, just be a hummer. Here, they have tanked up and are heading south.
Hummers Etc.
The wife gets the hummingbird close-ups as she is a natural strawberry blonde. Here in W. Colo. they are mostly gone and the few migrators we have are young ones, mostly Black Chinned and Rufous with the occasional Broad Tailed that make the most noise in flight because of that tail. The Rufous are very territorial and come late in the season. This year they stayed for shorter periods. Usually dominate the feeder for weeks at a time but not this year.
Putting out the flag today, a somber remembrance.
Also my deadnet anniversary. Thanks to all.
Can't wait for '78! Two weeks!
Cheers
Re: Hummers
Love our Hummingbirds. They are still alive, well and fighting over the food in the three feeders here, but not for long (again except for the stragglers that are migrating).
Don't know any GD references for Hummingbirds, but I bet there is at least one. The closest I can come is the Nuthatch. A tiny bird, wings a mile long? I guess you wouldn't need binoculars looking for the Hunter Nuthatch.
Eyes of the World:
Wondering where the nut-thatch winters
Wings a mile long just carried the bird away
Love that lyric full of whimsical imagery.
Love that song, sometimes it feels like it was written about any one of us. A song with hope for tomorrow. Hope that what we do makes a difference and than any one of us can and does make the world a better place.
Listening to it can completely change my mood and turn a shit day into something meaningful. Come to think of it, a charm of Hummingbirds can do the same. (they call a group of hummingbirds a charm, how apt)
Favorite Eyes of the World, impossible to pick. Louisville 6/18/74 and Winterland 10/19/74 are both standouts, but there are many post hiatus, with Brent and beyond Brent hold their own amongst the giants.
Two weeks until the box? I guess that will have to be ok.
Where do nuthatches winter? It's a trick question, if there's ample cones and food they probably won't migrate at all. (at least here in the mid-Atlantic)
Belated Wishes
R.I.P. Steve Silberman
Happy B~Day Mickey Hart
Can't wait to bang along with Mick & Bill on that wave drum when it gets here!
Happy Birthday Mickey Hart
Joan Baez sang Mickey Hart Happy Birthday before the start of 9/11/81 at the Greek. They brought a big birthday cake out on stage. My favorite Grateful Dead years were when Mickey Hart was in the band.
Hummingbirds
Stupid bear kept raiding my bird feeder so I had to very begrudgingly get rid of it. In the summer I got birds from as far as S America heading for AK. Now all I can do is have a Hummingbird feeder, which is cool, but I never seem to have more than one regular at a time. Right now he's green with a red head, the second, not sure what happened to the first. Read somewhere that they are the most territorial birds of all, maybe that's why I only get one at a time? Anyway, they are fascinating little guys aren't they
Rip this joint gonna get down low.
51 years ago tonight I saw The Stones for the first time. I can remember wondering if they would be any good - Mick Jagger had just turned 30, and they seemed like a bit of 60's throwback. Perish the thought. I only new about 25% of the songs - I'd never heard either Let It Bleed or Exile on Main Street but it mattered not a jot. It was incredible. I have just been listening to "The Brussels Affair" double album from the same tour, and featuring the same songs. One of the best live albums of all time.
I don't think I've ever seen a hummingbird. In Lowestoft we have great big seagulls - I swear they are getting bigger every year - and during summer, if anyone eats food on the seafront they sometimes swoop down and take it out it out of their hands. It looks great, the surprise on the people's face when it happens. The most rock n' roll bird I have seen.
Steve Silberman's Obit courtesy of David Gans
Steve Silberman’s vocation as a Grateful Dead scholar and writer began organically, on a blanket on the grass at a concert in the sun. He happened to sit next to Blair Jackson and Regan McMahon, publishers of “The Golden Road,” an essential fan magazine.
“Steve wasn’t just a fan who ran off at the mouth about how many shows he had seen,” recalled McMahon of that chance meeting. “He had all these layers of spiritual and countercultural depth.
Everything he said about the Grateful Dead was intellectual and perceptive and poetic.”
By the end of that afternoon, Silberman had been invited to contribute an article to “The Golden Road” and that led to the high honor of writing liner notes for albums and box sets, and ultimately co-authoring the episodic glossary, “Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads.”
Silberman was known for wearing a custom T-shirt to a Halloween show bearing the message “Your Hallucinations Are My Costume,” and for his skill at putting cultural, scientific and medical complexity into common language, which he did during decades as a science journalist and in his 500-page treatise, “NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity” published in 2015.
He spent four years on that project, followed by six years becoming an expert on cystic fibrosis. An upcoming book titled “The Taste of Salt,” was scheduled for publication in 2026. Silberman was to Silberman Chronicle obit.rtf the point of submitting chapters to his editor when he died suddenly at his home in San Francisco on Aug. 29. Cause of death was an apparent heart attack, said his husband Keith Karraker.
“Steve lived an exciting life and wrote a book that changed the world,” said Karraker. “He could walk into a grocery store and make a friend for life with the counter guy, just from commenting on the music playing on the stereo.”
Silberman also made friends for life by starting and maintaining a Facebook group titled “Cole Valley, a Not-So-Secret SF Neighborhood.” It has 8,000 members, including his sister Hillary Shawaf and mother Leslie, both of whom moved here from the East Coast based on Silberman’s recommendation.
“He just loved this beautiful small-town neighborhood on the N Judah line,” said Karraker, a high school chemistry teacher. “Steve created a town square for the neighborhood,” added his sister. “One of the greatest talents he had was keeping it civil.”
Silberman spent many years as an editor and writer for Wired magazine, but perhaps his greatest creative outlet was the Dead, having seen his first Dead show in 1973 at Watkins Glen, N.Y. He also developed an expertise on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and became a close friend and confidante of the often-difficult David Crosby. He wrote the liner notes for the Crosby-Nash live album “Another Stoney Evening,” released in 1998, and the 50th anniversary edition of Crosby’s solo debut “If I Could Only Remember My Name,” from 1971.
“He understood people,” Shawaf said of her brother. “Making human connections was his life blood. When he walked down the street people approached him constantly.”
After the death of Jerry Garcia, in 1995, Silberman wrote an essay called “The Only Song of God,” that was originally published in Dupree’s Diamond News. In it, Silberman described walking by the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium in Oakland after Garcia’s death, where he estimated he had seen 40 of the 56 shows the Dead played there, often on weeknights when only the cognoscenti came.
Silberman in an undated photo at the Oakland home of Regan McMahon and Blair Jackson, publishers of “The Golden Road,” an essential Grateful Dead fan magazine. He met them at a concert and soon became a contributor.
“If you weren’t from the Bay Area, after three or four shows at Kaiser, eventually, you’d move here,” wrote
Silberman, who had followed that migration himself, though he had the extra incentive of earning a master’s degree in English literature at UC Berkeley.
His tryout with “The Golden Road” explored the connection between the Beat anti-hero Neal Cassady and the Grateful Dead, a connection that the band’s historian and publicist, Dennis McNally also visited in his biography of Jack Kerouac.
“Steve was always willing to chat about some angle of the 60s music scene in general and was a very reliable source,” said McNally. “What he said was trustworthy.”
Stephen Louis Silberman was born Dec. 23, 1957 in Ithaca, N.Y. His father, Donald, was an English professor at Queensborough Community College and an anti-war activist, as was his wife, Leslie Hantman.
“We saw my parents get arrested and be led away in handcuffs,” said Shawaf. “My dad did 11 days at the Queens Detention Center.”
Silberman’s first literary goal was to be a poet and he had success in sixth grade with a poem called “the
Math Battle.” It began, “Cubes are swirling through my head, π’s attack me in my bed,” and built enough momentum to win a poetry competition sponsored by Fordham University. That became his first published work. Silberman attended John P. Stevens High School in Edison, NJ., and gave a graduation speech in 1975, declining to cut his shoulder-length hair for the ceremony.
Seen here in an undated photo, Silberman helped author David Gans write a collection of reminiscences about Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead co-founder and guitarist.
“He was a magnificent human being,” Gans says of Silberman.
By then he was already a Deadhead, having attended his first show and begun a live concert tape collection that was to include “tons and tons and tons of tapes,” said his sister, “and some very obscure ones.” He had also come out as gay, which was not immediately accepted.
“My parents reacted very badly. It took some years for them to come around,” Shawaf said.
He attended Oberlin College in Ohio, and his slow migration west began with a position as a teaching assistant for Beat poet Allen Ginsberg at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colo. Silberman planned to continue as a poet himself until his father, the English professor, advised him that “he was better at prose and would reach more people that way,” said his sister.
He also reached people by helping them with their own writing. After Garcia’s death, David Gans, who has published five books about the Grateful Dead, was having trouble putting together a collection of reminiscences. When he told Silberman of his struggles over the phone, Silberman immediately drove from San Francisco to Gans’s home in Oakland, read through Gans’s essay, tore it apart and restructured it for him.
“That was one of dozens of times Steve improved my work with his generosity of spirit and his wisdom,” said Gans. “I know dozens of other people who were similarly blessed with Steve’s generosity. He was a magnificent human being.”
Later, Silberman, Gans and Blair Jackson co-produced. “So Many Roads 1965-1995,” a five-CD box for which Silberman wrote an essay. He also appeared on camera in the 2017 documentary “Long Strange Trip.”
Silberman on vacation in Europe in 2023. “He really brought empathy and compassion to a topic that had only been covered negatively in the press,” says Shannon Rosa, whose son Leo was featured in Silberman’s book about autism.
“There are Deadheads who are extreme but Steve had a historic overview that made his observations sensible and a little more grounded than some,” said McNally.
Silberman’s expertise on autism began when he was working at Wired and got a tip that there was a spike in diagnoses of the developmental disorder in Silicon Valley. This became an article called “The Geek Syndrome,” published in 2001, and greatly expanded in “NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity.”
“Steve’s book gave hope to a lot of families like ours that had only had messages that our lives would be one of doom and gloom,” said Shannon Rosa of Redwood City, whose son Leo is featured in the book.
“He really brought empathy and compassion to a topic that had only been covered negatively in the press. I
can’t tell you how many families I’ve heard from whose lives have been changed for the better because Steve showed us with compassion, not pity.”
That came through in everything Silberman wrote, especially the essay on seeing the Dead at Kaiser Auditorium.
“At shows in those years, up at the front on ‘the rail’ where you could observe the musicians at work, the crowds could get so dense on a Saturday night that you would lose your footing,” Silberman wrote in Dupree’s Diamond News. “But if you relaxed, you could nearly float, like a cell in a bath of nutrient, the rhythms coming to you as a gentle push in one direction, then another...”
“It was one of the safest places in the world.”
Re: Steve Silberman's Obit
Nice Post Dr. Robert
When I run that obituary through HowNow (C) TM, the proprietary software I wrote to get wordy musings through this website during the HeyNow period, it would have taken 6,234 separate posts to get the entire thing through without getting HeyNow'd. (unfortunate to see it get fixed the day my patent came through...argh)
anyhow... I'd call that tremendous progress.
A tip of the glass and a moment of silence for all those deadheads worldwide that we lost jumping off bridges, hanging from neckties, joining monasteries, becoming uber drivers, starting tech companies, worm farms, etc. during the dark period when HeyNow ruled the land. May the four winds blow you safely home.
What's the line on, on time…
What's the line on, on time delivery?
Travels in California
On my way to and from Lake Tahoe this month, I passed Nevada County Fairgrounds, where I saw JGB and the Dead in 1983. I also passed Boreal Ridge Ski Resort, the home of the infamous " Worst Dead concert ever" in 1985. I recall the Fairgrounds being pretty pleasant, and the Ski Resort being a pretty rocky, dirty location. I don't remember the show being all that bad, but the boys did have several technical difficulties. I'd go back in a second.
Anniversary show 9/13/81 Greek Theatre
43 years ago it was Sunday at the Greek with the Good old Grateful Dead. What a blast! Great show. Great run, my favorite Greek run was the 1st one. Stopped at Everett & Jones bbq on San Pablo Ave on the way home. I was so fortunate to see the Dead during these years along with so many other great musicians who are no longer with us. Fun times for sure!
Unboxing Video
Unboxing Video is out.
Let's hope we all get shipping notices soon
Surprised this hasn't sold out yet. I would think soon.
A Beat of an Afterthought
What about possibly having that drum being sold separately? I know it may be too late for that sort of whimsical production of one item after the Box Set completion. Though I can assure you I would purchase one if available. The one I've got coming I am for sure going to bang on it! The question is just a matter of how often & how sturdy is the drum? I wouldn't mind having one drum to display with the box set, {probably with the top off, open & cradled to the back with the drum propped upright and leaning slightly back against the lid} and another drum to receive percussionary usage & wear. Just a thought beating against my brain as I await the shipping notice!
Ice Cream Shipping
I agree with you fully,,,,,, start shipping.
Release date should equal in our hands date!
Amazon ALWAYS gets stuff here release date.
It's not that hard.
Hawkwind book
Public Service Announcement
For those who bought the paperback version of ‘Days of the Underground’ and missed out on the additional book that came with the limited edition hardback Strange Attractor are putting out an updated and expanded version of ‘Sideways through Time’ this contains lots of interviews. Look at their website for more.
Hey Now - something to wet your whistle
Join the Duke ‘78 Watch Party this Thursday, September 19, at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST, live on the Grateful Dead
@YouTube channel. Get an inside look at the Friend Of the Devils collection with exclusive content and experience the magic of the Dead’s previously unreleased complete show from Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC 4/12/78.
Dropping Inn
Hey folks, long time no post. System made me log in, but refused to pass me along to the forum. I gave up for months. Not sure why it worked today.
Anyway, if you scratch around, you'll see news that, this past summer, Mtn Grl took ~130 reels of presumably 1970s Jerry-related live music to an archivist for digitizing. Content appears to be Jerry solo and as collaborator on other projects as well as my beloved NRPS, most likely with Jer on pedal steel. Some GD show in the mix. Mtn Grl told archivist that a couple key things would come out this fall and early next year. Personally, an unreleased NRPS show from 69-71 would be sweet.
This on the heels of DL reporting several years ago that MG had dropped off a number of tapes with DL, one of which, I believe, became the 18 April 70 release. That was 11 long years ago.
Ta ta, HF
This is your captain is speaking. Your captain is dead.
Colin - thanks for the heads up about the Hawkwind book - I managed to get a copy of this with the hardback book when that came out - great stuff!
I can't say I'm very impressed with the 50th anniversary of "In Search of Space" though. Way too expensive - no previously unreleased tracks and, great though the original album is, I am not sure I need all these different mixes and remasters etc. Although it probably sounds very cosmic in surround sound.
I too can say I've received shipping notice on the Dead box.
Wonder, Wonder, Wonder
Got a shipping notice, too.
Haven't received no shipping information for any of my orders in the last 6 to 8 years (boxes and DaP)!
Surprise now!
What did I do right this time, or wasn't it me?
Now I have to find out where the tracking number goes to.
I'm stoked
Cheers, G.
Treating the Euro Deadheads right
After years of slow shipments they get to go first.
Hope you have yours by this Friday.
Anecdotal crickets
FWIW, I ordered mine July 31 & see no shipping info when I log in here; like others, I’m not expecting a ship notice as I haven’t gotten any the past few DaPs. Am looking forward to the listening party, just wish there were more in-person.
Can somebody who goes post a list of the swag so the rest of us can be jealous? Maybe they’ll have bonus drums & somebody can grab one for RyXs.
Indie release parties
Upcoming Indie Retail Listening Parties-
Waterloo Records - Austin TX 9-19 - 7PM
Twist & Shout - Denver CO 9-19 - 4PM
Amoeba Music - Hollywood CA 9-20 - 5PM
Cactus Music - Houston TX 9-19 - 5.5PM
Fingerprints - Long Beach CA 9 -19 - 4PM
Park Ave CDs - Orlando FL 9-19 - 7PM
Music millennium - Portland OR 9-20 - 10AM + 6PM
Amoeba Music - San Francisco CA 9-20 - 5PM
Easy Street - Seattle WA 9-21 - 5PM
Zia Records - Tempe AZ 9-19 - 6PM
Grimey's - Nashville TN 9/20 - 5PM
If you get an extra would love a miracle...
on the 12th try removed all potential special characters and that did the trick...
Go go go European shipping. And ty HF
I'm happy to see shipments to Europe apprently going out first. After all, those are typically going to take a few days longer to reach their destinations, so might as well send 'em on their way. For me, in California, I typically don't have a long wait, so I'm glad our friends across the pond are being served. No shipping notice here yet for me, but then again, I'm in the same situation as Lawdrone, where I've had no ship notice at all for the past few Dave's releases.
This September release date for FotD (looks like "Fort of the Damned" if there are any Sea of Thieves players here) reminds me of the PacNW box. I was recovering from major abdominal surgery at the time, so when that box showed up at my house during my extended convalescence, it was just glorious. I can remember sitting in my century-old rocking chair, the box at my side, just poring over the booklet while my wife kindly put a CD into the player for me. What a treat that was. I can still see the weakening late-Summer light and the shadows from the Black Walnut tree playing on the living room walls as my own vitality was strengthening day by day, helped along by the outstanding music of the Grateful Dead.
Thanks to HF for posting that stuff about the Family Dog 4/8/70 release. That one had entirely escaped my attention; I didn't even know it was an official release! Something to keep an eye out for.
BTK/Shipping Notices
Glad folks overseas getting their notices.
Hope WBD has cleaned all of the production issues from the last box.
BTK could you help understand: Everett & Jones bbq on San Pablo Ave. I know you post about eating their often after the show. Was it great bbq or a great party scene or both and even more? Like BBQ, GD, wild party, and strippers?
HF
WBD is definitely trying out new things software wise, or marketing wise, or maybe security wise (ie another software upgrade) to include all 3.
Started for me about a month ago, making it hard to log-in and get to comments. So today, can't get to comments on 51, only product recommendations. I could comment on 50, just as a test/poke.
Site Changes
I noticed a couple weeks ago there is no longer a search field top right by my recent posts drop-down or one on the home page. Also have a second screen to confirm sign out that wasn't there before. Weird thing is it won't let you go back from there. Good luck Gary.
Cheers
Er, I meant ...
to draw attention to the ~130 tape reels from never-circulated shows that MG just had digitized, not to the 4-18-70 release, which nonetheless is a must-have.
I guess the new box has y'all frothing, just as the ~130 unreleased reels of Jerry music has me foaming at the mouth.
Enjoy to all! HF
special characters...
BobLopes comment below about removing all the special characters makes me wonder who would be left if they did that? All you characters are special to me. Yes, very warm and a little fuzzy here.
Gary/ Everett & Jones bbq
Gary, we went to Everett & Jones Bbq for the bbq. They make great bbq. John Madden was a big fan of Everett & Jones bbq. We saw Rock Scully in there one night after a show at the Greek, probably picking up some bbq for Garcia.
I like BBQ
Have never been to E&J, but have been to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack in Atlanta.
Anyone been to Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ 10-15 years ago? It went on tour and was in various cities on Saturdays.
I went a few times and got the VIP ticket which had a separate beer tent and “The Hall of Hogs” where they pulled a whole hog out of a smoker every hour.
Searchin'... and the 130
Search field still there for me, 1stshow. Are you using Chrome? I'm on the current official build, version 128.0. If you are too, maybe consider clearing site data for dead dot net and see if it fixes. What Gary describes is also curious, but I can't replicate that, either.
Oh and sorry for missing the forest for the tree, HF. Yes indeed, 130 reels is exciting news!