• 658 replies
    Dead Admin
    Default Avatar
    Joined:

    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.

Comments

sort by
Recent
Reset
  • Crow Told Me
    Joined:
    Elvis's Christmas Album …

    Elvis's Christmas Album (which, to avoid confusion, is helpfully titled Elvis's Christmas Album) is great. I absolutely love his versions of Here Comes Santa Claus and Silent Night. If ever anybody wanted an example of how this guy could take any song, any song in the freaking universe, and make it his own, well, there you have it.

    It's almost as good as James Brown's Funky Christmas. Which is probably the all time heavy weight champ of Christmas albums. Too bad the Dead never did one.

    But I digress.

    I think Elvis was one of the greatest talents we've ever seen. He didn't "invent" rock and roll but it was his good looks and outrageous performances that brought it to the masses. His story is kind of tragic, because he naively trusted his manager, who stole from him and steered him into making cheesy movies rather than focusing on music. But the early recordings show how great he could be. And depending on your tolerance for schmaltz, some of the later ones are pretty good, too.

    Back now from Colorado. TTB was the bomb at Red Rocks, as usual. #51's on its way, should arrive tomorrow if past experience is any guide. Been playing Ladies and Gentlemen while I wait. Life is good.

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    I love the sound on 51

    Phil is so Phil

    Interestingly I saw a dude with an Area 51 shirt at the store this past Friday

    Appropriate

  • fourwindsblow
    Joined:
    3/23/74 DTS Disc 2...

    China Cat Sunflower ->I Know You Rider, Weather Report Suite Prelude ->Weather Report Suite Part ->Let It Grow

    Set 2
    Playing In The Band ->Uncle John's Band ->Morning Dew ->Uncle John's Band ->Playing In The Band

    The audio on this is incredible !
    The new Subwoofer sounds great. Thanks Vguy72

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    Don’t forget Elvis Xmass…

    “In the ghetto”

  • TN John
    Joined:
    Steve Morse

    To anyone who decides to go down the Steve Morse rabbit hole. Make sure you check out the amazing band Flying Colors. Also, don't miss the 2 Kansas albums he played on. Especially, In The Spirit Of Things.

    Waiting on my copy of 51 to hit the mail box in a few hours. Glad I'm on vacation this week, so I can dig right into it.

    Peace

  • Deadheadbrewer
    Joined:
    Elvis in December

    I can NOT get to December 25th with Christmas in my heart without hearing Elvis sing "It Won't Seem Like Christmas", "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day", and "If I Get Home on Christmas Day".

  • billy the kiddd
    Joined:
    Happy Heavenly Birthday Mike Bloomfield

    One of the of the all time great guitar players. I saw him play one time at the S.F. Blues Festival, he was really special.

  • RyXs
    Joined:
    Poor Autumn!

    Yeah, and I knew it too. Better save up a whole lotta "Money, Money," {1974} MonaaaaaY! This from back when Uncle Neil decided to postpone his 3rd Big Box Archives release from early summer to this fall. It's a doozy, even for the simplified cd only version at just $240. That was the same price as the Deluxe Archives 2! Anyways, I don't wanna get lost in the Neil Young tumbleweeds on a Dead forum, so,..... I am going to bet that this week up coming, no later than next, Cousin Dave will announce the 2024 Dead Big Box! Probably {crossed fingers} the 1974 Winterland shows everyone's been buzzing about. Coincidentally the 50th anniversary of the concert run. Anticipation awaits!

  • stillwaters
    Joined:
    Elvis and Song Writing

    The music industry during Elvis’s era often involved songwriters surrendering 50% of the credit to the artist or their record label in exchange for the opportunity to record their song. This practice, combined with Elvis’s immense popularity and negotiating power, likely contributed to his name being credited as a co-writer on many songs.

    He did not write songs in the classical sense.

    Flame away.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Elvis....

    ....hard pass. Although my mom saw him twice at the Hilton Hotel.
    I remember walking in the door when I was 9 and seeing my mom crying. The newspaper was on the kitchen table.
    "Elvis dead". I just shrugged.
    Flash forward three years, and I was my mom when Lennon died.
    Sorry I shrugged mom.

user picture
Default Avatar

Member for

3 years 4 months

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.

user picture

Member for

7 years 4 months
Permalink

Does anybody remember a daytime show, in which Jerry, screwed up a part of China doll, and said to the audience "wait a minute, that's *ucked up."

user picture

Member for

7 years 8 months

In reply to by wissinomingdeadhead

Permalink

Well, for three of the last four years, the last DaP of the year was a later-era show - Vol. 36 was 1987 and then Vols. 40 and 44 were both from 1990. So it seems a reasonable supposition to think he might dip into '91 for Vol. 52.

On the other side of the coin, this year Dave already cracked open 1985 for the first time (Vol 49) - you have to go back to Vols 35 and 36 for the last time he broached two new years (new for the DaP series, that is) in one calendar/subscription year. Would he really end the year with a 1991 release? People have been speculating about 9/26 for some years now, but it never really sounds like informed speculation but just more of "I was there" and "this was the best night of the run" chatter. And ofc one of Dave's first releases when he took over the Dick's series was 9/25, so he surely considered the 26th back then but passed.

My own feeling is that while '91 is the last strong year for the band, the energy did wane as the year went along. I think the March shows, or perhaps Vegas in late April, have more to offer. The August Shoreline shows have some fire to them. But for any of these it's not hard to imagine that Rhino will struggle to shift 25,000 copies. And if they are willing to risk a Fall '91 release, one of the MSG shows (8 still unreleased) seems a safer sales bet than Boston.

But there's still no Dave's from 1989, nor '88. Either would likely sell better than a '91. And I note that the last '76 released (notwithstanding the 2020 box set) was Vol. 28.

Oh well, I'm always wrong when I play the "guess what Dave will release" game. Since I didn't mention it, it will probably be '73.

user picture

Member for

8 years 11 months

In reply to by Obeah

Permalink

Not sure about a China Doll - maybe you're thinking of Brokedown Palace at Telluride 8/16/87? Double encore - as they start Brokedown out of Touch It slowly grinds to a halt and Jerry exclaims something to the effect of - "Wait a minute! This is all fucked up! We're in then wrong key! You folks are used to this - oxygen deprivation. Forget that all happened!" And they start Brokedown fresh.

user picture

Member for

7 years 10 months

In reply to by bluecrow

Permalink

Obeah,

The one thing we know for sure is Dave can be unpredictable at times. Never thought he would release another 71 show for #48 and release this Scranton show two releases later. Who knows, maybe he will release another 71 show for #52.

Would love to see an 88 or 91. It is time.

user picture

Member for

7 years 4 months
Permalink

That's it, thanks. Believe it or not, but I typed in BP first but China somehow came to mind. It's pretty rare to hear Jerry talk much at shows, except for his sweet lyrics.

user picture

Member for

10 years

In reply to by carlo13

Permalink

They muffed the beginning of Brokedown Palace when they played it as an encore when I saw them on 3/27/81, too. Looking in The Taping Compendium to jog my memory, after playing the opening chords, Jerry came in with the wrong verse. To quote the good book -
""Sorry! Premature senility," says Jerry with a grin, before playing and singing it so soulfully that I'm reduced to tears for the second time in one night."

user picture

Member for

7 years 8 months
Permalink

Good points, all, Deadvikes. Dave is indeed unpredictable.

It probably surprises no one to observe that 1977 leads the way in the DaP catalog of releases with 8 shows to date. And it's most welcome to note that 1974 comes second with 6. But 1971 now has 5. All three of those years were represented in the very first year of the DaP series, so empirically it might seem that Dave has a strong affinity for each one.

And yet I also recognize that some of his decisions were governed by what's in the vault (or maybe what was repatriated to the vault!); what is available in a very high-quality recording; what was already released in other series or box sets, and so on. One thing we can probably all agree upon, though, is that Dave truly has one of the most interesting jobs in the world. He's like a real-life version of that Dos Equis guy. Except Canadian and clean-shaven.

product sku
081227817480
Product Magento URL
https://store.dead.net/en/grateful-dead/special-collections/daves-picks/daves-picks-vol.-51-scranton-catholic-youth-center-scranton-pa-41371/081227817480.html