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    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.

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  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    51 redux

    First, glad to have this one, appreciation has grown, it being of a particular time and energy, unique. Dave does not remind us like the early on Dicks, its warts and all, there might be some bumps but its going to be better than anything else already out there. That said, the hot vocals on disc one did bother at first, but if I started out listening to it from far away, like another room, it wasn't so tough, move closer in and more appreciate discs 2 and 3 which make the cake. If we didn't comment on this stuff, who knows what else could happen!

  • itsburnsy
    Joined:
    3/27/91

    I was at that show. A buddy and I drove from MD to NY, and discovered early on I had a headlight out. That damn Honda always had a headlight out, was very nerve wracking. Anyway, we tilted both bulbs downward and turned on the high beams, problem solved. Then, got massively tailed in NJ for like 10 minutes, and we were holding plenty let me tell ya. THEN, I witnessed the only fist fight I ever saw at a show, two van loads of drunk NY wanna be heads going at each other. It was bitterly cold and we got stuck outside the venue because we had taken a cab. Long, strange, day and night...

  • RyXs
    Joined:
    3/27/91 Uniondale, Nassau, NY

    P.S. I almost forgot to mention. "Box of Rain" is the show encore.

  • RyXs
    Joined:
    #51...!~&~52...?

    Ya know, this {#51} was a fine pick, from an interesting show and locale with great extras. I love a Pig era Dead set that qualifies as a "Phil Show" and many of these gigs from 1971 are. Similar to the "Ladies & Gentlemen Philmore" and 'HouseBoat tapes' (Dick's#35) this was indeed a Phil Show. Aside from the sonic anomalies I truly enjoyed this 'bar band era' pick, especially the Pig songs and jams, it just took awhile to give the album a listen. I was pretty busy with stuff. Also nice to have a Dave Pick covering this Spring 1971 era.

    Now, as for #52, I have been doing some research and wouldn't mind say 3/27/91? This is one of a few rare Dead shows with the JGB song Reuben and Cherise. Also there's a Bob Dylan cover in both sets, "All Along the Watchtower" which was always played well in the later era and "Maggie's Farm" a 1990s staple. Anyways Dave has probably already got this one on the press so it's all wishlist speculation now!

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Morning Dew -> Midnight Hour....

    ....I knew I was blessed then.
    Good shit Brent.
    Jerry just keeping the train chuggin'"
    BTW, we took the Verde Canyon Train Trip in AZ during our stay there.
    They piped in train songs the whole time. Big RxR Blues leaving and returning from the station.
    Freight Train from Not For Kids Only also.....I pointed it out to my wife.
    She just shook her head and smiled.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Sirius XM is playing 7.31.88....

    ....🥰

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Catching up....

    ....just got back from five glorious days in Sedona with my wife celebrating our 25th anniversary.
    Need. More. Vacations. And a hot tub.
    And more Taylor Swift if you know what I mean. Childless Cat Lady ftw.

  • dmcvt
    Joined:
    Indeed

    Thanks DaveRock, was about to note Carter and Williams essential contributions to the Second Quintet. Williams was 17 years old when he joined Miles group. What an incredible crucible those five created. Heading off to northern Vermont tonight, concert with Tom Gershwin Quintet. Heard of this performance from a chance conversation with Grant Gordy after his gig with Mr. Sun Tuesday in Massachusetts. Never seen Grant on electric guitar.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    The second quintet

    What makes that band interesting to me is the rhythm section - Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams on drums. My favourite records by them are ESP and Milestones. A great live one is the First Bootleg - 4cds from 1967. I prefer this to the Plugged Nickel set, which seems a bit cautious by comparison.

  • Dennis
    Joined:
    Damn Boots

    Well the song will probably not be rattlin' around, but Nancy in them!

    Hope I didn't type here, but listening to Dylan Theme radio, girls names. For Nancy, a song sinatra sung.

    Nancy with the laughing face. Written about Nancy when she was born. Written by.... Phil Silvers!

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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.

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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."

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7 years 8 months

In reply to by wissinomingdeadhead

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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.

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In reply to by Obeah

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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.

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In reply to by bluecrow

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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.

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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.

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In reply to by carlo13

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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."

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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.

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