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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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  • SPACEBROTHER
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    Politics

    Keep them off this sight. Too much of that on social media as it is.

    MaryE?

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    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

  • wissinomingdeadhead
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    A

    Rather unusual venue. The Diocese of Scranton opened the CYC in the late 40's. I must admit that I've never heard this show show for me it's FRESH DEAD. Now where is the box announcement?
    PLAY DEAD
    PLAY DEAD LOUD
    HAPPY THURSDAY

  • PT Barnum
    Joined:
    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.

  • alvarhanso
    Joined:
    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.

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    Excellent

    4 13 71 Excellent
    4 12 71 Yes
    Mo' of that 70 show Alrighty Then

    Play it loud and proud

  • Thin
    Joined:
    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!

  • bigbrownie
    Joined:
    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.

  • estimated-eyes
    Joined:
    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.

  • hendrixfreak
    Joined:
    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.

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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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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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