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.
9/26/91 or...?
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.
Carlo13
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.
#52
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.
Muffed beginning to Brokedown
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."
9/20/70 Fillmore East
Great show! Lets get this one released. Please.
#52 redux
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.
Deadhead Statistics
Dave has come to a point now where legitimately he could spread the release years around more equally. Being that so much has been released now to date over multiple years and numerous compilations or series. Not to mention big and mini Box Sets!
Well, 1977 is picked close to the bone, so has 1974 which had less shows done overall {Wall O'Sound}. 1976 has only half a years worth of shows, and only 3 have been Dave's releases so far {1976 is also a first year Dave's Picks representation}. 1972 still has some early springtime shows {Academy of Music} remaining before the Big {Massively released} Europe tour, and then after getting back stateside there's quite a bunch left during the midsummer to autumn and winter `72. The years 1973 & 1978 still have much shows left each for their year as a whole, with also some major variations in set lists and style during said years. Only 1973 has a big chuck gone, the summer shows.
So all that said, on any given year now, Dave could release at least one, maybe two Kieth & Donna era shows, {pre & post hiatus} then at least one, maybe two Brent era shows, {For one show pick from 1984~`86, with two shows pick from {1979~`83} & {1987~1990}.
That leaves room for either a Pig era show or a Vince & Bruce era pick, maybe both depending on how many Brent or Keith & Donna shows got done for that year.
This is the good math!
P.S. Gimme your bets for Dave's Pick #52! He already hinted that it would be a post Brent 1990s show. My money's on Nassau 3/27/91, too many unique aspects to pass on.