The impression I get is that the shows from the first half of the year were much hotter than the ones that followed. Understandably, so - they were perfecting a well worn repertoire and approach in the first 6 months. After that they introduced more country based songs, and to my ears, it took a while to do this successfully. The jams seemed a little less impressive too, as the year progressed. I have never been that keen on 11/8/69, Dicks 16, for example - even though it's often hailed as a classic. I'm sure there are great shows across the year - but less so, perhaps, as it progressed.
Pity that all the Daves Picks from 1969 have been from the end of the year. It would be great if something from Jan -May could be released.

....hope you and the wife has a great time!
Mailed my ballot yesterday. We are not going back dammit! Especially with Project 2025 on the table. Scary shit my friends.

I've been passing on most Daves picks. I don't want a cassette remaster.

Time to redo dicks picks with Plangent Process, remaster and remix.

Vguy,

Love the Vote icon!

I myself voted early and dropped off my ballot this morning here in CO.

Remember, wise man say, "Get out and vote, - removes stubborn orange stains!"

\m/

For those of you waiting for some good scans of the FOTDs box, I am sorry I am taking so long. . . Got back from Europe this past Monday only to have to drive a day later 8 hours each way to a funeral. Got back yesterday, and have out-of-town company coming Monday. Whew. One of these days. . .

In the meantime I'll check with our ace-up-the-sleeve, Coperdomebodhi to see if he has anything to share. Onward.

PS: Haven't had time to reflect, but I'm pretty sure we had an amazing time in Athens and Rome, even if we missed David Gilmore by a week. . .

Will make for a great release one day!

In regard to 1970...................

Beginning in the Summer and continuing through the Fall and into early Winter, big chunks of 1970 are "missing", probably because they were never originally recorded. There are a few exceptions, most of which are worthy of release some day......

One of the more significant missing pieces is the September Fillmore East run, which was recorded clandestinely by the FE crew. It appears that a lot of those reels went MIA over the years..........

The FW runs of February and April are missing some important parts, maybe they'll be returned some day. Almost the complete June run is there, but I would not recommend those for a box set----portions are kind of rough, although what is there is generally very good............

Many early 1970 shows were recorded and are worth releasing eventually. I would really like to see Corvallis released some day-----really good show.

There are a lot of missing shows from the early years, 1966-1968, which were probably just not recorded or broadcast live on the radio. It appears that they started recording more consistantly in 1969, although frankly, some of those haven't held up too well.........

There are some "missing gaps" from later years, January 1979 comes to mind, as well as some individual "missing shows"----Detroit 10/30/72, with the mind boggle Truckin' comes to mind................

Time for more coffee, dogs, grocery shopping...............

Rock on,

Doc
When you were riding on the crest of a wave, you were most likely to be missing out on something......

Little 1970 in the vault.. yet the booklet to Daves 51, claims (page13)"This period of 1970 was the only gap in the Deads archive".. is this true.. ? BW from Copenhagen

Yes, I'm vying for worst subject line ever. I'd have done better to follow Dennis' lead and just title it "things". But Mercy and Goodness and Sweetness and Light, you good people gave me a lot to think about!

Thanks Doc and HF for filling me in on those '68 developments. I know there are some vectors like Dead Legs and Dead Air that seem to regularly surface new stuff - or new sources for existing stuff. Not sure who all is part of GEMS but they seem to do heroic work, too. But I tend to run behind the curve, so I appreciate this intel.

@HF I do share your wish the PTB would be a bit more... sensitive? attuned?... to the passage of time. As you said the '70 selections in the vault are pretty sparse. But all the more reason to work on what is there and get it released. If I could rub the lamp and get the genie to grant me influence with the archivist, I'd push for a 'sea change' in the way Lemieux et al approach the box set for the 60th anniversary year. Viz. I'd like to see them curate the entire vault contents for 1970 (or perhaps 1967 and/or 1968 - I pass over 1969 just because I feel it's well-represented already and the need is less pressing) and if a given date doesn't meet the necessary benchmarks to allow it to emerge as a traditional Dave's release (for ex. Vols 19 and 30), then Mockingbird Master what's there, and release it piecemeal. In this way one could build up a historic box... and the sparse nature of the vault's inventory for '70 should make this doable... if they could do 80 CDs for 30 Trips, there's no reason they couldn't do that again for this project.

This would be one of the most important and foundational archival releases that could ever happen, and it seems only right for it to get out while the remaining participants from that era are still on this side of the ground.

More realistically: it would not surprise me at all to see Fall '72 get amalgamated into a box.

The Diamonds and Rust connection with Judas Priest was quite deliberate... I think their producer suggested it to them as a way for them to get radio play in the United States. Somewhere there's an interview with Halford that goes into more detail. I think it says a lot about the band that they didn't dismiss it out of hand and instead really went for it. The whole thing is fascinating on many levels, not least because their cover of the song is quite good. And that's not just my opinion; Baez herself has praised it effusively.

True they don't shake your gut like moving coils do but the definition is superb. The QUADS go down to 40 Hz and Phil can still rattle the furniture!