• https://www.dead.net/features/daves-picks/daves-picks-volume-1
    Dave's Picks Volume 1

    Dave's Picks Volume 1
    May 25, 1977
    SOLD OUT


    Dave's Picks Volume 1 is officially SOLD OUT.

    Have no fear, you can join the fun with our next release Volume 2, the complete Grateful Dead performance from the Wall of Sound tour, recorded live on 7/31/74 at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, CT. This was one of the final East Coast appearances by the Grateful Dead for almost two years, and is one of the longest, most exceptionally well-played shows of the entire year. The big jams stand out, of course, including "Weather Report Suite," "Eyes Of The World>China Doll" and "Truckin>several thematic jams," but the smaller songs, like a rare show-opening "Scarlet Begonias," "Mississippi Half-Step," "Big River," "Greatest Story Ever Told," "Uncle John's Band" and countless others are also excellent at this A+ show.

    In addition to all the great music, you can look forward to another digipak with trays made of 100% recycled and PCW materials (and of course a booklet featuring a historical essay and photos). Due to popular demand, we'll be using a heavier paper stock for Volume 2 and all the great Dave's Picks releases to come.

    Dave's Picks Volume 2 ships this May. Stay tuned for pre-order details.

    Learn More About Volume 1 here...

    Dave's Picks Archival Series Kicks Off With 5/25/77

    Chances are if you’re a Dead Head you’re already well-versed in the glorious spring of 1977. Back a year since their mid-’70s performing hiatus, and fresh from recording their Terrapin Station album in L.A. with producer Keith Olsen, the Dead returned to the road invigorated and excited that spring. There were fantastic new songs (including the “Terrapin Station” suite, “Estimated Prophet” and “Fire on the Mountain”) and their older tunes seemed imbued with new vigor and vitality. Every stop of the tour, which stretched from the third week of April (beginning at the Spectrum in Philadelphia) through the first week in June (back at Winterland in San Francisco), presented some new wrinkle or interesting variation on the repertoire, as songs were moved around, unusual combinations were explored and the septet continue to solidify and mature. Which is a fancy way of saying the band was on fire—y’see, there’s a reason why this is the ninth show from that tour to be released!

    The song list from 5/25/77 might not reveal much out of the ordinary (though it’s great selection of tunes), but the playing is definitely extraordinary. The first set contains outstanding versions of favorites such as “Mississippi Half-Step,” “Jack Straw,” “Cassidy” and “Lazy Lightning” > “Supplication.” And the second set is primo-grade ’77 from start to finish. The buoyant “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain” that kicks things off sets the tone, but then the rest of the set is a deftly played medley starting with “Estimated” and moving into “He’s Gone,” a primal drum workout from Mickey and Bill, a heart-pounding version of “The Other One” that’s split by “Wharf Rat” (the only time those songs were played in that sequence), a joyful “Wheel,” and then a double-dose of Chuck Berry to bring it all back to rock ’n’ roll basics. Talk about a thrill ride!

    — Blair Jackson

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    bmoredead
    12 years 10 months ago
    Promised Land Glitches
    I hear them too. Kinda interrupts the flow of a great show. Can anyone "official" confirm that they exist on the source and that it's not a CD/pressing error?
  • Default Avatar
    Jrbeno
    12 years 10 months ago
    Fantastic!
    Love everything about this cd, except the fading in and out on promised land. Sound quality othrwise very good. Personaly I am a fan of the Donna and Keith years. For me, this was a great kick-off to this new series. Thanks to everyone involved.
  • Default Avatar
    riggsjr
    12 years 10 months ago
    Wow
    Got mine yesterday, on the third listen and it just gets better and better. Gongrats to all involved, this is a great release with superb sound and packaging. Don't understand the people complaining about the packaging, how are they handling this stuff? Seems sturdy enough to me to do what it is intended for which is to store CDs.
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Dave's Picks Volume 1
May 25, 1977
SOLD OUT


Dave's Picks Volume 1 is officially SOLD OUT.

Have no fear, you can join the fun with our next release Volume 2, the complete Grateful Dead performance from the Wall of Sound tour, recorded live on 7/31/74 at Dillon Stadium in Hartford, CT. This was one of the final East Coast appearances by the Grateful Dead for almost two years, and is one of the longest, most exceptionally well-played shows of the entire year. The big jams stand out, of course, including "Weather Report Suite," "Eyes Of The World>China Doll" and "Truckin>several thematic jams," but the smaller songs, like a rare show-opening "Scarlet Begonias," "Mississippi Half-Step," "Big River," "Greatest Story Ever Told," "Uncle John's Band" and countless others are also excellent at this A+ show.

In addition to all the great music, you can look forward to another digipak with trays made of 100% recycled and PCW materials (and of course a booklet featuring a historical essay and photos). Due to popular demand, we'll be using a heavier paper stock for Volume 2 and all the great Dave's Picks releases to come.

Dave's Picks Volume 2 ships this May. Stay tuned for pre-order details.

Learn More About Volume 1 here...

Dave's Picks Archival Series Kicks Off With 5/25/77

Chances are if you’re a Dead Head you’re already well-versed in the glorious spring of 1977. Back a year since their mid-’70s performing hiatus, and fresh from recording their Terrapin Station album in L.A. with producer Keith Olsen, the Dead returned to the road invigorated and excited that spring. There were fantastic new songs (including the “Terrapin Station” suite, “Estimated Prophet” and “Fire on the Mountain”) and their older tunes seemed imbued with new vigor and vitality. Every stop of the tour, which stretched from the third week of April (beginning at the Spectrum in Philadelphia) through the first week in June (back at Winterland in San Francisco), presented some new wrinkle or interesting variation on the repertoire, as songs were moved around, unusual combinations were explored and the septet continue to solidify and mature. Which is a fancy way of saying the band was on fire—y’see, there’s a reason why this is the ninth show from that tour to be released!

The song list from 5/25/77 might not reveal much out of the ordinary (though it’s great selection of tunes), but the playing is definitely extraordinary. The first set contains outstanding versions of favorites such as “Mississippi Half-Step,” “Jack Straw,” “Cassidy” and “Lazy Lightning” > “Supplication.” And the second set is primo-grade ’77 from start to finish. The buoyant “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire on the Mountain” that kicks things off sets the tone, but then the rest of the set is a deftly played medley starting with “Estimated” and moving into “He’s Gone,” a primal drum workout from Mickey and Bill, a heart-pounding version of “The Other One” that’s split by “Wharf Rat” (the only time those songs were played in that sequence), a joyful “Wheel,” and then a double-dose of Chuck Berry to bring it all back to rock ’n’ roll basics. Talk about a thrill ride!

— Blair Jackson

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You’ve all been so patient. It’s been a couple of months since the first mention of the new Dave’s Picks archival release series—created and curated by vaultmeister David Lemieux—and our initial offering, the killer May 25, 1977 Grateful Dead show from The Mosque in Richmond, Virginia. A lot of you have taken advantage of the subscription offer (the year’s four Dave’s Picks releases, plus a bonus disc and free shipping), but many of you preferred to wait and buy the first set individually. Well, your time has come: We are now accepting orders for Dave’s Picks, Volume One, set to ship early February.

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14 years 9 months
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An announcement on this site surely is coming soon, though I find it strange it can be preordered elsewhere, and the description is Shout Factory celebrates the Grateful Dead. Information- and a less expensive price- are available at shoutfactory.com. I wonder why no information about this official release is available here- on the official website. Perhaps with the passing of Jon McIntire it was decided to wait to announce this Box Set.p.s. I sure hope the DVD Box Set isn't the big announcement for the year- like it's this years Europe 72. Because it's not in the same ballpark- it's a cool opportunity for fans who don't have these yet- but it's not even in the same league as the Box Sets from the past 5 consecutive years. That's 5 in a row we got a Box- I hope soon this streak extends to 6
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14 years 5 months
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I'd bet big money that a rerelease of a bunch of old DVDs is not this year's box set. IMO you will definitely have the opportunity to spend $100+ on something new.
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17 years 6 months
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I'll see what I can find out!
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13 years 10 months
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Ordered the 'Dave's Pick Vol 1' a week ago, sitting here on top of the world, ceapest postal option and already No1157/1200 has arrived. Normally I can wait up to 1 month or more so I'm extreemly chuffed! ~ and I can't wait to listen. Rhino this time round an A for effort, thanks. DVD box, I certainly will get this and especially in one box ~ it it's true :) My only comment is 'bluray', the only issue has been GD Movie? It's suprising Rhino and GD are'nt working on the transfer to such technology or maybe I just don't know? What I do know is the sound and picture quality is worth the extra effort and I'm sure fans will agree. It means a lot to capture all the glory as close as one can get to being there in person. I can't wait until the 74' release ~ Dr Rhino as I've not received the two RT goodwill's as you said I would due to ordering and the feasco of mail delivery problems ~ I'll be more than happy with a 'bonus' of the 74' Dave's Picks ;) cheeky but worth a try. marye if you can p.s pass the message ~ thanks in uk.
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16 years 4 months
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Maybe I should just order this again. I think I may get it faster that way. I am almost ready to give up. Plus to add to my frustration the ticket sales for Phil and Friends at Terrapin Crossroads has been a debacle as well. Where is my chill pill. I need one stat!
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16 years 4 months
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I ordered mine by subscription back in October and still haven't heard a note. And I live in California. I am glad you are enjoying yours. It sounds like you have had enough frustration. This is the first time other than my calendar order that has been a problem. Oh well.
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13 years 10 months
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although slightly off topic this seemed the best place to share this, i hope those still dealing with order screw-ups can still see the humor i was so excited about my E72 set that i decided to order a couple older RTs that i hadnt snagged originally, one was the penn state/cornell 1980 combo when it arrived i discovered disc 2 wouldnt play all the way through so i emailed asking for a replacement of that disc, a month later i received an email agknowledging my request and promising me one, 2 months later i emailed again because i still hadnt received anything, they emailed back pretty soon and said again they get that shipped asap another month went by so i called, the rep apologized and said they were about to start processing replacement shipments... ok a couple weeks later i received not just disc 2 but the entire set, cool, great, i know some folks i could give extra discs to one week later (yesterday) i received another whole set!!! so i now have 3 copies, one with a bad disc 2 somebody's gonna get that 3rd copy with the plastic still on it! btw i dont listen to too much 80 but that's a real nice set, oddly it has two saint of circs (but only one lost sailor), disc 1 which is a combination of the two 1st sets has many of the same tunes from mosque 77, but they sure sound different
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17 years 6 months
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too much of everything is just enough, I guess!
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17 years 6 months
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I had glue on my Egypt '78 Disc 1, and they sent me the entire set as a replacement. Alas, it was like 2 or 3 months later and I only received 1 replacement set. By the way, I'm entirely fine with that. I guess persistence pays off right? For you it paid off double!
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12 years 10 months
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Volume 1 is so good, definately the best mixed comercial release I have ever heard. Love the show and Love the show thats going to be Dave's Picks Volume 2. What a dream that the 7/31/74 Hartford, CT, is going to be remastered as dreamy as the first Dave's Picks. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!! Thank everyone involved with this project. Bless it
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Thanks to Mary, my account is now in the clear and I can fully enjoy the grandeur of Dave's Picks with no little cloud raining all over it. If that makes any sense.Hooray!
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13 years 1 month
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I just got my copy of Dave's Picks #1 and am pleased but not blown away. This is an improvement over the Charlie Miller SBD but it's not a huge upgrade. I'm glad to see that most of the wobble has been eliminated from Promised Land but it is still there so it must be on the master. It is only noticeable if you are looking for it (which I was ;-). I agree with most of the comments that this is not a stand out show from the tour. It is solid but the jams were more inspired many other nights from May 77. I see this more as a Jerry show than the rest of the guys. Jerry was ON the whole month but the rest of the guys were not always in the same place. Still, when Jerry was on they were all elevated even on the not so great nights. This is a good release but I have a feeling vol.2 is going to blow this one away. Dillon Stadium 74 blows this show away and what circulates is not that great in my opinion so it will be a well-received release. As for the other Dave's Picks to come I hope they really look at and LISTEN to what already circulates and choose wisely. I'm not hoping for slight upgrades with the Dave's Picks series. I want to be blown away. Bring us the jams!!!!....please. Downloadable versions would be nice for those of us who want to save money too. Hopefully the Road Trips series will be available as individual release downloads eventually. I won't buy any more CDs with cardboard sleeves. Those just don't hold up and the discs get scratched.
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Rhino fulfillment, that is. Just received a "your order has shipped" email. Huzzah! Thing is, I already received the DaP#1 in said order a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, wherever these things come from is existing in a time warp -- I'd like to know where that is and how to get there.
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I'm looking forward to the next release as well. I saw the band at the Hartford outdoor show in the summer of 1976, but never got to the 1974 show. I have fond memories of that 76 show though-I would love to see that one released at some point.
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To all users: A few weeks ago, I annoyed many of you by send about ten of the same message. I must aplogize to my fellow DeadHeads. When I pressed "Save" I thought the message was not sending, so I hit it "Numerous" times. It turns out that I looked like a "Nutjob" I was blocked from using this site. I pleaded my case, The moderator of this site agreed, so I am back. Once again, I am sorry that I was an annoyance. J. Kelly
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14 years 5 months
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When you try to save or input a comment, the site hangs up for about a minute (or so it seems). Many people (myself included) hit save again, or otherwise try to not lose what they wrote. If this site worked like virtually every other site on the 'net, this wouldn't happen.
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17 years 4 months
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A surprisingly average show. Nothing really stands out here to justifly a release IMO. Especially coming from such a strong year. Disapointed but will support the DP series always.
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17 years 6 months
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Has anyone else been charged twice for the overnight shipping option? I opted for the overnight shipping when I bought the subscription back in October as it was only $11.18 more. I was charged for this shipment option and paid for it in October. When my CD shipped in early February it looks like they charged me $11.18 again.
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13 years 1 month
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as for deuce... why would anyone need overnight shipping for a grateful dead archival release? if you can't wait a week, perhaps you should be charged double. there are plenty of charities that could have used your $11.18. ----
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Same thing happened to me, but with standard shipping. Called 800 Cal Dead and they refunded it. They said it may happen again with each new installment of the subscription, but just to call back each time. They also sent a rather confusing email trying to explain how the problem happened. I read it approximately 4 times but am still not certain exactly what happened.
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15 years 2 months
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I disagree with the comments that this is just an average show- average compared to what? Is it average for 77 or just average for all shows? I would say that this show is not average- its solid. Its not a mind bender, but it has consistent high points in both the first and second sets. There may not be that explosive moment that happens in some shows, but remember some of those moments come at the cost of other songs in the set being weak- and its hard to find a really weak song in this set.I'd rather have an "average" 77 show compared to some good shows from other years(especially mid 80s and 90s), so please keep the average 70s shows coming...
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13 years 1 month
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an album not worth listening to. with the exception of a few cuts, the opening set is a total yawn fest. you know its bad when peggy-o is the best track. the second set is a bit better performance wise, but i personally don't care for most of the songs chosen: wharf rat, estimated prophet, the other one & fire on the mountain are the only songs i really like. the wheel & scarlet begonias are pure boy band material. ... and while i do like the songs johnny b. goode & around + around; i'm just not a big fan of how the grateful dead covers them.
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If you don't care for Scarlet> Fire, Wharf Rat, The Other One and Estimated Prophet, why listen to a show from May 1977? Everyone knows what to expect and what not to expect from this era. If you don't like the song choice, you're probably better off listening to something ten years earlier or ten years later....
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Hi there I'm Deadhead Dave from Cornwall England UK. I got the new Dave's Picks a few weeks ago and was a bit disappointed to say the least,although its well recorded and well mastered it never gave me that buzz that I get from a new show I've never heard before. Sorry Dave you don't have a patch on Dick for pick'n shows in my book, I've just started going back through the Dick's Picks which I've not listened to for years, Like most mental Deadheads out there I keep buying the next Show the Dead churn out and getting my Buzz but this one stopped me in my tracks and made me think and go back and listen to the vast Collection I already have. I really love the late 70's shows but this one fell flat for me.So its back to the Dick's and every one to me is a Gem. I see someone posted they don't care for Scarlet>Fire Or Estimated, well Drag out DP Volume Six 10/14/83 I guarantee it will blow the Cobwebs away. As for my new copy of Dave's Picks Volume One, I sold it on Ebay this week and glad I never paid out over $100 for the whole new set, Anyway I've had my moan I know loads of you out there will disagree.But I just had to say what I thought all the best DHD
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i NEVER said i don't like: fire on the mountain, wharf rat, estimated prophet & the other one. read the f-cking post! wharf rat & the other one are among my top 5 favorite original grateful dead tunes. seriously, how much weed do you smoke? is it so hard to take a minute to digest what someone writes before engaging them? -----
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i never denied that. sorry deuce; who am i to voice an opinion on a message board? money well spent. if people are going to call me a troll, and argue with me; i don't think its too much to ask for them to understand my position before jumping down my throat. ----
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I admit that I first thought he was a humorless troll who stumbled across a list of loyal Dead fans and thought he could drum up easy debates by attacking the thing that drew everyone to this list. But I was wrong, and now I know what he feels like. I happened upon a site that was set up to discuss the merits of various hard core rap groups, their lyrics, and their place in musical history. They are quite avid, I must say. Well, I thought I could open their eyes a bit, and posted about the hundred best jam bands that were all better than N.W.A., DMX and 50 cent! I tried to explain why I thought Robert Hunter's lyrics were deeper than Public Enemy's. You wouldn't believe the reception I got! Just because these were hard core fans of hard core rap, I didn't think they would be so close minded to the joys of a 45 minute Dark Star, but they were almost universal in their contempt! It was outrageous, I tell you! I was shocked! So now I understand better what the poor Foxman has been going through here as he tries help us close our eyes to see. ;-)
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14 years 9 months
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Well said, I admire your effort. I believe the expression is you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
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It's interesting you chose that show to compare and contrast Dick's v Dave's picks. Interesting because I concider that the best show I have ever seen (not just my opinion). But even more interesting it was one of the weakest sonically of Dick's Picks. I have a 1st generation audience tape (transfered to disc) that blows away the official release. You might want to pick a better AUDIO not show to prove your point
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your comparison of public enemy & NWA to 50 cent is laughable. public enemy is easily recognized as one of the most influential music acts of all time, and NWA's 'straight outta compton' is widely considered one of the greatest albums in music history. the only thing 50 cent has in common with the aforementioned groups is skin color & genre. some of you don't seem to get that i like the grateful dead. i just happen to listen to a ton of other music, so when people like you make these types of statements, it just amplifies the fact you really don't know sh!t about modern music. -----
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13 years 1 month
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its like talking to mental midgets. i do agree with your analogy though: dave's picks vol. 1 is poo. -----
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13 years 10 months
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i just received my fourth copy of the cornell/ penn state 1980 RT release! my original copy had a defective disc #2, it took several months and 3 emails and 1 phone call but i finally got a replacement (and not just disc 2 but the whole set, yee ha) but a couple weeks later i received copy number 3 of the set, and posted here about that so when i saw a brown mailer in the box yesterday i thought its too early for dillon stadium 74 isnt it? i joked with my wife that it couldnt be a 4th copy of the 1980 set... but it was im sure i will find good homes for these extra sets, i like the set fine but its too bad i didnt get extra free copies of something like philly 72 who knows maybe i'll get a 5th copy next week
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While I love GD music more than any other, and have for 30+ years, I must say that the business side of Rhino is perhaps the worst I have ever encountered. Mary and a couple of others have helped many a stray customer service issue, but the number and severity of some of the bumbled orders (for me it was the Europe box) is really quite exceptional in today's world of commerce. While I am no longer upset about the months of Europe-related issues that I dealt with, I ended up selling my box because the whole experience left a taste in my mouth that I couldn't get rid of. I won't further chronicle the myriad issues here, but reading about leedesj's recurring mail deliveries brings home the point that in general, in my opinion, the business practices are not mean spirited, but boy oh boy are they flawed. When someone (I forget who) gets an email saying that he may be double charged for shipping for every Dave's Pick sent this year (with three to go), but to call up and they will fix it, well, you just don't find that kind of business practice everywhere. I'm trying to LOL, and to separate my love of the music from my frustration with the way in which business is transacted here.
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While I've had few problems from the business side, such as waiting for functional replacements of the final installment of Road Trips taking a little longer than other occasions, it's been pretty smooth transactionwise. The issue I have the hardest time with seems to be the large number of bad discs, mainly from the last couple of years worth of Road Trips releases, but also a number of individual releases as well. My copy of Rockin The Rhein, which I purchased in 2004 at a The Dead concert merch booth, but was able to get it replaced years after the fact without a reciept or an order number. That was pretty cool and made me happy. I also still have my copy of the expanded "Built To Last" CD which, like many others has a glitch that renders the last two bonus tracks completely unplayable. Once again, it was a purchase from Best Buy, and the rerciept has gone into oblivion. I haven't inquired about getting that replaced yet, but it would be nice to finally hear the live Blow Away and California Earthquake. I think the folks who run this sight do a steller job of customer service and they deserve a "hell yes". Certainly Rhino needs to replace their duplication machines. There is way to much faulty product going out. At the very least, Rhino's quality control department needs to test the CD batches off the presses every 150 to 500 discs to ensure that no bad product goes out to the customer. If it's a workload issue, then they need to hire more bodies. If it's a cost issue, they need to invest in higher quality duplicators and/or better quality blank discs. As a customer, I'd rather the prices of the discs go up a couple of bucks just to guarantee that there is never a bad disc issue (skips, dropouts and downloadability into iTunes).
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17 years 5 months
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Sorry, I know this is off topic, but I figured this might be the most likely place for this post to be seen... I'm finally ready to get some of the Download Series - no longer available in the GD site as far as I can tell? - so I'm going to get them from Amazon (Vol. 7, 1980, to start). Does anyone know where I can still download the cover art? Wish these were still available in this site...
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14 years 9 months
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Thanks to cosmicbadger for posting the info
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17 years 6 months
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Claney you can get them (and most GD releases) in lossless format from here http://www.livedownloads.com/live-music/3,461/Grateful-Dead-mp3-flac-do… Very good service it is too. you will see that you can also DL the cover art for free. Look at the bottom right hand side of the page for the Download Volume you have chosen
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17 years 6 months
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The download series was excellent, a new show once a month delivered within a few minutes to your desktop. I hope they bring that back. I don't think there was much enthusiasm for it, older crowd - no offense, but we are - likes physical product, and that is why it died.
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Hi All: Wouldn't it be nice if they sold a box to house the Road Trips collection, and the new Dave's picks collection? I'm just saying! JJK
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CosmicBadger, thanks for posting that! That is a great site, and 23.99 for the lossless FLAC is a much better deal than 15.99 for the MP3 (only version available at Amazon). Though I hear that the MP3 sound has been much improved (case in point being the recent 30 Days of the Dead stuff, which sounds pretty good to me). itsburnsy, I agree with you that we are an older crowd. Back in 2005 I was not interested in downloading, and anyway there were still lots of CD's I didn't have yet. But now old farts like me have finally caught up (though I still prefer the physical album, which is why I will download the cover art too :-) And I would add my voice to those who've asked for the Dave's Picks to be released as downloads at a future date. I like the idea of a finite number of physical albums (12,000 in this case), followed by eventual downloads... (I will still buy the albums as long as I can though). My plan is to get DL7 first (1980) - that show sounds freakin' awesome, then DL1 (1977), then DL6 (1968)...
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That covers site is awesome, thanks Badger. Claney - I eventually got the entire d/l series. I highly recommend V7 as you said. V10 (7/21/72) is also a standout. Don't miss that one!
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Yes Badger, thanks again - love the covers site...just what the doctor ordered... burnsy, I was certainly eyeballing V10 (1972) also - maybe I'll move that one up on the list...thanks for the tip (and then there's that 12/10/73 show, aaaaaaaaaagh so many!). I'm kind of glad I waited to get the DL series... I almost feel like there's a whole bunch of new GD releases out there... (and it'll tide me over until DaP2 arrives). Part of what started me on this is that I have some credit at Amazon, and so I can get a couple of shows without spending any money - so now I'm trying to decide if the Amazon MP3 is good enough for me - aren't the GD MP3 downloads all in 256kps?
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17 years 6 months
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Yes, 256. For the shows I was less enthusased about I got the mp3's, which sound fine on an iPod or computer. The ones I really cared about V1, V7, V10, that 12.10.73 is good too (but not the top of my list) I was sure to get FLAC. They are all re-mastered, so the sound if you burn to CD is as good as any other official release. My 2 cents, ENJOY!
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the Download Series is mastered in HDCD too; another reason to get the FLAC versions.