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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Rhino
This is a bit off topic of Dave's Pick's but I think it is important to say anyways. I will start with saying I am not disparaging or doubting anyone who has had a problem dealing with Rhino, but just to say my experience with Rhino going back at least 20 years has been great. That means both in service and the products they produce. If it wasn't for them a lot of material from the 60's wouldn't have seen the light of day. My personal choice is Electromagnetic Steamboat the complete Reprise issues of The Fugs (Rhino Handemade). Another plus in my eyes, though I know it's a controversial view, is when they say limited edition they mean it not like many other companies (think the mono Beatles release). Another topic some take them to task for is the subscription and limiting of Dave's Picks. You can't open a story on the music industry today without reading about the demise of CDs or physical format music especially in smaller releases. I am definately old school here (more on that later) but music companies like any business are there to make money. For them to know what to expect in sales is a way for them to keep costs down but still be able to keep producing physical material. Now the real old school (which is proving not to be so out as once thought) I am still a vinyl person. No I don't want everything I buy on vinyl but I do like some of my favorites on vinyl. Rhino (along with MFSL) is reissuing all the Dead lps. They are fantastic. I just got the latest Reckoning and Terrapin. OMG all I can say is perfection. Anyway that's my 2 cents
Unlimited potential
The limited release topic reappears- Here's my 2 cents. Although limited release may be the economic reality of the current situation, it also leads to the inevitable extinction of the opportunity to get the release. Just look at Dick's Picks- maybe half a dozen are still available from the store on this site. It's not so simple though- all of Dick's Picks can be purchased as downloads, or found at Amazon, at some cost. So while limited release- or limited production- is entirely tolerable if this enables more releases for years to come, this too has a price. And if you're a new fan looking for the second Dave's Picks 5 years from now, this price may be considerable.
zuckfun you are right to a point
You are right about the new Deadhead down the line but at least to this collector I have nothing against keeping downloads of shows. This would keep both sides reasonably happy. The collector of physical format would have his or her collectable, Rhino would keep releasing some amount of physical material and the newbie would still have acess to the music. I don't want to prevent anyone from getting the music but as a collector (music/ stamps/ Mad Mag.) I do like having something that is limited. I do use ebay for my collections and do pay a premium. That's the price I/we pay for our "obsessions"
Not a grate start
This is about the 12th best show of the month. I wouldn't call this selection an auspicious start.
burning
There's many burning software options. I know Nero allows the option for no time between tracks. However, when the source is from MP3's, you can still faintly hear the track change. You may not even notice, but I do, and it drives me crazy. The solution, FLAC and SHN sources>Wave files>CDR.
I don't really understand...
why anyone would burn MP3's to CD. One should get the best possible source available (FLAC or SHN). With that you can decode to WAV for lossless high-quality files with the same bit-rate resolution as commercially produced CDs (and maintain the HDCD mastering in the case of GD downloads). If you want MP3's that can be loaded onto toy players, these can also be created from FLAC or SHN files at a bit-rate of your choice (think quality vs. filesize - size matters, folks: bigger is better!). As Matchewy said, Nero allows you to remove the gaps between tracks (for WAV or MP3) simply by checking the relevant box. I think most burning programs have this option.
OK
You don't like disc one or two, but hey, Jerry's standing there in front of how many people, solo, and then Wharf Rat with those sweet, sweet hamonies. Disc three. Granted there is a lull or two along the way, but there are wonderful, soulful and giddy redemptive moments all over the place on the first two discs. Jerry is dancin'. It all SOUNDS too good to believe as well. So muchas gracias and I'm sure the Dave's 2nd will hit the spot just as kindly,
62 degrees clear breezy. Where am I?
Wish list
If you could choose 3 shows from the Spring of 77 tour out of those remaining, which 3 would you pick? Cornell is probably a unanimous first, then maybe Buffalo- 5/9, the first Fox Show- 5/18 or St. Louis. Baltimore 5/26, maybe 5/7- the Half Step from Boston is one of the highlights of the tour. Or 5/17 from Tuscaloosa, 5/4 from The Palladium. Trying to pick 3 is harder than I thought.
Mr. Zuck
If I had my choice to plunder the vault, I'd go with 5-4 through 5-9 post haste. Of course, a handful if not all of these shows has been said many times over by Mr. Lemieux to be missing from the vault. I for one, hope Cornell is found in a locker or a house boat someday.
Bodybuilding contests Daves 1st & May 77
When I hear some of the criticism regarding Dave's 1st release being perhaps a lesser show form May 77, I am reminded of looking at bodybuilding magazines with Mr. Olympia contest photos and how difficult it is to say which bodybuilder is the best of the contestants -- they are all incredibly pumped-up!
I can't tell the difference between any of them.
Having said that, May 77, and 77 in general, is an impossibly great month of Playing by the Grateful Dead. All the shows are 'worthy.' Is Cornell the Schwarzenegger of May 77 and deserving of the Crown?
It is an impossible decision for me to make.
The first of Dave's releases is a worthy one. Period.
Listening to this first of Dave's faves, well, uh, I can tell by the playing that Jerry's 'glutes' are pumped and that justifies this release. . ..
Carpe Diem
One last rant before I drop this- The fact that we are in the era of Box Sets in terms of Releases, it's a shame there exists no box set of the Spring of 77. DL said in one of his Oceanside chats there are 9 shows left from this tour in the Vault. Please raise your hand if you'd buy a 9 show Spring of 77 Box- I wish I had more than 2 hands on my person. On the flip side, I am very grateful we still have releases- and this tour is getting released. With the exception of Europe 72, more is released from this tour than any other. And there will be more, even though at times it seems I exhausted the virtue of patience.
Box-set
A box-set would be great but if several of the shows are missing, it's not really possible.
I think the 26th May show ought to come out and DL2 has implied it will eventually.
I don't know if we need a whole lot more from the month. The 7th, 8th and 9th run is commonly held to be the peak of the month and The Forum show is dearly loved. They're not in the vault and most everyone has them already anyway. Do we really need much more '77 to be released? We've got:
- 30 April (plus a bit of 29 April)
- A chunk of 12 May
- All of 19 May
- All of 21 May
- Nearly all of 22 May
- All of 25 May
- All of 28 May
- All of the 7-8-9 June run
- A couple of tracks here and there from other shows
What else do we need?
Little Ben Clock -- I agree
Between all the releases of this month, and all the pristine Betty Boards of much of the rest of this month, there's a heck of a lot out there. And while the playing is uniformly of a high level, I'm not really sure that there is enough of interest to most fans to pay up for 20 first sets from the same month (although I, and 7199 others did that for E72). And while I haven't listened to the other shows in a long time, are there not a bunch of Estimated>Eyes and Scarlet>Fires and other "second set standards" that while being very good, may not be so different as to get a lot of people paying up for EVERY version within a four week span.
I'm with you Badger
I've been suggesting that March '77 for the next Winterland box (or Feb. 74) And you can include 2-26/27-77 San Bernadino/Santa Barbara as a nice little twofer as well.
It would also be nice...
to see 16 & 17 July 1966 Fillmore Auditorium, SF as a future Dave's Picks release. I also concur with Mr. Badger & Wilfred that March 1977 would be eminently suitable for a box. I have already agreed with others that something from 1967 is long overdue, even though there is little available.
Deadicated
You won't ever hear me say I have enough of a certain period of Grateful Dead music- unless I have all there is. More 72, um, yes please. More from the Fall of 73, I'm ready. An 83 Box- bring it on. I welcome and am grateful for every release. Reading thoughts like there's enough of 77 released already- the only tour there's enough of is Europe 72, cuz the whole tour is released.
bob weir and the national
Bob weir and the national will be doing a live webcast on 3/24 from weir's studio. It is a benifit for headcount. The webcast is free. they will be doing grateful dead and national songs. The national is maybe the best musical act around these days. Anyone who has not had the chance should listen to them. They put out two of the best albums in the last ten years (the boxer and alligator ) amoung other stuff.
Blink of an eye
The first Road Trips from 2007 is available from the Store- the first Dave's Picks from 6 weeks ago is now unavailable- all sold. And Yes, please bring on the new Box!
Sold out.
I really hadn't expected this would sell out as fast as it did. Does Rhino/Dead.net have a long term plan for these? If the the initial limited run is gone, will they make this available as a download only release. I'm also wondering if next year when a pre-order subscription is offered, that Rhino will bump the initial run up a thousand or so units. I understand that it costs money to warehouse these releases indefinately but it seems that they would have managed to sell considerably more units than 12000, since this release sold out in one quarter. I'm curious what the monthly number of sales in proportion to the monthly housing costs justifies a larger run of releases as well as keeping them around longer.
On box sets. I Have to weigh in that while I enjoy Spring 77, I'm not sure if I'd be into a large 77 box. Most of that run is available in clean Sbds and well represented in official releases. Some 60's Dead would be a treat, however I see some interesting runs being thrown around. I guess we'll see, although at this point I'd prefer more smaller boxes of say, two or three day runs, unless a more comprehensive set could be compiled without overlap of previously issued shows, such as with the Europe 72 box and Rockin' the Rhein and Hundred Year Hall, which were both fantastic releases on their own. May I suggest that if this is to be limited, which seems to be the trend, that you keep the number open for a few weeks so all pre-orders can get in before capping a number. It's a win/ win. You'll sell more copies, no-one gets shut out, the collectors have their collectible.
Anyway, thanks for your work. I'm looking forward to the next installment of Dave's Picks.
Gretsch
I didn't know there was a soundboard of 2-27-77 circulating. What do you think of the Feb-Mar '77, instead of Spring? Those March Winterland shows are superb, and would fit snugly with the theme of the Winterland box. Rhino could make that go; couldn't they? I know I'd be on board.
2-27-77 SBD
Wilfred, I double checked my catalog and this has been circulated. I cross checked the set list in the Taping Compendium, and the Sbd is rated A-. Without listening, I'm not sure if I have the SBD or an Aud recording, On paper, the first set is solid and the second set: Scarlet Fire>Samson and Deliah>Saint Stephen>Not Fade Away>Drums>Terrapin Station>Morning Dew>Sugar Mags looks smokin'.
They could pair that up with 2/26/77 From the Swing Auditoium. which opens set one with, to unsuspecting listeners, with Terrapin and only has three other songs overlapped on 2-27.
I'm not sure how they stack up, but I don't think I've heard any of the Palladium shows.I think they circulate in some form but I'm not sure about quality or origin. Besides that, I think there are about 5 others shows from Spring 77 I haven't heard. I'm just not sure i can justify paying up for a comprehensive Spring Box...Now if they could hand make me a box of a few goodies!!! ha ha ha
Seriously though, you've wetted my appetite for 2-27. I'm gonna have to look for this. Some good listening just in time for a nice afternoon on patio!
2-27 and other 77 vignettes
If a soundboard of 2-27 exists, I'd love to hear it. I agree with Wilfred- March at Winterland is stellar, and I would love for these 3 shows to be a Winterland Box. I'm unsure about how completely 3/18 could be released though. There's a splice during Fire- about a 30 second audience patch during a jam climax- ouch. Also several of the second set songs only exist (on archive.org) in audience form. Maybe it could be a 6 disc Dave's Picks- all of 3/19 and 3/20- and everything that exists in the vault of 3/18. Or a sweet Box- March at Winterland. Beggars can't be choosers- these shows are too excellent to remain unreleased. By the way, I edit my comments cuz most of the time my writing stinks and I'm unhappy with my comments. Like anyone wants to know this, but anyways.
hey gretsch
I think it's 'whetted' not 'wetted': Sorry I'm such a stickler, but that's too a cool word to let get cheated in the lexicon. Happy day to you! ;-)
Wet behind the ears.
Yeah, I love auto correct. First it changed it to whittled, than whittle a few times. By the fourth time I misspelled it! And it does virtually nothing as far as syntax errors go, until you hit the "save" button! Oh well, the price of being able to do this stuff on a phone...
And when I locate that show on my drive, It should tell me what version I have. Although I must say I don't usually download Audience recordings. I do have a few though. Unfortunately when i first started archiving shows, I only checked off what I had in my notebook, rather than being specific of what versions I have. Lesson Learned, although a little too late to avoid any headaches.
Sold out!
Wow, now we are in a post Dave Pick's Vol.1 world. I like vol. 1, the sound is awesome and CD 2 jams. Looking forward to Vol.2, another box will be nice. I'll keep buying as long as new releases continue or I pass away, which ever happens first.
Jam On!
Phil
2-27-77
Totally weird. The Grateful Dead Taping Compendium suggests that this is in circulation as an A- graded SBD. I have two versions of this, that are audience recordings. Yet one of my buddies thinks he had a copy of the SBD on a Cassette. So has this never been upgraded to a digital format? ETREE is flaky on my device so I can't look to see if an ID even exists for a board version....if one doesn't exist, that would suggest it hasn't be upgraded.
hey zuck
I'm also fond of the 'edit' function. I use it to make sure everything's 'just exactly perfect'. You know, fixing misspellings, syntax, run-on sentences, factual errors and the like. When I have something new to say, I usually just make a new post. Now, if the 'reply' button actually worked right...Ha!
No more Dave's Pick's One
That sold out quick, What if someone still wants one, I reckon that they can download it. There is so much stuff from 77 anyway, Get "To Terrapin", actually a much better show, recorded a few days later than DP1. It is not a limited edition. I am a bit confused about the Dick's Pick situation, A lot of them are no longer available here, will they all be released by Realgone Records?
RealGone
Guit30, I emailed Realgone several months back regarding releases. They responded that they planned on re-releasing everything. I only needed one release, and it is now out again. It might take awhile for everything to be available again though. That is the downside to it, If you were looking for a hard copy of something now... It seems like they are only doing a few at a time,so who knows what the schedule is.
Box Sets Again
Rhino should merge the Road Trips concept with the Box Sets. Pick three shows from any given tour and sell it as a box. My problem with runs is that you get a lot of the band pacing themselves, just the meatiest three shows from the whole tour would work - and - you could call it Road Trips for real, a one show road trip never made sense. Oh yeah, add a bonus disc from a show that will never be released in it's entirerity.
RealGone
Gretsch/Guit30: Last November, I contacted RG about the possibility of reissues based on popularity in the secondary market - with specific regard to DP 15 - and they merely confirmed the continuing, intermittent release of a couple installments at a time in reverse, sequential order, but with no specification as to production limits.
66/67
Simonrob,
The only problem with July 16/17 '66 is the bulk of it (of what I know that exists) was released on Birth of the Dead (and an additional two songs on the So Many Roads box). The only unreleased songs, to my knowledge, are Cold Rain, Schoolgirl, New Minglewood, BIODTL, and Cardboard Cowboy (aka The Monster). A live C.C., of course, is nearly worth the price of admission, but maybe it and these others are better served on a bonus disc to a less celebrated '66 show release (sans Minglewood, possibly Bob's worst vocal ever on this one ~ sounds like he's got an orange peel in his mouth).
Would love to hear the rest of the show that the Schoolgirl -> You Don't Love Me -> Schoolgirl sandwich comes from, whichever show that is (variously reported as August or April '66 ~ the latter more likely, since Dick reportedly identified it as Trips Fest).
In any event, still like where you're going, SimonRob. 66-67!!! And 84-85!!!
Antonjo...
I must admit that I haven't completely figured out what from July 16/17 '66 has already been released and what hasn't. Years ago I downloaded what was claimed to be both complete shows - 9 songs from July 16 and 7 songs from July 17. Far more recently I discovered that two versions of the July 16 show are on the Internet Archive, the 9 song version and a 20 song (two sets) version where the 9 song version is the first 9 (out of 10) songs from the second set of the 20 song version. As there is a Charlie Miller soundboard of the 20 song version, I have little doubt that it is what it claims to be. It would be great to see/hear this released in its entirety - and I guess David Lemieux knows the score here. If he deems it worthy, then we will surely see it at some stage (I hope),
Did you get a copy of Dave's Picks 2, or the bonus disc?
Hey all,
I signed up for Dave's Picks last November, paid the subscription fee, but have only received Dave's Picks Vol 1. Anyone else have a similar experience? I never got Dave's Picks Vol 2 or the bonus disc for subscribers. Through close to two months, a dozen emails and several phone calls, I haven't been able to get any satisfactory answer to "where is my order", until today, when I was told Dave's Picks Vol 2 is on back order. So I'm a little bit frustrated, and I've asked for a refund. Honestly, I mainly signed up to be a supporter of the larger, ongoing Dead operation. Putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. It's not like I have any shortage of quality shows to listen to, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on a whole lot by not getting volumes 2, 3, and 4 or the bonus disc. But I am surprised by how shabbily I was treated as a customer. Probably the worst customer service experience I've had, well, ever. Comcast is more responsive.
I was told I should get at least a partial refund. So that's something. But I don't think I'll be ordering anything else from Dead.Net in the future...
Excited to see Phil, Bobby, and Mickey at All Good, though
short-lived
though they may be.
They seem to gravitate to older topics in hopes of...what?
Alas, I notice them anyway and nuke them.
seeing as...
this release is long since sold out, and the discussion thread seems to be an irresistible magnet to half the spam universe, I'm going to turn off comments for a while. If you have a burning desire to discuss the release, send me a PM and we'll turn 'em back on for you. Thanks.