Welcome back to the Tapers' Section, where this week we have music from three great years in Grateful Dead history, 1970, 1973 and 1987.
We'll first take a trip to Honolulu, where the Dead were in the midst of an incredibly busy three month span (early December through the end of February, 1970). Today, we have music from 1/24/70, featuring a mix of old and new Dead, all of very good: Cumberland Blues, Cold Rain and Snow, Me and My Uncle, I'm A King Bee, Mason's Children, Black Peter, Good Lovin'. The end of Good Lovin' is cut, but what is here is excellent.
Next we have music from the September, 1973 tour, with a stop on 9/24/73 in Pittsburgh at the Civic Arena. From the start of the show we have Promised Land, Sugaree, Jack Straw, They Love Each Other, Mexicali Blues, Loose Lucy, Looks Like Rain. The head of Promised Land is missing from the master reel, but it's mostly there. The Dead were joined by Martin Fierro and Joe Ellis on horns on many of these September, 1973 shows, mostly during the songs that would appear a month later on Wake Of The Flood.
Our last stop is on 6/30/87 at one of the most fun shows I ever attended, at Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario. This show was at the small Kingswood Music Theater inside the theme park, which is Canada's version of Disneyland, except all of the characters roaming the park were Hanna-Barbera characters. It was, ahem, trippy to say the least to see a six foot Fred Flintstone walking around before entering the show. Most people got to the park early in the day to enjoy the rides and other fun stuff prior to the show. The concert ticket got you admission to the park, so that was a good deal. From the end of the show, we have Spanish Jam>The Other One>China Doll>Dear Mr. Fantasy>Around and Around>Good Lovin'; Box Of Rain. The sound quality and mix aren't great here, but the energy certainly shines through.
Be sure to join us here next week for more tunes from the vault.
David Lemieux
vault@dead.net