Welcome back to the Tapers' Section, where this week we have music from 1972 (barely), 1978, and 1987.
Our first selection this week is from 1/2/72 at Winterland, the first show of what would prove to be one of the Grateful Dead's most consistently great years. I gather that after the 12/31/71 gig, they decided to leave the equipment in place and play on 1/2/72. From this show, we have the end of the second set featuring Ramble On Rose, Sugar Magnolia, Not Fade Away>GDTRFB>Not Fade Away; One More Saturday Night.
From 6/4/78 at UCSB Stadium in Santa Barbara, we have the start of the second set of a terrific show, one of only two in June 1978 (the other was 6/25/78 in Eugene, OR), featuring Samson And Delilah; Ship Of Fools ; Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World. This is one of those shows where everything is played to an extremely well.
Lastly this week is music from 6/12/87 in Ventura, CA, from the Dead's last shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. This was sort of the kickoff to the summer tour of 1987, a period of immense optimism and good energy in the Dead Head world, with Jerry back from his illness, the band playing terrifically, and the imminent release of their megahit album In The Dark. After Ventura, they played at the Greek in Berkeley, then three nights at Alpine Valley, followed by the Dylan and the Dead tour. It was a fun time. From the end of the Ventura show, we have The Wheel > I Need A Miracle > Black Peter > Around And Around > Good Lovin'; Touch Of Grey.
Be sure to stop by next week for more tunes from the vault.
David Lemieux
vault@dead.net