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What's Inside:
•144-page paperback book with essays by Nicholas G. Meriwether and Blair Jackson
•A portfolio with three art prints by Jessica Dessner
• Replica ticket stubs and backstage passes for all eight shows
•8 complete shows on 23 discs
•3/14/90 Capital Centre, Landover, MD
•3/18/90 Civic Center, Hartford, CT
•3/21/90 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario
•3/25/90 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY
•3/28/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
•3/29/90 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY (featuring Branford Marsalis)
•4/1/90 The Omni, Atlanta, GA
•4/3/90 The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Recorded by long-time Grateful Dead audio engineer John Cutler
Mixed from the master 24-track analog tapes by Jeffrey Norman at Bob Weir's TRI Studios
Mastered to HDCD specs by David Glasser
Original Art by Jessica Dessner
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 9,000
Announcing Spring 1990 (The Other One)
"If every concert tells a tale, then every tour writes an epic. Spring 1990 felt that way: an epic with more than its share of genius and drama, brilliance and tension. And that is why the rest of the music of that tour deserves this release, why the rest of those stories need to be heard." - Nicholas G. Meriwether
Some consider Spring 1990 the last great Grateful Dead tour. That it may be. In spite of outside difficulties and downsides, nothing could deter the Grateful Dead from crafting lightness from darkness. They were overwhelmingly triumphant in doing what they came to do, what they did best — forging powerful explorations in music. Yes, it was the music that would propel their legacy further, young fans joining the ranks with veteran Dead Heads, Jerry wondering "where do they keep coming from?" — a sentiment that still rings true today, a sentiment that offers up another opportunity for an exceptional release from a tour that serves as transcendental chapter in the Grateful Dead masterpiece.
With Spring 1990 (The Other One), you'll have the chance to explore another eight complete shows from this chapter, the band elevating their game to deliver inspired performances of concert staples (“Tennessee Jed” and “Sugar Magnolia”), exceptional covers (Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and the band’s last performance of the Beatles’ “Revolution”) and rare gems (the first “Loose Lucy” in 16 years) as well as many songs from Built To Last, which had been released the previous fall and would become the Dead’s final studio album. Also among the eight is one of the most sought-after shows in the Dead canon: the March, 29, 1990 show at Nassau Coliseum, where Grammy®-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis sat in with the group. The entire second set is one continuous highlight, especially the breathtaking version of “Dark Star.”
For those of you who are keeping track, this release also marks a significant milestone as now, across the two Spring 1990 boxed sets, Dozin At The Knick, and Terrapin Limited, the entire spring tour of 1990 has been officially released, making it only the second Grateful Dead tour, after Europe 1972, to have that honor.
Now shipping, you'll want to order your copy soon as these beautiful boxes are going, going, gone...
Summer...
I was driving down the highway with the windows down this morning and 3/16/90 playing! Reminded me of summers past. The good times my buddy's and I would have driving up to NH to hike the Whites or be off to see a show. The Dead, Allmans or something else providing the summer soundtrack. The wind, the sun, the greenery!!! Summer rules!
@jrf68@hotmail.com
That is hilarious! I still recall riding to school one day when I was in 7th grade, and I always listened to my local college station back then, and they played "Stop That Train" from a JGB show. The DJ announced it coming from Jerry Garcia Band, and my thought was exactly that it must be some tongue in cheek nickname for the Grateful Dead. I've thought about that many times since then, and I felt a little embarrassed at my naivety. It's pretty cool that someone had the same experience. Thanks for sharing that!
Re: Spacebro, I am not sure why anyone is taking the time to debate and argue with that guy. It's the same shtick, day after day. Everyday I remind my kids if they don't respond to their sibling or classmates teasing, the antagonist will find another target. If there is a collective effort to ignore, Spacebro will have no one to debate. Every time I read these posts, I am thinking to myself,"these good folks are aware we are talking about a band," which none of us played in or had any contribution to. The musicians who made this music would likely spend little to no time debating these issues, much less disrespect and criticize each other personally over it. I think many here will agree the issue is not one of differing opinions, but the personal attacks and disrespect among comrades is just a bit too much. Let's all get over our cheap selves and discuss what we like, and especially why we like it. But, let's stay away from condemnation for our reasons.
I'm no one, and it's just a suggestion.
Spring 1990 TOO Compilation available on Beats Music
From Jambase:
"Beats Music has shared an exclusive Spring 1990 - The Other One compilation
The compilation contains two tracks from each of the shows featured in the new box set with one exception (there's only one track from April 1 and three tracks from April 3). If you’re not a current Beats Music subscriber you can try out the on-demand streaming service on a 14-day free trial."
Here's the tracklisting for the compilation on Beats:
"Never Trust A Woman" 03/14/1990 - Capital Centre - Landover, MD
"Playing In The Band" 03/14/1990 - Capital Centre - Landover, MD
"The Music Never Stopped" 03/18/1990 - Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT
"U.S. Blues" 03/18/1990 - Hartford Civic Center - Hartford, CT
"Cumberland Blues" 03/21/1990 - Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON
"He's Gone" 03/21/1990 - Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON
"Eyes Of The World" 03/25/1990 Knickerbocker Arena - Albany, NY
"Black Peter" 03/25/1990 Knickerbocker Arena - Albany, NY
"High Time" 03/28/1990 Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
"Easy To Love You" 03/28/1990 Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
"Throwing Stones" 03/29/1990 Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
"Ramble On Rose" 03/29/1990 Nassau Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
"Stella Blue" 04/01/1990 The Omni - Atlanta , GA
"Picasso Moon" 04/03/1990 The Omni - Atlanta , GA
"Row Jimmy" 04/03/1990 The Omni - Atlanta , GA
"Crazy Fingers" 04/03/1990 The Omni - Atlanta , GA
There are two things I can't stand....
...People who are intolerant of other people's taste in music, and those who prefer the later years of the Grateful Dead.
Re Responses
SpacebrotherPlease forgive me if My "What is the band really all about?" comment seemed sarcastic. It was aimed at another post that was aimed at you. Perfect answer though. Whatever you want it to be.
I agree.
For me, Grateful Dead is Tribal. Us Deadheads are just as much a part of this Tribe as The Band is.
"Strangers stopping Strangers just to shake their hand. Everybody's Playing in the Heart Of Gold Band !"
I was surely headed for prison for all the right reasons when I discovered Grateful Dead. Making it what I wanted to be brought some sense, a lot of nonsense, and a rare and different direction to my life. So Grateful to be part of the tribe !!!
I evaded prison and an early death by pure luck. However, my Tribe slowed me down and changed my heart.
Oh Yeah, about LOVING the 80s era, Ignorance is bliss !
I believe Blair Jackson referred to 80s Dead as the Second Golden Age of Grateful Dead.
Just two things ?
Preferring the Later years of Grateful Dead is part of my taste in music.
folks
There are a number of heavy-handed things I could do here, most of which, in my judgment, would be worse than doing nothing, long term.
However. As many have noted, healthy difference of opinion has rapidly and frequently devolved into fairly pointless thrashing and name-calling, to the serious detriment of the vibe. Kindness seems to be leaving the building, screaming.
I can do a whole lot of hacking and slashing, but that's not the point. At the risk of sounding like Smokey the Bear, only you can really make it better. Please do. Thank you.
Piling on
So what I'm seeing here is that when some people (the author of the post I responded too isn't the only offender btw) call fans of the latter eras of the Dead "stupid" for liking what we like, it's like crickets in here. These guys get a pass every time, and some even applaud and cheerlead the negative commentary directed at others because of their/our opinions. I'm not the only recipient of the bullshit here, though I may be one of the more outspoken against it.
Before I address some posts...
If you don't like later era Dead, fine. If you don't like the MIDI sounds, then also fine. Do I honestly think you are stupid for not liking those things? No. Should I just sit back and let the same people call me stupid over and over again throughout every new release thread that comes along for liking what I like? Hell no. Do some people get a free pass to insult other people here based on their preferences of later eras? Damn straight they do.
In no particular order...
unkle sam - thank you for acknowledging what has been going on around here for far too long. The cliquish negativity by a small handful of people here is really making this place not so fun to visit anymore. Getting bashed for having an opinion, stating constructive criticisms and standing up for principals is really souring this place for me. Thankfully, there are many more cool people here. Sorry that you may have opened yourself up to a barrage of negativity for defending me.
Syracuse78 - I appreciate your analysis of my post, but did you catch the part where I said it was in response to somebody else? I didn't notice whether you gave the same "deader than thou" spiel to the guy who says fans of the "wheezing '80s" are stupid. Perhaps you did at some point on another thread somewhere, I don't know. I didn't see anything like that here though.
reijo29 - you said..." But people will defend themselves and call out an insulting remark (or opinion if you see it as that) all day long."...
Then I go back to post number 20 on the DaP10 thread where you said..."Not an 80's show. Next year I am done & will probably have to subscribe to Spacebro's picks..."...
Nothing double standard-ish and condescending there huh? Like Vguy72 on this thread, you took the liberty to be the first to take a personal dig and post some negative commentary on that thread. In both cases, not a peep from those here responding to my post.
estimated-eyes - you said..."Sorry to load up on you, Spacebro, but I didn't see any post directed at you that called for your antagonistic post-- and that is what it was. Don't deny it either, people have pulled out the quotes and paraphrased its meaning quite well. Really, to claim to be the victim after that is laughable."...
Perhaps when I have more time, I'll post the full dirty laundry list of negative commentary that seems to selectively get the free passes, while others get piled upon. If it's "laughable" to you that somebody thinks I'm stupid for liking what I like, I hope you have a good chuckle. It's not so funny though when the tables are turned, now is it?
dantian - you said..."I'm beginning to suspect these misleading statements of yours are completely intentional."
Is that some kinder gentler way of calling me a liar?
matchewy - even though you've specifically singled me out about this in your post without mentioning any other names, I do fully agree with the part of your post where you stated..." I think many here will agree the issue is not one of differing opinions, but the personal attacks and disrespect among comrades is just a bit too much. Let's all get over our cheap selves and discuss what we like, and especially why we like it. But, let's stay away from condemnation for our reasons. "...
...which is precisely why I address the negativity and disrespect and sometimes serve back what is dished out.
Perhaps we should start a pool to guess who will be the first person to post an insult and/or negative comment on the DaP11 thread when it gets rolled out, and how many of those currently piling on me will address that when it does happen.
"Now watch as the ball revolves and the nighttime falls
And again the hunt begins and again the blood wind calls
By and by again, the morning sun will rise
But the darkness never goes from some men's eyes"
space
Space,
Honestly, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but it might be helpful if you took a step back, and came back and looked at your own posts objectively when you've cooled down. So many people have taken offense or had a problem to what you've said; a vastly larger number than have shown support of your plight.
Rather than thinking that so many tens of people are wrong-headed, cruel, or out to get you, the whole situation might be a more easily explained. Maybe instead of something being wrong with all those people, there is in fact just ONE person who has terrible self-awareness and says inflammatory things that piss people off. The simplest explanation is often the correct one.
It might be more productive than the whole "poor me" shtick that happens here from time to time. You might brush off my recommendation, as we have had our disagreements in the past, but I assure you, I'm just trying to help. Like someone else here said, you obviously know the music, and you could be a great contributor to this thread, rather than a instigator of bad vibes.
Chips and Oxford 88
That is hilarious!!!! Made my day after dealing with the all crazies at work. Wish I could leave them all behind in the Chips aisle.
My last response on this subject
Congrats "danc". You win. You get the free pass to call fans of the '80s stupid for liking what they/we like with absolutely no repercussions what-so-ever.
I have more important things to occupy my time with. I'm done here.
New Jerry
The new Garcia is fantastic. This is kind of difficult to explain, but a strange impression I get when listening to it on headphones is Jerry's guitar is very far right in the mix. Like panned overly to the right. It's not a criticism really, just a sort of unique presentation I need to adjust to. Or maybe it's just my mistaken impressions. Anyways, it's an outstanding release.
for the record...
Just in case some folks didn't quite catch it, my last post 'two things I can't stand' is a paraphrased quote from the comedy movie Austin Powers 'Goldmember' which I had hoped would illustrate the sheer ridiculousness of arguing about which era of the GD is better.
It is not my intent to throw more gasoline on the fire.
Was anybody here on tour spring of 1990 ? Bolo? anybody?
Please Tell us about it. I was living in Seattle. The Band was Banned from the city in 1983. I caught 2 shows in Eugene OR. summer 1990. Grateful Dead / Little Feat. U.of O. let us camp in the parking lots. Bonfires and all !! Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters Brought the Further Bus to the lot.On its way across country to D.C. to the Smithsonian. Autzen Stadium was their first stop. Free tours of course.
I sold Blitz beer out of my trunk for a buck to pay for the trip.
Any non violent activity was acceptable after dark.The drum circles were killer. So was the Disco Bus dance floor.
Bill Graham gave tickets to those who helped clean up after the first show. A fire cannon section was set up inside the show at the rear of the stadium if you wanted or needed to cool down.Things were still pretty fine summer of 1990 !
It was an effort to lighten
It was an effort to lighten the otherwise inappropriate tone set by so many fighting here. I trust she appreciated the humor in the tone. Nice, kind people have sense of humor too, though one would never know it by the past few days/weeks of postings round here.
But if it offended marye, apologies!
He's done here
NOW CAN WE TALK ABOUT WICHITA!??! OR Spring '90 even!?!?
merely sarcasm
My reply was only meant to magnify the rediculousness of the argument.
Spring 1990
I was on that tour a bit, early.
Cap Centre run opened in blazing heat, mid to high 80s which is rare for DC that time of year. (Not to worry, it cooled down mightily in the days and locations to come). Despite the "nothing but footprints" edict from the prior summer, the lot in DC was a camping fiasco the day before the run started and it was an unbelievable shakedown scene all run. Yet the notorious Cap security detail wasn't too bad that time around.
A vibe that continued in Nassau, much to everyone's surprise -- yet delight. We expected the worst, got treated to an acceptable scene in the lots by Nassau County standards.
Both venues though were very equipped to deal with the swollen onslaught of ticketless masses for the tour. No real problems by and large, and certainly not large scale like in Pittsburgh 1989 and what followed down the road on the last tour.
The buzz from the music nightly was palpable though, people knew it was going down in real time. Tapes of the tour flew pretty rampantly shortly thereafter; everyone wanted a listen. I can remember getting back to college after the tour and having a number of shows in hand before the semester ended. SBDs were coming around by year's end.
we can only hope...
that spacebrother meant what he said...later alligator!
Thank goodness a new thread awaits
Could not have come at a better time. I will do my best to not respond if a remark "gets to me". And as someone else said to discuss primarily what I like & why I like it. SpaceBro- Sorry if I poured more gasoline on your fire & for being sarcastic in the past....
Change of subject
Just ordered my Dick's 11! So excited. As a non subscriber this year I'm glad I got my order in there. Go for it folks!
SQIRREL !!!
Now that baby boomers (other than me and the countless) have bounded over to the Dave's Picks vol.11 section of our online community carnival, Lets keep a discussion going about the glorious later days of Grateful Dead. Here are some of my Pick's
Portland OR. 6/12/80
Santa Fe NM. 10/17/82
Seattle WA. 8/27/83
Berkeley CA. 11/3/84
Oakland CA.(kaiser) 11/7/87
Landover MD 9/3/88
Miami FL 10/26/89
Eugene OR 6/24/90
Spacebrother ?
Hey Spacebrother. Where did you go. Come back to the Jerry's kids table. Were having a 24 Track helping of Grateful Dead including,
a Hammond B-3 organ -w- on key backing vocals, 2 Drummers on the Largest kit in touring history, A downright magical guitar created by an Alembic Wizard, 2 graphite necks, and for desert, The Beast ! Makes me salivate just thinking about it.
How many coma splices is that? Forgive my lack of a higher education. I was on tour.
On the same note, What are some lesser known 80s shows you would like to see Rhino Release ? Provided the tapes exist,intact in the vault.
Better than Spring 1990 Part I
Without a doubt, at least for me. Three of the shows from box#1 were broadcast over FM radio and I had tapes of all 3 (set I hartford, Knickerbocker 3 and Nassau 3) so many of these are shows that I haven't yet heard in such high quality. Not to mention the Cap Center show, the Hartford show, and the 2 Nassau shows are stellar. I cannot wait, and love that Dave is picking 70s releases but getting us these insane sounding box sets.
Spring 90 TOO...
This box is gonna be amazing.
Been listening to spring 84 there are some great shows here, and whats in the vault from this tour is an upgrade.
1990/Midi
I believe the best way to deal with chat topics that get off-topic/abusive/hyper-emotional is to just ignore. If you don't want those types of posts on the board, then please let's not respond to them and thus contribute to the problem (turning 1 noisy post into 10). I've been sucked into into it too…. just redirect the conversation rather than rewarding any antagonists with a spotlight, which is their goal.
I always found MIDI to be pretty cool at shows, but doesn't translate on tape. Same with the panning effect on Corrina. In retrospect I agree with Branford that the flutes and trumpet sounds got in the way. I think it effected Jerry's style (since midi can effect the "shape" of a note) and sometimes detracted from what Jerry was trying to "say". But it sure seemed like a good idea at the time. I was into it. (That's what they said about '70s white leisure suits…)
fourwindsblow
Spring 1984 is a fantastic tour, though there are some here (spoiler alert, I know) who will piss all over it.
The three Scarlet>Fires from the tour are each amazing and quite different. Hampton, Philly Civic and Providence. Jerry gets into some deep deep playing in each. The Philly Civic Scarlet from 4/20 has an outstanding "Wind and the WIllows" jam that sends the place into orbit; I'd recommend listening to an audience copy to get the feel. Great one on archive and many others flying around. This is near the top of my list of shows I hope Hunter Seamons someday adds to his Trix Pix.
midi
Just listened to the complete 3/30/90 Nassau Coliseum show this morning on a 2 hour commute to NYC. The midi seemed to be a bit overused & most probably cause they were bored or wanted to be experimental. On Space it truly works but on Uncle John's Band Bobby uses this synthetic chime sound on his guitar. As a guitar player I can't imagine just playing simple chords with that effect. 3 or 4 notes played together and it just gets swallowed into some synthetic sounding chirp. So the problem is that many times it was basically an intrusion. The analog effects of the 70's like a wah or the envelope filter that Jerry used were obviously easier to control. That being said I was at many of those spring 90 shows & it did not bother me at the time. Now that I've been spoiled with so many great 70's releases which are basically straight pure tones through a tube amp, I find that most of the midi just clouds things up & makes it harder to decipher the music. Maybe the older heads at those same 89-90 shows felt that way, at the time I too had no problem with it. Now I notice that none of the later post Jerry Dead/Furthur projects use midi or digital effects. It's back to the basics like the 90's movement where bands finally ditched the cheesy synths & electronic drums. That lead to a lot of unplugged and straight traditional sounding rock that became wildly popular 20 years back. In hindsight it's easy to look back & criticize. I ordered the new box. Warts and all I am excited to be getting it.
midi
Yeah, it worked on a number of songs in that 89-90 time frame (Dark Star, Slipknot, Victim, Let it Grow, Birdsong, Playin, space) but on many others it was very displeasing. It really faded away with Jerry a good bit after Brent passed, he seemed to limit it to use in the jamming vehicles. Not to mention there was enough cacophony coming from Vince and, often worse, Weir in 91 that another tonal blast was just not needed.
Caucophony
Agreed on the Weir sounds in later years. I love Bob and his guitar parts, but the screechy sound he used (and sometimes still uses) doesn't appeal to me. There were certain 90-95 shows (soundboards I had put on cassette) I used to listen to years ago that I finally chucked because the mix was off and it just didn't sound good. I agree, the technology got way ahead of itself and wound up, in retrospect, detracting from the art.
I just can't take music where they've messed with the sound too much. Take Clapton for example - he's got the most amazing live tone, but you buy an album of his in the last 15 years and they sound like a robot made them. Drum machines, computer altered vocals, synthetic guitar tones. I just don't get it - the better technology gets, the worse recordings get over time.
Thin
Vince had his issues in terms of integrating in the band, both musically and vocally, and he wasn't playing the type of equipment that fit in well at all. Too synthesized and lacking any soul, amplified by what I think was incredibly emotional playing style and tone of Brent. Having said all of that, I can't count the number of shows in 91-95 where at the show I heard a loud, virtually atonal blaring sound that I though was Vince on keys, only later on tape to determine it was Bob just as you said. (And I too am a huge fan of Bob's playing). Vince took a lot of heat for the shit Weir was cranking out at times. And that's not even counting the accordion nights.
And the next box set will be...
"Live at The Cow Palace - New Year's Eve 1976" which is being reissued by Friday Music as a 5 LP Box Set (180g Audiophile vinyl, of course) for a mere $150. Release date is allegedly September 16.
On another note....
....Phish is playing here in Vegas on Halloween weekend. Anyone going?
Branford's take on MIDI
Jerry found a way to adapt to whatever the situation was and add a color. When he switched to the [MIDI] guitar synth, I never felt he needed it. Intrusion is too strong a word. It obstructed his sound. But I guess when you've been doing the same shit for 30 years, you need to get something to spike it up a little.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/branford-marsali…
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Knocking 70's again
Oh no you didn't!!!!!!!! I've sat by and tried to ignore the major feud between eras of the Dead, the endless 70's vs 80's vs 90's disputes ....... but I will be damned, I say, totally damned if I'm going to sit by and let you or anyone bad mouth the Leisure Suits from the 70's and especially the white ones. No sir, not here...... Not on my watch. The 70's suits had rhinestones and flair, some where semi- transparent, tight in all the right places, and allowed sweat pools to be visible to allow everyone to know how hard you were working...... This is much better then any from the 80's and certainly from the 90's.
Next time think before you write, and show some respect ...... Geez people
Diggey
;) In no way did I mean disparage anyone's polyester 3-piece wardrobe.
Having witnessed Bobby rock a pink guitar in do-those-legs-go-all-the-way-up Daisy Dukes, a billowy tank-top and white Reebok's with scrunched down not-quite-legwarmers socks, it's hard to faze me fashion-wise.
clapton
Thin, you are absolutely correct about Clapton's later recordings. I was and still am a big Clapton fan-- I was a huge Clapton fan until 1998, when he released his worst record to date, 'Pilgrim.' Drum machine, synth and loop garbage. I caught an EC show every tour from 1988 to 1998 and that 1998 show was awful. I haven't gone back since, though he did a tour a couple years back with Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall III that I wish I had attended.
I have only bought a couple of his records since and you are right-- they are pretty cold sounding. Even the Robert Johnson tribute album sounds too clean and refined. That said, I am likely to pick up the new tribute to JJ Cale album coming out soon.
Onto MIDI-- after Brent passed, the first show I caught was Soldier Field 1991. There was plenty of MIDI that day and I really did not care for the sound that night. I took a couple of years off of Dead shows until 1994. I think the swirling winds of Chicago did not help the sound that night, but that show did not do it for me. I know, many have that show high on their list of later era shows, but having been there it is not high on my list.
product sku
081227958688