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"When we began discussing audio projects to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead back in 2012, we knew we wanted to do something completely unprecedented. We could think of nothing more exciting or ambitious than a career-spanning overview of the band's live legacy focused on what best tells the story: complete concerts. Our first criterion was the very best live music to represent any given year in the band’s history. We wanted to make sure that there were not only the tent-pole shows that fans have been demanding for decades but also ones that are slightly more under the radar, but equally excellent. For those who listen to the entire box straight through, chronologically, the narrative of the Grateful Dead's live legacy will be seen as second to none in the pantheon of music history." - David Lemieux
We are more than pleased to announce the Grateful Dead's most ambitious release ever: 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN. Available as both an 80-disc boxed set and a custom lightning-bolt USB drive, the collection includes 30 unreleased live shows, one for each year the band was together from 1966 to 1995, along with one track from their earliest recording sessions in 1965. Packed with over 73 hours of music, both the boxed set and the USB drive will be individually numbered limited editions.
The 80-disc boxed set is individually numbered and limited to 6,500 copies, a nod to the band’s formation in 1965. Along with the CDs, it also includes a gold-colored 7-inch vinyl single which bookends the band’s career. The A-side is “Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)” from the band’s earliest recording session in 1965 with the B-side of the last song the band ever performed together live, “Box Of Rain” recorded during their final encore at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995.
The box also comes with a 288-page book that features an extensive, career-spanning essay written by Nick Meriwether, who oversees the Dead archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz, along with special remembrances of the band submitted by fans. Also included is a scroll that offers a visual representation of how the band’s live repertoire has evolved through the years.
The USB drive version* will be shaped like a gold lightning bolt with the Grateful Dead 50th anniversary logo engraved on the side. The drive includes all of the music from the collection in both FLAC (96/24) and MP3 formats and is an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies. Digital version of the book also included on USB.
Shows will NOT be sold individually on CD. This release is sure to sell out quickly so pre-order your copy today and stick around as we will be revealing a mighty fine selection of music, art, and much, much more right here.
(Looking for a smaller 50th Anniversary commemorative keepsake? September 18th will see the release of a four-CD version of the collection titled 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995. More on that here.)
ROLLINGSTONE.COM SONG PREMIERE AND EXCLUSIVE DAVID LEMIEUX INTERVIEW
Head on over to Rollingstone.com for the very first listen of "Morning Dew" 9/18/87 Madison Square Garden, David Fricke's exclusive interview with archivist David Lemieux, and the reveal of 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN's '69 and '84 shows.
*Helpful hints for using your USB:
Running the 30 Trips Player / Reader program:
On Windows – Navigate to the USB drive and double click the PCStart.exe file to run.
On MacOS – Open the GD 30 Trips drive, and double click the MacStart to run.
Viewing the digital book:
You can either view it within the program that comes on the drive, or by opening the PDF directly.
To view the PDF, open the PDF folder on the drive and the USB_bk_spreads_08-31 file within. Selecting the option within your PDF reading application to view as a “single page” might be preferable to viewing as a continuous document.
Importing music into iTunes and other library programs:
When you import the songs from the USB into your library, the information used to identify the track will likely leave them sorted incorrectly. Please use the song list found here to re-number the songs for each show so that they playback in the correct order.
PDF
Text
The Dead is never off topic Dave....
....Two From The Vault is from the 8.24 gig. One of the best sounding releases they ever put out imo. The Death Don't is to die for (pun intended?). Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. The Scarlet and Music to end the first set at Cobo is simply stunning....I replayed those two tracks in fact....Some hiss in Bertha to begin the set, but it disappears mid-song. Sounds Grate....right Dave? I sense we are both checking out this selection at relatively the same time?....
@vguy72 and davestrang - 2 from the vault
The issue is confused because they came out with two versions of this release. Originally it was only 2 discs from 8/24/68.
However the newer 3 disc version released in 2007 contains a third disc of three tracks all from 8/23/68. I believe it discusses this on the packaging of the newer release, and is mentioned on Wikipedia article about this release.
Edit: deaddisc.com also mentions this in their entry for this release.
RE: Dave
The Vault copies of the two from the Vault 1968 are much like the 67 show in the box in that over the decades the boxes and the reels are no longer guaranteed to be the date as listed. If you listen to the 1968 shows in question, they are different, but whether the first night tape ended up in the 2nd night box over the years, no one knows for sure anymore.For years the identity of 10/12 & 13/68 were doubted because of identical setlists, but they are 2 different shows.
This would be the shows without Pigpen, when he was "fired" according to some memoirs, but with out Pigpen to mix things up the band played the same Dark Star sequence both nights.
Touche wjonjd....
....I have the original release. Liner notes says they recorded both nights. Dead Base ironed that out....still sounds perfect. Could have been recorded yesterday!....
Two From The Vault
My copy of this release, the original version, does indicate that both dates contributed songs to the release.HOWEVER
Deaddisc.com had this to say:
"...
There was some confusion on the original release of this set as to the date of the recordings. Initially the music was thought to be from both August 23 and August 24 1968. It has since been determined though that the music on Two From The Vault is all from August 24, 1968.
The additional tracks added as a third disc for the expanded edition are from August 23rd, 1968 ... (and were) ... previously been released on:
The Golden Road (1965-1973), Grateful Dead, 2001
Athem Of The Sun, Grateful Dead, 2003 (expanded edition)
Two FromThe Vault
Happy to know that now - I can update accordingly - I've been thinking of trying to do a 30 Trips style compilation with the 5 available 30 Days Of Dead. I may even put the 'Dark Star' from the 2/14/70 early show (30DOD 2011) to start the DP4 2/14 late show since there's no "Dark Star' in the set list. I already incorporated the 'Bear's Choice' material were applicable so why not go for broke?
October 1968 and Dark Star 1970
I heard some October 68' last week on Sirius.. Not much info about Date or Venue provided by Dave, he mentions it's labeled "October 1968". I am almost convinced it is the show performed on October 11, 1968 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.
Dark Star ->
St. Stephen ->
The Eleven ->
Death Don't Have No Mercy
Fast forward to October 11, 1983 Madison Square Garden in New York City, St. Stephen would reappear in the song selection after a 4 year no show in setlists.. And 15 years to the day from the Labeled "October 1968" tape.
DaveStrang - Dark Star - 1.2.70. Check it out. One of the finest pieces/sequences I have heard played from any of the GD platforms in 2015.
And when is 12.31.69 getting the treatment ??
@ the 4:30 mark....
....of the Cobo Good Lovin', the boyz drop into that ethereal pool of the '76 sound. Stops at 7:30....shame. Three minutes of bliss. Comes A Time then breaks the water with a cascade of emotion....man o man....THAT's what I'm talkin' 'bout....
So, my son goes to the bathroom....
....I have Cobo spinning "relatively" loud. Not Fade Away is grooving. He comes back down the hallway bopping away. I say, "Feels good huh?". "What does?" he says. "That!" as I point to the stereo. He ponders, then responds with, "Their name sounds like a cult, but they do play pretty good music."....
....I raised him well....
....edit. Strong China Cat theme going on at the 10:15 mark of NFA. This show impresses....
1976 In General
Being as they were just starting up the ''tour machine" again I think the set lists were some of the most varied they ever performed being as they were testing /trying out different combinations of songs. I'd like to think the dearth of '76 releases is for a potential (maybe 2016?) box set. I've noticed many shows on Archive.org have soundboards that TPTB say are missing. Am I missing something here?
Missing vault shows
There are many shows, and the missing Betty's are but one example, where copies had/have been made of tapes that subsequently went missing - actually in the case of many of missing Betty's, they were recorded to DAT after being tracked down, but where the master reels were and in many cases still are missing from the vault.
It appears they are loathe to release shows where they do not have the actual master reels in the vault. One possible reason for this is that they hope to get/find them again some day, and it would be a shame if they had already been commercially released in sound quality below what would have been possible with the actual master reel to reels.
So, there ARE shows where soundboards exist and are available on the Archive, but where the original master reels are not in the Dead's Vault.
A missing vault show expanation ...
One story I have heard is that the "owner" of these tapes, wants too much compensation for the return to the vault of these tapes. In my opinion this "owner" really does not own the music contained on these tapes nor the tapes nor the reels or boxes. I think the "owner" was ripped off by the auctioneering firm.But I really don't know the real or "reel" story behind some of these missing Betty boards.
How Do Others Feel About It?
The prospect that we may NEVER hear this music because of lost/unreturned reels is very sad indeed. How does everyone else feel about this? Wait for possibly never returned/found reels or use the soundboards?
alternate 1995 shows
This is a strong show, for 1995, some Norman magic on the SBD and this would be a good choice for the next 30 Trips set.
https://archive.org/details/gd95-06-21.naks.5971.sbeok.shnf
It's an aud, but you get a good idea of the show.
On the Betty boards you can stream them on LMA, they are not lost, in fact they are traded freely. You just aren't looking in the right places to find them.
Donovan
Well Donovan was one of the first psychedelic artists, with many innovations in lyrics and music. He did make a trip to California in early 66 and saw Jefferson Airplane before they had Grace, so he may have also seen the Dead play. Though I'm pretty sure he never took the stage or jammed with them ever. Donovan was a psychedelic freak back in 65 and by 67 had given up most drugs and urged others to do so, in favor of meditation. Really enjoy his music and the one show I was lucky enough to attend in Eugene OR. That mountain jam in Alligator is pure joy, I had listened to Donovan for a few years before the Dead and was blown away when I put on Anthem for the first time just as many probably were, besides the fact that the whole album is a masterpiece that reference just made/makes me happy.
More Headphones
Living in NYC I need great headphones to make sure I hear the music over the traffic. My choice is the PSB M4U 2 headphones which sound amazing and have an awesome noise cancellation option. The company is also really great in terms of customer service. I also have PSB speakers on one of my high-end stereos which is what lead me to their headphones.
Another strong contender for me would be the oppo PM-2 Planar Magnetic headphones.
Strongly recommend you check these two out before making a buying decision.
Conspiracy theories....
....ya know, I heard the Nazi's built a base on the dark side of the moon....just saying....
Headphones
For 80-100$ the Sony MDRV6 headphones are great cans for the money.
@KayakGuy
Forgetting about the Betty's for a minute, many shows have tapes that are lost or missing that have sbds on the LMA. For a long time there was very little monitoring of who took what from the vault. Many of these shows were recorded by Dick and or others and leaked to friends, etc. and copied (and who knows how well they were copied?), so in fact these original reels ARE lost and/or missing even though you may find sbds looking in the "right places" as you put it. As I said, it seems they are hesitant to produce official commercial releases from COPIES of the original master reels (assuming they even have access to the first gen copies, and not copies of the copies, etc.) because they have know way of knowing how much better the actual original reels are until they get them back, which has happened with quite a few reels.
I don't know what you mean when said "On the Betty boards you can stream them on LMA, they are not lost, in fact they are traded freely. You just aren't looking in the right places to find them.". His whole question was based on the fact that he KNOWS there are sbds available, and was wondering how it's possible that the tapes can still be missing from the vault (so they can be used to produce commercial releases) since those sbds circulate. The assumption being made that leads to that seemingly illogical conclusion is assuming that if a sbd circulates then the original tape must be in the vault - that's an incorrect assumption.
i forgot
My point was just because they have not been officially released they are easy to hear for free. They do exist in very good quality, just not in the hands of Rhino to make selections from for release on their slow schedule.
Now the end of 5/16/81 that is a "missing reel".
Another Question
Would you as a paying customer be willing to pay for VERY GOOD/EXCELLENT sounding soundboard releases vs. never hearing a given show because of missing/lost master reels? How about it everyone? A thought that occurs to me is that any reels missing from the late 60's to early 70's could be deteriorated to the point of being unusable anyway. Whaddaya think?
RE: Another Question
I think the term missing reels is being used for more than one type of problem. There are missing reels/tapes because of damage or accidents. they don't exist for us to hear.
Then there are tapes missing from the Vault, these are the ones that have through various ways made it into circulation. They do exist, are only missing from the Vault, but are available in wider circulation than any Dave's Picks or limited edition box.
The cat is out of the bag for many shows, for rhino to release a tape from circulation in similar quality would require them becoming like ABB and not allowing digital trading/sharing of anything but audience tapes. It's been tried already, it didn't work out well, but did lead to the stream only policy on LMA.
Buying releases from sbd copies
Yes I would. I believe that with modern technology there is a lot that can be done even with copies to make them sound as great as possible, and I wish they would do this in many cases.
It appears that they don't generally agree.
About the 5/16/81 missing reel, since all copies seem to be missing the end, I would guess that there was never actually a reel that went missing, but rather that portion of the show was never recorded for some reason - equipment failure, someone never flipped/changed tape, or whatever - somehow never got recorded at the board.
Edit: I just saw Kayak's post, and I respectfully disagree with his conclusion. Although Dave and co., have reveled at times providing shows that don't widely circulate, they have chosen many (between dicks, road trips and daves and boxes) shows that they know are in wide circulation as excellent soundboards. That has not deterred them at all. Most of the released 77 shows, spring and fall, circulated widely as great soundboards, for example. Dicks 29, dicks 10, dicks 15, daves 12, dicks 34, etc. Same goes for the Veneta 72 show and many others.
@ Vguy72 30 Trips Cobo Hall
This is my 3rd spin today - I think it'll wind up being in my top 5. The 'Scarlet' and 'TMNS' are as good as it gets. Even 'Looks Like Rain' is excellent. Onto '77 next. I'm trying to get in as much as possible since I leave for surgery tomorrow (followed by phys. rehab). So no music for while.
ooo supper's getting cold
Once something comes out officially it is retired from LMA and becomes harder to get. Some BT sites will not allow torrents of released dates and usually the official release is an upgrade.I welcome them to upgrade my entire collection.
Much of what circulates is in fact in the Vault, they are Latvala's copies of the shows they can be identified as they usually have a reel or cassette gen in the lineage before the DAT.
When Eaton would let stuff slip out it would have an extra cassette in the lineage.
LMA soundboards
Ever since they changed to the stream only policy, all boards on the LMA are basically retired. So now, there is no change (in almost every case) to what's available on the archive once a show is officially released. It was stream only before release, and remains stream only after release. There have been only a very very few instances where the streams have been cut off.
1974 audio
Has anyone else had issues with the 74 show's audio on disk 2? Peggie-O and big river has next to no vocal audio, all else sounds great but you can barely hear the vocal track on these songs. Is this a flaw in the recording or is my disc defective? thanks.
John
1974 audio
The flaw is in the recording, although I don't have in Peggy-o, but i do in loose Lucy and big river. Are you sure you have the in Peggy-o. I'm any case, it wouldn't a problem with the cd. It's in the recording.
Sorry, you are correct it is
Sorry, you are correct it is Loose Lucy. Thanks for the reply, I assumed it was recording but just wanted to be sure. Kind of a bummer, great pick up until the issue sucked the life out it for me. On disk three now and its great.
The Vault vs Area 51....
....perhaps the same place? Only a two hour drive from here. Might get shot though....Go Cubs!!!
...seriously, Cobo rocks....in that slow, decisive, progressive '76 way. I love this year....
Chrononotlogical Order
I got as far as '71, then gave in to my primal '77 needs. Justified by the fact it will be another week before I can listen loudly at home and enjoy refreshments.
Dark Star 2/14/70 early show
DavidStrang mentioned Dark Star 2/14/70 early show. That 2/14/70 early show is fabulous, a compact but powerful hour and twenty minutes or so, marred in the circulating soundboard by several minutes missing at the end of St. Stephen/beginning of The Eleven. But otherwise a dynamite, coherent and organic performance. Total synchrony between everyone in the band, with Lesh and Garcia trading off and combining the lead, Weir filling the spaces throughout, percussion driving the whole.
To give that hour and twenty minutes some context, the Dead were top billed, opening acts were the Allman Bros. Band and Love. Shortly before the Dead came on stage, Love completed their set with a song including an extended, memorable drum solo, complete with tape loop effects that floored the audience.
There was a brief intermission to set up the Dead, opening with a fine Cold Rain & Snow, but recall the audience was coming off a total psychedelic melt down set by Love and the audience was positive but NY style not very impressed. However ... at the opening notes of Dark Star, silence fell in the orchestra and we were away on a very unusual trip, including yours truly, then fourteen years old attending the early show to meet a parental curfew, having no knowledge of the Dead, other than a brief mention in the musical "Hair" ("out of bread, like the Grateful Dead"). I went because I wanted to know why "the Grateful Dead" were "out of bread" and why they merited mention in popular musical.
I didn't learn why they were out of bread, but I sure did understand why they merited mention.
awe, ziffle.. that's sacred ground
wow.. Dicks Picks 4. At worst, perhaps the second or third to best released. Tell me why, again, they were not released as whole shows?
It's kinda cool....
....that, when I listen to these shows, I recall having most of these on tape, and played them many years ago. Certain runs and themes sound very familiar....takes be back to circa '88-'92, when I was doing some serious taping. Had more hair then too....
The'77 Trip
I won't say it's my favorite Scarlet > Fire... but maybe one of my favorite Fires. Such a gentle come down at the end of it.
Wild at the Fillmore, JimInMD - 2/14/70
Just put on DP 14 (late show 2/14 and mixed 2/13), switching from the early show from (old) archive.
The announcer that night was John Zacherle. If you grew up in NYC, Zacherle was a wildly popular FM radio DJ & local TV personality. He was a local star. Even for a kid as I was, the scene was intense. The sound system worked differently from the later Dead. All vocals and just a little of the rest went through the PA, the guitars drums bass were coming off the stage, and from the orchestra, 100% of the instruments came from the stage with vocals "mono" from the PA. Talk about soundstage! The lighting was operated by a bunch of high school drop outs (I know, because I scored fourth row orchestra via a friend whose drop out brother managed the spots). Not to mention the smoke etc. wafting through the air. I'm surprised that Bear managed to record everything that was released.
But you are absolutely correct. There is more, DP4 has but a portion. After all, I have a 44.1/16 kHz of 2/14 early, obviously more exists that is not on DP4. The entire two days should be released. Bear made an exquisite recording. He must have set up one mix to record, and one for the house, and recording to stereo open reel. Incredible. DP4 notes by Bear say he used Scotch 207 tape, those were 1800 foot reels meaning a flip every 45 minutes. Extremely fine back coated tape, unless water damaged, should still be good. They could just do fade in/out to accommodate the flips.
edit - by the way, go back to 2/14 early, the Eleven, about 2/3 through, Garcia does a duet with the percussion, Lesh comes in, then Weir, and they hit the Eleven theme with that syncopation from Kreutzman/Hart that I never hear elsewhere - but there I hear the seeds of Terrapin, just for a couple of minutes. Anyone else?
re Zacherle
I just checked, Zacherle is 97 and he still doing public appearances.
I used to listen to him on WNEW-FM NYC way back when radio stations actually had personalities and style. Maybe he is a vampire, he certainly seemed to believe that to be the case.
Zacherle used to play GD songs from soundboards and aud recordings from time to time during his evening show on the radio. He also played a lot of other music to open up the minds of his listeners. He was on until maybe midnight, then came Allison Steele, who presented other ideas. It was a great radio station with a lot of talented people involved (Scot Muni, Pete Fornatale, Dave Herman, Jonathan Schwartz). It was a time of mind expanding, creativity on the radio waves. Nothing I've heard like it these days. Radio seems to be on rigid themes these days (classical,hip-hop, jazz, "classic" rock, GD 24/7, Elvis 24/7 etc. never the twain shall meet). Sad.
PS DP4 takes all the songs out of order and great as it is, messes up the energy. Dark Star on CD1 is from the early 2/14, should lead into St. Stephen, not Cryptical. It sounds good but loses the energy intent going on at the time. I'm probably not the first person to criticize the various producers for fooling around like this, but here it is especially annoying because it is the opposite of what the Dead actually did. Should have left it original and faded where the tape ran out.
Re: PS DP4 songs out of order
One of the reasons I am a full show guy. The word travesty comes to mind.. but perhaps its a bit overused on this forum. Still, I cannot think of a better word. I would buy the complete shows in a NY minute.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Edit: Love the info on WNEW. I did not know that..
More Zacherlee
Whats really impressive in all of this is that.. he was almost 50 years old when the GD formed.. and yet some years later he played soundboard and audience tapes on his radio program in NYC?
Think about that for a minute.. my parents (younger and hipper) were not nearly so young nor hip.
In my opinion, pretty bold for the times.
JimInMD travesty indeed Re: DP4 songs out of order
Your word, travesty, is exactly correct. One of the great aspects of a Grateful Dead concert is the coherent movement of the music, it doesn't matter 1970, 1980, 1990, that is always present. Garcia was strongly aware of rhythmic movement, clear if you listen to some of his late interviews.
Going from Dark Star to Cryptical, when the Dead actually went to St. Stephen is a distortion. After the intro bridge, St. Stephen has a forward impulse, a triumphant musical gesture. Cryptical is the opposite, it moves back in time, with sustained tension, only releasing with the percussion bridge.
A Grateful Dead concert, at its best, was like a symphony. They challenge the listener. Changing the song order is wrong, even if there are technical flaws in the recording. I remember being frustrated about a year after the Fillmore show, 2/18/71, many new songs, material moved around, but I also remember at the very end when the lights came on the feeling that I had just experienced a dramatic creative energy, and a forward movement in musical thinking.
In my opinion the problem is the focus on individual songs (like, wow that was the best Shakedown ever!), rather than on the whole that each concert provides, warts and all. Sometimes the Dead put on a fully coherent concert, like a symphony, and sometimes they couldn't pull the whole thing together. But that determination must vary with the listener, and their concerts should always be released in toto, without edits. Let the listener decide, not some after the fact producer who thinks he/she knows better.
In my not-so-humble opinion, and why I am so much looking forward to my USB 30 Trips, I suppose sometime in November.
Donovan
I agree with MaryE and Mr.Dc that Donovan probably never played with the Dead. As to whether the Dead ever saw Donovan play, that is another matter, but it seems unlikely that they saw him before his release of "There is a mountain" in July '67. The Dead's first visit to England was in May '70 when they played the Hollywood Festival. Mr.Dc asserts that Donovan visited California in early '66. That may well be so, but I was not aware of that. However, he does mention Jefferson Airplane in his song "The Fat Angel" so it is quite possible that he saw the Airplane in early '66. What I do know is that he recorded in LA in late '66 and early '67 but if he and the Dead met or saw each other play at that time I do not know.
The Dead and Donovan (a stalwart of the '70s festival scene in England) both played the Bickershaw Festival (Europe '72) but Donovan played on the Saturday and the Dead played on the Sunday. Whether either braved the mud and cold to watch the other perform is also an unknown. I was lucky enough to see 'em both.
Lazy Lightning Bolt
Where's my Lightning Bolt? Where's my $700 Lightning Bolt? Where's ANYONE's $700 Lightning Bolt? My patience is growing thin and my mood is rapidly souring. Where's my Lightning Bolt?!?!?
Poster
Here's a poster for Donovan at the Fillmore on 11/23/67 and Winterland on 11/24.
http://www.classicposters.com/Donovan/poster/Bill_Graham/94
According to setlist.net it appears that the Dead played no shows on those nights.
30 Trips bolt
I didn't order one, I'm still stuck in the antiquated CD system, but I have a "hunch" that the bolt just may ship out sometime in the week of October 26th, a Monday. It probably won't sell out before the mass shipping date, whenever that will be.One of the advantages of the USB will be the playing order of 11/14/73 San Diego Sports Arena show, the time restrictions of the CD will not be in place, so one can enjoy the whole show in correct playing order.
product sku
081227955892