Forums
"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
30 Trips
I agree with Hbob this is a thing of beauty - listening to '87 now but it was hard choosing. '67 Shrine is through the roof, I particularly like BW & BK's playing on it. JG's solo is perfection. And that's the thing about this box set…magic and surprise at every turn even though some of us have been listening for years. I'm still amazed!
I paid this box off last month....
....and it wasn't too painful. The band-aid came off relatively quickly, and now I can bask in all it's (faux) wood glory, paid in full. Totally worth it. 1970, 1994 and 1976 have rotated at least five times. Checking out 1990 tonight. Vince and Bruce didn't miss a beat....
Check this out....
....is there an easy way to post pictures on this site? Been here going on forever, and can't figure it out....
Wooden Ships
Closing in on the last few from the box. I have not been listening in order and all that's left for me is 91, a show i'm very familiar with and know is very good, and 94 and 95. I'm almost afraid to listen to those last two years but we'll see how it goes.
Taking a little break from the GD (and jazz) tonight. Checked out the Stevie Wonder from '73 posted on TOTD earlier. Now i'm listening to Another Stony Evening by Crosby-Nash, a disc I bought from this site a few years ago. I couldn't help but think of Paul Kantner when Wooden Ships came on as he co-wrote the song. I really love that song, both CSN and the Airplane's versions.
Anyway, the acoustic Crosby/Nash is a nice little diversion after all the mind blowing Dead I've been hearing lately--WRS>Spanish Jam from DaP17, the killer Viola Lee Blues from the 67 show and I'm still stoked about the (uncredited) Soul Sacrifice on the '70 trip.
10/01/94
With Jerry's health issues (and Vince's over-compensation on keys), the last few years of shows are not on par with previous years.
That's what makes 10/01/94 such a fun listen in this box. Is the H-S-F up there with the best H-S-F ever? Probably not. But does listening to Jerry on Franklin's still make you want to get up and dance? Yes it most certainly does.
Very solid show from beginning to end. Must have been a fun night in the Garden.
Bring out the Foxes!
This is a recurrent fantasy for me, as these were my first shows, first trips and they were great on both counts. Owsley taped all three, I believe. I'd love to get the run after the current level of alchemy was worked on them to bring out all that magic you kids do today! Hope they're in the release plans soon!
Vguy72 - check this out - picture posting
I played with this one day to no avail, what you can do is place the picture in a dropbox and put a link here.
30 Trips around the Sun
I am very disappointed that I can not get this set in CD disc format? is there ever going to be a chance?
@Fandead
TPTB have said that these shows will not be sold individually on cd. I guess that means they could sell them in groups, like the '60's, 70's, etc. Nobody knows what the future holds.
You can pick up individual shows right now on ebay for decent prices if you want to go that way. I myself did that with some of the E'72 shows.
Rock on
Broken boxes
I have a few questions on the individual shows being sold on eBay. Does a seller make more selling shows individually? Seems like a lot of work if it's 30 different buyers at once too. By the amount of boxes being broken does that make the 30 trips box unbroken more valuable, being that there's less than 6,500 then? I have no problems with the secondary market, I would have never heard Pure Jerry full series without secondary market. I personally have no desire to sell my 30 Trips but my wife asked if I'd ever sell it and it was a easy no, but my only saving grace with my wife is I tell her my constant GD purchases will always hold value. I recently saw a 30 trips box start at $650 and sold for $1,080. That's holding value. To me, $300 profit isn't worth the " it's all about the music" because I like the the extras, my wife asked about me selling Winterland 73' box my reasoning was it has the lil good ol grateful dead pin, no way I'm selling.
limited, collectors items, making profit
There are a lot of people who have always profited from the grateful dead. Jerry didn't mind, look at the parking lots in most dead shows, full of people who made a living from selling stuff to kind folks related to the band and band members. There will always be a demand for these great recordings, limited or not, there will and is a way for the masses to get these shows, if not from a friend via a cdr, then from ebay. There are a lot more people out there nowdays who do buy and sell just for profit on ebay, and why not? Where are you going to get such a great return for your initial investment? Breaking up the boxes and selling each show for, say, 30 bucks, that's a quick (within a week) profit of 200 bucks. Where else are you going to make that kinda of cash for sitting infront of your computer and posting shows? Seriously, if one had the money, could buy up as many as you could afford, hold them for 6 months until sold out, then put them up at twice what you paid, there is no where else anywhere that you are going to get that much return for an investment so fast, nowhere, certainly not the stock market. I know several people who have been doing the resale thing for a few years, first with old lp's that they acquired via estate sales, garage sales or record store buyouts or when a lot of folks "upgraded" to cd's back in the 90's. I for one did not do that, I kept my old records and bought the cd's to play, but that's another story cause cd's don't sound as good as lp's in my opinion. They still do it and with the limited editions of most music nowdays, it's money in the bank, especially dead music.
There is money to be made from these kind of investments, one person I know does only that now, puts all up on ebay and makes a tidy profit, all from doing what they love, finding old classics and first issues of old records, clean them up a bit and resale. It's a good thing, a lot of these old original recordings would end up in a dumpster if not for what they do and I salute them for that, they are like the American pickers of the music world. Back in the day of 1.99 records, I would spend hours looking thru stacks of lp's, it was a blast.
Next time you got a minute, check out ebay, look what they are getting for old tshirts and old bootleg cds and lps, first press cd's and out of print recordings, there is a gold mine out there in peoples garages and attics and most don't know what they have as far as music recordings and rock and roll memorabilia goes.
Back in the day a lot of dead memorabilia was free, but as we all know, there aren't too many free rides left in this country.
4-9-91 is worth a relisten, that second set is smoking with a great foolish heart going into drums and a great TOO>wharf rat coming out of space. Not too bad for an added on show as the first 2 sold out in minutes, so they added the 9th.
Broken Boxes
Breaking up these boxes is a non-sequitur imho. I wouldn't do it because I'm not so era-centric to deny myself the enjoyment of something that was put together as a timeline project.
On the other side of that, the more boxes that do get cannibalized will only make the complete sets more valuable, if you're into commodities. If you purchase a show from the box that happens to have a bad disc, good luck getting that replaced.
PURCHASING MUSIC WHILE IT IS AVAILABLE...
I will say no more than this...Sorry, Gotta do this up in CAPS! ;) 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN WAS AVAILABLE FOR WELL OVER 5 MONTHS @DEADNET. Shows, are not an excuse. Purchasing extra music, esp. if it's available for AMPLE time......OUT. ;)
@Unklesam re: ebay
On your $200 profit you forgot: ebay & Paypal fees are approx. 10%. So your profit is now down to $90. Is it really worth it? You would have to create 30 ebay listings, and make numerous trips to the post office. I myself would not put that kind of effort into making $90.
Rock on
RE: Broken Boxes
I agree with Space on this, the more boxes that get cannibalized, the more valuable my complete box will be.
As a collector I have learned to buy whatever dead.net offers the day it is announced and think about it later. This habit started with Dick's Pick 1, years before i got my first CD player for DP 4 to hear the Other One without a cut, and hasn't stopped yet.
I sometimes buy 2 copies and open one, rip it and give it away to a friend, keeping the sealed one as my master.
As Rhino moves to a more digital friendly distribution, I feel the number of limited edition CDs will get even tighter as they tweek the number needed to pay for the release and then be able to distribute digitally forever.
To see this in action look at Robert Fripps DGMlive as a perfect example of commercial digital distribution of an artists archival releases.
What is this ebay thing people talk about?
;)
1975 Harmonica Trip
Just made it to 1975. Did anyone notice the harmonica playing in the Music Never Stopped? The liner notes do not refer to anyone sitting in
USB BOLT SOLD OUT!
YAHOOOOO! This edition of the 50th anniversary box FINALLY SOLD OUT!The last time I checked here and tried to buy 15 bolt USB's was Sunday 21 February 2016, I could not buy more than 11. It took some time but dead.net finally sold "every last one" There may be some returns, but essentially they're gone.
I bought the 80 CD big box and I love it. Although I was familiar with most of the shows prior to this official release everything sounds like a new suprise.
Since there was a delay with the USB package, I wish the 11/14/73 San Diego show was presented in it's correct playing order, as opposed to the CD version and that the Drums> Space on several shows did not have fades. That would have made this USB better than the CD version.
Oh well.
I now believe that GDP / Rhino know what they're doing.
Kudos on a project done well!
@ reijo29: 1975 Trip - Harmonica player
That's Matt Kelly a friend of Weir's, later a member of Kingfish. Also he plays on Beat It On Down The Line. Low in the mix, bummer.
@ mp51: Downloads of 30 Trips shows
Probably not from here on dead.net, but via www.nugs.net
Breaking Boxes.....
I bought a box and pieced it out on eBay. I didn't keep track because I had other things selling also but I sold the box set for more than $1400. I didn't really want to do it but I had some medical bills and needed a way of paying them off. On average the 90's shows sold for $30-$40, the 80's for $40-$50 and the 60's/70's for $50-$75. And the empty box,book and scroll went for $100 or so. Yeah, it was lot of packaging/post office time. But I work a mile from a post office and mailed things on my lunch break. So in about 2 weeks, after eBay fees and packaging costs I made about $650. Cash money. And I have copies of 30 killer shows that only cost me time and a little effort.
In retrospect I should have maxed out my credit card and bought 6 boxes and sold them on eBay.
jjs
I rest my case, there is gold in them there boxes. Way to make it happen jjs, that's a tidy little profit for sitting in front of the computer for an hour or two. I will not break up my box, but if you do, you will make a rather tidy profit.
Give it a year or so, then see what these shows bring on ebay, add another zero to that I imagine. If I had the resources, I would purchase as many of the limited editions that I could, there seems to be a demand out there for the good old Grateful Dead.
jjs, did you start them out at a fixed price or did you put them up at .99 cents and go from there? The less the starting bid, the less the ebay cut is if I remember right. Also I think paypal only charges about 3 percent. Of course, if the word gets out, lots of folks will start doing this so better grab them up as soon as they become available or you too will pay big bucks for our favorite bands music.
I've got a couple thousand that I could seriously invest in this, will have to wait and see...but with that kind of profit, why not?
Drop out on 1995 BTW?
My copy of the 1995 show has an audio drop just after the 4-minute mark in BTW. I noticed it in the vocals initially (sounds like Bobby sings "bl [...] throated wind"--the beat or two given over to the "ack" of "black" appears to be missing) and thought it might be a skip. Additional listens tell me it's pretty certainly not a skipping disc, but instead something like a tape flip that wasn't patched or sutured properly. Anyone else hearing this, or do I have a wonky disc?
@ckcoffman
It's a recording imperfection. I'm hearing it on my copy as well.
@ Seth H
Your scheme is brilliant! Why stop at Dead box sets though?
I can envision the day where some average ‘head will try to purchase – I don’t know, maybe Phil tickets at the Capitol theater – and find to their dismay that within seconds of going on sale, all of the tickets are “unavailable”, but find there is no shortage on sites like Stubhub! Oh, wait… that day is already here!
Anyway, good plan except perhaps one thing. How are you going to handle those who send the wife and kids, but don’t even want the box set?
Enjoyed your post.
Peace
@seth H
what happened to your post, gee, do you think it might have been the mention of 16 year old girls? I know it was suppose to be a joke but, you just can't say that on tv. Sure hope the internet cops don't show up at your door looking to confiscate your hard drives. ;)
Just saw the cost of 3 lp's from an almost 50 year old show, now that is something to laugh about.
what has happened? back in the day you could get an lp for 2 bucks, what have they done to make the same process worth 30 times that?
Is it the fact that they no longer press lp's? or that they are limited in pressings? Or is it the good old grateful dead greed? Rhino, you have the technology to put these out for the masses at a greatly reduced cost, why do you continue to try and bleed us deadheads dry? Why are some lp's way less in cost?
I don't know, it just goes to show.....
I got moderated!
Oh well.The point of the post was that I find gleeful discussion of the profitability of hoarding copies of limited edition releases for resale at gross profit to be disgusting.
My gleeful monster pose was too much for poor MaryE.
I am annoyed, but I'll get over it. I generally like MaryE's posts and her moderating activities, so I should just bite my tongue now and move on.
LP pricing
I think it's a little of a bunch of things, first and foremost, what the market will bear. New cd's and dvd's don't cost anywhere near cost to make versus price you pay. Most products seem to be price that way today. Are Nike sneakers worth the money people seem to pay? Brings up the point of off shore production and cost of labor. Take sneakers, you make them in some slave country, because labor is so high in America, then why when you make them for virtually no labor cost are they 200 bucks? Because the market will bear it. (and for some things people are stupid enough to pay,,, think rolex!)
Back to LP's, I would think limited runs cost more than massive runs. Back in the day when albums were the only thing, I bet they knocked out 100,000 copies at once. Think about when an album goes gold or platinum, that's a few more copies than Dead 67.
On the limited front, MOST people don't want vinyl, period. Sure it's having a small comeback, but not for most people. Hell most people don't even want albums I bet, they buy just the songs they want from iTunes. Most people don't even have a collection of cd's. Sure the people on this forum are the exception, but we're a small group. Think about people you know and how many albums they have. It always seems to me when I'm in peoples homes, they have a handful only, maybe 20-30? I always believe most people stop buying after high school or college since their collection seems focused on those years. Oh and a lot of Christmas albums! A friend down the street buys used cd's and after she listen to them a dozen times or so, she gives them to me! Says she's listen to them enough!
On the flip side movie ownership has skyrocketed, people buy a lot of movies! Before vhs, nobody owned movies (home 8mm don't count:-), 10,000 watts of lights and people waving at the camera :-).
Finally on the greed front, maybe a little, maybe just a little more of knowing what their shit is worth and cashing in before they buy the farm and I would never deny "the boys" that, they've earned it. As I've said before you can always get copies of the music from someone, but if you want the original store bought stuff, then pony up or shut the fuck up. Boy that came out harsh :-),,, probably from seeing Deadpool last night! (if you haven't seen, do so, funny as all hell)
1975 Trip: Matt Kelly
As Born Cross Eyed said, that is indeed Matt Kelly.
In addition to being a founding member of Kingfish, Matt was also a frequent guest player with NRPS. He also plays on a track on Wake of the Flood, and several on Shakedown Street. He also plays on the Closing of Winterland DVD/CD.
He was also in Bobby and the Midnites, and Ratdog until 1998.
There are a number of mistakes in the liner notes, particularly on the early discs.
'66: Lists New Minglewood as a GD song when it is a cover.
'69: Lists the Eleven Jam as track #3 on Disc 2 when it is clearly a full Eleven with lyrics that starts several minutes before the end of track #2 St. Stephen, which isn't nearly 9:07 in length as s result.
'75: Omits Kelly as playing on the release.
And I'm pretty certain that there is one Trip where they go into a full Feedback but it isn't listed (though I'm relying on memory here).
Not huge mistakes certainly, but there are there.
After getting my Box back, I'm finally nearing the end, and I'm surprised at how good the '94 sounds. Pleasant surprise. Really nice first set.
Can't believe how good the '94 is/was
Listening chronologically (after I had to get my box replaced, another story) and started back at the beginning.
From memory I king of remembered Spring '93 as the last consistently good tour. Though there were certainly good moments in '94 and '95 (Unbroken Chain, anyone?).
But I'm really enjoying the '94 show. Sounds better than I remember (though I wasn't at this one, personally). Just the '94 sound in general.
pony up or shut the f*ck up
lol, a little harsh, lol. That's a bit more than a little harsh, but you decide. So you must work for Rhino or the dead right? If this the attitude of the ptb, then the world is truly f*cked.
unkle sam, pony up, rhino....
...work for rhino? I don't think so, they probably want to drug test me and that ain't happenin'! :-)
I tried to get a job at a factory that made bongs and they drugged tested,,,,can you believe that shit :-)
I always laugh when I go to most stores and they say they drug test all employees. Then you try and get help from "straight" employees and they're useless! I always think, hire some pot smokers, they would at least give a shit!
4/25/77 vinyl
The 4-LP set Capitol Theatre, Passaic NJ 4/25/77 (from the 30 Trips Around The Sun boxed set) will be released on 04/16/16.
Harmonica on 1975
Ha - I never noticed the harmonica on MNStopped from the 1975 show. Good catch!
30 Trips Multi-track Shows
I read a comment indicating that two of the 30 Trips shows came from multi-track source tapes. Does anyone know which shows?
Thanks hbob
I assumed they were all two-track. Would love to know what else they have in the vault that are from multi-track sources. All I'm aware of are Feb Port Chester '71, April Fillmore East '71, Oct Winterland '74, and recently in his Seaside Chat, DL mentioned something from '76.
Finally.... 1966!
So... almost 6 months after Boxzilla landed on my front porch, I've finally gotten around to listening to the first two shows of this embarrassment of riches. I've been so backlogged with other music and other GD releases that I've acquired in the last year, that I just kept avoiding diving into this thing. It's a nice problem to have, I know. Here are my takeaways on the 1966 show after two listens...
First... the sound is terrific (in my opinion) for a live recording from 1966. The mix could have been a little more even-handed. I think Pig's organ is WAY up in the mix, so much so that it drowns out/overshadows some of Jerry's better guitar work in this show. The overall show is definitely raw, but in a good way. They certainly sound like a band that was going places (hindsight obviously being 20/20 and all). The crowd applause between songs makes it sound like there were maybe 50 or so people there. Oh... if only I had a Delorean with a flux-capacitor! Highlights for me are: Viola Lee Blues, Tastebud, Cream Puff War, Gangster of Love and In the Midnight Hour, with Gangster of Love being my favorite song in the show. I thought Viola Lee Blues sounded fantastic until I listened to it as the opener of the 1967 trip.... DAMN!!! Negatives: Cardboard Cowboy might be, IMHO, the worst song that the Dead were ever affiliated with. I can certainly understand why it was abandoned early on. Overall, for a band that had been "together" for less than a year, and that still hadn't released any studio work, I think it sounds great. This show definitely put me in the mood to keep on listening.
KYTrips
Glad you were finally able to dive into the largest box set ever produced. I'm sure there will be many highlights for you. I could tell you some of mine but there's no need for that. I was surprised how good the 90's shows sounded. With the new box set coming out, will this further delay your listening?
Delayed listening
DaveStrang...
No. I will back-burner the new box set (which I've already ordered) until I make it all the way thru the big box. I vowed to myself that when I started the big box, I wouldn't co-mingle other Dead while working through the box. Before I start the new box, I'll still have DaP 17, DaP 18 and possibly DaP 19 to catch-up on as well as some recently acquired Jerry solo stuff. It truly is a good problem to have!
KYT...I'm impressed
...with your restraint! Taking it low and slow just like the 'ole crock pot. Good for you, giving them all their due. Mad respect.
That theory sounded excellent to me, and what did I do upon receipt? ....jumped straight to '72, '73, '91.
I share your AWE as well with the '67 Viola. Actually now that I think about it, THAT was the first song I put on when I got the box, as I knew it was one of the multi-track shows and just wanted a little taste. My jaw dropped, and I've been emitting a little drool out the side of my mouth ever since, every time at it's mention.
Sixtus
1967 (or The Attack of "Viola Lee Blues")
Right out of the gate this show smokes! It is readily apparent that this is a completely different animal than the 1966 Trip, and that this band has grown immeasurably in 16 months. Mickey is now in the fold, and the sound of the band is completely different. It's pretty rare for a show opener to be the best song of the show, but "Viola Lee Blues" is THAT good here. Jerry is on fire right from the start. Without a doubt, the best VLB I've heard. "It Hurts Me Too" and "Beat It On Down The Line" are both solid, but nothing extraordinary. However, BIODTL does confirm that since the 1966 Trip, Bobby has learned to become a singer, rather than a shouter. "Morning Dew" is excellent, and one of the better early versions I've heard of it. I always preferred the later versions of "Morning Dew", after they'd slowed down it's tempo considerably, but this one definitely holds its own. The first CD closes with a solid performance of "Good Morning Little School Girl" with Pig in all his glory. The second disc is a jamming tour de force... starting with a really good "That's It For The Other One", including some lyrics that obviously were altered later on by the Dead. I've never been a big fan of "New Potato Caboose" but this version makes you appreciate the song for what it is... a great jamming vehicle. The show closes with a stellar version of "Alligator" and then a perpetual "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)" which I didn't think would ever end (and I mean that in a good way). While I thought the 1966 show was really good for a band at the beginning of their career, this show is better by leaps and bounds in my humble opinion. If I were Robert Christgau of the Village Voice, I would rate this show an "A" with hints of an "A+".
Another Slow, but Steady Assault
I am just cracking into the first set of 1981. I am enjoying the 80's tremendously so far.
I have to say the best thing so far in the box was '67.. I agree, KYTrips, what a show and what a recording. It ranks right up there with Two From the Vault in all time, gooey raw goodness. I love the embryonic That's It For The Other One, but the whole thing smokes.
'68 and '69 delivered, but there's a rarity about a good 1970 show that gives me goosebumps when I hear a new one I have not listened to yet.
Yes.. the early shows were the highlights for me, but the whole thing is very well done.
Well, tearing into the second half of the box. What fun.
Sailor>Saint
Love that buildup/transition on Cornell '81. Augusta '84 ain't too shabby either.
product sku
081227955892