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    July 1978: The Complete Recordings

    What's Inside:

    • Five Complete Shows on 12 discs
    • 7/1/78 Arrowhead Stadium: Kansas City, MO
    • 7/3/78 St. Paul Civic Center Arena: St. Paul, MN
    • 7/5/78 Omaha Civic Auditorium: Omaha, NE
    • 7/7/78 Red Rocks Amphitheatre: Morrison, CO
    • 7/8/78 Red Rocks Amphitheatre: Morrison, CO
    Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
    Artwork by esteemed cartoonist Paul Pope
    Intro and show-by-show liner notes by Nicholas Meriwether
    Producer's Note by David Lemieux
    Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 15,000
    Release Date: May 13, 2016

    Announcing July 1978: The Complete Recordings

    We’re pleased to announce JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS, five incredible unreleased shows and the first official release from the long-lost tapes, recently returned to the Grateful Dead’s vault. Follow the Dead on a sonic journey through a superb selection of settings, an often epic adventure that finds them winning over Willie and Waylon fans in Kansas City, conjuring charisma in Omaha, and elevating the Red Rocks beyond their already spiritual planes. With five distinct performances painting the masterpiece of 1978, Betty Cantor-Jackson's always-pristine soundboard recordings, and the "hall-of-fame pedigree" of the Dead's first-ever shows at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre, this is one release that far exceeds excellence in music, sound quality, and rarity.

    Limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies, JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS includes Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO (7/1/78), St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN (7/3/78), Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE (7/5/78), and Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison CO (7/7/78 and 7/8/78) - all of the performances in this collection are drawn from the band’s master soundboard recordings, each newly mastered by Jeffrey Norman. The set also features original artwork by esteemed cartoonist Paul Pope (D.C. and Marvel comics) and in-depth liner notes written by Nick Meriwether (Grateful Dead Archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz), as well as a producer’s note from producer David Lemieux.

    Due May 13th, we anticipate that this extraordinary box will sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here.

    Looking for something a little more byte-sized? The collection will also be available for HD digital download in FLAC and ALAC, exclusively at dead.net, on release day.

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  • KeithFan2112
    Joined:
    I Keep Looking At The Set Lists.....
    I can't wait to get my hands on this box set. It wasn't that long ago that DP 18 & 25 were the only two Estimated Prophets I had with that kick-ass Jerry solo that goes on for a minute and a half to 2 minutes, and the DP 25 version isn't that good. I didnt realize this was a 78 thing until after I bought May 1977, which to my dismay, had 5 EPs with no 2 minute solo. I picked up copies of the Egypt and From Egypt with Love bonus CDs and doubled my EP 78 collection, but neither of those blew my mind quite like DP 18. Two more versions came along with DaP 15 and 30 Trips, and now there are three more coming in this July box set. Can't wait to get my filthy Deadhead hands on it. Also looking forward to two more 78 Music Never Stopped. This one developed a bit in late 77 / early 78 as well, with a 2 minute mind bending jam around the 3:45 mark. I also never grow tired of new Scarlet / Fires, you just always get something nice there (DaP 7 let it burn, let it burn, let it burn), and the Egypt stand-alone Fire on the Mountain is one of my favs. Two more of these coming,look out! With any luck, something will click on the Eyes of the World fast version...I can't say it's the best new direction I've heard them take a song, but I understand! Cocaine is a powerful motivator.... DL's comments about the Werewolves at Red Rocks is encouraging; feels like they didn't quite get it right on DaP 7 or DP 25. Peggy-O on the Wolf - yes please. Cassidy - got a little better every year between 76 and 78, culminating in my favorite on DaP 7. The Wheel too, but alas, I'll need to throw DP 18 in there. Bertha / Good Lovin' also consistently better in 78, and I attribute this mostly to the Wolf. The 77 versions are a little too "sterile" if that's the right word, and Bertha always seemed to have an audio drop in the one slot, so hopefully the new one will rock ass like DP 18 and DaP 15. And also looking forward to two new Terrapins and Samsons, which will hopefully contain something remarkable, although with Samson, it might be tough to beat 77 (5/28/77 is a face melt with all the fixins - great God almighty talk Wooo). A couple new Wharf Rats too, and the Wolf was good for this song too.
  • black throated…
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    Dead Jokes
    I heard it as:Q: How many dead heads does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: None. They let it burn out, then follow it around the country for 30 years.
  • Jason Wilder
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    Second that emotion on 7-17-89
    Fantastic show. Bid You Goodnight makes a comeback with Johnny B. Goode as the encores. The last GDTRFB>NFA. Channeling 1971. Summer '88 to Spring '90 was smokin'. Best of Brent, though '87 adn '85 were also strong, ditto '79/'80. For an excellent Brent show, check out 4-8-89 Riverfront Coliseum (I think I have the date right). Best Blow Away ever. LTGTR. Fantasy>Jude. Great Brent night. Cold rainy night, also a nasty Looks Like Rain from Bob. Jerry contributes a nice West LA, China>Rider, Eyes. And a nice Box of Rain encore. Everyone involved. Plus, I believe there was stage jumper.
  • MilesM
    Joined:
    Done deal
    Betty boards and werewolves of London was all you needed to say for me to add this bad boy to my cart. I do agree that Keith was in a rythumick stranglehold in the late 70's but I don't agree that he was in any kind of decline before he left the band. Favorite Keith year is 74 and he absolutely smokes on Daves 17. On a side note I love the way Keith would look when he played. Was he pissed off or was he in deep concentration. Occasionally a smirk but never a smile and always a cheap domestic beer on top of that piano. A very mysterious and quite man indeed but what he could do on those keys. He was a true artist and definitely not a rock star.
  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    Buzz Restored..
    Thanks all.
  • jrf68@hotmail.com
    Joined:
    I'll give'r a try...
    How many Deadheads does it take to screw in a light bulb?A: 501.One to screw in the light bulb,one to tape it and 499 to follow 'em around. What did the militant horses demand? A: HEY NOW! ;)
  • KeithFan2112
    Joined:
    Sorry Jim
    My Spinal Tap joke fell flat. It was a good attempt you made, as always, to smooth out the bumpy vibes, and it worked (as always). Cheers to JimInMD for never having a bad thing to say about anyone or anything. THAT's the Dead vibe. Packaging for July 1978, hmmm. I like the Winterland packages, and would pleased with an exact replica (tri-fold digipak style covers, booklet, etc), but somehow I don't think that's what it's going to be. I wasn't too jazzed with the May 1977 artwork and packaging. The box was cool, the way it snaps shut, but the covers fell apart on me, and the pages of the book came unglued and separated from the spine. Rdevil, funny you mention not liking Brent on Stranger from DaP 8 - it's my favorite version! I like the minimoog he uses for the main Stranger melody. He got away from that in later versions... Edit - LOL rdevil, that was awesome (i.e what the duck are we listening to?)
  • rdevil
    Joined:
    Dead jokes
    Hadn't heard the one about the flies, not bad.I'm always interested to hear more Dead jokes. I've mentioned a couple old ones in the past and will repeat them here after Jim's plea for levity. What did one deadhead say to the other when they ran out of drugs? A: What the fuck are we listening to? Why do the Grateful Dead have two drummers? A: In case one of them falls asleep. Anyone else?
  • rdevil
    Joined:
    I'm with you, 80sfan
    Off the top of my head, I'd say my three favorite post Keith shows are 10-27-79, 9-18-87 and 7-17-89. I'm in the minority in that I struggle with some of Brent's playing on DaP8, especially during Stranger and Around. I love Brent but prefer his later work both vocally and on keys. But I enjoyed the '80 and '81 shows from Boxzilla so I should give DaP8 another listen soon--it's been awhile. Not tonight, though. I try to listen to JGB Warner Theater show every year on Palm Sunday.
  • Angry Jack Straw
    Joined:
    That's Alright Momma
    LoveJerry. The more you post, the more I like you. Call it Plinko or whatever you want. The keyboard sound circa late 70s renders the band virtually unlistenable. Shakedowns and Dancin in the Streets are total abominations to my ears. Yes, I understand the recent posts about their merits, but I just don't get it. If nothing else, you need to applaud the band for continually striving for a new sound. I personally can't handle the later stuff, most of which I saw live. As for under the radar bands. Freddy Jones and From Good Homes (the prior incarnation of Railroad Earth)
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July 1978: The Complete Recordings

What's Inside:

• Five Complete Shows on 12 discs
• 7/1/78 Arrowhead Stadium: Kansas City, MO
• 7/3/78 St. Paul Civic Center Arena: St. Paul, MN
• 7/5/78 Omaha Civic Auditorium: Omaha, NE
• 7/7/78 Red Rocks Amphitheatre: Morrison, CO
• 7/8/78 Red Rocks Amphitheatre: Morrison, CO
Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
Artwork by esteemed cartoonist Paul Pope
Intro and show-by-show liner notes by Nicholas Meriwether
Producer's Note by David Lemieux
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 15,000
Release Date: May 13, 2016

Announcing July 1978: The Complete Recordings

We’re pleased to announce JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS, five incredible unreleased shows and the first official release from the long-lost tapes, recently returned to the Grateful Dead’s vault. Follow the Dead on a sonic journey through a superb selection of settings, an often epic adventure that finds them winning over Willie and Waylon fans in Kansas City, conjuring charisma in Omaha, and elevating the Red Rocks beyond their already spiritual planes. With five distinct performances painting the masterpiece of 1978, Betty Cantor-Jackson's always-pristine soundboard recordings, and the "hall-of-fame pedigree" of the Dead's first-ever shows at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre, this is one release that far exceeds excellence in music, sound quality, and rarity.

Limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies, JULY 1978: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS includes Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO (7/1/78), St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN (7/3/78), Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE (7/5/78), and Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison CO (7/7/78 and 7/8/78) - all of the performances in this collection are drawn from the band’s master soundboard recordings, each newly mastered by Jeffrey Norman. The set also features original artwork by esteemed cartoonist Paul Pope (D.C. and Marvel comics) and in-depth liner notes written by Nick Meriwether (Grateful Dead Archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz), as well as a producer’s note from producer David Lemieux.

Due May 13th, we anticipate that this extraordinary box will sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here.

Looking for something a little more byte-sized? The collection will also be available for HD digital download in FLAC and ALAC, exclusively at dead.net, on release day.

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Los Angeles native here, yesterday watching my Dodgers utterly destroy The Padres was a thing of beauty. Biggest opening day win in baseball history. Of course knowing how we've been could turn around and not get a single hit tonight. Oh well, as long as we beat the Giants nothing else matters!
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Seeing how I have no skin in the game I can comment.. I bet this site has some SF loyalists, including the good folks that make and ship our Box Sets. We wouldn't want any random pranks to plague the 912.. zip codes. I do admire your spirit though...
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Is that like a sort of cricket, but you run round and round?
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I am glad everyone is all amp'd up about The Band. I was introduced to them 3 years ago when a friend was moving to the west coast. I showed up to send him off - he had The Last Waltz dvd playing. After a few peace pipes I started to get sucked in. Later when I left I kept thinking "wow every song I heard was a hit". After tracking down the Complete Last Waltz 4cd deal I moved on to the "after Waltz" stuff which I find most excellent. Richard and Levon are easily the best artists but some of the Danko stuff out there will spin your wig. This is my favorite Richard Manuel - \\it makes me cry (or almost cry) every time I hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjtyDTZQC4M Danko and Manuel - "My Love" (Lionel Richie cover) \\This song always fks my day up and Scranton isn't too far away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqTDJRpDnwA Rick Danko - Washington, D.C. 12/8/87 - "When You Awake" \\insane solo performance yup. buy this 2cd release from amazon. it might be the best $$ you have ever spent! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w0DNH1hYig Danko, Manuel, & Butterfield - 1984 - "I Shall Be Released" \\Richard sounds haggard - that's him..I love it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__wCUrDMN4g One thing to look for out there on the internets - The Complete Last Waltz - 4CD - Soundboard. The un-edited show. Very revealing vs. the cd/dvd release.
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Long time Band fan.. but you have me beat on the post breakup stuff. I wouldn't underestimate Garth Hudson, and although he's become somewhat controversial because of the way the songwriting credits went down.. its hard to deny Robertson didn't have some chops. The whole band was loaded with talent and aptly named, I totally agree bandito. I still think of them as a great American band. They certainly had that sound, Levon, born in Arkansas is drenched in roots Americana and they took off while living in the Big Pink right outside Woodstock NY. Great band, the more I listen the more I like it. Check out Levon's stuff too, the Rambles, at the Ryman and the tribute DVD Love for Levon is really good. There was a really good documentary on Netflix a while back, not sure it its still there... Also, there's no question they were friends of our favorite Americana band. Besides the times they played together in '73 and '83.. its obvious they respected each other. They certainly covered each others songs. In an interview Phil was giving when he got the news Levon passed, and he pulled the plug on the interview and headed North to pay his respects. Terrapin Crossroads is loosely modeled after Levons barn and that scene. Lots of crossover between the musicians.
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Jim- don't forget the Festival Express tour in '70. The footage of Danko following Jerry up and down the train, trashed and obviously adoring of Mr. Garcia. I love the Band and saw and enjoyed a few later iterations. My favorite was a Danko show in Royalton, VT in a tiny bar (I think it was the Four Legged Duck). He played an acoustic guitar and was accompanied by a guy on harmonica. His voice was in top form. We all called out tunes and he just knocked 'em out. Where I get a little grumpy is with the last couple of big releases. I know they were great, Americana, towering figures of music history, but do we really need another book attached to each release reminding us of this? The Academy of Music release was overstuffed and overpriced. Ultimately (and sadly) I think Levon was right about Robbie...
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Yes and yes... The jam on the train was outstanding, really enjoyable. Great catch.
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"Oh well, as long as we beat the Giants nothing else matters!" Such a foul phrase infecting this forum of forthrightness! I don't know how much more I can take. First my nephew lands a job with 'dem bums', and now this. What did I do to deserve such a fate? Wait a sec....it's 2016. Even-numbered year. Never mind - I'm good! :)
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rag bag hag nag flag scag scallywag too bad they didn't have Jerry or any GD member join them for the Last Waltz, even though they were in SF at Winterland and Bill G was involved. BG seems like the wrong promoter to fk with Peter Grant too from LZ (manager) tough hombres I am a wimmmmmmmmmmp
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if you're dropping hints about the next DaP, we already know it's from 1976 (7/17/76, to be exact.) even numbered year...but what about dem bums (Dodgers reference, i presume) maybe you aren't dropping hints and i'm being a butt I still say Bolo is DL2. mawr mawr mawr
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and i cant produce anything at workwant to vegetate
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That's right, I never really thought about it as I wasn't into the Dead at the time I got into the Band... Being as they seemed to get along well enough, and played together, and were on basically the Dead's home turf, is there any story on why they weren't represented in any capacity? Might just have been timing, but that's a bummer considering everyone and their brother were already there. Seriously, Neil Diamond. Now I'm down for a Cracklin' Rosie here and there, but he's not who comes to mind when I think of the Band's brothers in arms. Still love the (apocryphal?) story of how cocky he was. Coming off the stage (after Dry Your Eyes, no less) he snorts to Dylan...top that! Dylan says, what'd I gotta do, go on stage and fall asleep? Ba, ba, ba!
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I'd gladly trade Jerry for Neil. I think they were not touring on Thanksgiving 1976 and the JGB didn't have any shows either as far as I can tell. mmmm... Top That? yep. One edit: Neil Diamond, not Neil Young.
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Sure they did at Watkins in '73, but they didn't at SNACK in '75 when Dylan and Young led most of The Band in a mini-set that included "Helpless".Maybe they grew musically apart in that interval? And, JiminMD, the Neil/Mitchell/Band "Helpless" at TLW is magnificent. It stays, thank you. No debate. I am a recovered Neil addict, so don't push me into a relapse! Neil Diamond had just made an album w/Robbie producing. Why THAT happened is beyond me, but I think it's why Diamond was at TLW.
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You're right, I got carried away.. but I was referring to Neil Diamond, not Neil Young. I am not the person to go back in time and change things around. I would be very bad at it.. its a classic film, why muck with success. Neil Young I can dig. Neil Diamond, I guess I respect.. but I wont be testing out the sound system grooving on his sound.
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My theory on no waltzing Dead is that all of the guests were primarily solo performers at the time. The focus was on only one band that night. I blame it on Robbie; I blame everything on Robbie.
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....saw him last year with my mom (a huge fan). I was converted that night. Plays to the crowd like nobody's business....had Ron Tutt on drums. JGB and Elvis vet....
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It just hit me.I hadn't really understood where GD would fit in to TLW when reading this thread earlier. Now that I am home and my mind is a bit more flexible, it hit me. Oxford 88's comment about solo vs. group guests led to me thinking of Jerry as the guest rather than tGD. With the benefit of knowing tGD's 80s/90s repertoire: Jerry leading The Band through "Quinn The Eskimo"! The band had already played the song with Dylan in The Basement and at Isle Of Wight '69. And maybe there would be room for tGD: Maybe Lesh could cover the bass freeing Danko to fiddle. Maybe BK & MH could take over the drums so Levon could mandolin! Hell, if Garth Hudson wanted to play sax, Keith could man a keyboard. At that point, Bobby and Donna could sing along! Now, someone mentioned a time machine? We've got times to be and people to persuade!
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Late to the conversation, but Nantucket Sleigh Ride is a great song and if they didn't play it at the old Hartford Whalers games they should have. I'm with AJS on the playoff hockey as well. One of the best things about it is how you can see the effort and how much effort there is.I was an absolute MLB fanatic until about '94. Still love the game and my Springs and Summers have revolved around watching my son play for the past 11 or 12 years. It still stings to hear Don Denkinger's name mentioned, though. (Ahem, I'm talking to you, Deadicated and JiminMD.) My favorite baseball in pop culture is by far Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris. All four books are good but that one is special.
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Zuckfun, I'm surprised more people didn't chime in on your post. My wife and I got married in '95 and bought a car soon after with the plates TLEO 95. Later I got plates for a pickup (which I still drive to work) 93 AIKO which is the year we got our dog named Aiko. Eventually we got a new car with plates TAPEGD1 and were too lazy to update them the last time we bought a car, so that's still our plates, obsolete as it is. Years ago I always had extra copies of tapes in that car and when a stranger talked to me about the plates and knew what it meant I would offer them a tape. I have big ideas for my next vehicle but if I post it here someone from Illinois might beat me too it. ;)
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12 years 4 months
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Nice to see baseball is back. Reminds me that Spring is coming on. Heck it was in the 20's this morning in Brooklyn. Though Im really excited for the NHL playoffs. The most difficult of all trophies to win. A grueling 2 month affair in which you have to win 16 hard fought games to raise the Stanley cup. Plenty of blocked shots, fisticuffs, sudden death OT, etc. I'm hoping for some post season MSG magic this go round.
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....ok. I'm game. A friend of mine had AMDEW as a plate. I've seen TJED on a pickup once. I think GDTRFB is the quintessential one tho....
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....let's see what we've got here. ALGTWY, ALGATOR,ALTHEA,AROUND2,ATTICS, BEWOMEN,BTWIND,BBYBLUE,BERTHA,BBMAN, BIGRIVR,BBPETE,BRXRBLUZ,BIODTL,BRDSONG, BLKMRVR,BLOAWAY,BBYMCGE,BRNXIDE,BXORAIN,BRKDOWN,BUCKET,BKNAROW,BILT2LST,CCRIDER,CNDYMAN,KCJONES,CASSIDY,CAUTION,CHNACAT,CHNADOL,CLDRNS,COMZTME,CORRINA,CZYFING,CRYPTKL,CMBRLND,DANCING,DKHLLOW,DRKSTAR,DAYJOB,DYZBTWN,DEAL,DEATHDNT,DEEPELM,DIRWOLF,DOINRAG,DONTEZE,DRUMZ,DUPREES,EZANSWZ,EZLUVU,EZWIND,ELPASO,BROESAU,ESTIMTD,ETERNITY,EYZOWLD,FFRMME,FEEDBCK,FIREMTN,FLSHART,FOTD,FRANKLNZ,FROLGGR,GDTRFB,GMESLVN,GLORIA,GLDNRD,GUDLOVN,GUDTIMZ,GSET,HCSNSHN,HLFSTEP,HRD2HDL,HESGONE,HELPOWY,PCKYWAY,HITIME,HRTZME2,KNOURDR,IKOX2,MANSWRLD,JAKAROE,JSTRAW,LLRAIN,LSTTIME,LTITGRO,LIBERTY,LTLLITE,LUZLUCY,LOSER,LOVELITE,LTGTR,MAMATRD,MAMU,MEXICLI,12HOUR,MITEZWL,MNGLWUD,MIRACLE,AMDEW,MRCHRLE,MSN,NUPTCBS,NUSPDWY,NOTFADE,OTHER1,PSNGER,PEGGYO,PLAYING,PROMISD,PSHSHUV,RCEISON,RIPPLE,ROOSTER,IMHBTR,ROWJIMI,SGESPRT,SAILOR,SAINT,SAMBARN,SMETHNG,SAMSON,SATNITE,SCARLET,SKOLGRL,SHKEDWN,SHPOFLZ,SINGME,SLIPNOT,SMKSTAK,SOMYRDZ,SOTM,SPCE,SPNSHJM,SPUNFUL,STSTEVN,STGRLEE,STELABLU,STRANGR,SGRMAGS,SUGAREE,SUNRISE,SSDDRM,SUPP,TAKEUHM,TENNJED,TERRAPN,THE11,THERUB,THEWGHT,TLEO,LAYMEDN,TONZSTL,TOPOWLD,TOUCH,TRUCKIN,USBLUES,TWBS,BKNCHAN,UJBND,VICTIM,VIOLALE,WLKBLUZ,WANGDNG,WAYTOGO,WESTLA,WHARFRT,WHEEL,WRLD2GV,WRS.... ....I think that covers it....
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Thanks Bach, what a crack up. I DVR his shows each week. More often than not, he hits it out of the park. Like his mentor from the Daily show, the guy seems to have an amazingly hysterical perspective on the worlds idiotsyncrasies.
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CHNARDR SLRSNT
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Chiming in on this late... I was fortunate enough to see the Band (Helm, Danko, Hudson and others) at Wolftrap in VA back in the early 90s right after they released Jericho. I am SO thankful that I went to that show and that I had a chance to see them. Sure, it wasn't all of them together, but with Manuel dead by then, and Robertson still being an asshole, it was as close as anyone was ever going to get anymore. They were fabulous, and I remember being disgusted at how few people were there to see legends. It was clear to me after seeing that show that, although Robertson wrote/arranged the songs, the sound that is "the Band" came primarily from the others on stage. It's another example of how greed killed a great thing. Robertson's greed killed that group (and maybe even Manuel, though the guy always had some issues). It's another reason why I love and respect R.E.M. so much. They chose as a group, very early on in their careers to share songwriting credits equally across the board between band members. It served them well. They're all still in a good place, financially-speaking, but more importantly, even though they decided to "break up" (although it seems more like they just decided to stop being R.E.M.), they're all still friends and have great relationships with one another and still play together (though not all of them at the same time) occasionally.
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I think there is a lot of controversy about who wrote and arranged a majority of the Band's material. Robertson was definitely in a leadership role, but so were others and there's more to this story than meets the eye and more to this story than is written in the credits... I recommend reading Helm's autobiography, "This Wheels on Fire," its a great read, I knocked if off in a week. According to Helm, there was much more collaboration at all levels than is reflected in the songwriting credits. He goes on to state that the relationship between Robertson and Albert Grossman (Dylan and the Band's manager) had much more to do with Robertson getting all the songwriting credits than we would be led to believe. He blames himself for being naïve, stoned and not savvy, but states quite convincingly that these songs were written together, than he and others had significant fingerprints on songwriting and that they were essentially ripped off. By the time they realized it, it was too late and the party was about to end. Sad really.. by the time you saw them in the early 90's, with the exception of Robertson, the rest of the Band were essentially in various stages of financial dire straights. One had already taken his life, Danko was on the back end of a slippery fight with pain killers and opiates (he was medicating himself for pain relief, but was probably no stranger to opiates dating back in time also), Levon's studio barn had (I think) just burned down putting him deep in the red. Such a legendary band in dire straights with the exception of one. The silver lining is, they joined together to work through this as best they could and what happened at the new Barn is the stuff of legend. To me, its every bit as important as what happened at Big Pink decades earlier. The amount of collaboration, the number of musicians that would join in and the cross pollination of ideas, influences and styles left its mark and is present in more of the music we listen to today then you might realize. Its alive and well at Terrapin Crossroads, for example, and look at all the musicians that are copying Sugaree, Peggy-O, FOTD, etc. Some of that 'exposure' to other artists got its legs in a hand-made studio barn near Woodstock NY, and has direct ties to the GOGD. At least in my humble opinion. Gota run, some tour bus just crashed just outside my house with the words Greg Allman written on the door. Wonder what that's all about...
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My little dead-mobile wore a plate in the deep dirty South that read: DRK STAR.
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Another great bites the dust. RIP Merle. He certainly earned a seat at the table.
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Ill change your flat tyre Merle...
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The recent email about the Night at the Movies also includes notice of a big price break on the 5-CD Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack. Reduced to $26.24. This should be a priority for you if you do not have--the music is fabulous.
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12 years 11 months
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Your statement of "Meet up at the movies There's one for the 80s folks." Yea, that doesn't really work for me...the MUATM 2016 - 7/2/89 is a one night only, just like the MUATM 7/18/89 a few years ago- both are nothing more than a tease, NOT 80s actual releases. C'mon one night at movie theater only, WTF?!?!? Give me both of those MUATM releases on Blu-Ray/CD combo releases, and I'll stop posting on these boards. They did a full release for the MUATM - Sunshine Daydream...Why the F can't they do it for these exceptional multi-tracked 1989 MUATM shows!?!?!?
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14 years 10 months
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GD covered two often: MT and SMBH we all know 8/27/72 SMBH sublime S&R MT: tattooed into my mind Okie covered on 4/27/71 by GD&BB (or just BB?) anyway, thank you for the tunes, Merle.
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Member for

13 years 4 months
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Really? As Charlie Brown would say.. Good Grief.
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Member for

17 years 5 months
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That Tennessee Jed clip is just awesome. Jerry was utterly killing it! It just doesn't get better than that.
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13 years 4 months
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Yes, this was available for purchase, for quite a long time. My original got damaged and I just got a replacement here just a few months ago (I think). To be honest, I thought it was still for sale. Not any more, just checked and to the secondary market it goes. It looks like the '77 Road Trips is gone too. Spring 90 TOO is in single digits. Lots of inventory has disappeared since I last checked. Blink and its gone. Its a good set, I am looking forward to this years MUATM's too, I try to catch them when I can. _____ Edit: It looks like Amazon has CW&I at list price.. but there's a dozen or so different listings and some are outrageously priced.
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17 years 4 months
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....I've always wondered, were the dead planning on releasing a new record/In The Dark before Jerry's coma, or did that decision happen after his recovery?
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13 years 4 months
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They had been trying to do it for years.. but avoided the studio like the plague. Newfound health and sobriety has its rewards, one being an increase in ambition and the ability to get things done. I'm fairly sure I got this right, but I don't think its something that's well documented or anything.. Looking into this more, there are studio outtakes from '82 and '84. Sort of supports my premise.. I met Phil in '83 and asked him if they were working on their new album, his comment, "F*#$ the Studio."
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10 years 9 months
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Listened to this on the way back home tonight. Thought I had a USB with a bunch of Europe '72 on it, but did not. So I frantically searched through the 2 spindles in my car for the off chance of having put one or had London 72 highlights on a disc, but then I remembered I put 8/27/72 in the car recently. What an unbelieveably beautiful version to hear on the night of Merle's passing. One of the first Dead cover covers I learned was Mama Tried. I was recently doing Silver Wings in another band. A friend at church was big friends with Merle. Every time he was near, he'd go see him, they'd hang out, fish, & talk for hours. He was really worried about his health for the past couple months. Said he was just the nicest guy, & just a helluva musician, as well. I was surprised to find just how good of a guitar player he was. Thankfully, Merle has left a towering amount of music & songs for people to discover & enjoy forever.
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