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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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  • rajha2
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    Why is this still on sale?
    I can only answer for myself, and it's very simple; DiP 18 and, if i felt I needed any more than that, Red Rocks is available separately. on a separate note; does anyone know, is Betty getting her dues; I and several others have asked, and I haven't seen any kind of response at all. If not, surely a Pledge page would be good; or is there already one up? Anyone know?
  • wadeocu
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    Kayak Guy hit the nail on the head
    "This should make Rhino happy, the release of widely circulated Betty shows does better than the Betty's that never circulated.Maybe all those years of circulation gave people a taste of what they are willing to pay for now and the stuff that stayed hidden is too unknown to buy?" This is very insightful indeed. I can see no other explanation for the disparity.
  • Kayak Guy
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    Taking the threads back from the hackers
    This page for a while was filled with hackers posting away. when i translated some of it through google before it was cleaned up, it was polish slang for "i like this place" and "these people are funny". This set rocks BIGLY, you should consider yourselves lucky its still available for cost and still numbered editions. If you don't have it yet, it's worth the money and the artwork is fantastic, in the style of a graphic novel. Compared to other recent boxes that feature Normanized versions of Betty's that have been in circulation for 30 years, This July 78 box has 4 unreleased Betty's, well 3 and a Stereo upgrade from the mono that circulated. This should make Rhino happy, the release of widely circulated Betty shows does better than the Betty's that never circulated. Maybe all those years of circulation gave people a taste of what they are willing to pay for now and the stuff that stayed hidden is too unknown to buy? In any event if you haven't got it yet, you really should grab this box before it sells out and it becomes speculative on ebay, if just for the box and artwork.
  • JimInMD
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    The Bigger Question is....
    Why has this not sold out, its fantastic. Yes.. music today and the constant Russian Hackers is a big part of the reason, the other part is beyond an initial rollout strategy, they have no involvement. For the longest time this thread faded was not even prevalent from the home page of dead.net. I'm not complaining, I have mine and love it.. I just come to this thread from time to time and think wtf?
  • Kayak Guy
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    Why is this still on sale?
    You all have good guesses, as good as mine, which is. The real reason this is still available is the meltdown of Music Today shortly after the release, the website going to comments only mode for months until the Dave's subscription was announced, when NOTHING was available for purchase, and the still cryptic hint above that at some point it will be available digitally "on release day". Its very likely there are 2000 people that would have bought the box if it was the only option, but waited for the digital version instead. Add to that some short term memory loss and short attention spans and you have over 2000 copies left of this box set which I like much better than the Spring 77 box. I love this artwork and would have spent lots of dead presidents on T shirts, posters, and other schwag if offered. I also feel many people pay attention to their browsers and for months this site has been unsafe and I have to click through 2 browser warnings just to log in that say the site is bad for my internet security. NO where else on the internet do i have to click the 2nd "Are you Sure?" dialog box. What's up with that, someone saving IT money by waiting for a new interface, maybe ROAR as the core in the fall? Meanwhile the site limps along on, unsecured until the next explosion when Dave's 22 goes on sale shortly before May 77 part 1 ships and people find out if they got a limited edition or music only version. I bet that will be fun times on the board ;)
  • wadeocu
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    I agree Dschian on each of your points. I think it is noteworthy, however that this one is dragging on with 17% of the inventory still left after a year. I think they planned on this one moving faster and I don't blame them. I would have thought that 3 totally uncirculated betty boards and two classics with one only circulating in mono would have generated more buzz. I suspect Rhino and Co. thought the same and thus the 15k. It seems like each release gets core customer sales in the 10k range. That number represents those of us who are so pathetically obsessed that we buy everything no matter what. Then the remaining 5k in sales are the "investors" and occasional buyers. I think that dependable 10k in sales per release is pretty clearly indicated by the numbers set for the FW69 box, early DaPs etc. I think the DaP numbers have gone up only because of the demand created by the second hand market. I do find the hue and cry over limited editions a bit exasperating as I think I understand the considerations being made here and the need to limit stock on hand and warehousing. Really, if we would dependably buy 100k per release they would gladly print it; I'm sure of it. We cant blame the manufacturer for trying to avoid inventory warehousing expenses. This release is a clear indication to me that they have the number set just about right to accomplish their goal of printing and moving releases on a continual release schedule.
  • Dschian
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    Yup, 80% of the run sold in one year- Rhino knows its base well
    Yup, 0ver 80% of the run sold in about a year; at this rate, the rest will probably sell in the next two to three years. Based upon what I've seen buying modern cd and lp releases, it's not unusual for a run to take a few years (and sometimes up to twice that time) to sell out, even for many popular releases. In that respect, wadeocu, yes, Rhino knows its customer base quite well. Nearly every other Dead limited edition/limited release has sold out relatively quickly (from a few days to several months), and even the slower ones, like the second Spring '90 box and the May '77 one, sold out within a few years or less. Believe it or not, Rhino's goal is probably not to make sure that these sell out in a heartbeat, but to sell the greatest number without multiple production runs or endless inventory. I for one am glad that people don't always have to rush to immediately buy one or have to otherwise search for it on ebay at inflated prices. Recently Rhino sold over $2 million dollars worth of the new box set (before the all-music release that followed) within three days, even with the first marked by technical difficulties- by any standard, that's pretty impressive nowadays for physical media.As a follow-up to my recent post below, finally got a chance to hear my Winterland 1977 box again (I have a huge listening backlog) and came away much more impressed by it than by the first May 1977 box, with the exception of the latter's 5/13 show, which is excellent and the best of them. I still do think, though, that overall the Summer 1978 box outranks the May '77 box in quality of shows.
  • Dschian
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    1977 the last great year for the Dead?
    Rbmunkin, while in some respects 1977 WAS the last great year for the Dead- chiefly in the reliability of their musicianship, according to what I've heard from later years- it certainly wasn't their last great year for many listeners in terms of many, many great later performances. To put my bias in context, my favorite Dead years are 1969 and 1972-'74, so I'm not an '80's deadhead, though I attended the bulk of my shows during the earlier part of that decade and love many of the shows from its first half.I have both the May 1977 box set and the July '78 one, and to my ears the 1978 one is substantially better. I say that because while the 1977 performances in that box are all reasonably strong, they're not always particularly exciting to me. The band, and Jerry in particular, strike me as being in a more predictable, professional mode at the shows in this earlier '77 box release (though I expect the new '77 box to be substantially better performances, based upon the bits I've heard). I find the improvisation more raw, energetic, and dynamic in the 1978 box, and to me that's what makes shows stand out. Also, the song selection is a bit more varied, which I appreciate. While 1978 may be weaker overall as a year (and I haven't heard most of either year), I find these performances to be better than much of what I've heard from '77. Similarly, according to what a listener likes, great boxes (if not great recordings) could be put together of performances from the early 80's or even the Spring/Summer 1985 tour, I believe. One slight drawback of the 1978 box is that the recordings have a bit less depth to the sound, but that goes with the territory of later 2-track soundboards. If you like the '78 sound, definitely get this box while it's still around! I think that they're all (and not just the Red Rocks shows) excellent performances and better ones than the Dave's Picks releases from '78 so far.
  • wadeocu
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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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So far the box sounds great. This Jack Straw from 7/1 is a full tilt Jerry frenzy
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Todays a good day to play that Dancing in the streets jam. 39 years later.
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WharfRatWhitey - LOL - I was listening to 5/14/78 when I read that you;re listening to it as well. Resisting the temptation to listen to my '78 Red Rocks discs, and this was the show in my collection just before 7/7/78. I can't wait to hear these shows - will be here Tuesday. Woohoo!
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Finished some early morning mountain biking. The gf took her daughter out shopping. Just me and 7/1/78. The sound quality is fantastic. I am blasting it on Pioneer Elite Andrew Jones Atmos speakers and like DL said "pristine". The only strange thing I noticed was on the first track (Bertha) it jumps from left to right a few times before evening out. Nothing to fret. The mix sounds great - Keith and Phil are both very there - maybe Keith a little more. I can see why DL was so excited about this box. They burn through the first four songs with tons of energy - then slow it down with a classic FOTD. Afterwards it's right back to that hot energy for Uncle and Big River..Awesome!! Second disc starts with good Terrapin..nothing out of this world though. Nice tight Playin into Rhythm Devils. I like how they kept both of these songs to 8 minutes. They could explore and still not lose the crowd. It certainly gets weird during RD > Space. The rest of the show just rocks right out. If this first show is any indication of the rest of the box this was money well spent. I can already see myself spending time on this first show. I cannot wait to get into the rest of the box. The seconds shows track listing is making me salivate. He used to say soulshine, It's better than sunshine, It's better than moonshine, Damn sure better than rain.
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I am no expert, and I am sure that your player/software has something to do with it, but in theory, no. FLAC is an acronym for Free Lossless Audio Codec, a system that merely strips away much of the redundant information from the packets of data in an audio track, and then replaces them prior to playing, or reconstructing a ,wav (CD format) file. The binary data that actually carries music is not touched, so, (again, in theory), should be the same as what you get stamped onto a plastic disc. When I finally get my copies, I will make an mp3 copy, (slightly compressed mathematically, and therefore not quite as good. At my age, with my hearing, it works). I play those using iTunes, through an external amp from the 60's, feeding a small but decent set of speakers. I go with convenience, and willing to accept small compromises.
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As I am listening to him hit up the crowd for donations during the 2-09-73 show, a shout out to the man! Now, why do they call it Federal EXPRESS when it takes a fricking week to deliver my package!
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I know it sucks to wait but most of us probably chose the cheapest shipping method. I'd rather wait than spend $30+ to get it in one or two days. What I find frustrating is when the tracking number doesn't work--that shouldn't happen these days. I recently made a few separate purchases of E72 shows. One shipped via FedEx and the tracking number worked. HOWEVER, it did not make it by the scheduled arrival date which was a Monday. At the end of the business day the arrival date changed to Tuesday and it did show up then. Another purchase came via UPS and that tracking number didn't work at all, even when I pasted the number to USPS--it just showed up when it showed up. I will say that waiting for recent releases is much easier for me these days after getting Boxzilla last year. There's just so much to listen to. Very excited to get this box (supposedly arriving Tuesday), even more so after reading Totd's short write up.
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Crozet, W. Virginia…Allentown, Pa…funny thing is I'm in South Jersey…being delivered via carrier pigeon again…and the wait goes on. Not to worry I'm listening to Doc's gifts.
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I've never had one that works but the link that is further down in the email does work. I recently bought a flash drive (a very small item to ship) and it was sent by DHL mail innovations. Not any better than the others. It left Kentucky on Tuesday and USPS delivered it Saturday in ATL. USPS Priority Mail would have gotten it here in half the time. Hi-Res audio: Since the masters are on analog tape I'm not sure how much better it can be. I assume that a digital copy of the master tape is made at the highest resolution/bit rate possible, the mastering is done, and then it is converted to 44.1/16 for the CDs which are in HDCD format and sound great to me. I buy the CDs because I want uncompressed data that is stamped onto a thin film of metal. I do make digital copies of the CDs in various formats for my iPod, future FLAC player in my next car, etc. Someone previously stated that the download has small gaps between tracks. That is reason enough to not buy the download.
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or tracking number. oh well, hopefully shows this week. I listened to red Rocks 7/8 on apple music and made me even more excited for this box. For those that have it I hope you are making your way through slowly and enjoying!!
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....I used to bitch about the shipping issues with dead.net also. It is puzzling. If I had no other Dead to listen to, I probably still would. But I do, so I don't.....also, don't forget about the Archive. More of the boyz than you could ever listen to in a lifetime.....
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7-5-73 circulates in really good quality. Unless it gets the Full Norman?
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so the digital downloads don't include artwork? what about the tagging/tracking? same swing and miss as 30 trips? love the nearly constant flow of tunes, amazed at how behind the times the digital offerings are. first world problems, i know, but how hard is it to get digital music done correctly in 2016? especially at these prices! jeesh
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Blissfully streaming 7/8. Awesome. Awaiting full box set to meander its' way to Cali! Bring it....
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It's a huge amount of music. Back trading on CD-R, it was customary to include a text file taking about the music. I agree it would be nice to have some notes at least on the mix included, maybe with a .pdf of some art too? And a thumbnail please. Not for the digital files, but a real fingernail. Mail it to me. Thanks. [mic drop] 7/8/78 - In honor of my partner and my 25th pre anniversary. We got hitched in 2003. Were in Red Rocks a few days after Vegas wedding on Phish tour. Good times. GD https://archive.org/details/gd78-07-08.sbd.unknown.294.sbeok.shnf Phish http://phish.net/setlists/?d=2003-07-08
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Yeah, you get 30kb embedded artwork in the tags. Wowsie. Plus, the tags themselves are disastrous. Why are they 4 inches long? I just retag everything I get in the download format. Here's an example of my retag from 07-01-1978 1st track: Bertha Not only that, but the files themselves can be named THIS way: gd1978-07-01_t01_Bertha.flac See? You have the artist 1st, then the date. If we download it all at once, we wouldn't have to fish out all the 01's and 02's etc into different folders to try to figure out what goes where later. Everything falls into place AND it's very professional looking as well. Easy Peasy Japanesey. Please stop with the NASA binary code. Think of the time and keystrokes you will save by doing it this way. PLUS! Why the disc fades in the download format? WHY? Is it for the convenience of those who buy the discs? Do people really need that fadeout to indicate the disc is ending? Does it soothe them somehow? Please stop with the fadeouts and let's get some seamless audio going. They don't need to be mastered with fadeouts added. Sorry to complain. I really like the overall quality of the music, but this is the digital age where we have music players that can play seamlessly. We aren't flipping cassettes or swapping cd's much anymore. For those who are buying the discs, can you/could you handle an abrupt silence at the end of a disc or would you go all "Scanners" if that were the case?
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As of with the Spring 1990 TOO (CD) box/download I think that the guys from dead.net will be delivering the artwork a little bit later. Give 'em some days and listen to the music, please.
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14 years 11 months
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i hope you all get yer 78 box soooooon. Like today.
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Heard it's his b-day and did some Googlin' I had no idea what a large personality he was outside of the Grateful Dead organization. I first heard of him through the Sunshine Daydream, where I believe his name is mentioned in the intro (if not, then I heard it mentioned at the beginning of some other show). I didn't realize he was a clown. Is he in the SD video? Wikipedia says he was the official Grateful Dead clown. Does anyone know what years, or the extent of his involvement? Like, was he at every show? Did he go to Europe '72? I wish I could go back in time to those days and follow the Dead from show to show.
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he wasn't a GD clown (do I amuse you? like a CLOWN?) like a mascot. He was an admiral on the Yellow Submarine, for sure. "We must be in heaven, man!" Good charitable works. Kind of a goof, otherwise, but he's family. the weird uncle. I got to meet him at a book signing way back when.
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Friday evening driving to Spokane disc two of 9/24/72. tasty. took a detour to 5/16/81 (all). What a fantastic show. Proof positive that early 80s have some outstanding shows. Disc 2 of DiP 31 8/4/74. I had never heard it like that before. POWER. Get to hotel and use tune box to finish disc (Sugar Magnolia etc.) next day Spokane to Missoula. 5/14/74. It dawns on me (pun might be intended) that it is the 42nd anniversary of the show. cool. Lots of happy times with the listening, the mountains of Idaho and Montana bubbling around me. Finally, Dark Star from 10/26/89 for the final approach. Also, I am not kidding, I look at the car clock when I put in the 89 show: 10:26. tre cool. arrive in Missoula and pick up my son. No more GD on the rest of the trip (again, my son is not a DH, but he does like Zeppelin (how the west was won) and the Who (live at leeds)). And he's my son, so he takes priority over my GD jones. Unusual occurrences in the second hotel: we check in to our room. I need to use the facilities. I go in and see a piece of TP floating in there. I flush, but nothing happens. Ugh. We get moved to another room. Round about 9:00 pm: bangbangbangbangbang sound emanating from the wall. My son and I look at each other, and raise eyebrows. It goes on way too long, so it's not what we think. bangbangbang, stops occasionally. We try to go to sleep. bangbangbang. I call the front desk. They come up and hear it and since it is related to the high winds outside, it must be a flap of some kind. So they let me move down the hall. Nice silence. My son stays behind in the bangbangbang room and with earphones in, manages to sleep. We drive home peacefully on Sunday.
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back when I first ordered 5/14/74, disc three had a scratch, so they sent me a new one. I held onto the faulty disc for some reason. Then about a month ago, since it wasn't playable, I realized I could do something fun with it. I glued it to my rear windshield, like a bumpersticker, but better. It looks really nice, to me at least. Happy Monday, y'all, and here's to the 78 box!!! May it arrive today.
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There are worse things than having your Dead-hour pre-empted by Live At Leeds, you must enjoy those moments! I recently bought the deluxe version, thinking that the material that didn't make the original release would be substandard - boy was I wrong! I could not believe I was hearing Tommy live in its entirety. That has quickly changed to I can't believe they didn't release it as a double or triple live album in the first place (when you consider the prog rock bands ELP and Yes each had a triple live LP). I would think if those guys could pull it off, the Who sure could. Also, thanks for the Wavy Gravy info - now you've really piqued my curiosity with your quote "we must be in Heaven man!" Robert Plant's song Tye-Die on the Highway from Manic Nirvana (1989 or so) features a fade in of live audience noise with someone saying "what we have in mind, is breakfast in bed for 400,000" and then "we must be in Heaven man!" I assumed these sound bytes were from Woodstock for years - is this Wavy Gravy??? Thank you.
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he is a lot thinner and has virtually no teeth in the film. WG was a major player at the Acid Tests (his name was Hugh Romney at the time.) Live at Leeds is one of my favorite non-GD CDs. another interesting thing: My wife and I have been hounding our 19 year old sons (fraternal twins) to get jobs this summer. Listening to Summertime Blues, son and I look at each other and laugh during the lyrics "My mama papa told me son you got to earn some money"
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A class act, all the way around.. from Beat Poet in the Village to acid test Prankster Extraordinaire, fed the needy & attended the needs of the truly freaked out at Woodstock, took a bus from Europe after a Pink Floyd show of all things through India to Nepal before returning, but not without a mission.. to give needed cataracts surgeries to all those becoming blind in this part of the world (the start of Seva). The clown thing is classic too. He adopted the friendly attire because he (correctly) believed he would be beaten less often and less brutally this way when protesting, etc. He had been beaten severely on several occasions resulting in repeated back surgeries, some fused vertebrae and probably a lifetime in pain. Books could be written (and probably have). A man that made a difference. Makes my life seem small in comparison. He approached the GD after his return from Asia, I seem to recall he was stuck on a flight with the band and approached (Garcia??) with the idea, seems to me I read this.. but approached them with an idea to do some benefit work on Blindness. Hence the GD's commitment to Seva was born, and continues to this day, Bob Weir's a board member. Millions of dollars donated giving the gift of sight to countless thousands. ..and I love color, which puts him top of the coolest cats around category in my book. One edit: Ran for president twice under the moniker "Nobody for President" Nice touch.
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With MQA now out the door, it is time for Vault releases to move from HDCD to MQA. MQA is backwards compatible with standard Redbook CD format for non-MQA converters. What is the team's vision on moving to new and better formats, plus one the industry is now embracing?
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This is one of the things I love about the Dead and the Pranksters and all that. Wavy Gravy, like the Dead and the other Pranksters, made history of a different sort. Look at Olompali in California - a State historical marker recognizes the Dead's tenure there. So many historical markers commemorate massacres and the like... Wavy Gravy is literally a clown - his clown camp has been going for over 40 years: http://campwinnarainbow.org/ But I've read that he sees the role of the clown in society in a deeper way, as something imbued with spiritual significance: The Native American Trickster; the shaman. Thank you Wavy Gravy, the Pranksters, and the Dead, for helping us stay connected to an ancient thread. (Now, when's that box gonna get here heh heh)
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The epitomy of what a hippie should be - and still is 50 years later. Here is a person who has done more good than most of us put together could ever do. www.wavygravy.net
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the who cares thing though, I read about that in the compendium. I also have a copy of the Acid Test Reels with the who cares lady. wakahwakahwakah You will croak, you little clown When you mess with President Brown (acid) Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles Lyrics | MetroLyrics
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11 years 6 months
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Got it. A few initial thoughts:1) Toggled back and forth 7/7/78 vs my "crisp SBD bootleg", and this is a MAJOR upgrade. My copy was muffled, and at much lower volumes compared to the Rocks Box - likely done on purpose by the person who passed it on to make sure they would always have the best copy. However my bootleg copy of 7/8 is basically indistinguishable from the Rocks Box. 2) I get the sense from Dave's video and the booklet that 7/3 is the weakest of the 5 shows... the 7/3 show "ebbs and flows" per the booklet vs. 7/5 which is a "revelation" and excellent "start to finish". I haven't listened yet. Anyone know what the low points are? Hopefully just the 1st set stuff. 3) LOVE the artwork. Much better than the "May 1977" box with its murky geometric motif.
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13 years 5 months
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I don't have mine yet. Agree on the artwork, very good. I am comfortable being in the minority that likes the artwork of the May '77 box though. True, perhaps its not as good as the Rocks Box, but I like the geometric oddities and purple browns from May '77. Trippy. Respecting its not for everyone, I do like it. My Rocks Box is on its way though, I'm happy about that. (a special shoutout to Bach for the link on the making of the Rocks Box labels. Explains why they needed a week to print them and I really appreciate the craftsmanship involved). Labels have been made and the horse has left the stables. I am told a well fed and healthy horse. Should be here this week.
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17 years 3 months
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It's a joke how long this has taken. It has been in my town for four days just sitting there. Fine. But then it tells me it is delivered and it is nowhere to be found. Now I have to fight with the tards at FedEx. Shipping should be free if it is going to be run by Terri Sciavo.
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17 years 3 months
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It's a joke how long this has taken. It has been in my town for four days just sitting there. Fine. But then it tells me it is delivered and it is nowhere to be found. Now I have to fight with the tards at FedEx. Shipping should be free if it is going to be run by Terri Sciavo.
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10 years 1 month
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I'm back to work today in-full after my 3-week hiatus welcoming our newest addition to the brood, and attending my Master's Graduation this past weekend. Hasn't been too bad back at work today since I was working on and off from home last week, so no major culture shock other than no longer being in the midst of two under two. One's vernacular seems to become abbreviated during such times as we reduce references to one-word syllables. HOWEVER, I will say that during this time home with my son Woodstock (the older but still not even two years yet), he has learned to say 'Grateful Dead' or at least his version of it. AND, what makes me even MORE PROUD is that he recognizes the Stealie all over the place and ALWAYS declares the band's name upon seeing it. Furthermore, he even recognizes it when it's playing; it must be Jerry he recognizes, but he does every time. Brought a tear to Sixtus' eye once or twice I daresay. My Rox Box shipping notice indicates it will hit tomorrow. Looking forward to it. I also just watched Dave's background on the making of the box which had been included in last week's GD email bulletin but only got around to viewing today. The box looks beautiful. Hope everyone is enjoying their day and week as well as the new spoils. Sixtus
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13 years 3 months
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Can't wait for the listen. Still digesting DaP 18. The feel I get from reading the liner notes/booklet is that each show gets better and better, culminating with 7/8. With the possible exception of the set from 7/1, but it IS shorter, so that kind of offsets things a bit. However, there is no doubt that 7/7 and 7/8 are going to be the peaks. I wore that 7/7 1st set out on tape, and all of 7/8. Fantastic stuff. For a while, Red Rocks '78, Cap Theatre (11/24) and Closing of Winterland were the only '78 I had, and I looked at people who used to talk down '78 like they were crazy. Some truth to it, but the highs were as good as the GD ever got ('77, '72, '69, '73 + Brent era peaks).
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13 years 10 months
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Thank you for all your updates on the sounds, the looks and overall opinions of the 78 Box. Your insights and thoughts are very helpful. I am amazed at how pissy some people are getting because they haven't received their box yet. Chill out guys do you know how BLESSED we are to even get these recordings period.Your time (and mine) will come but please layoff on these hardworking stiffs getting this "GOLD" to us. Think about all this music that continues to be produced for us....We could have NOTHING. I am very grateful for all the hard work and production these people put in for us each year to make this all happen. Think for a second about all the other great bands from that time, it does not come even close to what we are STILL getting and will continue to receive this great gift we call Music. Sorry for ramblin... chill out it will get there
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11 years 7 months
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I typically don't wade into conflicts or controversy on these threads, and I get frustrated too sometimes with shipping, etc., but how about a little class and decency! WTF!
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14 years 1 month
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As one gets "older" you tend not to get in a big hurry. I am sure the box set will show up in my mail box in a few days. Besides, the longer it takes the more money I save. I have most of the dead stuff carved by a pipe carver friend of mine in central Turkey. He is now carving a Terrapin Station pipe for me...along with a Dave's Picks Vol. 18 pipe. The price of the box sets, etc., is cheap. My addiction to Grateful Dead meerschaum pipes is...expensive!The Red Rocks cover should be an interesting piece of artwork. So, for those of you that have the box set...enjoy it! I agree with one of the comments made that it is "great" to be able to get great recordings/artwork/etc. on a regular basis. It sure beats some of my old tapes that are worn...like me!
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16 years 3 months
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Well said, Kevin Brandon. My copy should arrive somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday 5/18/16. I get to hear 7/7/78 in STEREO! (or at least I'm under the assumption that it is in stereo.) THANK YOU BETTY CANTOR-JACKSON FOR THE RECORDINGS! I have to show gratitude to the powers-that-be to release these recordings in a very nice package. And I haven't really heard a note ... yet. I'm passing on the samples.
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9 years 8 months
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According to my tracking code, it should arrive in a couple days. I'm in no hurry (no)... I'm sure we all have our weird rituals, but when i know i'm about to get a new show in the mail, i try to abstain from listening to any dead for a couple of days leading up to it, (i guess to cleanse the palate)....last show I listened to was on Friday (5/13/77) so by the time Wednesday gets here i should be pretty much ready to tear up the box and play it loud....looking forward to a good week!
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17 years 6 months
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I wasn't expecting it until Wednesday after reading all of these posts, but a nice surprise it is! #07115 is safely home :-)
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9 years 6 months
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Packages should be arriving this week boys and girls, I'm just saying... Listening to 7/3 St. Paul, very impressed and if it gets better from here than I will be one happy camper/customer. Forever Grateful J
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17 years 6 months
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Got mine today. Very nice, but I know I'm a stickler, but I would have preferred a slipcase instead of a lift top. We are likely to pick things up from the top, but with this it will fall out. Oh well. Nice set though.
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11 years 6 months
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So I just finished listening to 7/1/78. Wow. A shaky but spirited Bertha>Good Lovin' opener, but after that this brief show is a gem. Terrapin>Playin' is great and had me shaking my head during some truly inspired jamming in "Playin'" that took me by surprise. I don't normally go crazy for "Playin' ITB", but this one caught my ear! Space has some hilarious vocal play that sounds like Phil is trying to impersonate Woody Woodpecker on acid - I wonder what Willie Nelson's congregation made of THAT (Space AND the added vocal mischief!!!). Estimated > Other One has some great jamming that seemed fresh and new to my ears - Other One is especially rockin', as if they know it's a shorter version so they want to pack as much energy into it as they can. Some Jerry runs in there I'd never heard... not on autopilot or relying on simple muscle memory by any means! Wharf Rat smolders with inspiration. 2 Chuck Berry tunes to close proves they've discovered coffee (or something) since 7/17/76. I love the fact that they're at a "Country" summit, but still only play one or two country/cowboy songs like usual. They don't try to pander to the crowd with a bevy of country-ish songs. They play what they want, weird "Space" and all. You do you...
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10 years 9 months
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Actually, (2) copies arrived, as ordered. One for a friend without Internet access remains unopened. Looking forward to some listening. Meanwhile, I'd like to compliment all the folks who worked on this and other recent releases. It's beautifully packaged and presented. I for one could care less about "filler," which has been discussed. The CD format allows flexibility and the way this band played, it works to create, say, a 3-CD set with a short 3rd disc. As is the case for at least one of the Rocks shows. This release also shows that Dave is well aware of the excitement factor in releasing new rarities, lest we glaze over the endless stream of releases from the vault. Where 30 Trips was gargantuan, July 78 is nimble and taps the relatively recently returned Bettys. Yea! Sometime I'd love to hear precisely what went into taking reels from an attic, storeroom, storage locker, etc., and prepping them for release. All the way from the baking of the tapes to the mastering. Maybe they could do a short vid with Jeffrey Norman or Dave on this. And, of course, I'd love to see more releases from the several lots of returned tapes and I'm confident that'll happen. Meanwhile, I'll finish listening to the DaP 18 bonus disc and dig into the just arrived 78s. Meanwhile, I make no demands. It's the old "embarrassment of riches" thing. Pristine sounding, lengthy rock 'n roll shows from ~40 years ago? Nothing like it. As always, I'm amazed and pleased that the band and its associates saw fit to tape so many shows in such superb fashion and that, by hook or crook, enough of those tapes survive to produce this historically unique stream of releases. No other band is so situated, and no other fan base as fortunate as we. In short: yeeeeehhhhhhaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!
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9 years 4 months
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I know it feels good to walk and get the diploma. Congrats Congrats. Now get to work. j/k Sure hope you have some time for us around here.
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