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    clayv
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    During the mid-1970s, the Grateful Dead saga was unfolding like a Greek classic. The Sisyphean Wall Of Sound had nearly broken the band. From it spawned a Medusa head of countless side projects, all deliciously fruitful but woefully not the same as the whole. The chorus lay in wait, pondering the reemergence of their heroes, and wondering if "THE LAST ONE" had really been it...

    But in early 1976, Apollonian light and healing would shine upon our intrepid wanderers once again. No more epic battles for the people with cops and lines and tightness, the Dead would return triumphant in smallness, playing intimate theaters and renting equipment along the way. No more ticket scams and greedy promoters, they'd give back with first ever mail-order ticket program, one that had a few kinks to work out but eventually served the fans well.

    Musically, June 1976 signaled a Golden Age of harmony and prosperity for the Dead. It marked an Odysseusian-like return for Mickey Hart. Donna Jean was in lock-step with the sirens' call. Jerry and Bob delivered orphic delight with solo musings like "Mission In The Rain" (the only tour they ever played it on), "The Wheel," and "Cassidy," emboldened by group effort. There was fresh repertoire from Blues For Allah, breathing new life to the Dead's continually morphing sound - as Weir once said of the '76 tour, they wanted to play "a little bit of all of it." Old favorites were re-envisioned with cascading tempos and unique sequencing, making the crowd question if they'd ever heard these songs before. And there was comfort and joy in the familiarity of watching the band make it up as they went along. By all means, it was clear that the bacchanalia of live Dead would reign on.

    And now the revelry from this epoch, evidenced by the near-studio quality sound captured on two-track live recordings by Betty Cantor-Jackson, lives on, bolstered by Jeffrey Norman's HDCD mastering. It's housed for posterity in a handsome box featuring original art work by Justin Helton. It’s documented in liners by Jesse Jarnow and photos by Grant Gouldon. And it’s ready for a spot on your shelf. 

    As part of our pre-order for this Dead.net exclusive boxed set, we'll be delivering downloads of each listening party - one for each show included in JUNE 1976 - to purchasers from now until the March 20th release. Order at any time before release and you'll receive all the listening parties to date.

    Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 12,000

    What's Inside:

    • 5 Previously Unreleased Complete Shows On 15 Discs
    • Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/10/76
    • Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76
    • Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/14/76
    • Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/15/76
    • Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ 6/19/76
    • Sourced from Two-Track Master Tapes, Recorded By Betty Cantor-Jackson
    • Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
    • Restoration and Speed Correction by Plangent Processes

     

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  • icecrmcnkd
    Joined:
    Record Store Day postponed

    Rescheduled to June 20

  • sjbennett85
    Joined:
    Passaic Listening Party for pre-orders

    Anybody notice the strange mixdown of Playing in the Band on the listening party download?

    Weird vocal/instrument levels throughout the entire song, incomparable to the other tracks that dropped with it.

    Is this an issue with how that song was captured?

  • LedDed
    Joined:
    Great American Puke Fest

    Who doesn't love a good hurling story? I've got a few, but please people - one at a time.

    We were driving back to Boulder from the Great American Beer Fest some time in the early to mid 1990's. I was sandwiched in the backseat of a two door, red Chevy Beretta. Against all better judgement a bowl was passed around, and yours truly inhaled.

    Now, I didn't have the tolerance I have now, and when the spins and cold sweats came on, being in that middle seat with no back window, a hard choice had to be made.

    I leaned slightly forward, and threw up all down myself inside my winter parka. I was so stealth about this, neither wastoid on either side of me even noticed! I zipped up my jacket, relieved but disgusted, and it must've been another ten minutes before someone up front asked, "hey, did somebody puke?"

    I got dropped off at my apartment, went inside and straight into the shower. Hosed off the jacket and threw the clothes into the washer, ate some greasy food and sobered up with no one the wiser. To this day, none of those guys know I ralphed into my jacket.

    Sometimes, you have to take one for the team.

  • icecrmcnkd
    Joined:
    A too much to fast story

    The Who 7/89 Pontiac Silverdome, floor row 32.

    Everyone on the floor is standing on the flimsy plastic chairs. We’re a few songs into the first set and the 3 guys in the row in front of me break out a glass pipe and start smoking crack. The guy right in front of me takes a huge hit (I think Jim recently referred to those as a ‘hero hit’), holds it in, then exhales, and passes out while still standing on the chair, and tumbles to the floor unconscious. Security saw him fall, came over, could see that he wasn’t in good shape, grabbed him and took him away.
    He never returned and missed an awesome show.

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    Sixtus

    Too funny! But hey, even as a rookie you followed The Scranton boys rule of hurling; “no shootin’ without a cooler” which translates to it’s ok if you have to as long as it’s out the window, or in a garbage or whatever, as long as it’s not all over: the car, fellow travelers, or yourself! Lol Old Lumpy from Scranton NY would be proud of ya!
    FYI, that was a pretty good show! I was with that 20 year old I’ve mentioned, and we ran into our old pal Lee Estee, possibly the last time we hung with him.

  • Sixtus_
    Joined:
    Re: Oro & Hurling

    ...that was a great throwback oration of an extremely visual nature - too funny. Your steadfastness at that rail is A Thing of Legend.

    In the vein of oversharing biological output shenanigans - I have my own vomit story....just not nearly as epic. My first dead show, July 16 1990 - we road tripped with a caravan of 8 cars from Cazenovia NY to Buffalo. I was pretty much still a kid freshly turned 18, we all piled into the open slots in the rides with tons of beer, and off we went (we didn't have access to weed yet, sadly). So it's a good several hour trek across NY State, and of course we're boozing the whole way, eating snacks, I specifically recall eating a bunch of brownies (just regular old brownies, nothing special). Well, we get about an hour from Buffalo and I am feeling I need to blow chunks. I happen to be in the 3rd row/seat of a minivan, not riding bitch but near a window...yet we all recall, the windows in mini vans in the way way back don't really open; they only pop open a few inches (or at least back then they did). I really had no choice - so when the hurling hit, I leaned over to that teeny tiny crack and blew chunks out the back sliver of a window, going at like 70 miles an hour down the NY Thruway. Needless to say, when we got out in the lot and I went and looked, there was an immense triangle of brownie vomit caked on the side of the minivan from that window crack all the way to the back of the van, covering most of the back quarter panel. Incidentally, I did feel better after that, and I recall it even rained at one point so most of it got washed off before we parted the lot. In the end I had a great time at the show - and was probably better off getting that outta me as opposed to....errr, the outcome of our friend Oroborous!

    Ahhh, first show memories. With vomit.

    Sixtus

  • stoltzfus
    Joined:
    to the poster who recommended Miles Davis On the Corner

    thank you thank you thank you

    I had the good fortune of seeing MD twice, once at the Hollywood Bowl as a teen in the early 80s, and in Seattle at Bumbershoot (an arts and music festival) in...sometime.

    When an "anything-but-Grateful-Dead" event happens...listen to this!

  • deadegad
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    Funny story! And early shipping.

    I love a good vomit story. A friend got so drunk prior to a Stones show that he vomited and passed out thus missing the entire show!

    Yes, if feasible, ship 'em out early!

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    3/13/81...a tale in the spirit of HF

    Wow, hard to believe 39 years ago this evening....
    Funny story about this one. First because I took the greyhound as I didn’t have a car yet and was just starting to break out of only going to somewhat local shows. Short of hitching, that was the only way I was going to get there.
    In those days, shows were often GA and being young and fanatical as we were, that meant we usually tried to get up front on the rail. We aspired to be that front row dude in the dead movie, lol.
    Utica was no different, but man what a shitty New York “spring” day; cold, damp, and wet...so being young and naive, I had the bright idea that I’d bring a bottle for folks in line to help pass the hours waiting until doors, and brace the chill etc...So after being talked into going for a big dinner, which cost me much of my little cash reserve, I snagged a big bottle of Seagrams 7 and Seven up, which was the nectar of choice with the hard rock band and crew I worked for...
    I say naive because most heads weren’t that into drinking like that, at least not before a show. So there I am with this huge bottle and pretty much no one to share it with. Now in those days I could do some serious damage with 7/7 because I had a pretty good tolerance etc. But that big ol bottle was probably too much, or at least it would be later..
    So they finally let us in and everyone starts the mad dash for the stage, and of course as I’m jumping over the boards to get on the floor Baracho falls over the edge lol. But being young and numb I bounce right back up and make it up front right in front of Jerry’s gear.
    So all might of been good except Dave Homal starts firing up joint after joint, which if anyone remembers what Fabulous Furry Freak Brother Fat Freddie would say “getting drunk, then getting stoned is like pissing in the wind”.
    So eventually the aud starts spinning and things are going south, but being the young, dumb, fanatic there was no way I was giving up that spot (idiot! I’m sure I could of gone off to the Lou and they would of saved my spot)
    So no surprise I barf over the rail into that little space that there usually was between the stage and the wall, (so much for that expensive dinner!) then proceed to basically pass out sleeping slumped over the wall. Now the security was not pleased, and the young dudes next to me weren’t pleased, and I believe people were making noise about removing me which I was not going to do. Ironically, these guys got too high on acid and eventually one of them ended up having to get handed over the wall to security and removed, while I stuck it out.
    I don’t remember much, but I do remember waking up because I could tell the lights went down, and of course there is nothing like that DH roar! So a minute or so later as I start to rejoin the living, just as I’m opening my eyes, Jerry comes around the corner and we make eye contact. He didn’t look much better than I did and I swear we had a moment there. I remember he had a blue or black long sleeve work shirt on and it looked like he’d burned a hole in the pocket. After, Fortunately I ran into Milton Wilkelberry Steamer from back home and he was going to stay with some folks he knew, so I was able to tag along and immediately crashed out. There was no way I was making it back home on the bus that night! Ah the tales of misguided youth!
    Anyway, I used to think it was a so so show, but never heard it until a couple years ago when I discovered it was actually decent. In fact I think Dave has played it on Sirius or This day in GD history?
    So, maybe not on par with Hendrixfreak stories, but I still get a chuckle!

  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    Agree

    As strange as this sounds, I was pleased the two shows on my calendar next week (wolf bros and Melvin's JGB) were postponed. It looks like Phil isn't turning 80 just yet either.. The spring that never was??

    Kids are home from school... life is beginning to stop. Stay safe my friends.. play dead.

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During the mid-1970s, the Grateful Dead saga was unfolding like a Greek classic. The Sisyphean Wall Of Sound had nearly broken the band. From it spawned a Medusa head of countless side projects, all deliciously fruitful but woefully not the same as the whole. The chorus lay in wait, pondering the reemergence of their heroes, and wondering if "THE LAST ONE" had really been it...

But in early 1976, Apollonian light and healing would shine upon our intrepid wanderers once again. No more epic battles for the people with cops and lines and tightness, the Dead would return triumphant in smallness, playing intimate theaters and renting equipment along the way. No more ticket scams and greedy promoters, they'd give back with first ever mail-order ticket program, one that had a few kinks to work out but eventually served the fans well.

Musically, June 1976 signaled a Golden Age of harmony and prosperity for the Dead. It marked an Odysseusian-like return for Mickey Hart. Donna Jean was in lock-step with the sirens' call. Jerry and Bob delivered orphic delight with solo musings like "Mission In The Rain" (the only tour they ever played it on), "The Wheel," and "Cassidy," emboldened by group effort. There was fresh repertoire from Blues For Allah, breathing new life to the Dead's continually morphing sound - as Weir once said of the '76 tour, they wanted to play "a little bit of all of it." Old favorites were re-envisioned with cascading tempos and unique sequencing, making the crowd question if they'd ever heard these songs before. And there was comfort and joy in the familiarity of watching the band make it up as they went along. By all means, it was clear that the bacchanalia of live Dead would reign on.

And now the revelry from this epoch, evidenced by the near-studio quality sound captured on two-track live recordings by Betty Cantor-Jackson, lives on, bolstered by Jeffrey Norman's HDCD mastering. It's housed for posterity in a handsome box featuring original art work by Justin Helton. It’s documented in liners by Jesse Jarnow and photos by Grant Gouldon. And it’s ready for a spot on your shelf. 

As part of our pre-order for this Dead.net exclusive boxed set, we'll be delivering downloads of each listening party - one for each show included in JUNE 1976 - to purchasers from now until the March 20th release. Order at any time before release and you'll receive all the listening parties to date.

Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 12,000

What's Inside:

  • 5 Previously Unreleased Complete Shows On 15 Discs
  • Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/10/76
  • Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76
  • Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/14/76
  • Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/15/76
  • Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ 6/19/76
  • Sourced from Two-Track Master Tapes, Recorded By Betty Cantor-Jackson
  • Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
  • Restoration and Speed Correction by Plangent Processes

 

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I'm blasting that new Cream live box that just dropped (on another front porch here in Denver) and it's fantastic! The first three concerts, all recorded in California in October 1968 have pristine live mix/sound. Hey, I was born in October 1968 so call me biased, but...

The last show, the actual Cream Goodbye concert from November, London, doesn't have as good of sound. Sounds more like The Who did in that era, very raw.

Some of this has been released before, but it never sounded this good. Highly recommended to Cream fans!

\m/

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In reply to by LedDed

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I have only played the first 2 cds from the Cream box, and they are the best sounding live Cream recordings I have ever heard. The playing on both cds is superb, with much jamming - the second one, 10/19/68 is really powerful. The book and overall presentation are also excellent.

Curiously, on the Steve Hoffman Forum there is much chin stroking about DR ratings, something I have never heard of before. Apparently DR in this context refers to dynamic range, and there are ratings given on the forum for each disc this ones a 7, that ones a 9 etc. The 4th disc gets the lowest rating. Seems a bit absurd to me...some people must be able to hear better than bats.

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I like the different shapes and sizes of these box set releases. Variety. Yet to each his own.

Having said the above, this box set is another beauty to behold and "scratches the itch" very, very well.

....nugs.net will stream the Bob Weir and Wolf Bros Nashville show tomorrow for free. Tornado relief benefit.

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In reply to by Vguy72

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The initial pics here were so monochromatic.. the box revel is in technicolor.

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by JimInMD

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....thats what I'm gonna call it.
Size doesn't matter. Ask Mrs Vguy.

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Sorry to hear that. One of the early Blue Note albums I had, Time for Tyner. Just had it out not long ago. Love African Village. Since I had the musical Oklahoma memorized, had to love Surrey with the Fringe. Followed by a My Fair Lady hit. The odd thing for me, since I don't know a lot of people who listen and would know his name, was years later Bob talking about Tyner's left hand

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I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea, but, if you have hulu, look for Gilbert Godfried Dirty Jokes. For 50 minutes he runs thru every old dirty joke, all the old Jew jokes and jokes I knew from 4th grade. This is some sick shit, not for the faint of heart. The last marathon joke had me in tears. Like I said and be forewarned NOT FOR EVERYONE.

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just got email from amazon on this. They have no page up for, nor does the Jerry site. Anyone have any words?

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13 years 4 months

In reply to by Dennis

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You must be in a different space time Dennis.. I get all those Amazon emails for anything GD related and nothing is in my box.

What show is it supposed to be?

Nothing much going on today and the weather is in between anything optimal for outdoor activities.. but I need to get out so that leaves a simply hike up the mountain. ..now what to play?? I did the optimum part of 7/9/89 Giants Stadium over the last couple days.. I might just take the plunge into the next night 7/10. I am getting a lot more out of that box than I ever thought I would. Jeffrey Norman is a Jedi master (no disrespect meant to the other jedi masters says the guy that named all his children and all my pets Charlie Miller).

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In reply to by JeffSmith

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Mucho thanks to Sixtus for the fine 12 volume mash ups he made and thanks to Jeff for making them available again....Frankenstein at it's best....

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12 years

In reply to by JimInMD

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GarciaLive Volume 13: September 16th, 1989 Poplar Creek Music...

$15.98

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In reply to by icecrmcnkd

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ahh.. that's right. I did get that announcement probably from someone here. I just forgot. I've got Oldandinthewaysheimers.

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Made me pull out Jerry Garcia Collection Volume 1, Legion of Mary CD.. I enjoy the combo during this time period, of Merl Saunders, Ron Tutt, Martin Fiero , and John Kahn... after this going with the Let it Rock Show, Volume 2... I like Nicky Hopkins and this November 17 and 18, 1975 CD is so much better than the new years show from 1975 when they just quit singing..... Remember when it was being released they even said it wasn't that good.... still bought it... bob t

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Really good Second that Emotion.... Detoured here instead of Let it Rock shows from November of 1975!!! Garcialive Volume 6

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In reply to by bob t

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....into Umphreys McGee territory. Another impressive band.
Last five....
Umphreys - Its You
Marillion - Fugazi
GOGD - Denver '73 RT
BOC - The Revolution By Night
Cowboy Junkies - Lay It Down

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The colors and designs on the new box reminds me of the book Grimm's tales in German. I have this book and the leather back edition looks just like the 76 box. You know like "the old man and the juniper bush" or "the fox and the frog" real cool.

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JGB - 5/21/76 One of my favorite JGB releases.
Frank Sinatra - Ultimate Sinatra, greatest hits, cool stuff when you're in the right mood.
Grateful Dead - DP18 2/3/78, 2/5/78, hadn't listened to his one in awhile but when JiminMD talked up the Brown Eyed Women I thought I would revisit it. That whole release is hot.
The Police - Outlandos D'Amour, when I hear Roxanne sometimes I flash on Eddie Murphy singing it in 48 hours. Good stuff.
Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions. Really clicked on Great Expectations on this listen.

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That naked dude behind Jerry at veneta concert still gives me nightmares whenever I see it. Who ever put the link to that t-shirt with that dude dancing with the post just started the nightmares again. It would not be so bad if the dude was just standing there but the facial expressions and gyrating on the post was just over the top.

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Vguy, that Denver 73 show is a winner from start to finish, I really dig the Warf Rat! Thank you for all the great jokes you tell, everybody I tell them to loves them. I 've been reading on this site since day one, your jokes are the best.

Fare warning - Don't encourage him.. and whatever you do don't feed him after midnight.

Did somebody mention fall '73?

(I've recycled a few VGuy jokes.. )

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In reply to by carlo13

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I'm still not sure about 15 cds from 1976, whatever it looks like. But my eyes lit up at the mention of Grimm's Fairy Tales. The edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham is like a portal into another world.

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I was thinking something similar but The Book of Kells was coming to mind for me without the saintly figures. This new box is a real beauty to behold. In fact all of these releases have their charms and we are, well, blessed to have them. They really do bring me some true joy. The sound and the art!

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Thanks a lot! You had to bring up the naked pole guy, when I'd managed to bury the memory.

Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ya just can't un-see that one, eh?

Now I'll have to watch it again and FACE THE MUSIC. (Or the nakedness, the expressions. Oy!)

I still love this release. Preaching to the choir I know.
I watched the bonus songs/making of the DVD recently. Interesting stuff. Dave talks about they have enough material for another release. Man, let's make that happen. Really interesting to hear Jeffrey Norman discuss his process for mixing the tapes, using one of Jerry's old amps and cleaning up the sound. Just compare this release with the original release Steal your Face. Hard to compare. Jeffrey Norman does unbelievable work to make this music sound so damn good.

Keep it coming!

Pulled out 10/8/89 yesterday and it sounded even better than the last time I listened to it.

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Weather's great here, I am getting out and putting the headphones on and just walking until my legs fall off.

I really like the unboxing video. I think the artwork is great. I don't think we're going to have any problems with CDs coming loose during shipping. The box is reminiscent of the original May 1977 design, and those individual cases for each concert come packed tightly enough to keep everything in place I believe. This is really going to be a nice treat. All the better because there was such a short duration between announcement time and delivery time. IThis thing's going to be here in 2 weeks!

Carlo, I hear you man. "Poll Guy" is some tough competition. No doubt a sign of the times, and historical accuracy is a good thing, but I'm pretty sure there's enough space on that Blu-ray to deliver an alternate version that CGI's him out. I mean really, it's embarrassing; every time I put that video on my wife has to make a comment about how lucky his girlfriend is.

https://images.app.goo.gl/CRAbJVJHGRP93ic97

P.S. - forgot what prompted me to check into dead.net at the moment - the December 14, 1971 Big Railroad Blues. Yessir, it's a doozie. I pretty much like anything from Autumn '71, so I was pretty stoked to get back to back bonus disc shows from this period in 2017 / 2018. But even that being said, these shows continue to grow on me. And that's saying a lot for not having a Dark Star anywhere in the mix.

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This is the day that Pig Pen passed away on in 1973. Easy Wind and Alligator my favorite Pig Pen songs, but I dig all of his music. When my brother saw the Dead on 2/9/73, he fully expected Pig Pen to be there and he was surprised that he wasn't.

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we were driving down Highway 1 from Big Sur to Los Osos Ranger Station (was working for the Cal Div of Forestry) outside of San Luis Obispo when we heard the news about Pigpen on the radio...they started to play Easy Wind so we fired one up in his honor...at the time I had no idea how ill he was and that the Hollywood Bowl show we were at the previous June was his last hurrah...Sail on Brother Pig....

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The wife comment. Wow, now that's a kick to the teeth.
.

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Can't we crop him out and put a go-go dancer in....
Oh shit I just threw up in my mouth a little when I briefly thought of him as a male go-go dancer on the pole. I'm now going to kill myself. Good bye cruel world.

11 17 73 real good
2/2/70 & 12 20 69 DaP tasty
10 14 80 great

X under the big black sun
Motorhead kiss of death
Motorhead in general
Melvins in general

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I really wish they didn't edit all the banter before The Music Never Stopped to open the first set!! Here is one out of the blue, related to Deadvikes Oct 74 post... Drove to the store last night and Tomorrow is Forever popped up on Sirius from 10/19/74... For not playing that song for over 2 years it sounds amazing!!! It is my favorite version they ever did!! Never thought i would be posting my favorite version of Tomorrow is Forever on here!!!! bob t

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In reply to by stoltzfus

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My Windows 10 machine did not like that link.. I'd stay away from those wall of sound pictures. Something seems fishy with that site.

Did anyone else have trouble with that one?

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It's been a hectic weekend here in East Central MD. Got the Cream box, but have only been able to listen to the first 2 discs. Absolutely fantastic stuff!! But a comment DAVEROCK made really pricked up my ears, concerning being so familiar with released stuff that hearing different versions was a reminder of how familiar we are with the released versions.
I was particularly thinking of my experience with the Dead. I only knew songs from the L.P.'s until almost 2 decades later. I flashed back to the first time I heard Looks Like Rain. It blew my mind, I just remember being floored with what a great song it was. Same thing with The Stranger, fantastic!! Part of it was the newness, but the performances were great also.
This applies also to covers such as It's A Man's, Man's World, It's All Over now, and the aforementioned Tomorrow Is Forever, and so many more.
As a child, I could only afford a new record maybe once a month, so I played my albums over and over and over. I was familiar with every note and scratch!!
Hearing these Cream recordings was similarly mind-blowing. I know the songs, but I've never heard them sound like this before, they're so well recorded. Brilliant!!
My favorite bit so far is about 9 minutes into Spoonful on disc 2. I was listening with headphones and thought I heard a voice(my wife maybe??). I kept hearing it and could finally make out that the announcer was trying to get people to sit down!! Hey kids, no standing or dancing at this rock 'n' roll concert!! The band goes very quiet for a few moments, finally just Clapton lightly picking. And then......they're back and blasting off again. So good.

Finally, and this is unrelated but a friend of mine passed away from cancer a few days ago. Whoever had his phone texted me just 2 words--He's Gone. These people do NOT know the Grateful Dead!!
So I was wondering if any of you could suggest your favorite version. I played the Europe '72 version, and have many, many others, but would love to hear from you guys.

Thanks, and sorry this is so long.

I'm terrible at best versions.. but I will say I like the jam out of He's Gone from Englishtown 77 a lot which I think is still considered part of He's Gone. Call it an ascension jam.

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Mr Ones, my favorite is 9/11/81 at the Greek Theatre. I was at this show . If I had one show and one show only to go back and see, out of all the shows I' ve seen, this would be the one. Repeat the whole evening with everything included, this is my favorite.

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I'm sorry for your loss....I have a friend that was just diagnosed. F--- cancer.

If you're looking for a good He's Gone, I would recommend 3/26/87. Aged Garcia laying it down, and the board mix is incredible. Fantastic matrix that keeps the instruments and vocals crisp, but includes enough audience to plant you there. Great hair-raising version from the later years.

Keep on keepin' on!

Mr Ones - I am also very sorry to read of your loss. It seems to me that the older I get, the more I have to absorb and adapt to loss. When I was younger, if someone of my generation died, it felt like a freak accident. Now it is woven into the fabric of everyday life.

I couldn't say with great confidence what my favourite version of He's Gone is...but there are a couple of beautiful ones in the 73/74 box, 6/22/73 and 6/26/73. I like these due to the jams that come out of them and on into "Truckin". It feels as though the ""He's Gone" is a gentle reflection on loss , and that this then transforms into acceptance, simply carrying on, and then moves into celebration with "Truckin". The jams go on into "The Other One" on both nights. Which take things further out again.

That Cream box is great. The sound quality dips a bit on the 4th cd at The Royal Albert Hall. But the playing is incendiary. Could any other rock group jam like this in 1968? Answers on a postcard......

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On Sundays I normally like to catch up on my jazz. Yesterday I caught up on McCoy Tyner, one of those cats who I certainly was familiar with, but hadn't listened to enough.

Last five, McCoy Tyner edition:
1) Inception. His first LP for Impulse. Not as 'out there' as his later stuff, but one can see that he wasn't just another bop piano player. 9.9/10

2) Today and Tomorrow. His next one after Inception. More straight ahead and traditional, probably a good one to start with if you haven't listened to him much. 9.5/10

3) The Real McCoy. Probably his most well known album, and not for nothing. Freaking tremendous. 13.7 /10.

4) Tender Moments. His next one for Blue Note after The Real McCoy. 100% certain that at some point over the weekend at a gastropub in Park Slope, Brooklyn there was a beard-stroking hipster explaining to his date that "actually Tender Moments is even better than The Real McCoy" but we don't hear as much about it because the DNC hates Bernie Sanders, or something. 13.7 / 10.

(She's not going out with you again, Dylan. Can I borrow your beard trimmer?)

5) Sahara.
OMFG stop whatever you are doing and listen to this album. It is incredible. Although its named for a famous desert, in my mind it conjured images of a sea storm, with massive waves crashing into a rocky shore, over and over. Ferocious, and chaotic, but with an underlying rhythmic pulse holding things together. This is the music of the only man on Earth who could hang with Coltrane for hour long jams.
1,677,412 / 10.

Mr Ones, sorry for your loss man. Been a lot of that going around. Dicks # 1 is my definitive He's Gone, maybe just because I've heard it more times than others.

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