• https://www.dead.net/features/blair-jackson/blair%E2%80%99s-golden-road-blog-sticking-road-trips
    Blair’s Golden Road Blog - Sticking Up For Road Trips

    I’m as excited as everyone else to see what the future brings with Dave’s Picks. But please permit me one moment of nostalgia for the departing Road Trips series, which I thoroughly enjoyed being a small part of these past four years.

    The series was controversial from the start because of the initial decision to release compilations from tours rather than complete shows. Why was this done? Well, the last few releases in the original Dick’s Picks series came after a gushing flood of soundboard tapes made their way to Archive.org following the death of Dick Latvala. Many of those tapes were then downloaded many thousands of times before the Dead came to their senses and forced Archive to go stream-only for soundboard material. However, the damage was done. Sales for the last several Dick’s Picks—which in my view were certainly up to the high standards established by earlier releases (35 and 36 are among my favorites) — plummeted once Archive became a free source for nearly everything in the Grateful Dead vault.

    In the meantime, remnants of the Grateful Dead organization cut a deal with Rhino to have them facilitate the Dead’s archival release program, and folks on both the Grateful Dead side and at Rhino looked for new ways to generate some interest in the vault material. When Road Trips was established, our thinking was that by presenting a nicely designed package containing two discs with the cream from multiple shows from a tour or series, plus a booklet with liner notes and photos, might be sufficiently compelling to attract both those who already had huge collections of soundboard material and new people who hadn’t been big collectors or were relatively new to the band’s music. The initial concept was to limit the package to two discs to keep the price down, then toss in a bonus disc with more material from the tour as an added incentive to buy early from Dead.net—not a new idea, as bonus discs had proven to be popular on a number of earlier releases.

    The negative response by so many hardcore fans frankly caught us off guard. It was clear that a certain segment really wanted complete shows only and were not going to be satisfied by anything less. Personally, I still stand by the compilation concept. I listen to those first few Road Trips a lot more than I do individual shows from those tours. I don’t even think about what is from which show—I just enjoy the high quality of the performances on each, just as I would on a live compilation by any band. The two-disc format did end up being somewhat limiting, however, so I was happy when the series eventually moved to three discs each time. That also allowed us to put out a greater variety of full shows. Needless to say, some were disappointed when the Bonus Discs disappeared; others hated them from the beginning. I liked ’em; always have.

    Less surprising than the outrage in some quarters over the compilation idea was the harping about the actual choices. Some people didn’t want to hear anything post-’77, much less something as late as ’93. Others complained that there wasn’t enough early ’80s. You name it and there was a segment of folks who attacked it bitterly—’twas ever thus in the Dead world, and so it will be with Dave’s Picks, no doubt. I even raised my objections to my buddy Dick Latvala a few times back in the day: “Dude, 10/14/83 is the best you could come up with from ’83 for DP6?” Comes with the territory. (Remember the bumpersticker “Just Another Picky Deadhead”?)

    Silhouettes: Three of my favorite covers.

    Herewith, some favorite performances from each of the 17 Road Trips releases:

    RT 1.1, Fall ’79 — “Dancing in the Street” > “Franklin’s.” Not quite up to the 10/27/79 Cape Cod version, but still great. “Terrapin” > “Playing” also show some of the color that “new guy” Brent brought to the band.

    RT 1.2, October ’77 — I’ve always loved the Norman, Okla., “Help-Slip-Frank” and the “Sugaree” on the same disc is one of the best in a great year for that tune.

    RT 1.3, Summer ’71 — Two major finds made this release a winner: The long-missing Yale Bowl tape (love that “Dark Star” > “Bird Song”) and more of the spectacular Hollywood Palladium show (some of which was released on DP35), including the legendary “Hard to Handle,” which is on the Bonus Disc. Incredible “That’s It for the Other One” from Chicago, too.

    RT 1.4, From Egypt With Love — This one was put out to coincide with Rocking the Cradle: Egypt ’78, and for my money it’s a much stronger release musically. Taken from the GD’s post-Egypt shows a Winterland, it contains the famous sequence of “Got My Mojo Working” (with Lee Oskar) into “The Other One” into what many agree is the finest “Stella Blue” the band ever played. Cool “Ollin Arageed,” too.

    RT 2.1, MSG September ’90 — Much better than the Dick’s Picks (Vol. 9) from these first shows with Bruce and Vince together, this contains some wild and inspired jamming on “Playing” and “Dark Star,” and a great “Let It Grow.”

    RT 2.2, Carousel 2/14/68 —The only multitrack mixdown in the Road Trips series, it’s one of the Dead’s most-loved late ’60s shows. The extra material on Disc 1 (including a fantastic “Viola Lee Blues”) and on the Bonus Disc are tracks from the same era that had been recently discovered in a defunct SF recording studio.

    RT 2.3, Wall of Sound June ’74 — There were probably more gripes about us not releasing the full Louisville and Des Moines shows than with any other RT release. (C’mon, did you really need both versions of “Mexicali Blues” from those shows?) I’m partial to the “Eyes” > “China Doll” and “The Other One” from Louisville, but it’s all top drawer.

    RT 2.4, Cal Expo ’93 — The “Playing in the Band” is probably the most adventurous of any early ’90s versions. Good takes of later tunes such as “Corrina,” “Liberty” and “Victim,” as well.

    RT 3.1, Oakland 12/28/79 — A nice companion to Dick’s Picks Vol. 5 from the same set of shows. Another fine “Terrapin” > “Playing,” though in this case I like the Bonus Disc best, with the scorching “Scarlet-Fire” > “Let It Grow” from 12/30.

    RT 3.2, Austin 11/15/71 — Like RT 3.1, this is a complete show. The “Dark Star” > “El Paso” in the first set is heady stuff, and the “Not Fade Away” > “GDTRFB” > “NFA” truly one of my all-time favorite Grateful Dead performances.

    RT 3.3, Fillmore East 5/15/70 — Our first three-disc set (plus Bonus)! The acoustic material is priceless (especially “Long Black Limousine” and “Ain’t It Crazy”) and both the “Dark Star” and “That’s It for the Other One” are standouts. The Bonus Disc tracks from Merrimac College the previous night are killer, as well.

    RT 3.4, Penn State/Cornell 1980 — I’ve listened to this one a lot. I particularly dig the “Shakedown” > “Bertha” and “space” > “Saint of Circumstance” from Cornell and the “He’s Gone” > “The Other One” from Penn State.

    RT 4.1, Big Rock Pow Wow 1969 — Two crazy acid-drenched shows from Florida in May ’69. I’m a sucker for “He Was a Friend of Mine,” and there are a couple of fiery versions of “The Eleven,” a trippy “Dark Star” and a thumping “St. Stephen” out of “drums.” Two half-hour versions of “Lovelight” is a bit much for me, though.

    RT 4.2, April Fools ’88 — Classic high-energy late ’80s Dead, with outstanding versions of “Scarlet-Fire” and “China Cat-Rider,” along with relative rarities such as “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” “To Lay Me Down” and Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.”

    RT 4.3, Denver 1973 — Love the “Playing” > “Wharf Rat” > “Playing” reprise > “Morning Dew,” and the lacy first-set “Here Comes Sunshine.”

    RT 4.4, Spectrum 4/6/82 — For me, it’s all about the “Shakedown” > “Lost Sailor- Saint” and “The Other One” > “Morning Dew.” More early ’80s, please!

    RT 4.5, Boston Music Hall 6/9/76 — This would make my RT Top 5, with the awesome “St. Stephen” > “Eyes,” best-ever “Crazy Fingers,” wonderful “High Time” and solid bonus versions (from 6/12/76) of “Comes a Time” and “Mission in the Rain.”

    End of the line. Last call for Road Trips rants and raves! What do you think?

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    NorthBoundTrain
    6 years 8 months ago
    Could Have Been Much More.....
    I love a complete show. Having missed the golden period of the band (60's-70's-80's) it makes me nuts when these are Not a Full show. I am openly greedy for the full night. Someone else's idea of "great mix" is a hit or miss thing when you start trying to cherry pick the "best moments" from a Dead Show. April Fools 88 (RT Vol 4 -#2)is a prime example of this. Disc #1 for some reason has an Outstanding run of 1st Set Songs from 4/01/88 capped by a solid Deal. Butt ended by MasterPiece and Let it Grow from 3/31/88 with an added bonus of a randomly placed Brokedown Palace the ENCORE from 4/01/88 to Close Disc #1. Which should have closed Disc #3 of this mess. This pattern repeats across the RT collection sadly. There was a chance to do more. It was missed on these.
  • hsauertieg
    7 years ago
    Road Trips were the best idea of all
    No way would I disparage Dick's Picks, or Dave's Picks, 1-3 From The Vault, etc. - the apex of vault releases was in my opinion Road Trips and the Download Series. Judicious editing of the Road Trips produced live CDs without "down" spots and some interesting configurations of material that the "complete shows" just can't match for quality or interest. Kudos to those who assembled the Road Trips - I'm still listening to most of them regularly. [I cherish the idea of box sets of complete "runs" like the Winterland and Fillmore West sets but honestly I don't play them very often. The latter day boxes of tour highlights with 5 or 6 complete shows from the 80s and 90s must fill a need some people have, but my tastes are more catholic and I kind of prefer the Dead without so much electric keyboard and generally in less massive venues . . . Also the persistent sound of tens of thousands of people cheering indiscriminately is kind of a drag - like the laugh tracks on MASH or your favorite old sitcoms. I like it when you can identify individuals in the audience on the live recording! You can do that with the older Dead shows.] BIG ROCK POW WOW, AUSTIN '71, CAROUSEL 2-14-68, SUMMER 1971 and FILLMORE EAST 5-15-70 are my idea of a good time! Road Trips Forever!!!! or until Daddy takes the T-bird away.
  • Default Avatar
    Gratefuldan5
    9 years 1 month ago
    Road Trips are swell with me
    I think the Road trips series were excellent!! They were primo to these ears and as Blair said...how many Mexicali's does one need!!! I loved the packaging too...and I for one am going to miss them!!
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I’m as excited as everyone else to see what the future brings with Dave’s Picks. But please permit me one moment of nostalgia for the departing Road Trips series, which I thoroughly enjoyed being a small part of these past four years.

The series was controversial from the start because of the initial decision to release compilations from tours rather than complete shows. Why was this done? Well, the last few releases in the original Dick’s Picks series came after a gushing flood of soundboard tapes made their way to Archive.org following the death of Dick Latvala. Many of those tapes were then downloaded many thousands of times before the Dead came to their senses and forced Archive to go stream-only for soundboard material. However, the damage was done. Sales for the last several Dick’s Picks—which in my view were certainly up to the high standards established by earlier releases (35 and 36 are among my favorites) — plummeted once Archive became a free source for nearly everything in the Grateful Dead vault.

In the meantime, remnants of the Grateful Dead organization cut a deal with Rhino to have them facilitate the Dead’s archival release program, and folks on both the Grateful Dead side and at Rhino looked for new ways to generate some interest in the vault material. When Road Trips was established, our thinking was that by presenting a nicely designed package containing two discs with the cream from multiple shows from a tour or series, plus a booklet with liner notes and photos, might be sufficiently compelling to attract both those who already had huge collections of soundboard material and new people who hadn’t been big collectors or were relatively new to the band’s music. The initial concept was to limit the package to two discs to keep the price down, then toss in a bonus disc with more material from the tour as an added incentive to buy early from Dead.net—not a new idea, as bonus discs had proven to be popular on a number of earlier releases.

The negative response by so many hardcore fans frankly caught us off guard. It was clear that a certain segment really wanted complete shows only and were not going to be satisfied by anything less. Personally, I still stand by the compilation concept. I listen to those first few Road Trips a lot more than I do individual shows from those tours. I don’t even think about what is from which show—I just enjoy the high quality of the performances on each, just as I would on a live compilation by any band. The two-disc format did end up being somewhat limiting, however, so I was happy when the series eventually moved to three discs each time. That also allowed us to put out a greater variety of full shows. Needless to say, some were disappointed when the Bonus Discs disappeared; others hated them from the beginning. I liked ’em; always have.

Less surprising than the outrage in some quarters over the compilation idea was the harping about the actual choices. Some people didn’t want to hear anything post-’77, much less something as late as ’93. Others complained that there wasn’t enough early ’80s. You name it and there was a segment of folks who attacked it bitterly—’twas ever thus in the Dead world, and so it will be with Dave’s Picks, no doubt. I even raised my objections to my buddy Dick Latvala a few times back in the day: “Dude, 10/14/83 is the best you could come up with from ’83 for DP6?” Comes with the territory. (Remember the bumpersticker “Just Another Picky Deadhead”?)

Silhouettes: Three of my favorite covers.

Herewith, some favorite performances from each of the 17 Road Trips releases:

RT 1.1, Fall ’79 — “Dancing in the Street” > “Franklin’s.” Not quite up to the 10/27/79 Cape Cod version, but still great. “Terrapin” > “Playing” also show some of the color that “new guy” Brent brought to the band.

RT 1.2, October ’77 — I’ve always loved the Norman, Okla., “Help-Slip-Frank” and the “Sugaree” on the same disc is one of the best in a great year for that tune.

RT 1.3, Summer ’71 — Two major finds made this release a winner: The long-missing Yale Bowl tape (love that “Dark Star” > “Bird Song”) and more of the spectacular Hollywood Palladium show (some of which was released on DP35), including the legendary “Hard to Handle,” which is on the Bonus Disc. Incredible “That’s It for the Other One” from Chicago, too.

RT 1.4, From Egypt With Love — This one was put out to coincide with Rocking the Cradle: Egypt ’78, and for my money it’s a much stronger release musically. Taken from the GD’s post-Egypt shows a Winterland, it contains the famous sequence of “Got My Mojo Working” (with Lee Oskar) into “The Other One” into what many agree is the finest “Stella Blue” the band ever played. Cool “Ollin Arageed,” too.

RT 2.1, MSG September ’90 — Much better than the Dick’s Picks (Vol. 9) from these first shows with Bruce and Vince together, this contains some wild and inspired jamming on “Playing” and “Dark Star,” and a great “Let It Grow.”

RT 2.2, Carousel 2/14/68 —The only multitrack mixdown in the Road Trips series, it’s one of the Dead’s most-loved late ’60s shows. The extra material on Disc 1 (including a fantastic “Viola Lee Blues”) and on the Bonus Disc are tracks from the same era that had been recently discovered in a defunct SF recording studio.

RT 2.3, Wall of Sound June ’74 — There were probably more gripes about us not releasing the full Louisville and Des Moines shows than with any other RT release. (C’mon, did you really need both versions of “Mexicali Blues” from those shows?) I’m partial to the “Eyes” > “China Doll” and “The Other One” from Louisville, but it’s all top drawer.

RT 2.4, Cal Expo ’93 — The “Playing in the Band” is probably the most adventurous of any early ’90s versions. Good takes of later tunes such as “Corrina,” “Liberty” and “Victim,” as well.

RT 3.1, Oakland 12/28/79 — A nice companion to Dick’s Picks Vol. 5 from the same set of shows. Another fine “Terrapin” > “Playing,” though in this case I like the Bonus Disc best, with the scorching “Scarlet-Fire” > “Let It Grow” from 12/30.

RT 3.2, Austin 11/15/71 — Like RT 3.1, this is a complete show. The “Dark Star” > “El Paso” in the first set is heady stuff, and the “Not Fade Away” > “GDTRFB” > “NFA” truly one of my all-time favorite Grateful Dead performances.

RT 3.3, Fillmore East 5/15/70 — Our first three-disc set (plus Bonus)! The acoustic material is priceless (especially “Long Black Limousine” and “Ain’t It Crazy”) and both the “Dark Star” and “That’s It for the Other One” are standouts. The Bonus Disc tracks from Merrimac College the previous night are killer, as well.

RT 3.4, Penn State/Cornell 1980 — I’ve listened to this one a lot. I particularly dig the “Shakedown” > “Bertha” and “space” > “Saint of Circumstance” from Cornell and the “He’s Gone” > “The Other One” from Penn State.

RT 4.1, Big Rock Pow Wow 1969 — Two crazy acid-drenched shows from Florida in May ’69. I’m a sucker for “He Was a Friend of Mine,” and there are a couple of fiery versions of “The Eleven,” a trippy “Dark Star” and a thumping “St. Stephen” out of “drums.” Two half-hour versions of “Lovelight” is a bit much for me, though.

RT 4.2, April Fools ’88 — Classic high-energy late ’80s Dead, with outstanding versions of “Scarlet-Fire” and “China Cat-Rider,” along with relative rarities such as “Dear Mr. Fantasy,” “To Lay Me Down” and Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.”

RT 4.3, Denver 1973 — Love the “Playing” > “Wharf Rat” > “Playing” reprise > “Morning Dew,” and the lacy first-set “Here Comes Sunshine.”

RT 4.4, Spectrum 4/6/82 — For me, it’s all about the “Shakedown” > “Lost Sailor- Saint” and “The Other One” > “Morning Dew.” More early ’80s, please!

RT 4.5, Boston Music Hall 6/9/76 — This would make my RT Top 5, with the awesome “St. Stephen” > “Eyes,” best-ever “Crazy Fingers,” wonderful “High Time” and solid bonus versions (from 6/12/76) of “Comes a Time” and “Mission in the Rain.”

End of the line. Last call for Road Trips rants and raves! What do you think?

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I’m as excited as everyone else to see what the future brings with Dave’s Picks. But please permit me one moment of nostalgia for the departing Road Trips series, which I thoroughly enjoyed being a small part of these past four years.

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A few of my favorite Road Trips moments that aren't mentioned- The Super Funk Shakedown from the Road Trips debut, the China/Rider from the Wall of Sound (and the groovy intro to Big River), and the Foolish-Jam from the bonus disc of MSG 90. On a side note, this jam is featured on the beautifully produced So Many Roads Box Set, without it's lovely cousin Foolish Heart. Thanks Blair! P.S. The transition from He Was A Friend Of Mine into China Cat always makes me say Pow WOW!
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Right on Blair. I couldn't be more proud of the work you have all done. History will serve you well, always has really. A huge thank you for your efforts.From one who's brother ,on his wedding day, brought me to my first concert,the wall of sound test March 23 1974, at 15, and told me ...This is the Grateful Dead, you will not see shows like this from anyone else. He was correct, to this day.
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What promise the Road Trips idea had. Especially with the release of full show downloads to complement the CD compilations (what ever happened to that idea??). Looking forward to Dave's Picks, but was hoping for something a bit more innovative - this is the GD after all. One last request, though one that is destined to go unfulfilled: now that the series is defunct, PLEASE consider a compliation release (or download only release!) of all the Bonus discs. Some of us were distracted by life and missed some of the better bonus releases, and want to pay GD/Rhino rather than eBay'ers for them. (As for the legality of rereleasing limited / bonus releases, consider the Bob Dylan Brandeis University show, which was originally issued as an exclusive bonus disc with Bootleg Series 9 and the Mono Box, only to be released separately within about a year.) Either way, its a good time to be a Head. Thanks for all you do, Blair!
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Summer Of '71 and Austin were the only two I went for primarily because it's one of my favorite vintages. Might even go for 4.5. Did they ever play poorly in Boston? I will admit that listening to the SBD's on Archive played a part in my choices. Some of the picks I found to be mediocre and others I had already downloaded and was happy enough with the sound. The Austin show was a broadcast (I think) but it's great having a decent copy. Which brings me around to nudging once again for 11/7/71 to be part of the new series. C'mon folks! P.S. Until you mentioned it, I didn't realize RT's were not necessarily complete shows. Hah. Give me one clear moment.
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Complete shows have their place, if the recording, setlist and performance are great enough. Most shows, however, even really good ones, have some great moments and a bunch of other stuff. If you actually attended a show, the complete recording brings back memories, but that's what the Archive is for. By definition, most of us didn't go to every show (more's the pity), so we don't have those memories for any given cd release. As a listener, I enjoy whatever comes up next on the iPod, but I don't think, "oh my goodness, 'Mexicali Blues' came after 'Sugaree' in New Mexico, and instead it's 'Cassidy'." I've heard a zillion Mexicali's, and I'll hear some of them again, but I'm not missing them. Does Rhino have a proposal for releasing all 600-odd versions of "Me And My Uncle?" It's a short song, so it should fit on about 15cds.
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If the average Me and My Uncle is 3 minutes, it would take about 23 discs to fit them all. Please let us all know when you're finished with the project!
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Too bad there were some pitch problems with some of the releases (1.1, 3.4, etc.) Hopefully the Dave's Picks series will pay more attention to this issue and take it seriously. It's quite annoying forking out the money for a release only to discover that it's slow by 3%. :)
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The original vision was to have downloads of the complete shows that we were compiling from available a little after the RT came out. But the first couple from RT 1.1 appeared quite a while after the fact, I seem to recall, and with little fanfare, and they fizzled commercially. Mastering a full show up to the RT standards was not cheap and there needed to be a certain level of sales to justify the downloads, I guess. Personally, I think they should've had a straight-from-the-vault non-mastered version available for download. It would still be a little better quality than the best sources out there, and it would be nearly expense-free for Rhino/GD other than the mechanics of actually putting it somewhere where it could be downloaded and dealing with payments, etc. Still seems like a good idea to me...
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As far as availability, the mystery question is what can Rhino/GD afford to release? This is why I'm grateful for every release. Performance level- and sound quality- are what make releases so exciting. If one or the other is diminished, what effect would this have on sales? I have no idea. That said, if more shows of high quality are available only as downloads, this is the one thing that would make me get a computer(Thank You mobile browser)
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I'd prefer a plunderphonics-style mash-up of MAMU. A two-disc set. I couldn't afford the 23 disc box right now.
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I think you are on to something here. Maybe parts of all of the Me And My Uncles could be spliced together into a single track, and included as part of "30 Days Of The Dead." Then when we tried to guess the date and venue, we'd almost always be right!
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Don't think I'll be sharing royalties...this is my big chance to cash in.
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I find it a bit funny that my reaction to From Egypt With Love and Rocking the Cradle is actually the exact opposite of Blair's. I strongly prefer Rocking the Cradle to From Egypt With Love (especially when accounting for bonus discs). Part of it probably comes down to era of preference. From Egypt With Love sounds like late 70's. As one of the reviews on Amazon says, Rocking the Cradle sounds different. You may love it, you may hate it, (personally I really like it), but they do sound different in Egypt. To be completely honest From Egypt With Love kind of soured me on the whole Road Trips experience. I only got on the Bus in '05, while I was in high school, and Road Trips Volume 1 Number 4 convinced me that my budding Grateful Dead collection could stand to grow considerably before the Road Trips series became the logical next investment. As far as the compilation thing is concerned my bias is for complete shows, but there certainly have been some amazing compilations (i.e. Europe 72, Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, Reckoning...) and I respect that some people prefer a highlight real. For my part I find the ebb and flow of highlights and low lights in the context of a given show more enjoyable than a chance assortment of where my preferences merge and diverge with those of The Powers That Be. As for packaging I think that is where Road Trips made some real improvements on Dick's Picks. Road Trips was environmentally friendlier, had some beautiful cover art, and the one thing Dick's Picks lacked most: liner notes. I am very excited about the new Dave's Picks as it sounds like more my cup of tea, but I understand that for some Road Trips may have been the ideal vault release formula and for your sakes I hope this doesn't shut the door forever on compilations not of the Europe 72 Volume 2/Fillmore West '69 3CD Variety.
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Am I hearing a request for "Unclefolded"? Yipe!
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That isn't spam, it's the Asian production notes for Anthem of the Uncles!
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to "Uncles of the World" series (expanded in response to growing demand overseas): best of Weir's set-break announcements.
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This is a nice piece of closure Blair. I'm one of those who likes everything that's put out. I'll also echo dajokr in calling for a box set of all the bonus discs (something I've been advocating for a while now). As you point out Blair, some of the hottest tracks were actually on the bonus discs for this series. One can always find a way to download this stuff, but I certainly prefer having the physical discs. (Also, can we get some better quality artwork images for Vols 1 and 2?) I will also agree that when listening to the compilation releases one doesn't notice that it's not a complete show. I was just listening to RT1.2 last week and it blew me away - again. I also view the official releases as an upgrade over what circulates out in the interwebs so I'll buy everything I can afford. Again, the benefit of physical discs is that they last longer than CD-Rs and don't have to worry about losing data in a hard drive crash. Ironically, the GD and their releases are one of the few things about which I tend to be universally positive. Keep up the good work Blair, Mark, and all the other Powers That Be!
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With this bonus disc, the pre-order will be huge, I tell you, huge!
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Amen to that, LB 16. I generally prefer the complete shows but not once during the tenure of Road Trips was I disappointed with a pick. And the sound is always great. Here's hoping that there will be something for everyone going forward.
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.....every Yellow Dog Story ever told!
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So compilations aren't favored by some--couldn't every (say) fourth DaP be a tasteful compilation? I love the compilations and regret that it has to be all one way, i.e., complete shows ONLY. Perhaps folks would have been less vociferous against the compilations had the powers-that-be not sliced up some sacred shows (I'm thinking of 10/21-22/78 and the Wall of Sound release), and had instead stuck to plucking gems from shows that otherwise would never be a complete-show release, no matter how many shows eventually are released? It didn't bother me, since I'll never have time to listen to everything I've already purchased, but if the compliations were strictly from shows that would otherwise never see release, then perhaps the outrage would be lessened. I would much rather hear the 2nd-best Estimated of the year (from a show later in the week) spliced in place of the 17th-best Estimated of the year--prefering to not suffer through the mediocre version just to say that I heard a complete show. p.s. I loved the RT covers, but do not love pulling CDs from cardboard cases. I also purchased every release, even if I had it off of Archive--the official releases were better, and I wanted to support GDM/Rhino to make sure that the stream continued.
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well, i definitely had no real complaints with the Road Trips series; obviously there are many factors involved in making certain choices, monetary and technical and more; crappy first set, missing portions, glitches on the master. personally, i'm not such a fan of compilations, as i like the ebb and flow of a continual show, but not everyone has time to put aside two and a half hours! (or can concentrate, it seems). and thats a good point regarding the downloads of full shows, blair. however, if they were to make available a non-mastered full show, the purchases would still be pretty low, i believe. why not just allow those shows to be downloadable again at archive.org? i'm guessing there's that thorny issue of copyright on the covers they performed, but with a show that has maybe only 5 songs missing from being complete (i'm sure, i, like many Heads out there, actually don't mind vocal drops, crackle, bass disappearing for a couple minutes! adds to the atmosphere), it doesn't seem worth the trouble to withhold them. please note that i am not someone who expects free product; i've never downloaded anything without an artist's permission and never will. the releases from dead.net so far have been beautifully produced. with such an historical archive, it's wonderful to see new photos, essays, ephemera; but i wonder how long this will carry on. be interesting to see how much profit is actually made from these releases. is it worth it? is it enough to justify the time and expense? not that i'm complaining about them, mind you! am looking forward to Dave's Picks mightily. but with music intake and distribution that is ever evolving, well, i have no real answers.... i guess what with the Rhino deal, there's no chance of archive.org being allowed anything. but a bit of a shame really. i think there's every chance in the future, when people will think, "so what about owning re-mastered Dead shows?...". that sounds terribly pessimistic, which isn't really how i feel, but who knows when technology will shapeshift again, and people can unlock the stream only option and download anyway? me? looking forward to what the future holds....
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so here are some thoughts It was a good series. I bought them all and listen to many of them still. The compilation idea was not inherently wrong, and for the eras I am not so particularly interested in, compilations were fine for me; some good tasters (1.1) , some real eye openers (4.4) and some reminders why I avoid certain periods (4.2). Yes I would have liked two Mexicali Blues! Those 73/74 shows in partiular have a special flow and ‘wholeness’ and their magnificence is only fully revealed as an entire piece of work. Cutting them up is like cutting up a fine painting. One (probably unforeseen) consequence of issuing compilations including big chunks from shows is that the shows are then removed from Archive. So those two Wall of Sound shows are now lost. That is a real shame. The failure to apply pitch correction to those late 70s and early 80s shows was a real mistake. We all (I hope) understand the ‘caveat emptor’ warning, but the speed/pitch issue could have been fixed. Why use the plangent processing only for some releases? To save money? To compete with the traded Soundboard market, these official releases have to be palpably better. It is absurd that dedicated heads were driven to produce and circulate pitch corrected versions of some RT releases (only ever supplied upon proof of buying the flawed original) What happened to the Road Trips full show downloads? There were howls of protest about the pitch issues on those , but the concept was good. I like the cover art, but printing the booklets on grainy brown paper ruined a lot of nice photos. They did improve the paper and cover quality to a smoother finish at some point. Some releases fell awkwardly between being ‘best ofs’ and ‘whole shows’. Bundling large chunks from a few shows perhaps increased the frustration that the whole show was not released. Maybe the compilation idea would have flown better if there had been LESS effort to provide continuity, with more small chunks from many shows (hard I know to cut up the long jams). Just about everyone is loving the diverse cuts of '30 days of Dead' .There have always been discussions about best versions. Perhaps we could have ‘Blair’s Bests’ and ‘Gans’ Goodies’. All in all Road Trips have been a great series. Your words here and on other forums convey a slight sense of disappointment Blair. No need for that at all.
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To me it really doesn't matter if it's complete shows or compilations being released. In a way I prefer the latter, because I do tend to like second sets much more than first sets. So I would really appreciate a compilation of more jammy material than one consisting of those non-jam songs I have heard a "thousand times" already. As for the bonus discs, I like them as well even though I do feel bad about those I didn't get. In the Road Trips series that's only one - R.T. 2.1. I was quite surprised when I listened to the 1988 Road Trips to find out I very much liked that release. Especially since my previous experience with that particular year isn't so good. Some of the later years have their ups but I do feel more compelled to like pre-1982 shows. To me the musical career of the Dead was mostly uphill until 1977 and mostly downhill after that. But it wasn't a always deep slope downhill and every now and then there were ups on the way down. The release from the past years which I find really boring is "Crimson, White & Indigo". On the other hand, I do like "Nightfall of Diamonds" a lot more. But overall, I do prefer pre-1982 shows. My main criticism towards the Road Trips series is about the packaging. And then only when it comes to pull out the records. Other critical point of views have been about the high postal charges to Sweden and sometimes on delivery matters. The later might have been because Swedish Customs issues as well, and of course therefore out of Rhino's hands. I do hope the series will be released with better packaging. By that I certainly don't mean the much poorer packaging of the Complete Europe '72 albums (a friend in Sweden who purchased the recently released Pink Floyd box set, discovered those album packages to be as bad as the Europe '72 albums, so Rhino isn't the only company to go for lower quality). I'm looking forward to the years of releases to come. Micke Östlund, Växjö, Sweden
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How about "Badger's Beauts"? "Cosmic Cock-A-Thons"? "Weasel's Wang Dang Doodles"? "Melinae's Monster Mountainous Melismas"? Or.....all right, i'll stop now. good points though, CB. totally agree about the 73/74 shows; June 10, 1973 at RFK Stadium, October 29 & 30, 1973 Kiel Auditorium, September 18, 1974 Dijon, France... and classic that independent Heads corrected the pitch problems! that's truly beautiful. no surprise about the packaging too, deadmike; but with costs already reasonably high.... those Pink Floyd sets are stunning though.
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I actually feel slightly bitter about how this has all turned out. It's not like we're short of complete shows, is it? Road Trips was a fine idea and I'm sad it's gone. I wouldn't say I listen to them more than Dicks Picks (although maybe I do), but I listen to them.... better... and skip around a lot less. The above is a nice reminder of all the gems on offer. It's not all perfect, and I agree on the pitch thing (esp 1.10), but when they're good, they're very good, and offer nice variety to the customer. I had to get the bonus discs on ebay, and that wasn't cheap, but again, very worthwhile.
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I am fascinated to finally find out some details about the circumstances and decision making process that went into the creation of Road Trips. I have wondered for a long time about the reasoning behind the original intent and then the subsequent evolution of the RT series. So, once Road Trips finally delivered it's first complete show (RT Vol. 2 No. 2), did the sales improve? And, did the sales of Road Trips decrease when you dropped the bonus CD from each Road Trips release (RT Vol. 3 No.4)? Also, what were the thoughts leading up to the creation of the once-per-month Download Series that kicked off in May of 2005? I know that this series overlapped with the last two Dick's Picks and was started before Rhino officially got into the picture in 2006. Why did this series end? Thanks! This is a great article! Ed
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I am not an advocate for any particular rigid formula or method of release. I have enjoyed both styles. I really like the 2or 3 night complete venue runs which have been done. I understand that sometimes these are too pricey which is a problem, but they certainly can open up a lot of possibilities when a certain run is really terrific and should go out. I like the Road Trips for the most part on performance grounds, but get tired of the "cardboard drum" sound on several of the earlier releases in the series. Like many, I look forward to what future surprises may be in store.
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We bitch and moan; 1) When we don't get any releases 2) When the releases are not the show, we are looking for 3) Whether is a complete show or not 4) Why isn't a box set 5) Sound/Speed was off. 6) The packaging was not "user friendly" 7) The cost 8) ETC After all that.....its amazing they bother to release anything. Let not have the GD catalog turn out to be like what they have done to all of the Jerry Garcia solo projects. I can't even remember the last time anything was released... I know its difficult, but how about just being "Thankful" that someone still cares to release any music. Be it through 30 Days of Nov., Taper Section, Jam Of The Week Like the Grateful Dead........You tend to forget what you got until there gone Maybe next time instead of various complaints. We could just say "Thank You", I suggest you use your best Jack Nicholson's voice, Thanks David Jay Doublu
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Regular releases, a whole channel on Sirius, this is the stuff we dreamed about when the band was still playing. Anyway, I really liked the original concept, a compilation on hard copy cd, and some whole show downloads. I was pretty shocked by the full show outrage that followed (full shows are good too!), but what can you do? From Egypt w/ Love was the best one of the series if you haven't picked that one up. Really looking forward to 4.5 too, if you're down on '76 as a rebuilding year or whatever, don't miss out, you will be pleasantly surprised by this show. Thanks a lot for the history lesson about Dix Pix/Archive, as a community I think we all appreciate the honestly.
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Will always have a special place on my music shelf, I think. I took a 1989-1998 hiatus from all things Grateful Dead, just was sick and tired of a lot of different things and I just walked away. I may have pulled a Grateful Dead album out my stack a few times a year, that was it. Jerry's death hit me like a ton of bricks, but it just led me to Garcia/Grisman and not back to the Dead. It wasn't until my brother nudged me to the first Other Ones tour that I reconnected, and slowly started looking around again. So I missed the first third of Dick's Picks, not even knowing that they existed, and have been playing catch-up ever since. That, plus not having internet in my home until 2007 or so kind of limited my options (missed the Archive soundboards as well) to whatever popped up in record stores. Soooo...RT was the first series that I entered from the ground floor. Looking very much forward to the DaP next step. Yes, it is a good time to be a Deadhead, aside from the pesky detail that the Grateful Dead no longer exist....
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MAMUFolded is what we need - John Oswald splicing all the versions together a la Greyfolded. MAMU is quite the best cowboy song ever; perhaps we need a formal GD Cowboy Song CD.
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interesting, JeremyP; i always thought that the John Oswald release didn't go nearly far enough. Dark Star/ Drums/Space remixed by Masami Akita, David Kristian, Jim O'Rourke, Aphex Twin, Makoto Kawabata, Squarepusher, Youth, Doof, or especially Yamantaka Eye or The Orb (or many more) would have truly opened the Third Eye.
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I haven't bought every release since 1995, but I have all the Dick's Picks and a majority of everything else. I like complete shows, but I go for the compilations too. That concept is not a deal-breaker for me. It was a mental ordeal on whether to buy the Europe '72 all music offer, but I finally bit the $450 bullet and ordered it in August. Here it is November, and the help desk still doesn't know when the damn thing is going to be shipped, and the last I saw on Dead.net said October shipment. Woops, did I say it is now November. My point is, it doesn't matter what is put out there, this Europe deal has me pretty sour, and I definitely won't be committing to any more purchases until I get my Europe set. What the hell is going on with them? I'd just like a real explanation. Keep up the good work on the blog, keep the music coming, and hopefully I'll get over this. I know listening to the Europe set would help my mood.
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Well you can't please everyone. I prefer the 80's with Brent and then Bruce on the keyboards. If I liked the show I bought it if I didn't I waited to the next release.Thanks for continuing to provide the high quality music at a relatively low price. I look foward to Dave's picks , by the way nice article Blair. A nice safe winter to all
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I was chastened recently for calling the complete show proponents by a less than complimentary name. I stand by that epithet. You manage to impugn their perspicacity without outright name calling. But the sad truth is that the wonderful, original idea of the RT series was shouted down by self-appointed guardians of the Sacred Principle of Completeness. The concept was sacrificed to the compulsive collectors. Were they the majority or just loud?Is there great music on the complete show releases? Yes! Still, the best RTs were those that adhered to the original concept and gave us the variety that was intended. Nice try. But if Dave's Raves 1 is an indicator, the knuckleheads won. Again.
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How about a new series (or at least one compilation) call the "Worst of the Grateful Dead", a blooper series with false starts, wrong lyrics (i.e, truckin, fire on the mountain. etc...) miss cues with the instructions and other assorted screw ups...all for a good laugh and fun time, and to lighten up our quest for the perfect music.
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I have loved every release and have them all (I think) and still want more. Since it sounds like the folks at dead central are paying attention to these posts I figured I would send out a thumbs up. We deadheads are a picky lot for sure but hopefully the complainers are the minority. Also I too would like to see more early 80's (82 and 83 especially) so thanks again.
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16 years 9 months
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Blair, I have to say that I'll never & always will (yes, both) understand the complaining. As my dad used to say, "Some people would complain if you hung them with a new rope.". Deadheads seem to often be right at the top of the heap too. Must be because we tend to be people with strong opinions. Anyway, I for one am happy with either comps or complete shows. There's not enough time to hear it all anyway! Thank for the nice run with Road Trips & I can't wait to ENJOY what you guys serve up next. KenH
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I should stress that at the moment I have no actual knowledge of what DL2 has in mind past the first release, but don't be surprised if a couple come out that are, in fact, compiled from more than one show. I don't think he feels limited in any way. That just won't be the focus of this series, as it was for the early Road Trips. Anyone remember a modest three-disc set known as "Dicks Picks Vol. 4" from 2/13-14/70? F***in' compilation ripoff!
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Attack of the compilationists, ouch! I guess I am really bad then as not only do I want complete shows (although I agree with deadhead brewer who suggests that compilations featuring tracks from otherwise unworthy shows would be satisfactory, If I Had the World To Give 8/30/78 comes immediately to mind), but I want them from peak years (mostly 69-77, with a few great ones from 78-85, 89, maybe 90 thrown in) AND, in general, shows that don't already circulate as A SBDs. Wow, how the hell can my expectations ever be satisfied?!?!? As it is, I have purchased all but a handful of DiP's (I guess that is the new shorthand for Dick's Picks, as used by someone else here first, not me), all of the boxes, and about 1/2 of the Road Trips (I didn't purchase 11/21/73 because it already circulates as an A SBD and the 3 shows preceding it are far better shows, see http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2011/02/dick-latvala.html and scroll to the bottom for a secondary source quoting Dick Latvala on this). That isn't the point of my post though. Release what you want and some will buy everything, some will buy only complete shows, some only compilations and great shows, etc. I just don't like what often results in the great debate, name-calling and arguments about who is a real deadhead. I like that Blair selected, in my opinion, the worst of Bobby's cowboys songs to illustrate his point that we don't always need complete shows. And then, many others jumped in with the song that is most-cited by the compilationists, Me & My Uncle. I think it is pretty safe to say that most of us would agree that there are 5 Bobby cowboy songs, listed in order by the number of times performed (as per deadlists.com): MM Uncle (621x), Mexicali (443x), Big River (399x), El Paso (396x) and Mama Tried (306x). Based on the numbers, I can see why MM Uncle is disfavored by so many-it was played the most. Personally, I would rank Mama Tried, the least played, as my favorite Bobby cowboy song, with MM Uncle 2d (I love the story), Big River 3d (it usually contained a nice Jerry solo), El Paso 4th (story is similar in a way to MM Uncle but less compelling) and Mexicali last. What does everyone else think?
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Most definitely NOT hung up on complete show releases for the reasons heretofore stated: just about every Dead show had some less than stellar moments. Hell, I rarely listen to first sets anyway. Give me the good stuff, aka the second set long jams, anyday.Furthermore, the greatest of all Dead releases, Live/Dead is a comp. So I'm fine with comps. P.S. - Speaking of jams, I've proposed this before: a series devoted JUST to jams. Consider the possibilities. That would be Dead heaven to me.
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Big River is easily my favorite Cowboy Song, if it can be called that. Why? It has 3 jams in it, it's not even a contest really. Also, there are quite a few Dick's Picks compilations- 12, 14, 18- To name a few. Number 10 has a bit from 12/30/77 on it, number 17 has a Samson-Eyes from 6 months earlier on it- And on and on. The original idea behind Road Trips wasn't completely new, but it was described as only compilations- That is what lit the fire, in my opinion. The inclusion of World To Give on the From Egypt With Love Bonus Disc is one of the most special performances in my entire music collection. And The Music Never Stopped and 1/2 Step from the 77 Road Trips are Fantazmo!
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How's 'bout a "Grayfolded" style pastiche of the most jarring transitions our of, say, Bird Song or Stella Blue and into Promised Land? I think I got the idea from something Blair wrote, to be honest. Unclefolded was pure spontaneous genius on my part alone, though.
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I love all the cowboy stuff, especially El Paso and Big River, but also MAMU. Not that I seek it out in particular shows, but I don't mind it when it comes around, especially when it's in the middle of an Other One sandwich ala 1971. The best thing about the cowboy songs is Jerry's mastery of that electric country guitar style of playing.
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13 years 11 months
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Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the last Road Trips. Each day when I get home I feel like Ralphie from A Christmas Story checking his mailbox for the wonderful surprise.
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I really like the inside reporting and was wondering if your new blog could be a report on what went wrong with the 72 box. A behind the scenes report on who knew what and when. It could show what really went down when customers began to report ripped sleeves, scratched discs, no personalization, or even no box set. What did Rhino say? Did the sh#* hit the fan (pun intended)? My suggestion for a title would be: "What is ephemera and what does it mean to me..."
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Got all of them and all the bonus discs and all the other GD releases. Going through them all now before the new one comes. I like both complete shows and compilations. Some of the covers are torn but way better than the Europe 72 complete recordings cheapo covers. Least favorite are the 1993 show and the 1990 Hornsby show. They are very sad to listen to because they show how Jerry's guitar playing declined. I am not a huge fan of 68 but listening to Viola Lee Blues on that Valentine's show from RT V2N2 and his solo's is a complete contrast to both of these shows (90 and 93) guitar work in which is drowned out by the drums, piano and other instruments. I like the 70's show the best (RT V3.N3) especially the acoustic stuff. All the 70's and 80's shows are enjoyable. keep these 70's and 80's shows coming and pre Welnick and Hornsby 90's shows coming.
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Right On Mr Eleven! I'm with you man. Some "jams" compilations would be great. Imagine a Bird Song boxset that would begin with the pre-jam portion with vocals followed by a chronological compilation of every jam portion for the subsequent year (or 2 or 5 or 10), and ending with a final post-jam vocal portion! It might make sense to divide it into sensible "era" segments for some stylistic unity (e.g., 80-84, 85-89, 89-93). Truly heaven. They could do the same for PITB and Other One. And I'm always on here carping for chronological "Space" compilations!I suppose I prefer complete shows for anything 68-74, especially for special cases, like Fillmore West '69 and europe '72. But I've bought everything officially released from this period and love it all- heck I usually don't even know or keep track of which are complete shows and which are not. My favorite Bobby cowboy songs are "Me and Bobby McGee" and "El Paso". I remember hearing "El Paso" as a child- my father was a huge Marty Robbins fan. Yeah nafoster, Jerry's mastery of that country style was just amazing....
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Wasn't always in the mood to hear 'em, but once they were there I always enjoyed them. I do skip over them on CDs a lot, though. I still love the juxtaposition of "Dark Star" and "El Paso" or "Uncle"; totally works for me. For me, the cowboy tunes were greatly preferable to "Rooster" or "C.C. Rider" (which was at least decent in '81 and later the couple of times it was paired with "Train to Cry"), or some of those other lame blues tunes from the mid-80s--"Down in the Bottom"? C'mon, man! Dug "Smokestack" and "Spoonful" occasionally (actually always loved "Smokestack," with Pig or Bob), but the best of the blues tunes IMO was 'Wang Dang." As for weird compendiums, in Issue 25 of The Golden Road. I had a fake ad for "Oops: The Worst of the Grateful Dead; Foul-ups, Bleeps and Blunders, Vols. 1-33," which included: "Over two hours of muffed verses from "Truckin' on two CDs "Every 'We Want Phil' chant since 1983 on a single disc "'Golden Clams': Two hilarious compendiums of missed cues and blown notes. "Bob Weir's Lamest Jokes "Gaps, Tune-ups and Dead Air, 1973-77 "Lots of other stuff too weird, raunchy or just plain stupid to leave in the vaults." A friend of mine actually made me an "Oops" tape of some of his favorite GD miscues; it's around here somewhere...