• https://www.dead.net/features/blairs-golden-road-blog/blair-s-golden-road-blog-new-twists-three-classic-albums
    Blair’s Golden Road Blog—New Twists on Three Classic Albums

    By Blair Jackson
    Three of my all-time favorite albums have gotten revelatory upgrades through new releases. Workingman's Dead and American Beauty are coming out as high-resolution, high-bit-rate downloads through HDtracks, a company run by audiophile record pioneers David and Norman Chesky. And the classic Merl Saunders-Jerry Garcia Live at Keystone album from 1973 appears in an expanded 4-CD iteration from Fantasy Records called Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings. Yay—I love new old stuff!

    Right off the bat, I should mention that the hi-res Workingman's Dead (which is out) and American Beauty (coming November 6) are not precisely the albums that 99 percent of you are familiar with. You may recall that back in 2001, when DVD surround recordings looked like they might be the Next Big Thing (and an important new revenue stream for record companies), Warner Bros. hired Mickey Hart and his engineer in that era—the great Tom Flye—to go back to the 16-track master tapes of those two albums and remix them in 5.1 (front left-center-right, rear left and right, plus a subwoofer channel). It is stereo versions of those remixes—which all but vanished from the planet when the Warners-favored DVD-A format did not succeed—that are now being offered as downloads through HDtracks.

    The way most producers and engineers have approached creating surround versions of classic albums is to spread out the instruments within the larger sound field that surround affords, but still stay faithful to the original in all other ways. There's greater clarity because of the increased separation of instruments and vocal parts; greater depth all around.

    But this is Mickey Hart! So he and Flye took a different approach. They dug deep into the masters, found parts that had been turned down or ignored and even extended a few songs—“Truckin'” and “Sugar Magnolia” fade later, giving Jerry a chance to shine more. On “Candyman,” Hart and Flye found a little vocal coda with Jerry dipping around the other singers with an inventive line.

    “It's beautiful,” Mickey told me in 2001, while he and Flye were making some final tweaks in the studio. “I don't know why it was faded originally, nor do I care. I'm not being judgmental about it. So, I gave it another dB or two, and now you can really hear Jerry pumpin' out there, layin' it out.

    “On 'Dire Wolf,'” he continued, “we found a set of vocals that weren't on the album version and sounded great. Bob [Weir] walked by the studio when we were listening to it, and he said, 'Oh yeah, that's the way it was supposed to be …' but it wasn't mixed in.” On “New Speedway Boogie,” backing vocals that are nearly inaudible on the original are a revelation.

    There are many more subtle changes—electing not to pan the electric guitar break in “Cumberland Blues” and de-emphasizing one of the acoustic guitar lines toward the end of that tune; giving new clarity and prominence to the organ and piano lines on the back part of “Black Peter”; moving Garcia's wonderful pedal steel line on “Sugar Magnolia” into the foreground, etc.

    “This is a new creation, based on the old,” Mickey said. “I try not to overindulge. You can't take too many liberties and be a total revisionist and take it into some bizarre space because you have this itch. There's a certain respect you have to have for the original recording. I think I'm doing this for the right reasons, and I'm trying to let the music tell me what to do. I don't have a real agenda other than making it sound great and making it a real treat for the fans, and, of course, making it a treat for me.”

    I've given a serious headphone listen to the HDtracks version of Workingman's Dead and I'm really impressed. I also A-B'd several songs with the regular CD version. Now, don't get me wrong—I love the original, which I'm sure I've listened to more than a thousand times since it came out in '70. It's a nearly flawless work and it's ingrained in my brain. But there's room for another interpretation. Why not?

    It starts with crystalline vocals—always a strongpoint of the album. With greater separation between the voices, each is more distinct and it's easier to pick out what harmony Bob or Jerry is singing. The drums are crisper, the subtleties of the acoustic guitars more pronounced, and Jerry's electric runs sound as if you are in the room with him. You might not agree with every mixing decision Mickey and Tom Flye made, but the fact is there's nothing on the remixed version that wasn't on the master tapes; it's just some different choices, both in how parts are emphasized (or not) and in the selection and implementation of reverbs and other mild processing. And though it's not 5.1 surround, it has a dimensionality that approximates that effect, especially on good headphones.

    I won't get all techy on you, but the reason hi-resolution digital audio files (in this case 96kHz/24-bit) make such a difference is they literally contain more information than a conventional CD (at 44.1kHz/16-bit). Longtime Grateful Dead sound associate Dennis “Wiz” Leonard told me recently, “If you do the math on 44.1/16-bit, there's so much missing information, our analog brains have to fill in the spaces,” which makes listening “more taxing and less relaxing.” To play back the hi-res files—which can take from several minutes to several hours to download, depending on your setup—you may need to also download a program that can handle that sort of material. I used Media Monkey (which was free). A few others recommended by the HDtracks folks are Amarra, JRiver, and Pure Music.

    “With CDs and MP3s,” HDtracks' David Chesky adds, “there's a harshness and all this extraneous garbage you can hear. But with 96/24, it's like you're in the room with the band. It's not hyped and its more timbrally accurate. It's more of an artistic human exchange. It's crystal clear without that etched sound that CDs sometimes have.

    "And one of the big reasons is you're not compressing it. You're hearing the harmonics of the instruments and the harmonics of the voice—all these complexities that got swept aside [in 44.1] are there again." And of course there's the spatial aspect. "Think of the Dead as a symphony orchestra," Chesky says. "If you put the trumpets and the violins and all that in the first row, they get pushed together. But if you put the tympani in the left hand corner and the bass is in the right, you can hear all the parts cleanly. Now each musician has his own space in the three-dimensional sound field and you can hear the lines and the parts. It's also more organic-sounding.”

    You can check out HDtracks' wide variety of offerings on their web page.

    As for the Jerry and Merl box, I've always had a special place in my heart for the original double-album Live at Keystone because I was at the two shows from which it was drawn. How's this for good luck: In July '73, I was living back East, having just finished a semester at Tufts (outside of Boston). My girlfriend broke up with me and I was feeling blue, so I hopped on a plane to visit my older brother, who was living in the Oakland Hills.

    Within a few days of arriving, I learned that Jerry and Merl were playing at the Keystone Berkeley. I'd never heard of Merl (they hadn't played outside of California at that point) and never seen Jerry apart from the Grateful Dead. My most recent Dead concert at that point was at the cavernous Boston Garden on 4/2/73, a famously good show I did not enjoy because I was sitting way up in the rafters and the sound sucked.

    So imagine my delight when I walked into the tiny Keystone Berkeley for the first time on July 10, 1973, and saw Garcia, Saunders, John Kahn and drummer Bill Vitt on the venue's postage stamp-sized stage about five feet in front of me! I probably knew fewer than half the songs they played, but I was hooked immediately. So much so that I lined up early the next night to see them again. The two songs that hit me hardest were Dylan's “Positively 4th Street” (which I did know) and “Like a Road Leading Home” (never heard of it). But I dug it all.

    When the double-album—recorded by Dead associates Rex Jackson and Betty Cantor—came out late in the year, I practically wore out the grooves in the first couple of months. I learned to love “Someday Baby” and Merl's funky “Keepers” and the group's all-but-unrecognizable jam around “My Funny Valentine.” And “Like a Road” was sublime—I still consider it one of Jerry's finest performances. What an album! What a band!

    In 1988, Fantasy Records inexplicably released two separate CDs containing the material on the double-album (plus a couple of bonus tracks), and a third called Keystone Encores, with even more unreleased material. All were excellent!

    What's cool about The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings is that for the first time we get all four sets played on July 10-11, in order. It includes alternate versions of five songs that appeared on the '88 CDs (all good, though none improve on the released versions), and both shows have been remastered. To my ears, this sounds considerably better than the original CDs (it's louder and has more low-end punch). It's been so long since I've heard the vinyl version I can't compare them. Speaking of which, a new vinyl edition of the original Live at Keystone double- album was also released concurrently with the box.

    These shows remain the truest snapshots we'll ever get of this lineup—soon, Martin Fierro's sax and flute would be added to the group, irrevocably altering their sound. There's a purity and simplicity to this quartet that I find both appealing and intoxicating. And I'm happy to have an excuse to rediscover this amazing music in a new way.

    (Want to win a copy of Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings? Of course you do! Click here for details.)

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  • JeremyP
    11 years 5 months ago
    DVD-A
    Versions are exquisite. As if each instrument had its own speaker. Wish they would do all the early albums in 5.1
  • cosmicbadger
    11 years 5 months ago
    Headphones vs Speakers
    I use both, but generally prefer speakers. I have noticed that (to my ears anyway) the recent Spring 90 Box set sounds way better through speakers than 'phones. In the Spring 90 discussions there were some harsh criticisms of the sound that I did not understand until I listened though headphones.
  • Syracuse78
    11 years 5 months ago
    Mary E: regarding headphones
    Mary E: regarding headphones vs. speakers. The really great thing about headphones is that you can get fantastic sound for way less than it could cost to get equivalent sound out of speakers. IMO for $100-200 you can get headphones that will outperform speakers costing $1,000 or more. So if you have a big enough budget and supportive enough significant other, cranking this fine music through speakers is probably best. But if noise and budget considerations enter the equation, nice headphones can really be a great way to do.
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By Blair Jackson
Three of my all-time favorite albums have gotten revelatory upgrades through new releases. Workingman's Dead and American Beauty are coming out as high-resolution, high-bit-rate downloads through HDtracks, a company run by audiophile record pioneers David and Norman Chesky. And the classic Merl Saunders-Jerry Garcia Live at Keystone album from 1973 appears in an expanded 4-CD iteration from Fantasy Records called Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings. Yay—I love new old stuff!

Right off the bat, I should mention that the hi-res Workingman's Dead (which is out) and American Beauty (coming November 6) are not precisely the albums that 99 percent of you are familiar with. You may recall that back in 2001, when DVD surround recordings looked like they might be the Next Big Thing (and an important new revenue stream for record companies), Warner Bros. hired Mickey Hart and his engineer in that era—the great Tom Flye—to go back to the 16-track master tapes of those two albums and remix them in 5.1 (front left-center-right, rear left and right, plus a subwoofer channel). It is stereo versions of those remixes—which all but vanished from the planet when the Warners-favored DVD-A format did not succeed—that are now being offered as downloads through HDtracks.

The way most producers and engineers have approached creating surround versions of classic albums is to spread out the instruments within the larger sound field that surround affords, but still stay faithful to the original in all other ways. There's greater clarity because of the increased separation of instruments and vocal parts; greater depth all around.

But this is Mickey Hart! So he and Flye took a different approach. They dug deep into the masters, found parts that had been turned down or ignored and even extended a few songs—“Truckin'” and “Sugar Magnolia” fade later, giving Jerry a chance to shine more. On “Candyman,” Hart and Flye found a little vocal coda with Jerry dipping around the other singers with an inventive line.

“It's beautiful,” Mickey told me in 2001, while he and Flye were making some final tweaks in the studio. “I don't know why it was faded originally, nor do I care. I'm not being judgmental about it. So, I gave it another dB or two, and now you can really hear Jerry pumpin' out there, layin' it out.

“On 'Dire Wolf,'” he continued, “we found a set of vocals that weren't on the album version and sounded great. Bob [Weir] walked by the studio when we were listening to it, and he said, 'Oh yeah, that's the way it was supposed to be …' but it wasn't mixed in.” On “New Speedway Boogie,” backing vocals that are nearly inaudible on the original are a revelation.

There are many more subtle changes—electing not to pan the electric guitar break in “Cumberland Blues” and de-emphasizing one of the acoustic guitar lines toward the end of that tune; giving new clarity and prominence to the organ and piano lines on the back part of “Black Peter”; moving Garcia's wonderful pedal steel line on “Sugar Magnolia” into the foreground, etc.

“This is a new creation, based on the old,” Mickey said. “I try not to overindulge. You can't take too many liberties and be a total revisionist and take it into some bizarre space because you have this itch. There's a certain respect you have to have for the original recording. I think I'm doing this for the right reasons, and I'm trying to let the music tell me what to do. I don't have a real agenda other than making it sound great and making it a real treat for the fans, and, of course, making it a treat for me.”

I've given a serious headphone listen to the HDtracks version of Workingman's Dead and I'm really impressed. I also A-B'd several songs with the regular CD version. Now, don't get me wrong—I love the original, which I'm sure I've listened to more than a thousand times since it came out in '70. It's a nearly flawless work and it's ingrained in my brain. But there's room for another interpretation. Why not?

It starts with crystalline vocals—always a strongpoint of the album. With greater separation between the voices, each is more distinct and it's easier to pick out what harmony Bob or Jerry is singing. The drums are crisper, the subtleties of the acoustic guitars more pronounced, and Jerry's electric runs sound as if you are in the room with him. You might not agree with every mixing decision Mickey and Tom Flye made, but the fact is there's nothing on the remixed version that wasn't on the master tapes; it's just some different choices, both in how parts are emphasized (or not) and in the selection and implementation of reverbs and other mild processing. And though it's not 5.1 surround, it has a dimensionality that approximates that effect, especially on good headphones.

I won't get all techy on you, but the reason hi-resolution digital audio files (in this case 96kHz/24-bit) make such a difference is they literally contain more information than a conventional CD (at 44.1kHz/16-bit). Longtime Grateful Dead sound associate Dennis “Wiz” Leonard told me recently, “If you do the math on 44.1/16-bit, there's so much missing information, our analog brains have to fill in the spaces,” which makes listening “more taxing and less relaxing.” To play back the hi-res files—which can take from several minutes to several hours to download, depending on your setup—you may need to also download a program that can handle that sort of material. I used Media Monkey (which was free). A few others recommended by the HDtracks folks are Amarra, JRiver, and Pure Music.

“With CDs and MP3s,” HDtracks' David Chesky adds, “there's a harshness and all this extraneous garbage you can hear. But with 96/24, it's like you're in the room with the band. It's not hyped and its more timbrally accurate. It's more of an artistic human exchange. It's crystal clear without that etched sound that CDs sometimes have.

"And one of the big reasons is you're not compressing it. You're hearing the harmonics of the instruments and the harmonics of the voice—all these complexities that got swept aside [in 44.1] are there again." And of course there's the spatial aspect. "Think of the Dead as a symphony orchestra," Chesky says. "If you put the trumpets and the violins and all that in the first row, they get pushed together. But if you put the tympani in the left hand corner and the bass is in the right, you can hear all the parts cleanly. Now each musician has his own space in the three-dimensional sound field and you can hear the lines and the parts. It's also more organic-sounding.”

You can check out HDtracks' wide variety of offerings on their web page.

As for the Jerry and Merl box, I've always had a special place in my heart for the original double-album Live at Keystone because I was at the two shows from which it was drawn. How's this for good luck: In July '73, I was living back East, having just finished a semester at Tufts (outside of Boston). My girlfriend broke up with me and I was feeling blue, so I hopped on a plane to visit my older brother, who was living in the Oakland Hills.

Within a few days of arriving, I learned that Jerry and Merl were playing at the Keystone Berkeley. I'd never heard of Merl (they hadn't played outside of California at that point) and never seen Jerry apart from the Grateful Dead. My most recent Dead concert at that point was at the cavernous Boston Garden on 4/2/73, a famously good show I did not enjoy because I was sitting way up in the rafters and the sound sucked.

So imagine my delight when I walked into the tiny Keystone Berkeley for the first time on July 10, 1973, and saw Garcia, Saunders, John Kahn and drummer Bill Vitt on the venue's postage stamp-sized stage about five feet in front of me! I probably knew fewer than half the songs they played, but I was hooked immediately. So much so that I lined up early the next night to see them again. The two songs that hit me hardest were Dylan's “Positively 4th Street” (which I did know) and “Like a Road Leading Home” (never heard of it). But I dug it all.

When the double-album—recorded by Dead associates Rex Jackson and Betty Cantor—came out late in the year, I practically wore out the grooves in the first couple of months. I learned to love “Someday Baby” and Merl's funky “Keepers” and the group's all-but-unrecognizable jam around “My Funny Valentine.” And “Like a Road” was sublime—I still consider it one of Jerry's finest performances. What an album! What a band!

In 1988, Fantasy Records inexplicably released two separate CDs containing the material on the double-album (plus a couple of bonus tracks), and a third called Keystone Encores, with even more unreleased material. All were excellent!

What's cool about The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings is that for the first time we get all four sets played on July 10-11, in order. It includes alternate versions of five songs that appeared on the '88 CDs (all good, though none improve on the released versions), and both shows have been remastered. To my ears, this sounds considerably better than the original CDs (it's louder and has more low-end punch). It's been so long since I've heard the vinyl version I can't compare them. Speaking of which, a new vinyl edition of the original Live at Keystone double- album was also released concurrently with the box.

These shows remain the truest snapshots we'll ever get of this lineup—soon, Martin Fierro's sax and flute would be added to the group, irrevocably altering their sound. There's a purity and simplicity to this quartet that I find both appealing and intoxicating. And I'm happy to have an excuse to rediscover this amazing music in a new way.

(Want to win a copy of Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings? Of course you do! Click here for details.)

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Three of my all-time favorite albums have gotten revelatory upgrades through new releases. Workingman's Dead and American Beauty are coming out as high-resolution, high-bit-rate downloads through HDtracks, a company run by audiophile record pioneers David and Norman Chesky. And the classic Merl Saunders-Jerry Garcia Live at Keystone album from 1973 appears in an expanded 4-CD iteration from Fantasy Records called Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings. Yay—I love new old stuff!

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Another new and improved way to buy the same albums again and again, Good to have the complete Merl Keystone available.
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he did that at the first Jerry show I saw too. Big part of changing my life...
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16 years 9 months
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I would really like to buy Workingman's Dead , but if you try to buy it from Europe you get this message 'This title is not yet available for download from HDtracks in your territory due to current contract restrictions. We are working hard to soon be able to offer this title and many others in pristine high resolution quality. Please continue to check back for further updates. We apologize for any inconvenience. We look forward to having your business.' Just like at the GD store, Rhino/Dead does not seem to be allowing download sales outside the USA. We sat for years waiting for the Dead to tour Europe and now we wait months for CDs to be delivered at high shipping costs, and when we try the download option we are shut out. WHY? (No I don't expect you to answer that Blair, it ain't your fault, but they sure make it hard for us over the pond) The Garcia/Saunders has already arrived and is really good.
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I have the DVD-A of both Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. They are quite amazing to listen to in 5.1 surround. It is as if Jerry is sitting on your couch and playing for you during Uncle John's Band. If you have the capability and setup to play these try and find them... If not and these HD Tracks come close then go for it!! Oh how I wish a few more albums made it to 5.1... Also on the Jerry front besides the jerry & merl release you can order a digital download in 24bit FLAC format for the 3/1/80 shows (early & late) at the capitol in passaic... The quality on that should be quite mind-blowing as well. You can of course order the CD or digital downloads in MP3 or standard 16 bit FLAC. Available for pre-order and should be kicking out in a few weeks... I can't wait for this one as I love the robert hunter Promontory Rider done with JGB at this show and the calderone. http://jerrygarcia.shop.musictoday.com/Product.aspx?cp=640_57727&pc=JYD… I would love to see more high quality stuff get out there in surround sound on SACD. Some of the folks in the community of traders we all know and love so much have done some amazing DTS 5.1 surround remixes of shows using soundboard and audience recordings... check it out! you will love it. This stuff is grate!!!!
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Interesting, I remember back 10 yrs ago getting to listen to one of those remixes that Mickey did in 5.1 surround sound thru a great 5.1 set up, it was just wonderful how everything was right there, so seperated, so distinct, I got chills all over listening to songs that I know by heart, it was like hearing them new, for the first time, like you had never heard them before. It was like mobile fidelity sound labs half speed masters had been upgraded to the best thing you ever heard, I'm talking breaths and string squeeks and little laughs and finger snaps and whatever was done that day in the studio, you could hear it all. The cost back then for the upgrade and the 5.1 cd's themselves made it not possible for me to invest into that, but I will never forget that first time experience, like your first wiff of coke, or your first sex, never forget it. So what you are saying is these are stereo remixes of those 5.1 remixes. How do they sound, with everything being put into two channels, vs 5, how do they really sound, sure an upgrade to the existing stereo cd or lp, but I would think that some of the space and seperation has to be lost in this transition. I'm not an engineer but it seems to make sense. That being said, I would love to hear these, if they sound only half as good as the originals, that would still be mighty fine.
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...when I was working on the story about surround remixes of WD and AB (for Mix magazine) back in 2001 that was an absolute peak musical and spiritual high for me. Mickey had me sit in a chair the middle of the studio where they were working, equidistant from five Meyer loudspeakers (and a sub), and then cranked up a vocals-only surround mix of "Attics of My LIfe" cranked up to "11." It was heavenly, as you can imagine. (I always hoped they would release that as a bonus track sometime, but it has not materialized). The word is overused, but it was truly AWESOME... meaning "inspiring awe." Sam, of course a stereo version of a 5.1 mix isn't going to have the same dimensional properties, but on headphones your brain helps to create the illusion of surround. More and more top-end engineers seem to moving in that direction, figuring out spatial relationships that simulate that enveloping quality of surround... for instance, some are making binaural "dummyhead" recordings that sound 3D on headphones...
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I'm told by Norman Chesky that if all goes according to plan, the hi-res " Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty" should be available in Europe around January 1. Not sure what the hold up is, but that's good news...
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..for looking into this and passing on the news. Let's hope it happens.
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just another way of keeping the money rolling in.they did the same thing with jimi hendrix releases.basically the same song on different albums.- “It's beautiful,” Mickey told me in 2001, while he and Flye were making some final tweaks in the studio. “I don't know why it was faded originally, nor do I care. I'm not being judgmental about it. So, I gave it another dB or two, and now you can really hear Jerry pumpin' out there, layin' it out." -----so i gave it another db or 2,what a bunch of crap-people just don't know when to leave things alone.
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string squeeks and little laughs and finger snaps......you could hear it all. LOL ah man that is priceless- exactly what i was saying-people just don't know when to leave things alone-little laughs and finger snaps-i can't stop laughing-this made my morning wake and bake awesome-thanks unklesam
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Hey, it's just an opinion, like aholes, everyone has one, but until you LISTEN to the remixes, you really have nothing to say except the uninformed opinion that you have spewed here. If one has never heard these remixes, how could one have an opinion, either negative or positive, so let me ask you, have you heard these remixes? Some of us who have ears like to hear the "real deal" and then there are others that mp3's are good enough for, that's ok, but to spread your uninformed hate here is, well, falling on deaf ears. So, no, I can't hear you laughing your ass off, but I can read a post from the unintelligent and take it for what it is, ignorant rambling. Maybe you should put something good in your pipe in the morning, say anything except what you are smoking because it's not good for you if it makes you act like a fool, hey, just my opinion. :)
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OK, I'm sure all of the sideline couch experts have had their say, so now I will have mine. The new mixes are very well done, it is an interesting new take on a classic recording. The amount of information contained in the digital files that was lost from the transcription to analog is astounding. As technology improves, it is the duty of our beloveds to constantly delve furthur into the primordial audio soup that is The Grateful Dead. It is with this dedication and intention that Bear was so adamant about preserving every aural snapshot that was created either in the studio or live. Thank goddess that the organization has had so many talented and dedicated people on the team to continue to work towards exposing these gems, not only for those of us who were inherently part of the experience, but for future generations to understand the power of this amazing and sacred art form. My friend Tom Venom, tells me the story of calling Mickey and holding the phone out over the dock at his summer home on Madeline Island, specifically so Mickey could here the sound of his dock creaking as the waves rythmic polyphonic sound echoed across the bay. Mickey promptly flew up to record these sounds, much like the recordings in the pumphouse that became the background beat for The Greatest Story. So, to all of you so called experts, remember who you are talking about, and be happy that you have the ability to re-listen to a new perspective on an old recording. Or would you rather go back to crackily old cassette tapes that slowed down and sped up? "All my old pants smell like flatulence"
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"taking breaths and string squeeks and little laughs and finger snaps and whatever was done that day in the studio, you could hear it all." if they wanted little laughs and finger snaps,jerry and the boys would have put that in. and if you can't take some criticism, your the fool- though everyone should read your "engineer speak" that one sentence is classic-little laughs and finger snaps- lol -i will be that ahole all day if its against people like you- i will wear that hat p.s. learn the difference between hate and criticism
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..to have discourse without abuse? Politicians are not role models. And once again let's hear it from Jerry.
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And as I say to every cranky, mean-spirited person who complains bitterly about this or that release... NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO BUY ANYTHING! I love having so many options, love that there are sonic upgrades. I've bought "Electric Ladyland" three different times--original vinyl back in '68, first CD issue in mid-'80s, CD remaster in the 90s (I think), and I would happily pay to get a hi-res version that sounded truly like the master tapes. If you haven't actually heard what hi-res, hi-bit rate can be like, you really have no idea... And no one is going to come to your house and take away your beloved original versions of whatever you think is untouchable...So lighten up!
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remember that there are new generations of DHs (to a degree) that might have never purchased any of these releases originally. Personally, it took a long time for me to buy WD, and I never bought JG/MS. anyway, there is a market for just about everything.
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thanks so much for the deposit in the ole memory bank!!! woke up this morning after a late night of gdness and here's another great blog and a reminder that i actually have keystone 1,2 and encore and i haven't listened to them in over a year! totally spaced those out : ))))))))) . ( i may need to actually organize my cd's). volume 2 is my fav.; merl's keys on "my funny val." ( 18 min. and luvn' every one of them ! :))))) have that fantastic 70's-jazzy cocktail loungy - thingy goin on; "someday baby" is so full of that beautiful psychedelic soul funk vibe which only jer and merl could have created and "mystery train" is absolutely killer!!!! jammin' right up there with gdtrfb - nfa. what a terrific find today --- thanks so much. :D hey stoltzfus....if you can man get jg/ms (even on standard cd format), you will not be dissappointed ('73 berkely.........can't go wrong) I always thought the sound from cd's was so much better than the hissy cassettes that i didn't really think it could get much better -- until i heard a nice surround set-up for the first time and realized that it could; so i'm interested in hearing these new versions of these three albums. someday maybe i'll make that investment ,but for now, it's rainy and cool so i'm gonna jam the rest of the day on my new - old find and try not to burn my dinner on the stove. and just one very friendly piece of advice - actually just my opinion - stick with those happy,up and smiley hazes for wab or any time; those indica hybrids can make a person ornery for some reason. here's to a great weeend with copious amounts of jg/ms and a little greenpeace to boot :)))))))))))))))!!!! one more thing, that picture of jer and merl is priceless and it needs a caption, like: "damn merl, we still got two joints to go, you gonna be okay?" :D fifth time around for "mystery train".........yeaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!
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15 years 7 months
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Blair, Are you are saying that these HDtracks releases are yet another re-mix of these two cherished albums? I have both the 5.1 discs and they sound great on my cheapie 5.1 system, and I personally think the 5.1 remixes are the best and most fun to listen to, even above the original 1970 pressings which I still have. I'll pass on the HDtracks. As for the Garcia/Saunders release, I only have Vol. 1 on the 1988 CD. I need an upgrade - I have ordered it via an online retailer, it should be coming in very soon. Thanks for this blog - a great subject this week.
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16 years 9 months
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Blair that is amazing that you were at the Keystone shows! I was sixteen when that album came out, and I bought it as soon as it was released. Probably played it thousands of times. I can't wait to hear the new release. When I played the DVD audio recordings of Workingmans, & American Beauty, I was blown away! I felt like I was in the freakin' studio with them! A minor quibble, Jerry's banjo too low on "Cumberland Blues", but hey, I always have the original. Anyway, great article Blair, as for the complaining about these downloads just for making money, hey people, if you don't want 'em DON'T BUY 'EM! Peace, Meeko
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13 years 8 months
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Mary E: regarding headphones vs. speakers. The really great thing about headphones is that you can get fantastic sound for way less than it could cost to get equivalent sound out of speakers. IMO for $100-200 you can get headphones that will outperform speakers costing $1,000 or more. So if you have a big enough budget and supportive enough significant other, cranking this fine music through speakers is probably best. But if noise and budget considerations enter the equation, nice headphones can really be a great way to do.
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16 years 9 months
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I use both, but generally prefer speakers. I have noticed that (to my ears anyway) the recent Spring 90 Box set sounds way better through speakers than 'phones. In the Spring 90 discussions there were some harsh criticisms of the sound that I did not understand until I listened though headphones.
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16 years 9 months
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Versions are exquisite. As if each instrument had its own speaker. Wish they would do all the early albums in 5.1
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14 years 1 month
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Has anyone had opportunity to hear 24- and 16-bit versions of an identical mix? I'm curious (but skeptical) about 24-bit music, but have read plenty that states that it's a good thing in theory only. Part of the problem with trying to find tracks to do an A/B comparison with is that often the 16-bit version has not had the tweaking that the 24-bit version has had, so you're not truly comparing the difference in bit depth, but rather in engineer attention. I'm almost ready to purchase the CD version (which will be HDCD, so somewhat better than 16-bit) AND the 24-bit version of the new live Jerry release, just to hear if there is a difference on decent headphones. (and MaryE--My Grado 325i cans have taken me away from my Magnepan speakers a LOT--so I highly recommend trying some good 'phones) Have any of you been able to hear one track, done in 16- and 24-bit, same mix--and if so, have you noticed an appreciable difference? Thanks!
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I've been lately exploring the world of 24 bit. Thanks you to a band that is linked to the Dead, carrying many of the concepts forward. Now, previously, I was just converting my 24 bit HD flacs with XLD into a 24 bit mp-4 file at 44,100 hz so that the files may play on my ipod. Tonight, and as a result of this article, I have downloaded PureMusic for a 15 day trial, and followed instructions to just move my Flac-HD's directly into iTunes. I am listening for the first time to a 24 bit HD flac in all its glory, which is amazing. Really spectacular, and this is only through the headphones jack of my PC. So I can imagine that the potential of this recording can be even more spectacular yet. Now: from my iPod, this is what I've noticed. With Flac-HD, it's like somebody has taken some sandpaper and smoothed out any and all rough edges to the sound. It's the first time I've really noticed digital music sounding "right" to my ears. Particularly in this age of ever-improving production techniques, fuller mixes and bolder sounds, certain qualities don't even make it to CD. For someone with a developed ear like mine (from having listened to more music than one should in a lifetime, seriously), you only need to spend a certain amount of time before you can tell the difference. This shift to Pure Music and an add on that brings out the full potential of a 24 bit flac brings the game to a whole new level. Make sure you've got some speakers that can do it justice. To me, what is the real significance? IN relation to the six or seven headed beast that is the Grateful Dead: a future with great SBD releases that have a canvass as big as the GD's sound. Maybe we'll be able to communicate this music to those who previously didn't get it.
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13 years 4 months
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I know this is a really really old post but I need a miracle. . . One day, while driving home and listening to the Grateful Dead channel on Sirius or XM or whatever it was, I heard the studio vocal only track of Attics and it brought tears to my eyes. It was hauntingly beautiful. I have scoured the internet searching for that sound again. Do you, or does anyone reading this, know where I can find a copy of it? I'd like to take that ride again. . . Thanks in advance! bakesaleboy@hotmail.com
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16 years 9 months
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Did you hear Donna at all? If so, might be one from May of '76. Although, the ones I've heard from those dates have instrumentation. Otherwise, I'd look to something from 1970.
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13 years 4 months
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Nope. There is no Donna. This is 100% isolated vocals from the studio during the recording of American Beauty.
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16 years 10 months
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David Gans. He'd probably know.