This week we're going to jump around a bit, but the end result a whole bunch of really good Grateful Dead music from this week in the band's recorded history.

Our first stop is the Fillmore West on 4/12/70. This was the final night of a four night run of shows that, as we mentioned last year at this time, mostly doesn't exist in the vault. These shows are famous for the fact the Miles Davis Quintet was the opening act. Say what?!? Indeed. Also, from this 4/12/70 show, Phil selected the Dancing In The Street for inclusion on his Fall Out From The Phil Zone compilation. Also from this night, we're pleased to play a few songs from the then-soon-to-be-released Workingman's Dead, a nice combination of Cumberland Blues-Dire Wolf, and from a bit later in the show, Black Peter-Uncle John's Band. It's too bad this entire run doesn't exist; that would be make a stellar 10-CD boxed set release!

While we're at the 4/12/70 show this week, we figure we might as well play the show-closing sequence of songs, just because it's so good: It's A Man's World, Viola Lee Blues>Feedback. Certainly an appropriate way to end a four night run of shows at the Fillmore West in 1970.

Next we'll stop into 1973 to a show a little out of our date range, 6/24/73 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. We played a little bit of this show a couple of weeks ago, and we thought you might like to have another taste, so here is a great little China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider from late in the first set.

Jumping ahead ten years, we'll check out some music from one of only two shows the Grateful Dead ever performed in the state of West Virginia, on 4/10/83 in Morgantown. The other West Virginia show was 4/16/78 in Huntington, which unfortunately does not exist in the vault. However, from the show in 1983, there are very clean Beta PCM digital tapes (heard here) and cassette masters. From the second set of 4/10/83, we have Uncle John's Band>Playing In The Band.

Finally this week, from the magnificent live album from the Jerry Garcia Band, Don't Let Go, recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco on 5/21/76, we have the set closing song, Lonesome and Long Way From Home. Although not quite as way out there as the song would become by early 1978, this is a mighty fine version.

Be sure to check back in next week for more great music. Please feel free to write with questions, comments, requests or suggestions, to the email address below. Please put “Grateful Dead” in your subject so that I can easily identify it as non-spam. Thanks.

David Lemieux
vault [at] dead.net