Welcome back to the Tapers Section. In this edition we've got a great range of music from this week in the Grateful Dead's recorded history, from 1971, 1972, 1979 and 1987.

Our first selection this week is from the Berkeley Community Theatre on 8/15/71, featuring the show closing sequence of Lovelight, Johnny B. Goode>We Bid You Goodnight. I've seen several newspaper reviews in the archive of these shows, as well as articles announcing the concerts, and a lot was made of them. This was the Grateful Dead's first Bay Area appearance since the closing of the Fillmore West, and Bill Graham was producing a bigger hometown show for the Grateful Dead than he'd been doing the past few years at the Fillmore. By all accounts, both Uncle Bobo and the band pulled the shows off nicely.

Next up, from 8/12/72 in Sacramento, we have the magnificent second set jam featuring He's Gone>The Other One>Black Peter>The Other One>Truckin'. A couple of interesting twists in this jam is the Other One split by a ballad, and the jam ending with Truckin', usually the jumping off point for a big second set jam of the era, not a closer. Regardless, all of these little twists work beautifully.

From 8/13/79 at McNichols Arena in Denver, we have this great show-opening Shakedown Street. This was supposed to be the second night of a three night run at Red Rocks, but the nasty weather forced the second and third shows to be moved indoors to Denver's nearby McNichols Arena. I love the tone Phil gets on this Shakedown.

Speaking of Red Rocks, we also have some great music actually from Red Rocks this week. Our first selection is from 8/11/87, on the Grateful Dead's very well-received summer tour of 1987. From the post-Drums part of the show, we have All Along the Watchtower>GDTRFB>Around and Around>Sugar Magnolia, Black Muddy River. Watchtower was still rather new at the time, and it is simply blistering. Also from this run in 1987, from 8/12/87, we have the post-Drums sequence of The Other One>Dear Mr. Fantasy>Wharf Rat>Lovelight. It's always great to hear a Red Rocks Dear Mr. Fantasy, as the song had quite a history at Red Rocks: it was here in 1984 when the Grateful Dead first performed the song live, and in 1985 when they first joined it with Hey Jude. Cool stuff.

Be sure to stop back in next week for more great music. We always welcome your comments, questions, suggestions and requests, so feel free to write to the email address below.

David Lemieux
vault@dead.net