Grateful Dead

Welcome back to the Tapers' Section, and we hope you're having a great holiday season. This week we're going to check out some music from 1973, 1976 and 1988.

This first bit of music is from 12/19/73 in Tampa, Florida, a show very famously known as Dick's Picks Volume 1. As you're likely aware, DP 1 was edited quite a bit to cull the very best two CDs worth of music (and what a two CDs it is!). However, what was cut was typically well-played 1973 music, mostly shorter and first set tunes. From the opening of 12/19/73, direct from the cutting room floor, we have Promised Land, Sugaree, Mexicali Blues, Dire Wolf, Black-Throated Wind, Candyman, Jack Straw. The head of Jack Straw is clipped, but otherwise this all sounds great. Kudos to Kidd on another great recording.

Last week, you might remember we played the start of the first set from 9/27/76 in Rochester, NY, and this week we're pleased to play the end of the first set, featuring Lazy Lightning>Supplication, Brown-Eyed Women, The Music Never Stopped. There appears to be a vocal mic problem during a bit of this segment, but otherwise it's really hot. This was part of a very good, very short tour, 9/23 through 10/3/76, followed by the two excellent days in Oakland 10/9 and 10/10/76.

Moving ahead 12+ years, we have the start of the second set from 12/28/88 in Oakland, the first of a three night run for the annual New Year's Eve celebration. The first two of these nights were really good, and from 12/28 we have China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider, Estimated Prophet>He's Gone to start the second set. The post-Drums sequence from this show is really good and unique, and we'll try to play that here sometime soon.

Thanks for stopping by, and we'll look forward to seeing you here next week, and throughout 2013. As always, we welcome and encourage you to write to us at the email address below with questions, comments, criticism and suggestions. All missives are welcome.

David Lemieux
vault@dead.net