Road Trips Volume 2 Number 3
Road Trips Vol 2, No.3
Shows
Des Moines, IA - June 16, 1974
Louisville, KY - June 18, 1974
More Road Trips
Road Trips 1.1
Road Trips 1.2
Road Trips 1.3
Road Trips 1.4
Road Trips 2.1
Road Trips 2.2
June 1974: Wall of Sound
Can it really be more than 35 years since the Grateful Dead unveiled one of their most audacious (and successful!) experiments—the legendary Wall of Sound? Why, it seems like only yesterday that I was cowering in fear worrying that one of Phil’s bass bombs was going to topple the impressive array of speaker towers that sprawled across the Dead’s enormous stage and rose to a height of more than two stories! What a sight—no one had ever seen anything remotely like it before (or since). What a sound—there had never been a cleaner and or more powerful system. At its peak, it was comprised of nearly 650 loudspeakers powered by 50 giant McIntosh amplifiers, and unlike traditional left-right P.A. systems, this behemoth gave each instrument its own vertical array, and vocals emanated mostly from a center honeycomb cluster above the band. Wow! It was an amazing thing to behold (and a mutha to transport and set up)!
And it just happened to coincide with one of the band’s most fertile musical periods ever, which is why we’ve dipped into the Wall of Sound era for our latest Road Trips release. Talk about your “strangest of places”: These back to back shows from the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa (6/16/74), and Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky (6/18/74), have long been cherished by Dead Heads for their inventiveness, expansiveness and brilliance of execution. The Des Moines material includes a classic ’74-style “China Cat-Rider,” a spectacular “Eyes of the World” and a marvelously exploratory “Playing in the Band” that clocks in at a mind-bending, never-a-dull-moment 29 minutes! Disc Two comes from the Kentucky show, and it’s another prime batch, from beautiful readings of the poignant Garcia ballads “China Doll” and “Stella Blue,” to Weir’s multi-dimensional “Weather Report Suite”—a highlight of so many shows in this period—and a freewheeling “Other One,” and a jam around the blues tune “It’s A Sin,” a sequence considered by many to be among the finest and most highly-regarded jams in the band's entire career. Check it out and you’ll hear why!
The ultra-clean soundboard master tapes were “crispy” reels (that’s good), and they sound even better now that mastering ace Jeffrey Norman has sprinkled his electronic fairy dust on them and brought them up to HDCD specs. The colorful booklet insert features a cool essay about the Wall of Sound by Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally and lots of great photos of the band dwarfed by the majestic edifice!
By the end of 1974, the band had begun its 20-month hiatus, and the Wall of Sound—so magnificent, but so impractical on so many levels—was never re-assembled. But it was glorious while it lasted and the incredible music that came blasting out of those hundreds of speakers is the reason why.
For more details about what’s on Road Trips Vol. 2, No. 3: The Wall of Sound, and to order your copy, click here. You won’t regret it!
—Blair Jackson
Track List
Disc 1
Recorded live at State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA, 6/16/74
2. I Know You Rider
3. The Race Is On
4. Eyes Of The World>
5. Big River
6. U.S. Blues
7. Playing In The Band
Disc 2
Recorded live at Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY, 6/18/74
2. Eyes Of The World>
3. China Doll
4. Weather Report Suite>
5. Jam>
6. Other One>
7. It's A Sin Jam>
8. Stella Blue
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Comments
Thank You
The Des Moines show was my first. I can't wait to hear that monumental Playing In The Band.
Of course like almost everyone else, if I want to hear 'the whole show', I'll just pull out my
copy that I already have.
I'm very much enjoying all of these road trip releases, full or partial show whatever, just keep them coming.
Remember folks, there aren't always full complete copies of everything in 'the vault'.
And we all have about 2000 complete shows from our own 'community archive'.
So just pick one. Most of us won't live long enough to hear everything we've already got anyway.
great, another partial...
Why? Why only put out portions of these shows? Not only do we not get the full show, but now sites like the archive will be forced to remove the soundboard recordings that are available to stream because it's been commercially released. These types of releases are actually making less music available. I was looking forward to this when I heard the announcement and was planning on purchasing it. Now I'm disappointed and I refuse to support these types of releases.
For those who enjoy pieces of shows, these were both very good shows...
We want entire shows!!
Again: We should have gotten all of Yale Bowl, We should have gotten the ENTIRE 1990 run from MSG and now this. These shows are monumental. The sound is great. Let's go for it. Give us a choice. I've bought every release on CD: all the Dicks Picks, all of the Road Trips, butthis is unacceptable. I will not buy these. Who is making these choices?
Where was the China>Rider
Where was the China>Rider from? I don't see it on the set list for either show. Did I miss something.
a theory
Okay, I have a theory about why the fine folks at GDP/Rhino do these highlights releases instead of complete shows (no inside info here, just my own thoughts as a fan/customer).
I imagine only a fairly low percentage of GD fans---including those who are Deadheads by anyone's definition---regularly take the time to listen to a complete show in one sitting. Families, jobs, and other commitments make 3-6 hours of uninterrupted listening a rare experience for many people. But they still want to plug into the vibe and the music of a great show, including the extended improvisations, the transitions between songs, etc. So when GDP/Rhino selects what it considers the highlights of certain shows, those folks' needs are satisfied.
I like both types of releases: hearing the arc of a complete show as well as hearing the highlights selected and released by GDP/Rhino. I wouldn't want my collection to be exclusively one or the other. It's actually interesting to see what GDP/Rhino picks as highlights, particularly since the vast majority of the unofficial recordings available on archive.org, stash.nugs.net, and through The Vineyard forum here on dead.net are complete shows.
On another topic, the mysterious Wall of Sound graphic here on the website was really cool.
"Come with me or go alone, he's come to take his children home"
Piss and Moan
Boy, as usual, there's a whole lot of whining about not releasing entire shows. One person even claims that the band "should" have released the entire MSG 1990 run (what is that, 18 discs??).
Did it ever occur to anyone that some people might prefer to buy three discs of highlights rather than seven discs of the complete shows?
Did it ever occur to anyone that some of us have other hobbies and leisure activities besides Grateful Dead music to spend our limited disposable income on?
Did it ever occur to anyone that not every Dead fan feels obligated to own every version of every song that the band performed?
To me, this "complete shows only" attitude is more indicative of a desire to have the discs lined up on the shelf than the desire to listen to the music. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I listen to complete shows, those endless, indistinguishable versions of "Me & My Uncle" or "U.S. Blues" get monotonous real fast.
For those who *do* feel obligated to collect complete versions of every show, there are numerious BitTorrent sites out there where you can download entire years of the Dead's history, usually with multiple recordings of each show.
On behalf of those of us who are more concerned with listening to the music than lining up the CD cases on our shelves, I say, kudos to the band for seeking out the highlights and releasing those. For every show that was great from start to finish, there were at least ten shows that mixed great performances of some songs with average performances of a bunch of others. And quite frankly, I find that there are too many stellar performances out there by the Grateful Dead to waste time listening to merely-average renditions of "Row Jimmy" or "Black-Throated Wind".
My only complaint (I have to have one, right?) is that they didn't choose to include the smoking "Scarlet Begonias" from 6/16/74, but other than that, this release looks top-notch.
Bring on more of the "best-of" releases!
Please, stop whining
Really, how many Road Trips have there been? The same whining goes on with everyone of them. Move on already. You can easily find both of these shows in pristine sbd recording if you just make a little effort. But wait, why actually go and do something productive like that, when you can come here and bitch and complain. Makes sense. I think Oh Yeah is onto something with his theory. Not only does it make sense from how they want to put these shows out, but it also makes business sense to try and bring in a new audience.
I have both of these complete shows and I love them. I will gladly spend $20 for the great work that Norman does. Anyways, they did do a pretty good job of picking the high points of both nights. I, like most others, love to listen to full shows. When I want to do that, I grab it from my collection. There is no band that has more stellar recordings of fantastic music that can easily be found for free. People, it's called technology, take advantage it.
I look forward to getting to relisten to this wonderful music. Please, don't slow down, keep 'em rolling out! Thanks for the good work.
Scratchie, we must have been typing at the same time
Oh, you just beat me to it. Couldn't agree more!
I like the RT series. I've
I like the RT series. I've gotten every one, and am not dissapointed in any. Some shows deserve full release, some shows should be buried, many are in between, with spectacular segments that might get lost sandwiched in between mediocore tunes. 3 discs for 20 is a good deal too, this is a recession after all. If full shows and boxed sets were bringing in massive cash, they would all be full shows/runs.
Look guys, I'm with ya', full shows are nice. But really, what's to complain about. Here's a list of recent full show releases, the number of compilations, versus, full shows, is about equal over the same time period.
Harftford - excellent show by the way (beginning to end)
The very last RT's for God's sakes, FULL Show, 2.14.68
PJ 2.28.86 - agree this one is a let down
Rockin' the Cradle (well, it was a nice re-packing of 9.16.78, pretty close to a full release)
Cow Palace
Three from the Vault
Winterland '73, king box set
A nice balance lately as far as I'm concerned.
Wow, why would anyone choose
Wow, why would anyone choose to release the music in this way? What a shame....will they release partial songs at some point as well?
A sampler from a tour like fall '79 is somewhat understandable.
But samples of individual shows..in a year like '74, is a crime.
I have enjoyed the Des Moines show for at least 20 years...one of my favoites ..but refuse to listen to this chopped up product.
Wow..