Grateful Dead

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....never judge it. Listen to it. Don't like it? Fine. Listen to it two months later. Still doesn't click? OK. Fine. Shelve it. Two years later, you notice the dust accumulating. Pull that bad boy out then. You might be surprised....I love surprises.
And if you spin it five times and still sucks, just sell it and move the fuck on. Someone, somewhere, will relish it. 😉
Spinning Dick's 11 after approx two years. Then again, I've always loved that Stanley show, so perhaps I failed the litmus test on that one.

Reading Oroborous' post it struck me as similar to my experience with these releases. When the From the Vault releases and Dick's Picks first came out, I got them all, but at some point around DP21 or so I just felt like I had enough Dead and that there was other music that I wanted to acquire. I picked up a few of the general releases like Sunshine Daydream, Rockin the Rheine and the Hundred Year Hall, but I skipped Road Trips and passed on the FW'69 and E'72 releases when they first came out. At some later point, maybe 2014, I was driving around with one of my kids for their driver ed requirement and the E'72 Bickershaw Darkstar-Other One came on the Grateful Dead hour and got me right back on the bus. Picked up the E'72 volume 2 set shortly thereafter, then a couple of individual E'72 shows, then started acquiring box sets and individual releases that I had missed out on as well as the Dicks Picks and most of the Dave's Picks that I missed, and the rest of E'72. Pretty much got most of the holes in my collection filled before everything sold out on deadnet and prices seemed to skyrocket on ebay after the 50th anniversary stuff started and the 30 Trips box came out. Had I not just spent a bunch of time and money picking up releases that I had passed on, I might have been scared off by the price of the 30 Trips box, but as it was I knew I was ultimately saving myself money by purchasing it upfront rather than piecemeal on ebay later on. At this point, if they are releasing something, I want it.

To VGuy's point, absolutely agree, sometimes a show that doesn't click on one day blows me away on another occasion. If a release doesn't click on a first listen, there is a good chance that on another day, in another mood, I'll dig it.

Back tracking slightly, there is an interesting article in a book I bought in the 1990s, called "Dead Reckonings", edited by John Rocco that references "Moby Dick". Its in the introduction, and he suggests that Ahab's pursuit of the whale was an early, and more negative, prototype for the sort of quest that The Dead engaged with.

Dead Reckonings consists of selection of essays on the band, and is a bit hit or miss, from what I remember. The introduction, is actually the best article in the book.

I have never read "Moby Dick", though. Maybe later this year.

Rush plays basically the same setlist every night and Neil plays basically the same drum solo, if he plays one at all.
I wasn’t saying that he wasn’t a good drummer. There just isn’t the same creativity each night as with Drums/Space.

I could be wrong, the last time I saw Rush was 3-22-94, maybe things have changed since then.

There’s actually complete video of the show.
https://youtu.be/N_PdK8Gt7BE

Were the CD's in here individually shrink wrapped??? I don't believe they were.. Only reason I ask I saw the Dream Bowl show on Ebay and it was wrapped. Stay warm everyone... Bob t

I too have never read Moby Dick. My brother-in-law read it YEARS ago and said it was pages and pages about how to dissect a whale.

In the end, fuck Greg Peck's movie version, Mr. MaGoo performed the definitive version!

Fun Melville fact - He went blind later in life. Unable to read, he forced his daughters to read to him. Except he made them read original Greek works, they didn't read Greek, they just spoke phonetically! Can you image reading books to a blind old bastard in a language you didn't understand!

Says by the end of day Friday....woohoo, gonna be a Grate weekend!

I also picked up a copy of Dicks 36, however I found it about $10.00 cheaper with free shipping on EBay for the exact same brand new Real Gone reissue. I think it’s also available from rare waves on amazon for about the same price. Real Gone is more expensive and you pay shipping! Seems odd?

Rock on Dead People!

Try 26 BELOW Fahrenheit, here in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she tore me up . . . Schools have been closed for three days, and the USPS even suspended delivery yesterday. I'm glad--I don't want some poor soul freezing to death, just so I can get DaP 29 a day earlier. Now it's supposed to go to 40 above and rain this weekend? So much for our skiing snow . . .

Moby Dick: I somehow earned a degree in English Language and Literature without encountering that. A high school teacher tried to get us through Billy Budd, but we revolted and he relented. So I picked up Moby a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Second listens are crucial. Yesterday I revisited VFTV IV, the 7/24/87 show. My notes in the DVD box said nothing good about it. Watched it while riding the exercise bike and had a real good time! I had revisited the second show on that release (7/26/87) on an indoor ride a month back, and loved that as well. Those shows are short, and there's not much jamming, but the energy is top notch, and Jerry is very happy. Cool.

I'm very pleased that we get releases from all thirty years. Imagine how dull this hobby would be if we only had shows from one year or era.

I'm not a robot, but I play one on t.v.

I had the same issue with Dicks Vol 17. I remember thinking :What were THEY thinking to release this lousy show? The disc gathered dust for a few years and one day I accidently grabbed it when I wanted Dicks #16 for a road trip. I put it on in the car and it sounded great! Sometimes your head just isn't into a certain show at that time. Do not fear, always give it a second listen, cause I love # 17 today. Stay warm, its 10 degrees in Pittsburgh (but sunny).

It's Neil Peart, people, P-E-A-R-T. What, you were all out doing bong hits in the parking lot during English class?

Listening to the Dead, and RUSH, no doubt...

\m/

....I get Phil's birthday wrong. What's wrong with me? I would say it's the cold, but it's a balmy 60 degrees here right now. Where do I turn in my Deadhead card?
anyone get an email about the JGB On The Eel River box set today? Bonus disc included with pre-orders at jerrygarcia.com. I just ordered the CD set and the print. Have some empty wall space.

BobT, I picked up the 30 trips (music only) box last summer from I think amazon/Warner, and each show was individually shrink wrapped, in a box inside a box...nothing else, no extras.

Cold Rain and Snow. Schools closing, UPS etc, all understandable considering. The real danger is that some places have had to stop delivering BEER!! Now that’s some scary shit! Especially if your stuck at home, with no beer.....
“the horror” ; )

-3 or - 4 most days here in the mountains in the AM, but it’s been warming up to about thirty, which with the sun out at this altitude is actually just right. -20 here is definetly cold, but it’s a dry cold so nothing like that Great Lakes kinda cold, brrrrrrrrr.

Be safe, stay warm, but stock up on beer first!
Soon will have that smoking hot 2/26/77, that’ll warm things up a bit 😎

It’s either that there LSD they warned us about, or your getting dat dear “oldtimers” disease there always going on about ; )

Your “beat the set list drum” post from last night was right on so I don’t think we’ll need your membership card back just yet!

COLD; for all you folks frezzin’ your nards off, look up the rodeo song, that’ll help.....
“Well it’s forty below and I don’t give a #$$&, cause it’s off to the rodeo”

EDIT; my cousin just ordered me that JGB box, sounds sweet, and for what 40 bucks!

I got the notice from the Garcia Family, mine has been ordered!

I got the other 30 Trips box with the bells and whistles... Suppose to get 29 tomorrow... So excited to listen to the awesome Phil Solo between Eyes of the World and Dancing!!! Always thought it was similar to his solo from Dane County Coliseum 2/15/73 Dark Star!!!!

If this has been discussed I apologize for being late to the party. I received an email from Garcia Family Provisions and ordered a new Jerry Box Set consisting of 3 shows titled 'Electric On The Eel': French's Camp on the Eel River in Piercy, Ca. Shows are:
1. 8/29/87 2. 6/10/89 3. 8/10/91 PLUS Acoustic Bonus Disc on pre-orders. Available on CD or Download; I went the CD route and with shipping the order came to $50.08.

Yep. Got the mail, ordered the box + bonus disc. Good news, more JGB.

Uh...I've been a Dead head since the early-mid-seventies, have seen hundreds of shows. I've been hesitating to say this for a number of years, as it...isn't positive, or...necessarily very nice, but, with all due respect...Dave just doesn't have the ear for the very best of the Dead that Dick L. had. While very few shows were perfect...many in the Dave's Picks catalogue just don't meet...my personal standards, or measure up to, in my mind, the very best of either the best shows that I've been to, or...the recordings that I've long revered as being cutting edge, ground-breaking, best of the best of what made the Dead such an inspiring, unique, special musical experience. Sorry to have to say so. This Listening Party from this release...isn't among the best of what the guys have done...And...It hurts me to say so, as I love, and always will love...The GD.

I was in an interdisciplinary program in the early 80's and one semester of our coursework was on Melville and Moby Dick. At the end of the semester they brought in a guest professor who had dedicated most of his career studying this book. This guy was supposed to be THE expert on the subject. We're in this small auditorium and the expert is up on the stage giving us his insights into the book. As he was talking, I leaned over to my group of friends and quietly said "If people who are into the Grateful Dead are called Deadheads, what do they call people who are really into Moby Dick?" The whole section erupted into laughter, the expert stopped talking, and I got the stink eye from the professor who taught the class. I'm glad the subject was brought up. I haven't thought about that in years.

Looking forward to DaP29..... got my notice yesterday.

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
Grateful Dead - 7/19/74 DaP 17
Beatles - Let It Be
Beatles - White Album
Grateful Dead - 4/17/72 Aarhus, Denmark

Every time I put on one of the shows from E'72 I realize that whole run is magic, and the Aarhus show in particular never disappoints, it just flows from start to finish. Magic.

In an effort to make up for my erroneous ways I am spinning Exit.....Stage Left.
On vinyl.
I believe that it is 200 g vinyl.

Dick knew what he was doing (which is why he was given the key to the vault as it existed then) and had the freedom to do it.

Dave has to fulfill corporate expectations while keeping us happy and while holding some shows in reserve so that the whole process can continue for years to come (hopefully).

Dave has access to a larger vault than Dick had due to the returned reels. Maybe some smokin’ shows are being saved for Box Sets, or just future releases as a way to stimulate subscription sales.

Respect your opinion, I'd be interested to know which shows are more your speed. Please post if you can. Thanks.

P.S. I thought I might be a robot there for a second.

Last 2 in the car (it takes 2-3 days of commuting to get through a show).

6-7-77
11-6-77

Based on your avatar I was thinking that you were a robot-skeleton-zombie

If not for my exploding eyeballs.

Hard to compare Dave's and Dick's. Dick was only alive until DP 15, I believe. Are some of the greats like DP 33and DP 36 Dave's or Dick's? I've heard Dave say that Dick mapped out a bunch more past 15, but was he up in the 30s? And yeah, think of all the shows that Dave reserved for box sets. Winterland '73 & '77, E72, Fillmore West '69....just think if those shows were making it into Dave's Picks.

As for DaP 29...well, there's not too many 1977 shows that I love, but this one has some great stuff. When you walk out your door and you hear Jerry ripping through Slipknot!, you'll know mine arrived. Nah, Dave knows his Dead.

I agree, there are some less than par shows that get released on his watch, but like icecreamconekid said, he's got to pace it for the long haul, while Dick's mandate was more of a short term focus. I'm sure you can find 30 releases by Dave that are on par with the shows that Dick actually picked for Dicks Picks. And I have a feeling Dave selected gems like DP 31, 33 and 36. But think of all these great Dave shows:

11/10/67 Shrine
10/20/68 Greek
Feb 27- March 2, 1969, Fillmore West '69
2/22/69 Dream Bowl
4/15/70 Winterland
2/2/70 St. Louis
April 25–29, 1971, Ladies & Gentlemen
11/15/71
11/17/71
RTR Bonus Disc from AOM
Europe '72 Complete
8/27/72
11/17/72
11/18/72
4/2/73
6/22/73
11/9 - 11/11, 1973 Winterland
11/14/73 San Diego
11/17/73 UCLA
2/24/74 Winterland
6/16- 6/18, 1974 Road Trips WOS
7/17/74 Selland (people will disagree, but the 2nd Set is fantastic)
7/29/74 Dillon Stadium
3/23/75 Blues For Allah Kezar

I'm tired. I like Dave's ear for shows. And I'm sure he would have released 2/13/70, 5/2/70, and s.o on, if they hadn't already been nabbed by Dick

Dick's vs. Dave's? I don't know, but I call shenanigans on the whole comparison. Dick got the low hanging fruit and sorry.. but there are some Dicks Picks that are questionable too. It's pretty clear that neither had absolute control over the process, a better analogy is that they got to steer a sluggish boat with a poor rudder through cruel sea.

Could it be that both Dick and Dave did the best they could with the cards they are dealt? No.. that's so not 2019, better to complain about something that is poorly understood and really isn't broken to begin with.

A couple points of reference.. FW69, Dave. E72, Dave. Winterland 73, Dave. Dave sucks.. really? No.. the truth is they both did/do the best they can with what they have and likely operate under an unknown set of constraints. That was a pretty negative post and I just don't see the point. Dick was a saint, and did so much good.. that doesn't mean Dave is a sinner. He just came next after Dicks unfortunate passing, nothing more nothing less, and I personally think he has done a great service to us all.

If there is anything I am bitter about it is that I don't have his job.. perhaps the best job on the planet. Besides.. given another 20 years and anything we want released will.. no matter who picks em.. they are going to get released.

.... Charlie Miller, Hunter Seamons and the Oade Bros also do grate work. Just sayin'. I've heard some slam Dave because his first show was in in '87(?).
Some are jaded to the end. ( I might have that year wrong, given my track record lately. Better to be on the the bus than miss it entirely.) Dave has the best job in the world. ADHD and all....
High Fives!....
Ween - The Mollusk
GOGD - Dicks 11-Stanley Theater 9.27.72
Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith
Van Halen - Diver Down
Van Morrison - Days Like This
The Police - Ghost In The Machine
....it's been a mid 80's kind of a past couple days. Records you hear when you're 14-17 years old tend to stick with you.
Shoutout to Keithfan for mentioning 11.17.73 UCLA. Still king of the Dave's Pick crop imo....Dick probably would have picked it but he died.

ordered mine, was just on the site last week wondering if they would be putting something out or rereleasing previously released releases.

....Steve Kimock is doing an Ask Me Anything session on 2.8.19.
https://youtu.be/fbYlLik4qwY
You have been warned....

Charlie - Let it Be is my favorite Beatles record - for a while, I thought it was the White Album, then Abbey Road, then Revolver, then Rubber Soul,.... but, Let it Be (the original, not that stupid "Naked" shit -- though I do love that too) is kick -ass from front to back. Just an amazing record, at a dysfunctional time for the band... like the Dead in 78

Uncle John - that joke made me laugh beer out of my nose!

Peace

PS - What a great book!, but that whale was such a DICK!

I don't think the whale was a dick.. perhaps the Whalers (no, not Bob Marley and the Whalers) but I got a great chuckle out of that comment.

If someone was tossing medieval spears at my family and killing them with random precision.. and I was a great white whale.. I would go Liam Neeson on their ass.. from the point of view of the whale, revenge is best served cold.. sushi style.

As for Beatles albums, Help! got my attention and anything after Rubber Soul sealed the deal. I still find things buried within. My last listen was Abbey Road and I got hung up on Golden Slumbers for some strange reason and decided to figure out what that song was all about. Many thanks to Paul, what a fascinating 1:31 minutes of my life.

We could spend a months worth of comments on the Beatles, which would be fine..

From Wikipedia:
"Golden Slumbers" is based on the poem "Cradle Song", a lullaby by the dramatist Thomas Dekker. The poem appears in Dekker's 1603 comedy Patient Grissel. McCartney saw sheet music for "Cradle Song" at his father's home in Liverpool, left on a piano by his stepsister Ruth. Unable to read music, he created his own music.[1][2] McCartney uses the first stanza of the original poem, with minor word changes,[4] adding to it a single lyric line repeated with minor variation. In the 1885 collection "St Nicholas Songs", p. 177, is W J Henderson's music set to the poem, titled " Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes". Abbey Road does not credit Dekker with the stanza or with the title. Thomas Dekker's poem was set to music by W J Henderson in 1885, Peter Warlock in 1918, also by Charles Villiers Stanford and Alfredo Casella.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Slumbers

...” All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life. And if you be a philosopher, though seated in the whale-boat, you would not at heart feel one whit more of terror, than though seated before your evening fire with a poker, and not a harpoon, by your side.”

Herman Melville - Moby-Dick

Have a grateful day everyone! Smile smile smile :)

Just got a text that mine has been delivered and is waiting in my mail box...excuse me while I slip away from work and go pick it up!

Just gave a quick listen to Terrapin on the way back to work form the post office....MIGHTY FINE!!!

Gonna be fun!! Starting with disc 3

https://youtu.be/UhrSr_p9AJs
....I'll be honest. I've never heard Jerry play this. WOWZERS!!

1502 arrived safe and sound, was tied up in meetings, going to unwrap, rip and give it a listen. When I checked the status last night, it said it would arrive by the end of the day on Monday. Looks like it's going to be an awesome weekend!!!

I was going to say the same thing, Dick had his pick of the litter so he was able to release the easy choices. Dave has had to dig for the gems, but with the new influx of tapes they got we have a large number of shows that have never been available before. If we get the occasional Arrowhead Show from the 78 box that is amazing, in my eyes, and no one knew existed all the better.

Always dug the weird stuff the most, though don’t recall ever hearing anything I didn’t like.
Abby road was my go to forever, but since I got a copy of Let it Be a few years ago it’s grown on me.
The white album of course. Peppers, I of course dig, but it doesn’t move me as much as some others.
The big surprise was Magical Mystery Tour! Somehow that one wasn’t really on the radar until a few years back when I finally got my vinyl collection back from the rents. Holy-shmoly! Coo-coo Kachoo indeed.
Really wish they would release that on Blu-ray high res format....

That's Otis, I also find that Let It Be is the peak Beatles album for me. Something about the album as a whole really works. It did surprise me that it took so long for someone to mention Magical Mystery Tour, that is another excellent album with some overlooked gems. Blue Jay Way anyone? Baby You're a Rich Man? The other albums everyone mentioned, Abbey Road, White Album, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's, Rubber Soul, they are all among my favorite albums as well as Hard Days Night and Help which were among the first Beatles records I heard. Good stuff, much like the Grateful Dead I pretty much like it all.
All this talk of Dave v. Dick made me glad to have access to both of their picks. Currently going with 10/19/73 DP 19, although after someone here pointed out that Dick only made the first 15 picks of the DP series and mapped out a few more for Dave, who gets credit for DP 19? Personally, I think that argument misses the point that without the fact that Bill Candelario made the great recording of the Dead's excellent performance on 10/19/73, neither Dave nor Dick could pick it.

Aka DaP 29 has landed in my boat! To paraphrase the great Bob Marley, I will be a-burnin' and a-rippin' tonight.

So I'm sitting here earlier today, fidgeting anxiously for the notification on my phone that Swing has arrived in my mailbox.

My phone pings and an email from my alma mater comes across the wire.

The title of that email..."The Value of Herman Melville."

You can't make this stuff up.

Will be listening this evening as well and picked up the new Garcia 'Electric on the Eel' box.

My wife had Grey's Anatomy on the other day when I inadvertently noticed a picture on the wall in one of the scenes. It looked a lot like the artwork on the PNW Box set and Believe It If You Need it releases. I was able to scan back to the scene and freeze it. The picture, upon additional scrutiny, was amazingly similar to the art on these releases and obviously painted by the same artist. Similar art was hanging in various places during another episode. Who knew that Grey's Anatomy had a Dead connection...and who cares? Ha!

Stereophile magazine reviewed the PNW Box Set as one of it's records of the month and gave it very high ratings for both performance and sound. I guess they didn't get one that skipped...

Recent listens-
Believe It If You Need It - Steady rotation since it's release - one of my favorite all time Dead compilations
Beatle's White Album 50th - Enjoying all the Beatle's conversations - My favorites are Revolver and Rubber Soul
Hendrix Electric Ladyland Legacy 50th - Very well done
Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son
A Day In The Life - Impressions of Pepper - Various artists - If you like the Beatles you should give this a try - nice jazz improvisation
Witches Stew - Lettuce - A well done nod to Miles Davis
And some Stones, Little Feat, Dexter Gordon, and Jimmy Smith - to name a few.

Waiting for Dave's 29 to arrive on Monday.

Enjoy!

I love the Revolver / Sgt. Pepper / Mystery Tour psychedelic sound. Some great singles accompanied that period too (Rain, Day Tripper, We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer come to mind). I always listen to St. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour back-to-back, like a double LP, because they sound so much alike (and as you all know I'm sure, several MMT tracks were recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, most notably Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane).

Let It Be has some great tracks, but it's not my favorite record. I really dig Dig It (ha! had to) and Two of Us is real nice. The Let it Be track of course is awesome, but I grew up on the Blue Album version, which has the take where they replaced Harrison's solo with choral backing vocals, and I love that version. Across the Universe is one of my all time favorite Beatle songs. I've Got a Feeling was the surprise nugget I found on Let It Be when I bought the CD after college.

Abbey Road. Ah. I've always thought of side two as the single, Here Comes the Sun + "The Golden Slumbers Medley" is sublime. The trippy guitar strumming on Sun King should come with a nitrous balloon. I do have to admit though, that I don't care much for the last bit by Paul - the 20 second "Her Majesty". I simply didn't rip it to my phone with the rest of the album, so the Golden Slumbers Medley concludes with "The End" - as it should have. If I ever see Sir Paul, I will lie and say it's my favorite part of the record. Which could happen. My cousin used to live in his neighborhood. I have a nice pic of his house, as well as Abbey Road Studios. And of course I did the march through the legendary crosswalk.

The White Album feels like a lot of filler to me. I think there are 3 LPs of top-shelf Beatles, and then a bunch of B-sides. I kind of feel like they should have put the electric kick-ass version of Revolution on that album, and maybe reserved some of the singles they recorded that year (Hey Jude, Lady Madonna, Hey Bulldog) to put in place of Revolution #9 and some of the other weaker tracks. I would say to include It's All Too Much as well, but it honestly wouldn't fit in with the rest of the sound of that album, where the other songs I mentioned would. Wait a second....if I can edit Her Majesty out of Abbey Road using digital technology....then I can make the White Album whatever I want it to be. Dear Prudence!

Once again the roof of my skull is gone cause the dew just blew my brain right out of it !!

Haa! Mine arrived today, but I haven't had a chance to spin it. How is the sound?

Well, this is fun. Friday night fun to me and my 14 yr old son who tells me what I want to hear concerning the Dead, 'Yeah, the sound is pretty great Dad', I can add that there is great dynamic in the recording.
Ahh the simple pleasures of life, dragging the speakers into the living room (moms gone), eating pizza and drinking Resiliance IPA, (Recent news headline: 10yr old brews Resiliance IPA, donates proceeds to Camp Fire Relief), ok and yes listening to the newly arrived 2/26/77.
Thanks to the earlier prompt to listen to the 2/27/77 Santa Barbara show on Archive, I was prepped coming home tonight.
The liner notes and news clippings are enlightening, I never knew the Dead had a cult following that rivaled the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman cult following...just goes to show....wow into playing in the band now and indeed it's a swell show....kudos to the the journalist who wrote the Santa Barbara clipping....and thank you Jeffrey Norman! enjoy ya'll

.... meanwhile, I'm here shuffling to 7.31.82. #poorme
p.s. sarcasm