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Nice mix dude. Your Estimated Eyes from DP 18 is the first I ever heard. And the Estimated is my favorite of all time. Also dig the Paris China Cat. Garcia absolutely shreds the solo. I hope you included Bill Graham's introduction to Help on the Way :D I know you did - that one and Veneta are my two favorites band intros. I look forward to checking out Row Jimmy & He's Gone (Dicks Picks 28) - no recall.

P.S. - come to think of it, I heard estimated prophet long before Dick's Picks 18, on a sweltering hot night at JFK Stadium in July of 89. Standing on the moon, Crimson white and indigo. Oh Captain My Captain...

KeithFan - Dick's 28 is one of the best...this one release manages to contain my all time favorite versions of not only Row Jimmy and He's Gone, but also 1/2 Step. Maybe it caught me just the right way when I first heard it years ago, but either way it's fully imprinted on me....

One of my ALL TIME go to albums

Hello again to all of my old friends. This is my first post on the new site. OMG! I took forever to get through the gate keepers. Hope next time is easier.

Rock on

As referenced along the way, I successfully put my ears to the complete Spring 1990 more or less spot-on with their show dates, save for one or two. I think many agree that it’s a great excuse to listen to a show on its anniversary date, for some reason this gives it more purpose and gravitas. And it made for a fun couple of weeks. I could only imagine doing it in person, city to city…

Anyway, I took notes as I went and pulled together a list of superlatives for this tour (why not?); all are totally subjective of course but it was fun nonetheless. And I purposefully left out 3/29 because otherwise it would probably sit at the top of a lot of these categories, for me anyway. When absolutely necessary it’s referenced but otherwise let’s just all agree that one is top shelf as-is.

Rockin’ Opener: This was a 3-way tie of course; but definitive energy and jamminess is going on in these. And check out that Stranger, I get why they included the one on Without A Net, but this one must have been a close contender:
Jack Straw (3/15/90, MD);
Shakedown Street (4/3/90, ATL);
Feel Like A Stranger (4/2/90, ATL)

Favorite First Set: 4/2/90, Atlanta; Stranger > Half-Step > The Weight to start; there’s a good Brent tune in there and a Queen Jane (I always loved Queen Jane for some reason), an upbeat and rare (on this tour) Brown Eyed Women, and a KILLER Let it Grown to close out. Again this one gives the version on Without a Net a run for its money from where I sit. But that opening triple whammy followed by continued upbeat songs with a killer closer does it for me.

Favorite Second Set: 3/28/90, Nassau Coliseum; This one is my favorite specifically due to its uniqueness in the top half: Foolish Heart > Looks Like Rain > Cumberland Blues > The Weight > Hey Pocky Way > Drums….and then it rounds out with all-time favorites: The Other One > Wharf Rat > Good Lovin’ (I really gravitate toward these during this era, especially the energy and vocals during the coda at the end of the song) and Revolution to encore it out. How COOL is that top half? Just fun stuff, great playing, good surprises, odd placements, it hits many check-boxes.

Favorite Song Sequence: 3/19/90, Hartford: Top of the second set, Box of Rain, Foolish Heart > Playin in the Band > Eyes of the World > drums. I always liked giving Phil an opening slot and Box of Rain is a great song; but my favorite moments of this one come first in the Foolish Heart – Jerry does his thing on that one, especially during the jam toward the end…his little ‘Garciaphrases’ and flourishes that only he can do…he does this several times during the end-jam and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time. Then in to a good Playin’ and then a really cool Eyes – fast paced, but with a pretty interesting jam at the end. I’ve actually had this show for years and was so psyched to get it officially released.

Favorite ‘Moment’: This one is literally a ‘moment’. Following Women are Smarter on 3/16 (Landover, MD) Jerry decides to continue playing, and off they go on a semi-Women Are Smarter jam with heavy doses of calypso peppered on top. At one point late in the sequence, Jerry VERY CLEARLY goes into Eyes of the World territory, even to the point of playing about a bar and a half of the lead, and you can just hear the crowd SWELL for that instant along with the musical quote as if in anticipation of plopping Eyes right there….but of course this never happens, and the crowd swell just as quickly dispels, and the jam then eventually peters out into drums. It’s a cool moment.

Best Segue: 4/2/90, Atlanta: Mississippi Half-Step > The Weight. This is referenced earlier, but it is noteworthy in its fluidness and how no one misses a beat. The only potential detractor is that they never actually sing the ‘Across the Rio Grande-EE-OOO’ part, but even so the outro in Half Step is still sweet as pie. Not only was the transition flawless, the actual placement of The Weight right there up front was pretty awesome.

Honorable Mention: Just A Little Light, 4/1/90, Atlanta. I give this one an Honorable Mention, cause it's just really, really good. This song sort of evolves a bit over this tour - they only play it 3 times I think - but by the final time it's played, Jerry is just spot-on with his wah-wah support, and Brent's vocal's are gritty and true, and they even take it out for a little walk toward the end, in a cool, spacey-jammy moment. I only wish they had expended on this one more - stretch it out in that same vein - it might have been cool. Perhaps there are other such versions, I can't say for sure....

Favorite Show Overall: Undecided. I know, I know – sad. But I can’t really say 3/29, cause that’s just not playing fair. I will say that I loved the Omni run at the end, there was a lot of good stuff those last three shows. And the opening shows were super strong as well, in retrospect. One of the other inspiring and seductive enjoyments is hearing all (well, most) of the songs from Without a Net in their proper setting. Context matters, and the fun in this listening activity cannot be understated.

In closing, this really is a great tour. Not overwhelming if you keep up with it, and each listen is different and unique due to the change-a-roo of the setlists on a nightly basis. They don’t over play any songs, and they keep others sporadic enough so as to ensure their momentum when they hit. And, we have access to all of them, officially released.

Now to see if I can pull this off for Europe ’72. That’s a much bigger commitment; shows are longer, and there are more of them…..ut oh. But what damn fun.

Sixtus

Just a Little Light! Wish they had more time to develop that one :-(

….. to give me just a little sweetness, just a little light.... wah, wah, wah

The funny thing 80s fan is that I know this release pretty well, but I must fall asleep at the wheel for he's gone and row Jimmy. I will pay attention next time. Greatest Story is tits up. Can I say that here?

I have an extra copy of this gem if anyone is interested in a trade for some other goodies, send me a PM.

Absolutely love these box sets, brings back so many great memories. Agree with all your points Sixtus. These boxes are always in my regular rotation. Love Queen Jane!

...I’ve been looking for quit some time for Daves Pick #5...maybe we could buy/sell/trade together.
I would be gratefully appreciated. 🙏❤️😎
I have sold a lot of my collection to members on this Dead forum, with no problems at all. I won’t list names but i don’t mine if any of them confirm themselves...have a grateful day. Hope to hear from you soon. 🙏🤠

...for some reason today, I was in the mood for some more 80’s, maybe because I enjoyed The Road Trip series 4-4. Spectrum,PA. 4/5-6/82 yesterday. So I’m listening to Daves Pick #27 Boise, ID. 9/2/83 at the BSU Pavilion, Boise State Univeristy. Not the best of the year but I must admit it’s growing on me after repeated listening, one day it just click for me and I pretty much enjoy Jeffery Norman Mix from the Vaults master cassettes of this show that ‘gratefully’ were in A+ condition/Primo😉... Rock on 🙏❤️😎

You haven't got a spare copy of the first 1990 box set knocking about by any chance ?

Sorry, I do not. Just the one, and it is showing some wear. Definitely been used and used.

Check your pm.

Just acquired these digitally....all of them except maybe for the last 2? Let me know my friends if any of you would like some love....happy to provide....send me a pm!

KCJ

December 13, 1969 Grateful Dead/Country Joe and The Fish/Flying Burrito Brothers

The Grateful Dead began a fruitful history with the Swing Auditorium on this day. It being the Dead and all, there's a tape and even some quite amazing photos on the Archive. --- Tickets were $4.00 for this show. The Zeppelin / Jethro Tull show at the Swing was also $4.00

How much is Bobby charging now a days?

To be fair.. that same $4.00 ticket would be worth $16.88 today, accounting for inflation.

Ok.. I concede your point. :D

On the flip side, albums (sorry CD's, sorry Streams.. sorry flacs) are significantly cheaper, adjusted for inflation, then they were in 1977 (which was more or less a peak in album prices, adjusted for inflation, see link below).

http://theunderstatement.com/post/3377858909/album-prices

One man gathers what another man spills....

Edit: I would have killed to be there... I would have paid at least $6, perhaps $7, maybe $8.

Whilst rummaging down the rabbit hole that is Wikipedia I discovered that on September the 11th 1981 a light aircraft crashed into the venue damaging it iraparably, at the same time the dead were playing down the road at the Greek . 😾🙀😾🙀

...spinning September 10th 1991, Madison square garden, NY. with guest performer - Branford Marsalis ! Excellent Mix!!! And Daverock , this is a jazzy concert from start to finish from the band, truly remarkable! The band seems to mend all of their past eras into one beautiful concert, primo😉
🙏❤️😎
Hears are some reviews,

http://gratefuldeadoftheday.com/09-10-1991

http://www.gratefulseconds.com/2017/07/september-10-1991-with-branford-…

Hey man, glad to see you back on this site, I know, those hoops and hollers they make us jump thru to get on are sometimes ridiculous. I also concur your comment ie 12 Dreams, an excellent lp showing the original line up in their best form. I asked Randy about this album long ago, as it was also one of mine (and just about everyone's) favorite back in the day. Being the humble person he was, he said that it was a good time unfortunately, the band had split up by the time the lp had been released, so they just did not get to bask in the revelry of this great music. His worst memory of that time is that they were kept out of the line up for Woodstock. He and Cass so wanted to go but their manager at the time had them scheduled for studio time and did not think it was such a big deal. Boy, was he wrong. They were working on the songs from 12 Dreams when Woodstock went down and can you imagine what would have happened if they had been there? Would have been included in the film and on the lp? They would have been huge and that lp would have went triple platinum for sure. But it was not to be. Talk about a missed opportunity. Can you imagine seeing Randy and Jimi playing together again? That too could have happened as they knew each other very well from back in the day when Randy was the "other" guitar player in Jimi James and the Blue Flames. Now that would have been one hell of a jam.
Daverock, shoot me a pm and your email address, I will hook you up with some killer Randy.

.....LOVE the 9/10/91 show - talk about a full stage how cow.

On my ride in today I pulled out 6/17/91....a personal favorite that blasts out of the gate with that EPIC 16 min+ Eyes of the World...full on Bruce and Jerry dueling...utter sweetness. Then of course they tease the hell out of Dark Star the rest of this show but never actually play it.
Feel the 90's love my friends. FEEL IT!!!

Happy Friday in Deadland
SIxtus

“Re: 90'S
.....LOVE the 9/10/91 show - talk about a full stage how cow.

On my ride in today I pulled out 6/17/91....a personal favorite that blasts out of the gate with that EPIC 16 min+ Eyes of the World...full on Bruce and Jerry dueling...utter sweetness. Then of course they tease the hell out of Dark Star the rest of this show but never actually play it.
Feel the 90's love my friends. FEEL IT!!!”
Happy Friday in Deadland
SIxtus...
...great post SIxtus, I concur my friend. 🙏❤️😎

Popped this one this morning and for me still one of my favorites. Not sure what it is about 73, but I go back to this year a lot.
Probably one of my favorite China-Riders to date and we get a Box of Rain! Jerry is so on throughout entire show. Awesome Eyes and than the two song encore!

sent you a couple of emails, let me know if you got them, more if you want it, just got to figure out how to put it all in an email.

...I also concur Daves Pick #21 is great. Made up for 20th Pick from the 80’s...lol , I love it all..

Buenos Dias Rockeros!

Got them anniversary blues? So much great dead, so little time!
I, like perhaps many of you, often don’t have enough time for proper Dead listening.....blasphemous I know!
So I’ve been using the five year method for a few years now and it seems to help.
I simply follow the below criteria, or not, because some times you just feel like a nut 😉

Generally, for any given calendar day, I take the years in corresponding five year increments; so this year it’s 69, 74, 79, 84, 89, and 94 prioritized accordingly...
1) Officially released shows I was at (especially if one of the above years)
2) Shows I was at from the corresponding years; so again this year its 9’s and 4’s.
3) Official releases from the corresponding years that I was not at.
4) Shows I was at, but not from the corresponding years
5) Offically released shows, but not from the corresponding years
6) any dam thing I want if I have a certain itch to scratch...
This has saved much time (and headaches 😀) figuring out what to listen too, and made anniversary listening much more manageable...perhaps this might help you too?

What ever works, PLAY DEAD!
& Be well folks!

PS, I’m really glad I’m just a dog and not a robot. I was worried there for a minute.

Just digging in....that PotatoLand Theme's some funky shit.....

Thanks Sam!

I played Dr Sardonicus as well last night. I had forgotten what a great album this is-everything about it works, but the incredible guitar sound and playing stand out. Strange how this album, and band, come to that, tend to get overlooked in retrospectives of psychedelic albums and bands of yore.

Yes, it would have been quite something if Spirit had played Woodstock, and Randy California had jammed with Hendrix. Watching the film, you can see Jimi willing Larry Lee to step up and spar with him, but sadly Larry really isn't fit for purpose-although the Hendrix set is still the highlight of the festival for me. Sparks could really have flown had Randy been up there.

Thanks for the offer, Sam-pm to follow.

Just received this the other day. Really like this show 9/25/91. Listening right now to the bonus song 23 minute version of Eyes of the world from 3/31/91.

Almost listened to all of them. I'm putting the whole shows on for these, so it's taking time.

Sunday April 7 - anniversary of the first show of the tour. Time to bust out the Europe '72 Steamer Trunk. One of my favorite Greatest Stories - cool clear water well you can't ever tell - 2x. Go Donna.

A fantastic anniversary show. Today's, from 1991. Love the Bruce. Holy cow hold on tight from the opening Shakedown:

https://archive.org/details/gd1991-04-05.132572.sbd.healy.latvala.wise…

....Including Dick's Picks 17, that one's a doozy and an all-time favorite great call. I still think that the entire Garden 91 run should be released in a wonderful Bruce-infused box.

And Keithfan, as for the Europe 72 trunk, I gave that a once-over last night and also came to the same conclusion that this starts on Sunday. Looks like there's going to be some Greatest Story blasted at 10 a.m. to get things rolling along with the percolating smells of coffee and bacon ummhmmmmm.

Sixtus

4-5-71 Manhattan Center~New York
...only thru The Rub at this point. Just warming up. Fun show.
:O)

And oh boy...that Samson->Eyes from Greensboro '91 is super sweet.

It might be old news but DAP 28 disk#3 replacement is new run with no skips on let it grow or anywhere else. It's good to be heard! Let's rock!!

Is there an echo in here?

Yes.. good call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmlZLnkF0aU

Please release this as Dave's 34, with 3/31-4/1/91 spread across 4 discs. That or gives us a Greensboro box of every Greensboro Coliseum show from 1981-1991. Think it's 7 shows.

Speaking of Echoes, this is a great way to experience it and 2001's final scene.

https://youtu.be/rn7MmS3vazU

That vid. Brings back 1979 when I first heard that tune and was transformed and grew my hair long like gilmour. Funny the things you do when young.

....I rocked a mullet when I was fifteen. Turned it into a rat tail a year later. Lol.

Ha..

Now that I am old and in the grey... the closest I can now get to looking like Gilmour (or Jerry) would necessitate diverting the hair coming out of my nose, eyebrows and ears to my chin and head. On the bright side.. I am convinced there is enough there to pull it off. ..and I can sport a black t-shirt like the best of em.

Senator.. how many times have we told you to put the kibosh on mullet speak during re-election years. Before you know it.. a picture is gonna surface and then what?

35 years ago tonight me and a bud were sitting in the nosebleeds at the Thomas Mack Arena UNLV watching Kareem break the NBA scoring record...the following night we were at The Aladdin Theatre for our 3rd visit to Vegas to see the Boys play...such times such fun...

....good luck with that. I'm all in, however....

Surely the golden age for this jam. It had been around in the preceding years-it crops up during the February run at the Fillmore East 1970-Dicks Picks 4. But it never really grew wings until Keith joined, and its apex for me arrived in 1974. I've just listened to the first set of 3/23/74-great version on there-as ever the linking jam makes it.
In fact, if I was to demonstrate to someone who didn't know about the band, why I liked them-one of these China-Rider jams would serve as a great indicator. The psychedelic song-jazz inspired link-traditional American folk/blues song-pure gold.

My biggest blip with haircuts was a long one. Between the ages of about 30 and 55, I had short back and sides to fit in with the work a day world. I am back to normal now.

Jimbo, that's so weird - I juuuusst "discovered" that Echoes video a couple of weekends ago. I was blown away that such good quality pre-Dark Side footage existed. I don't even recall how I came across it. That song is special for me. In college I knew from Dark Side of the Moon forward, and side 1 of Meddle (what a great start to a record - One of These Days, Pillow Of Winds, Fearless).

I rarely listen to Echoes, to preserve the magic. I remember first hearing it. I was always an experimenter with pot or whatever else in high school, whenever I could get my hands on stuff (which was rare). In my second year of college, I met some really cool guys, two of whom were the first to move out of the dorms and into a rental house off-campus. They had parties a couple of times a week there. After a few weeks I was invited "upstairs" for the first time, and there was pot. It became a regular thing, and we had a huge posse of like-minded individuals. And of course there was music. The Doors had made a huge comeback in the 90s, and Jane's Addiction was breaking out. Jane Says was one of the stoner songs we played a lot, but very early on, they put on Echoes. Of course I dug it immediately, but my one buddy kept telling me to wait for the good part....wait for the good part....and then Gilmour's guitar crescendo came on and I was blissed out by it. The rest of the year we would come back to that house from parties, go up and smoke, and put on "The Echoes". Those times were too short, but I'll never forget them. Thanks for the reminiscence.

daverock - couldn't agree more about China / Rider, although there are a couple of great (but short) renditions on Three From the Vault and Ladies / Gentlemen. I think it did better on one drummer. Phil plays some nice sustained bass notes at the beginning on those two. But they're way too short. Even '72 is beginning to feel too short (5-7 minute range). They were breaking 8 minutes consistently by '73 (China Cat only of course).

I reached for the original May 1977 Box Set this morning. There's a really exciting Scarlet Begonias on 5/13. It's too bad this one was only 7 minutes, because the drums and jamming is very rockish, especially leading up to the wind in the willows verse.

...The sun is shining brightly today, love it! 😎
...August 27th 1972...first pick of the day...🙏
Have s grateful weekend everyone!

Of my first show!
4-6-89

Set 1
https://youtu.be/qhz8YfKE6O0

Set2
https://youtu.be/X7PZHKN51YI

Think I’ll watch it tonight.

I know a few Spirit songs from FM radio in the 80’s but never owned any tapes/albums. Also didn’t know the back story.
So, I watched this last night and my eyes were opened. Bizzaro Hendrix.
That would have been awesome to see them on the stage together. Mirror image guitar playing.
Thanks for the Spirit/Randy talk that got me looking.

https://youtu.be/E_jYkwWjgh8

I tend to agree, Daverock.. If I had someone's attention who had an open mind and wanted an intro to the GD, I might put on something from 72 and then a 73 or 74. You almost can't go wrong with any from this period, and we benefit from many multi-tracks to pull from. Wowwow stuff.

That being said.. I've never met a ChinaRider I didn't like. I like the progression, the changes in arrangement and of course the improvisation and musical discussions back and forth.

Some of the early versions are so creative, historic perhaps. The genesis from which all others came from. I have really been getting into the 74 ones lately, especially those present on the PNW Box, 5/17 PNE and 5/19 Portland being the strongest. The crescendo in the transition is a powerhouse. I think 80sfan was the first to comment on how good these versions were, he was spot on. 2/24/74 is also excellent as is the one from Dicks Picks 12.

But the return on 12/29/77 is amazing too, the transition smooth as silk. By 1980 they had tightened things up considerably and the long, stretched out jam between had been simplified, it was back to the basics.. but it was tight. I might be in the minority, but I really like some of the midi versions in the 89/90 with Copps Coliseum being one of the better versions and the one used in Without a Net is excellent.

All in all, we might have our favorite periods and favorite versions but the fact that this duo changed and evolved so much speaks to why it is so good. The performances of this pair of songs were never meant to be static, it was highly improvisational and the arrangement was clearly written and intended to change and evolve over time. It couldn't have worked any other way and that, to me, is what makes it special. When you hear those opening notes of Chinacat, you never knew what they were going to get into. So Grateful Dead and that's what made it great. I believe these two songs to be as important as Dark Star, The Other One and Playing in the Band.

Cone Kid.. Happy Anniversary.

Before I had cassettes, or when I had hissy cassettes, I would use China/Rider from Europe 72 to try to convert people.
Years later I would use China/Rider from 3-15-90 and all the way through Drums to convert people.

Both methods worked for several people.

Thanks Jimbo.
Low 60’s, partly sunny, heading outside to roast some beans.

I am doing a double batch today myself.. I have been having very good success lately. Now.. what to listen to?? I might just have to spin Portland 74.. high energy, jazzy, psychedelic rock and roll.

Yes, I also would place China Cat-Rider in the same class as The Other One, Dark Star and Playing in the Band as the ultimate vehicles-the place where Bill Grahams statement that -"They are not the best at what they do. They are the only ones that do what they do" can best be evidenced.
Quote may not be exactly accurate- the gist of it is.