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    A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear. - Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell, Owsley Stanley Foundation

     

    With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43. The two virtually complete performances from San Francisco 11/2/69, Live At Family Dog At The Great Highway, and from Dallas 12/26/69, McFarlin Auditorium, are complementary in their clarity and consistency thanks to Bear himself, and in their ability to foreshadow where the Dead were headed in the years to come. If the two killer 20-minute+ "Dark Stars" don't get ya, how about the Pigpen-centric sets featuring "Midnight Hour," "Next Time You See Me," "Big Boss Man," "Good Lovin'," and the once-lost-now-found complete rendition of "Dancing In The Streets," or the first full acoustic set ever performed? And we're certain you'll be fascinated to uncover the "Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes" as told by Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell in the liners.

     

    Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43 was recorded by Owlsey "Bear" Stanley and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

     

    *2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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  • LedDed
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    Not a prince...

    Prince Rogers Nelson achieved great success in entertainment. He was known for having multiple bodyguards in public at all times and being standoffish and unapproachable to fans as well as often maintaining unwanted contact with other celebrities.

    He had talent to be sure - his guitar soloing on that famous take of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," with Tom Petty, Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynne etc. is the stuff of legend.

    He always came across to me as creepy and a little bit of a prick. Also, in his music, he could not produce a drum sound to save his life - and ultimately, he didn't. Thin and tinny - tit tit tit tat tit his percussion always went.

    Prince wasn't for me and he never will be although millions disagree and that is their choice.

    \m/

  • bluecrow
    Joined:
    David Kemper interview

    fascinating interview with Kemper published yesterday at Rolling Stone

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    There is indeed the factor tbat Prince...

    rocked the androgeny thing

    But then so did MickJagger sometimes
    And David Bowie
    And a whole lotta glam rockers

    In any case, it was not pretty.

    And Prince obviously did not let it hinder his career.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Thinking about it, though

    Was the reason that Prince was booed because he was black-or was it more the music he and his band played, and the way it was presented? Reason I wonder this, is that when I saw The Stones in 1973, Billy Preston played a set in support with no problem. And in 1982, Black Uhuru were one of the support bands, and they went down really well. On the Stones 1969 tour of America, both Ike and Tina Turner and B.B King were on the bill-and I have never read that they had any problems with the crowds.
    Personally, I like B.B.King and Ike and Tina - Black Uhuru were okay - Prince I have never really cared for. Not that I would have booed him, obviously -I'd have been really interested in what he was like live if I'd come across him by chance.

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    Re 10 9 81 and being booed off stage

    I went to the show with my friend Chris was a big Prince fan even then. He turned in to a lot of music such as New York Dolls and a whole bunch of Zappa plus other stuff.

    If you had to categorize him, he would qualify as Black. I say that because of Crow's observation of "we want White people playing Black music". I dont recall his thoughts on the rejection of Prince and his band.

  • proudfoot
    Joined:
    Crow told me

    You said it just exactly perfect.

  • Vguy72
    Joined:
    Well damn....

    ....those '80's rockers can still rock. Very impressed with Poison and Def Leppard. Crue and Jett were pretty good too. I will say that the sound was incredible though. Neat little thing they did. I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke and thought, "who lit that?", then Crue broke into Smoking In The Boys Room. Then the cigarette smell was gone. Some olfactory sense trick??
    Tommy Lee did get a few girls to show off their boobs too.
    Everyone had a blast, but my son was ready to leave after four hours lol.
    Rock on 🤘

  • daverock
    Joined:
    surrounded by idiots

    It's a horrible feeling, being in a crowd that starts booing or throwing things at someone on stage. My worst memory of that was at Reading Festival, 1977. Both Jayne County ( Wayne as she was then) and a reggae band, whose name escapes me, got bottled off because they didn't meet the white hard rock template. It was an intolerant era, and if someone didn't like the look of you...bosh.
    Many years later, at a Blues Festival, both Courtney Pine and then group of gospel singers got rough treatment for daring to be different.
    Curiously, I looked at the bands who played at Reading in 1977, and apparently Kingfish were scheduled to play on the first day. We arrived way too late to have caught them.. so that was something of a missed opportunity.

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    I want to paint it black

    Yeah Crow, similar unfortunately less than ideal experience with the Stones.
    Might of been 78? Definitely around 1980, Rich Stadium, no clue who else was on the bill?
    Honestly, we weren’t big fans, probably still too young to really get their deal?
    Anyway, kinda funny to say now after what happened to Dead Land, but we went mostly to party in the lot and in those days about the time all the openers were finished and basically just after the main act came on you could just waltz right in without a ticket.
    But the sound was so atrocious that you couldn’t tell what they were playing half the time! Loud and bad, is not good…I believe that’s the only concert outta hundreds, thousands? that I ever walked out on, and it was free!
    Unfortunately this soured me and my pigheaded young peanut from ever going to see the Stones again : (
    So remember boys and girls: God Is Sound!
    ALL HAIL John, Dan, Don, Howard etc, those Ultrasound folks were Gods!

    EDIT: ooopps forgot, I have a PBS recording on the DVR that I haven’t watched yet of the Feat, the current lineup, playing Columbus. Can’t comment since I’ve not watched it yet but just an FYI to keep an eye out…

  • Crow Told Me
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    Shadooby ... Shattered, Shattered

    I was at that 10.9.81 show. One of my worst concert experiences, actually.

    It could've been epic. I was living in NorCal, got a call from a friend down South who said he had extra tix for the Stones gig, did we wanna come down? In those days, the answer to questions like that was always yes, even if it meant we would have to leave now and drive all night to be there. So we did. We drove 400 some miles in the Magic Bus (my roomie's VW van), got to our friend's apartment at about 3am, where there was a party raging. Everybody decided to head over to the Coliseum and get in line. So we did. Eventually got inside and had a decent spot on the grass, where I lay me down to sleep for a while, finally, before the show started.

    Woke up when Prince started his set. He's getting booed from the get go. I had no idea who he was, and was in no condition to make any judgments, just wanted to find a bathroom and maybe a coffee. Coffee? Hell, no. My friend's got something a little more potent. I snort a spoonful of it and as my neurons suddenly snap into action and the whole ugly scene comes into focus. The band's Black. The crowd's white. They're throwing shit, booing. A Stones roadie comes out and scolds them. Says something like, "this is who the Stones wanted to open the show, if you don't dig it, at least show some respect." They didn't show some respect. They kept throwing shit till Prince stopped playing, maybe halfway through his set. A really horrible moment, because it definitely felt like these people where fine with Black music, as long as it was played by white people.

    Thorogood, playing his bar band blues, was much better received. As was J Geils with their white boy R&B schtick. The Stones, I have to say, were bad. I saw them four times, and this was by far the weakest performance. Sound was horrible, and the band was so untogether it was hard to figure out what song they were playing.

    "Dude, is this Shattered?"

    "I think it's Get Off My Cloud. No, wait, it's When the Whip Comes Down. Isn't it?"

    I thought maybe my memory of the event was overly negative, perhaps fueled by my relative unfamiliarity with the Great God Speed, but just a couple weeks ago I spent time with an old friend who had also been there. He remembered it pretty much the same way: Bad vibes, bad show. Sometimes that's how it goes.

    Finally cooling off today after a week of 110F. Praise ye gods! Last five:

    Little Feat: Waiting for Columbus
    TTB: I am the Moon (vinyl finally arrived!)
    Kamasi Washington: Heaven and Earth
    Sly and the Family Stone: Live at the Fillmore
    Prince: Sign o the Times

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A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear. - Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell, Owsley Stanley Foundation

 

With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43. The two virtually complete performances from San Francisco 11/2/69, Live At Family Dog At The Great Highway, and from Dallas 12/26/69, McFarlin Auditorium, are complementary in their clarity and consistency thanks to Bear himself, and in their ability to foreshadow where the Dead were headed in the years to come. If the two killer 20-minute+ "Dark Stars" don't get ya, how about the Pigpen-centric sets featuring "Midnight Hour," "Next Time You See Me," "Big Boss Man," "Good Lovin'," and the once-lost-now-found complete rendition of "Dancing In The Streets," or the first full acoustic set ever performed? And we're certain you'll be fascinated to uncover the "Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes" as told by Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell in the liners.

 

Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43 was recorded by Owlsey "Bear" Stanley and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. Grab a copy while you can.

 

*2 per order. Very limited quantity available.

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11 years 2 months

In reply to by Oroborous

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the elation for this and for hints at what else remains in the vault.

Just what the doc ordered!

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fans got their wish.
2 Dark Stars and plenty-o-pig.
Sounds good to me!
Cheers

Edit: Non-subscribers (Daverock?) better jump on this fast. Certainly one that will sell out in a day.
1300 Owsley reels in the vault did it say? A HUGE virtually untapped source.

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I like Owsley's technique. That'll do, Pig.

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2 years 6 months
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just what I wanted. 2 shows from1969,. Thanks Dave, keep them comming.

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9 years 7 months
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Dave - You had us at Pig. A real nice release, and Owsley sound, too! (Blushing)

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9 years 10 months
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It took 8 years, but I finally guessed the right shows. Nevermind that I included the Boston Tea Party trio.

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10 years 3 months
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I'll take this one, thank you very much!!

Oro, you either get primal or you get Pig. I'm very pleased with this one. Did not see that coming.

Woo-hoo!

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In reply to by That Mike

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Sweet release for DaP43!

"With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43."

just want to highlight ". . . some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including . . ."

pray tell what other mysteries are there in the banana boxes?? to be continued.

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In reply to by bluecrow

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I think Dave was worried about a riot.. we forced his hand on this one.

I'm looking much more forward to this than the box set. No offense meant.. but this looks sweet to me.

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Beyond stoked about this DaP. There doesn't seem to be a track listing yet, but given the description (not one but TWO 20-minute-plus Dark Stars, AND plenty of Pig?) this promises to be epic. Audio quality is likely to be outstanding, given that it was recorded by Bear and evidently stored in a banana box for 50+ years.

Wonder what else is in those banana boxes? Guys, if you find any blue tablets, you should probably forward them to me for safe disposal.

The MSG box? Not sure I need 17 discs worth of '80s, so I'll probably just go for the breakout set from 3/9/81. I have to admit, this release makes me a little sad, because it makes me think that now it's going to be years, maybe longer, before they do the Berkeley Greek 1980s box some of us have been longing for. Can't see 'em doing two venue-centric '80s boxes in close succession.

And just btw: don't get Covid, if you can help it. Went on a business trip (got to go to NOLA, at least), came home and got sick. Despite being vaxed and boosted, it was sucky week. Not the end of the world, but pretty sucky. I mention this in the hope that it'll encourage others to be vaxed and be careful: that fucking virus is still out there. Be well.

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12 years 5 months
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Its so good to be wrong!!!!!! I thought for sure Dave would venture into the 80's the 60's are not the 80's. By the way I'm digging the gray hoodie, very understated.

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4 years 2 months
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I had jumped off of the subscription bandwagon almost as soon as I got on, after the disappointing DaP31. This year I reluctantly hopped on again because I liked the Baltimore show and absolutely salivated over the Winterland ‘74 with bonus disk. I was resigned to getting a throwaway ‘80s show this time around. Nope. I am virtually in tears as I type this, and best of all I have no worries of this one selling out because it’s already been ordered. It’s a beautiful day.

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I haven't browsed Deadbase yet to see if these shows are listed or the setlists, which I imagine are similar to others from the era. I also wonder if having been stored in sealed boxes all these years if they are uncirculated? That's always a nice surprise.

I'm a lifetime subscriber since the beginning. Glad to see Dave mixing it up.

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In reply to by SPACEBROTHER

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The sound on the archive is good.. assuming Latvala took a little peeksy into the banana boxes and shared. I'd still like to take partial credit for guessing Dave's 43 would be sourced using returned reels from the late 60's. I think I posted something to that effect a week or two ago.

Very glad to see these shows come to light. They seem to be very special, at least to these ears.

Enjoy people.. This one goes out to Hendrix Freak.. if there's a more enthusiastic 60's and fall 1972 person out there.. I'd like to buy her/him a drink and shake their hand.

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Jim!!

That would be me. Strong coffee will do, looking forward to the handshake...........

Did anybody think my obsession was limited to 1971?!! OMFW!!!

The dice of Zeus always fall luckily.

Rock on,

Doc
Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust......

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11/2 does not circulate, no set list
12/26 Circulates, Zephyr opened-acoustic set without Bill

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In reply to by wissinomingdeadhead

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not in Deadbase but SBD source of 11/2/69 is on relisten

not that i've heard it. includes a "classic suite" DS > SS > 11 > DDHNM

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In reply to by wissinomingdeadhead

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Strong Coffee I've got! Doc you are equally enthusiastic of the old stuff. Check your PM.

As for 11/2, it looks like a copy of this was seeded to the Archive back in 2004 and a more complete version appeared in 2009.. so someone had them. I'm going to head to the attic right now and see what's in all the banana boxes stashed in the corner.

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Who is the 4 fingered gal on the cover? Interesting that they did not go for a female skeleton.

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10 years 2 months
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This is great news Dave,its going to be well worth the wait, none of us are getting any younger,I'm looking forward to having this in my grubby little mitts in August.

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I'm a big fan of DaP 6 12/20/69 and 2/2/70 with 12/21/69 bonus disc with its two Dark Stars, DaP 30 1/2-3/70 with its great setlists capped off by that massive Dark Star> St Stephen> The Eleven> Lovelight, and DaP 10 12/12/69 and bonus from 12/11/69 scratches a similar itch, but I gravitate to the bonus disc for the whole Dark Star> St Stephen> The Eleven> Cumberland Blues, That's It For The Other One> Cosmic Charlie, because that's just fantastic. And now we add these two shows to that collection. Nonplussed on the box, but I reckon I'll likely get it sometime prior to release. The setlists are quite good, and only one Little Red Rooster.

Just listened to the Little Sadie and High Time in the Listening Party on my tablet speakers, and quite liked it. Jerry is in fine fettle.

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Sounds like an oxymoron to me, but who cares!! It’s primal 1969, JUST before 1970, which we ALL(well, almost all) have been clamoring for!! I simply CANNOT WAIT to unwrap this and push play!!

Thanks Dave, Music is the Best!!

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I will take a GD sbd from the '60s ANY day of the week, and the Dallas show has long been one of my favorites. I'm VERY glad that it's being released and that 11-2 show is no slouch although I've never heard it complete and never in this kind of sound quality either. I'm very happy these shows were chosen, can't wait to get my hands (and ears) on them. Thanks once again to Dave, Dick, Bear and the whole GD family.

Jeffrey Norman works for the GD and also the OSF, which has been digitizing Bear's 1300 reels. OSF is about two-thirds done with digitizing so possibly ~400 reels to go. Probably that's what Norman was doing.

Meanwhile, only weeks to go until two unique '69 shows are in our hands.

I'll have to quiet down for a while about NINETY SIXTY-EIGHT, just because Dave gave us a nice dose of late '69.

Heh heh heh... we don't need any contests here, this whole crowd is foaming at the mouth for this release. Jim, you sure know how to get folks riled up. (What the hell are "banana boxes"?)

In fact, the good doctor and I had often discussed how early, short shows shouldn't stop Dave from putting two together to meet the DaP three-disc rule. Here we are.

A good shout out to all who made the past couple months on this forum worthwhile with good discussions of literatue and music. I only have about 7-8 books to read and tall stack of CDs to listen to, as a result.

And thanks to Dave L. for an inspired choice. (I'm getting the 3-9-81 show and leaving the box alone, but sure wish I can get my hands on 3-10-81 at some point...)

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7 years 1 month
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Its about time, one worth opening.

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In reply to by TJPD2

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ask any supermarket for them, very sturdy, heavy duty cardboard, great for storage. Not entirely closed, usually an opening at top and bottom. Check recent shipments for tarantula hitchhikers. Shucks, no release listening party for the 60s bunch at Jim's bear battered beer caches?

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Oh myyyyy! I don't post very often here, but I've been watching the discussion/speculation on DP 43 for months. I figured DP43 would be 1980s for sure (hello, box set) and in that regards I was hoping for a 1985 release. I didn't dare hope for '68-'69. I'm glad to be wrong!

I've never heard either of these shows - super excited for this release. I keep various Fall '69 rips in my car - 10/25, Dick's Picks 16, the DaP 6 Bonus Disc - so it's going to be nice to change things up. This time I even went and bought an extra copy so that I can wow somebody who will only realize what they've missed out on when they are sitting in my passenger seat. That's ~$40 well-spent. @Dave thanks buddy, this kinda drop is what keeps me subscribing year after year.

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In reply to by Obeah

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totally awesome

Daves in a (banana) box

loooooove it

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Didn't know about the Dallas show. Double 1969 goodness - how sweet it is!

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What I have:
Cold Rain
Midnight Hour
Seasons (this song is unknown to me, a first)
Mama Tried
Next Time You See Me
Good Lovin'
Big Boss Man
Casey Jones
Dancin'
Dark Star>St. Stephen>The Eleven>Death Don't

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I have this one archived in my cassette collection. Saw many shows at this venue. Great acoustics.

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Just looked up the setlists for these and saw Dave for once way undersold the length of the two Dark Stars, one 30, the other 24! Nice. But how about I've Been All Around This World? Always loved it from hearing the Garcia Grisman version, so stoked to see it's on here wih Little Sadie. Such a treat to hear Jerry sing these in such a strong voice. Now to avoid listening to the whole shows for three more weeks...

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11 years 7 months
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I know it makes me not a ‘head’
But no

Pig’s “white boy blues” makes wants me want to barf every time.
Hahaha i hear him open his mouth and it’s like I want to jump off a cliff

I hear somebody brag about a “half hour Lovelight” ?
Thanks, I know exactly what show to skip. 

Seriously no

ughhhh

We can all jam and no despite I hate it I’m not selling to at cost hahahah

There are people out there.

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16 years 7 months
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...deadhead but certainly a fool of high caliber. I agree with the Lovelights...sometimes, but damn take that tone and put it in the garbage where it belongs. The provenance alone of these tapes is enough to get my brain drooling and my ears lubed up.

Looks like they've reconnected the modem at the asylum. Nurse Ratchet must be on her first vacation in a few decades. 😬

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For those of you wondering why artist Matt J. Adams included her, have a look at the cover of "Live/Dead".

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…Oh Boy! 2 (two) “Primo” Primal Dead performances in one release (Pick)
“There’s Nothen left to do but Smile Smile Smile!” I’m as happy as a Pig in Mud! Lol ! 🤠
Have a grateful day my brothers and sisters.
there’s not a better feeling than having grateful fans dig’n The continuing Amazing Artworks involved year after year! Love it!
Take care folks , have a grateful day!
🙏❤️💀🌹

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