During the mid-1970s, the Grateful Dead saga was unfolding like a Greek classic. The Sisyphean Wall Of Sound had nearly broken the band. From it spawned a Medusa head of countless side projects, all deliciously fruitful but woefully not the same as the whole. The chorus lay in wait, pondering the reemergence of their heroes, and wondering if "THE LAST ONE" had really been it...
But in early 1976, Apollonian light and healing would shine upon our intrepid wanderers once again. No more epic battles for the people with cops and lines and tightness, the Dead would return triumphant in smallness, playing intimate theaters and renting equipment along the way. No more ticket scams and greedy promoters, they'd give back with first ever mail-order ticket program, one that had a few kinks to work out but eventually served the fans well.
Musically, June 1976 signaled a Golden Age of harmony and prosperity for the Dead. It marked an Odysseusian-like return for Mickey Hart. Donna Jean was in lock-step with the sirens' call. Jerry and Bob delivered orphic delight with solo musings like "Mission In The Rain" (the only tour they ever played it on), "The Wheel," and "Cassidy," emboldened by group effort. There was fresh repertoire from Blues For Allah, breathing new life to the Dead's continually morphing sound - as Weir once said of the '76 tour, they wanted to play "a little bit of all of it." Old favorites were re-envisioned with cascading tempos and unique sequencing, making the crowd question if they'd ever heard these songs before. And there was comfort and joy in the familiarity of watching the band make it up as they went along. By all means, it was clear that the bacchanalia of live Dead would reign on.
And now the revelry from this epoch, evidenced by the near-studio quality sound captured on two-track live recordings by Betty Cantor-Jackson, lives on, bolstered by Jeffrey Norman's HDCD mastering. It's housed for posterity in a handsome box featuring original art work by Justin Helton. It’s documented in liners by Jesse Jarnow and photos by Grant Gouldon. And it’s ready for a spot on your shelf.
As part of our pre-order for this Dead.net exclusive boxed set, we'll be delivering downloads of each listening party - one for each show included in JUNE 1976 - to purchasers from now until the March 20th release. Order at any time before release and you'll receive all the listening parties to date.
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 12,000
What's Inside:
- 5 Previously Unreleased Complete Shows On 15 Discs
- Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/10/76
- Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA 6/11/76
- Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/14/76
- Beacon Theatre, New York, NY 6/15/76
- Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ 6/19/76
- Sourced from Two-Track Master Tapes, Recorded By Betty Cantor-Jackson
- Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
- Restoration and Speed Correction by Plangent Processes
Yes, that is a nice looking Box
And just the right size.
Notice that it was Box 00010.
Cream
I'm blasting that new Cream live box that just dropped (on another front porch here in Denver) and it's fantastic! The first three concerts, all recorded in California in October 1968 have pristine live mix/sound. Hey, I was born in October 1968 so call me biased, but...
The last show, the actual Cream Goodbye concert from November, London, doesn't have as good of sound. Sounds more like The Who did in that era, very raw.
Some of this has been released before, but it never sounded this good. Highly recommended to Cream fans!
\m/
Amen on The Cream box
I have only played the first 2 cds from the Cream box, and they are the best sounding live Cream recordings I have ever heard. The playing on both cds is superb, with much jamming - the second one, 10/19/68 is really powerful. The book and overall presentation are also excellent.
Curiously, on the Steve Hoffman Forum there is much chin stroking about DR ratings, something I have never heard of before. Apparently DR in this context refers to dynamic range, and there are ratings given on the forum for each disc this ones a 7, that ones a 9 etc. The 4th disc gets the lowest rating. Seems a bit absurd to me...some people must be able to hear better than bats.
Does size matter?????
I like the different shapes and sizes of these box set releases. Variety. Yet to each his own.
Having said the above, this box set is another beauty to behold and "scratches the itch" very, very well.
Just announced....
....nugs.net will stream the Bob Weir and Wolf Bros Nashville show tomorrow for free. Tornado relief benefit.
Beautiful Box
The initial pics here were so monochromatic.. the box revel is in technicolor.
Foil Box....
....thats what I'm gonna call it.
Size doesn't matter. Ask Mrs Vguy.
Mr Tyner
Sorry to hear that. One of the early Blue Note albums I had, Time for Tyner. Just had it out not long ago. Love African Village. Since I had the musical Oklahoma memorized, had to love Surrey with the Fringe. Followed by a My Fair Lady hit. The odd thing for me, since I don't know a lot of people who listen and would know his name, was years later Bob talking about Tyner's left hand
Might want to catch
I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea, but, if you have hulu, look for Gilbert Godfried Dirty Jokes. For 50 minutes he runs thru every old dirty joke, all the old Jew jokes and jokes I knew from 4th grade. This is some sick shit, not for the faint of heart. The last marathon joke had me in tears. Like I said and be forewarned NOT FOR EVERYONE.
garcialive 13
just got email from amazon on this. They have no page up for, nor does the Jerry site. Anyone have any words?
Garcia Live 13
You must be in a different space time Dennis.. I get all those Amazon emails for anything GD related and nothing is in my box.
What show is it supposed to be?
Nothing much going on today and the weather is in between anything optimal for outdoor activities.. but I need to get out so that leaves a simply hike up the mountain. ..now what to play?? I did the optimum part of 7/9/89 Giants Stadium over the last couple days.. I might just take the plunge into the next night 7/10. I am getting a lot more out of that box than I ever thought I would. Jeffrey Norman is a Jedi master (no disrespect meant to the other jedi masters says the guy that named all his children and all my pets Charlie Miller).
@Sixtus & Jeffsmith
Mucho thanks to Sixtus for the fine 12 volume mash ups he made and thanks to Jeff for making them available again....Frankenstein at it's best....
garcialive 13
GarciaLive Volume 13: September 16th, 1989 Poplar Creek Music...
$15.98
Garcia Live 13
ahh.. that's right. I did get that announcement probably from someone here. I just forgot. I've got Oldandinthewaysheimers.
All this Garcia Band talk
Made me pull out Jerry Garcia Collection Volume 1, Legion of Mary CD.. I enjoy the combo during this time period, of Merl Saunders, Ron Tutt, Martin Fiero , and John Kahn... after this going with the Let it Rock Show, Volume 2... I like Nicky Hopkins and this November 17 and 18, 1975 CD is so much better than the new years show from 1975 when they just quit singing..... Remember when it was being released they even said it wasn't that good.... still bought it... bob t
Went with JGB 5-21-76 this morning
Half way through Set 2, got 2 cups of coffee in me, and it’s now afternoon already......
Should I have a 3rd cup of coffee?...
7/5/73 Lions Share
Really good Second that Emotion.... Detoured here instead of Let it Rock shows from November of 1975!!! Garcialive Volume 6
Moving away from MMW & BOC....
....into Umphreys McGee territory. Another impressive band.
Last five....
Umphreys - Its You
Marillion - Fugazi
GOGD - Denver '73 RT
BOC - The Revolution By Night
Cowboy Junkies - Lay It Down
Last 5
JGB - 5/21/76 One of my favorite JGB releases.
Frank Sinatra - Ultimate Sinatra, greatest hits, cool stuff when you're in the right mood.
Grateful Dead - DP18 2/3/78, 2/5/78, hadn't listened to his one in awhile but when JiminMD talked up the Brown Eyed Women I thought I would revisit it. That whole release is hot.
The Police - Outlandos D'Amour, when I hear Roxanne sometimes I flash on Eddie Murphy singing it in 48 hours. Good stuff.
Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions. Really clicked on Great Expectations on this listen.
Sunshine daydream
That naked dude behind Jerry at veneta concert still gives me nightmares whenever I see it. Who ever put the link to that t-shirt with that dude dancing with the post just started the nightmares again. It would not be so bad if the dude was just standing there but the facial expressions and gyrating on the post was just over the top.
Vguy/ Denver 73/ jokes
Vguy, that Denver 73 show is a winner from start to finish, I really dig the Warf Rat! Thank you for all the great jokes you tell, everybody I tell them to loves them. I 've been reading on this site since day one, your jokes are the best.
Grimms Fairy Tales
I'm still not sure about 15 cds from 1976, whatever it looks like. But my eyes lit up at the mention of Grimm's Fairy Tales. The edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham is like a portal into another world.
Grimm's Fairy Tales and the new Box Set artwork.
I was thinking something similar but The Book of Kells was coming to mind for me without the saintly figures. This new box is a real beauty to behold. In fact all of these releases have their charms and we are, well, blessed to have them. They really do bring me some true joy. The sound and the art!
Thanks Carlo13....
Thanks a lot! You had to bring up the naked pole guy, when I'd managed to bury the memory.
Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ya just can't un-see that one, eh?
Now I'll have to watch it again and FACE THE MUSIC. (Or the nakedness, the expressions. Oy!)
Winterland 74 Blu Ray
I still love this release. Preaching to the choir I know.
I watched the bonus songs/making of the DVD recently. Interesting stuff. Dave talks about they have enough material for another release. Man, let's make that happen. Really interesting to hear Jeffrey Norman discuss his process for mixing the tapes, using one of Jerry's old amps and cleaning up the sound. Just compare this release with the original release Steal your Face. Hard to compare. Jeffrey Norman does unbelievable work to make this music sound so damn good.
Keep it coming!
Pulled out 10/8/89 yesterday and it sounded even better than the last time I listened to it.
Dead Sunday
Weather's great here, I am getting out and putting the headphones on and just walking until my legs fall off.
I really like the unboxing video. I think the artwork is great. I don't think we're going to have any problems with CDs coming loose during shipping. The box is reminiscent of the original May 1977 design, and those individual cases for each concert come packed tightly enough to keep everything in place I believe. This is really going to be a nice treat. All the better because there was such a short duration between announcement time and delivery time. IThis thing's going to be here in 2 weeks!
Carlo, I hear you man. "Poll Guy" is some tough competition. No doubt a sign of the times, and historical accuracy is a good thing, but I'm pretty sure there's enough space on that Blu-ray to deliver an alternate version that CGI's him out. I mean really, it's embarrassing; every time I put that video on my wife has to make a comment about how lucky his girlfriend is.
https://images.app.goo.gl/CRAbJVJHGRP93ic97
P.S. - forgot what prompted me to check into dead.net at the moment - the December 14, 1971 Big Railroad Blues. Yessir, it's a doozie. I pretty much like anything from Autumn '71, so I was pretty stoked to get back to back bonus disc shows from this period in 2017 / 2018. But even that being said, these shows continue to grow on me. And that's saying a lot for not having a Dark Star anywhere in the mix.
we were driving down Highway 1…
we were driving down Highway 1 from Big Sur to Los Osos Ranger Station (was working for the Cal Div of Forestry) outside of San Luis Obispo when we heard the news about Pigpen on the radio...they started to play Easy Wind so we fired one up in his honor...at the time I had no idea how ill he was and that the Hollywood Bowl show we were at the previous June was his last hurrah...Sail on Brother Pig....
Pole guy /stop the madness
Can't we crop him out and put a go-go dancer in....
Oh shit I just threw up in my mouth a little when I briefly thought of him as a male go-go dancer on the pole. I'm now going to kill myself. Good bye cruel world.
5/13/77 Chicago Auditorium Set 1
I really wish they didn't edit all the banter before The Music Never Stopped to open the first set!! Here is one out of the blue, related to Deadvikes Oct 74 post... Drove to the store last night and Tomorrow is Forever popped up on Sirius from 10/19/74... For not playing that song for over 2 years it sounds amazing!!! It is my favorite version they ever did!! Never thought i would be posting my favorite version of Tomorrow is Forever on here!!!! bob t
Awe Of Sound
Here are some really great photos I've never seen of the Mighty Wall Of Sound. I haven't read the article yet but I'm sure it's good.
https://designyoutrust.com/2020/03/amazing-vintage-photos-of-the-gratef…
Thank you Keithfan
Great photos
I am so glad we have the recordings
Re: Awe of Sound
My Windows 10 machine did not like that link.. I'd stay away from those wall of sound pictures. Something seems fishy with that site.
Did anyone else have trouble with that one?
Listening with new ears
It's been a hectic weekend here in East Central MD. Got the Cream box, but have only been able to listen to the first 2 discs. Absolutely fantastic stuff!! But a comment DAVEROCK made really pricked up my ears, concerning being so familiar with released stuff that hearing different versions was a reminder of how familiar we are with the released versions.
I was particularly thinking of my experience with the Dead. I only knew songs from the L.P.'s until almost 2 decades later. I flashed back to the first time I heard Looks Like Rain. It blew my mind, I just remember being floored with what a great song it was. Same thing with The Stranger, fantastic!! Part of it was the newness, but the performances were great also.
This applies also to covers such as It's A Man's, Man's World, It's All Over now, and the aforementioned Tomorrow Is Forever, and so many more.
As a child, I could only afford a new record maybe once a month, so I played my albums over and over and over. I was familiar with every note and scratch!!
Hearing these Cream recordings was similarly mind-blowing. I know the songs, but I've never heard them sound like this before, they're so well recorded. Brilliant!!
My favorite bit so far is about 9 minutes into Spoonful on disc 2. I was listening with headphones and thought I heard a voice(my wife maybe??). I kept hearing it and could finally make out that the announcer was trying to get people to sit down!! Hey kids, no standing or dancing at this rock 'n' roll concert!! The band goes very quiet for a few moments, finally just Clapton lightly picking. And then......they're back and blasting off again. So good.
Finally, and this is unrelated but a friend of mine passed away from cancer a few days ago. Whoever had his phone texted me just 2 words--He's Gone. These people do NOT know the Grateful Dead!!
So I was wondering if any of you could suggest your favorite version. I played the Europe '72 version, and have many, many others, but would love to hear from you guys.
Thanks, and sorry this is so long.
Re: Mister Ones
I'm terrible at best versions.. but I will say I like the jam out of He's Gone from Englishtown 77 a lot which I think is still considered part of He's Gone. Call it an ascension jam.
Mr Ones/He's Gone
Mr Ones, my favorite is 9/11/81 at the Greek Theatre. I was at this show . If I had one show and one show only to go back and see, out of all the shows I' ve seen, this would be the one. Repeat the whole evening with everything included, this is my favorite.
@Mr. Ones
I'm sorry for your loss....I have a friend that was just diagnosed. F--- cancer.
If you're looking for a good He's Gone, I would recommend 3/26/87. Aged Garcia laying it down, and the board mix is incredible. Fantastic matrix that keeps the instruments and vocals crisp, but includes enough audience to plant you there. Great hair-raising version from the later years.
Keep on keepin' on!
He's Gone
Mr Ones - I am also very sorry to read of your loss. It seems to me that the older I get, the more I have to absorb and adapt to loss. When I was younger, if someone of my generation died, it felt like a freak accident. Now it is woven into the fabric of everyday life.
I couldn't say with great confidence what my favourite version of He's Gone is...but there are a couple of beautiful ones in the 73/74 box, 6/22/73 and 6/26/73. I like these due to the jams that come out of them and on into "Truckin". It feels as though the ""He's Gone" is a gentle reflection on loss , and that this then transforms into acceptance, simply carrying on, and then moves into celebration with "Truckin". The jams go on into "The Other One" on both nights. Which take things further out again.
That Cream box is great. The sound quality dips a bit on the 4th cd at The Royal Albert Hall. But the playing is incendiary. Could any other rock group jam like this in 1968? Answers on a postcard......
He's Gone
On Sundays I normally like to catch up on my jazz. Yesterday I caught up on McCoy Tyner, one of those cats who I certainly was familiar with, but hadn't listened to enough.
Last five, McCoy Tyner edition:
1) Inception. His first LP for Impulse. Not as 'out there' as his later stuff, but one can see that he wasn't just another bop piano player. 9.9/10
2) Today and Tomorrow. His next one after Inception. More straight ahead and traditional, probably a good one to start with if you haven't listened to him much. 9.5/10
3) The Real McCoy. Probably his most well known album, and not for nothing. Freaking tremendous. 13.7 /10.
4) Tender Moments. His next one for Blue Note after The Real McCoy. 100% certain that at some point over the weekend at a gastropub in Park Slope, Brooklyn there was a beard-stroking hipster explaining to his date that "actually Tender Moments is even better than The Real McCoy" but we don't hear as much about it because the DNC hates Bernie Sanders, or something. 13.7 / 10.
(She's not going out with you again, Dylan. Can I borrow your beard trimmer?)
5) Sahara.
OMFG stop whatever you are doing and listen to this album. It is incredible. Although its named for a famous desert, in my mind it conjured images of a sea storm, with massive waves crashing into a rocky shore, over and over. Ferocious, and chaotic, but with an underlying rhythmic pulse holding things together. This is the music of the only man on Earth who could hang with Coltrane for hour long jams.
1,677,412 / 10.
Mr Ones, sorry for your loss man. Been a lot of that going around. Dicks # 1 is my definitive He's Gone, maybe just because I've heard it more times than others.
wall of sound pics
Like Panama Red I just breezed right in. I had no problems, Malwarebytes didn't complain>