Grateful Dead May 1977 Box (Digital)

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May 6, 2013 - 10:22am

955 replies

lilgoldie

Joined:
April 3, 2009

What's Inside:
• Five Complete Shows
• 5/11/77 St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN
• 5/12/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
• 5/13/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
• 5/15/77 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO
• 5/17/77 University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
•14 Discs, 111 tracks
•Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman, Plangent Processes playback system for maximum sonic accuracy
•Artwork by Grammy Award-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike
•Period Photos by James R Anderson
•Historical Essay by Steve Silberman
•Individual show liner notes

MAGICAL, MYTHICAL MAY 1977!

If you're a Dead Head, chances are you've spent many an hour expounding upon the distinction of May 8, 1977, Cornell University, Barton Hall. Well, at the risk of preaching to the choir, we'd like to reintroduce you to a series of shows that matches said greatness from that same gloriously fertile season. While Barton Hall is well known, the astounding tour that surrounded it has occasionally flown under the radar due to the uneven quality of tapes in circulation. May 1977 is set to change all of that with a boxed set that zeroes in on this high-water mark in the Grateful Dead's long strange trip.

For a band resurrecting itself after a 20-month hiatus, there was a great frenzy of expectancy that surrounded the Spring of 1977. We anticipate a grand reoccurrence of this fervor with the release of May 1977, a 14-disc boxed set featuring five complete shows from consecutive stops on that magical tour. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, the "psychoacoustic phenomena" as Jerry once put it, of St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11) Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15) and Coliseum at the University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17) can now finally be appreciated. Each of these shows finds the Dead delivering punchier, more focused sets, tightening up the framework; each night turning out first-ever renditions ("Passenger,""Iko Iko,""Jack-A-Roe"), unloading potent new pairings ("Scarlet Begonias">"Fire On The Mountain", "Estimated Prophet">"Eyes Of The World"), classic covers ("Dancing In The Street") and soon-to-be staples ("Estimated Prophet," "Samson and Delilah"), and ultimately rising up to paradise.

And now for the nitty-gritty...

Due June 11, May 1977 is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies. Presented in a psychedelic box that boasts an intricate die-cut design created by Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike, the set also includes a book filled with stories about each show, as well as an in-depth essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman, who delves deep into the history behind the tour and the band’s return from its extended hiatus.

Once these 15,000 boxes are gone, May 1977 and its shows will never be available again on CD. However, the 111 tracks will be made available on release date as FLAC and Apple lossless full-set-only downloads for $99.98.

Like its predecessors Europe '72: The Complete Recordings and Spring 1990, we expect May 1977 to sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here and on Facebook.com/GratefulDead and Youtube.com/gratefuldead.

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May 7, 2013 - 4:15pm

#851

stoltzfus

Joined:
January 13, 2010

at least the GD made an attempt to mix it up

you're gonna get some repetition with 6 consecutive shows. If they did totally different songs every night, I'm sure someone wouldn't have liked that. "I haven't heard BEW in years".
May 7, 2013 - 4:11pm

#852

stoltzfus

Joined:
January 13, 2010

ACROSS THE FREAKIN' RIO GRAN-DE-O

yummy (a la Ace Ventura). claney, thanks for the stats. also, you made me laugh with your "May 5 - 9 aren't in the vault" rant.
May 7, 2013 - 3:01pm

#853

evgraham

Joined:
January 19, 2011

Unreal

People will complain about anything. ANYthing. What a sense of entitlement. Anyone complaining about this box - or any other really - is just nuts. GD fans are the luckiest group of fans anywhere IMHO. And I don't know why so many people don't seem to understand: BARTON HALL (5/8) IS NOT IN THE VAULT!!! IT IS NOT THERE TO BE RELEASED!!! Just be happy.
May 7, 2013 - 1:59pm

#854

lawrence wojcik

Joined:
April 26, 2009

How can you

How can you call the boxed set "May 1977" and not include Cornell Barton Hall Mother's Day. What happend to the value proposition for the fans?
May 7, 2013 - 1:59pm

#855

lawrence wojcik

Joined:
April 26, 2009

How can you

How can you call the boxed set "May 1977" and not include Cornell Barton Hall Mother's Day. What happend to the value proposition for the fans?
May 7, 2013 - 12:22pm

#856

PatagonianFox

Joined:
October 25, 2011

nearly identical

is anyone else a bit put off by the fact that all 5 shows are so repetitive? you'd think the powers that be could find a 5 show run with more variety. the palladium shows would have been a better choice IMO. ----
May 7, 2013 - 12:09pm

#857

claney

Joined:
July 20, 2007

52 different songs

By my count, these five shows saw the Dead play 52 different songs (counting Drums and Space). The usual '77 suspects were repeated five times (Estimated, BEW, Samson). I was surprised at some that weren't repeated more - like The Music Never Stopped, played only once. Me and My Uncle only played once, how sad. Also kind of cool that all three Chuck Berry covers are played, but only once each (Promised, Around, JBG). Anyway, here is the list - songs are listed in the order the appear first in the setlists. Song titles followed by the number of times played. Enjoy: Promised Land – 1 TLEO – 3 Big River – 2 Loser – 1 LLR – 3 Ramble – 2 Jack Straw – 2 Peggy-O – 2 El Paso – 3 Deal – 1 LL-Supplication – 2 Sugaree – 1 Samson and D – 5 BEW – 5 Estimated – 5 Scar-Fire – 3 Good Lovin – 2 UJB – 2 Space – 1 Wharf Rat – 2 Around – 1 Brokedown – 1 Bertha – 4 MAMU – 1 (!) T-Jed – 3 Cassidy – 2 Minglewood – 4 Miss Half Step – 2 Dancin – 2 Sunrise – 2 Terrapin – 2 PITB – 2 Drums – 4 NFA – 2 Comes a Time – 1 JBG – 1 TMNS – 1 (!) FOTD – 1 Jack-A-Roe – 3 Other One – 1 Stella Blue – 1 GDTRFB – 1 OMSN – 1 US Blues – 1 Row Jimmy – 1 Passenger – 2 Eyes – 1 Ship of Fools – 1 St. Stephen – 1 Iko-Iko – 1 Sugar Mag – 2 High Time – 1
May 7, 2013 - 11:10am

#858

deadegad

Joined:
February 2, 2011

Does Preorder w/Debit Card hold $ funds now or @ Shipping date??

1. Has anyone preordered w/Debit Card??? 2 .If yes are your funds being held now or will you be charged when it ships?
May 7, 2013 - 11:09am

#859

Yeti_UK

Joined:
March 21, 2008

Splendid Muttley, Splendid!

Top news and purchase made. If the missus asks, it was only 50 quid... Shame we couldnt have had an unreleased show with HOTW/S/FT from the tour. It's my favourite piece of music (by anyone, not just the Dead) and the versions from Buffalo (on a boot I've got) and Dicks 3 (Florida pines?) are stunning. Garcia's playing on those 2 Franklin's Towers were inspired so it would have been good to here other examples. A minor gripe of course. Keep 'em coming...
May 7, 2013 - 10:29am

#860

reijo29

Joined:
June 18, 2012

Too Late to Add a Bonus for Pre-Orders?

Would really be nice to have a bonus disc added to this new box set. My still awesome Winterland 77 box now has a superfluous bonus disc. C'mon David make it happen, we deserve it. If anything it'll definitely increase the pre-orders. This set "May" sell out at some point, but it'll probably take a few months. The Winterland June 77 box is still (thankfully) available years later.

John Perry Barlow

John Perry Barlow

Forums

Dead Store Products

What's Inside:
• Five Complete Shows
• 5/11/77 St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN
• 5/12/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
• 5/13/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
• 5/15/77 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO
• 5/17/77 University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
•14 Discs, 111 tracks
•Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman, Plangent Processes playback system for maximum sonic accuracy
•Artwork by Grammy Award-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike
•Period Photos by James R Anderson
•Historical Essay by Steve Silberman
•Individual show liner notes

MAGICAL, MYTHICAL MAY 1977!

If you're a Dead Head, chances are you've spent many an hour expounding upon the distinction of May 8, 1977, Cornell University, Barton Hall. Well, at the risk of preaching to the choir, we'd like to reintroduce you to a series of shows that matches said greatness from that same gloriously fertile season. While Barton Hall is well known, the astounding tour that surrounded it has occasionally flown under the radar due to the uneven quality of tapes in circulation. May 1977 is set to change all of that with a boxed set that zeroes in on this high-water mark in the Grateful Dead's long strange trip.

For a band resurrecting itself after a 20-month hiatus, there was a great frenzy of expectancy that surrounded the Spring of 1977. We anticipate a grand reoccurrence of this fervor with the release of May 1977, a 14-disc boxed set featuring five complete shows from consecutive stops on that magical tour. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, the "psychoacoustic phenomena" as Jerry once put it, of St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11) Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15) and Coliseum at the University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17) can now finally be appreciated. Each of these shows finds the Dead delivering punchier, more focused sets, tightening up the framework; each night turning out first-ever renditions ("Passenger,""Iko Iko,""Jack-A-Roe"), unloading potent new pairings ("Scarlet Begonias">"Fire On The Mountain", "Estimated Prophet">"Eyes Of The World"), classic covers ("Dancing In The Street") and soon-to-be staples ("Estimated Prophet," "Samson and Delilah"), and ultimately rising up to paradise.

And now for the nitty-gritty...

Due June 11, May 1977 is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies. Presented in a psychedelic box that boasts an intricate die-cut design created by Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike, the set also includes a book filled with stories about each show, as well as an in-depth essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman, who delves deep into the history behind the tour and the band’s return from its extended hiatus.

Once these 15,000 boxes are gone, May 1977 and its shows will never be available again on CD. However, the 111 tracks will be made available on release date as FLAC and Apple lossless full-set-only downloads for $99.98.

Like its predecessors Europe '72: The Complete Recordings and Spring 1990, we expect May 1977 to sell out. Your best bet is to pre-order it now, then sit back, relax, and enjoy all the exclusive content we'll be rolling out over the next few weeks right here and on Facebook.com/GratefulDead and Youtube.com/gratefuldead.

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