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 6, 2013 - 2:22pm

#931

Gwydion6

Joined:
April 9, 2013

I'm in!

There'll be another one to Spain too! This is my first GD box set and although I still haven't developed a proper fondness for 77 I'm sure I'll end up loving this year in the future. Just checked out the listening party and I'm amazed at the quality of the recordings, really clear and spaced instruments, I'm just loving it. A bit of a personal story here, this reminds me of the time I missed on the FW69 box set. I must have been like 20 years old when it was released and had never bought anything online so I was a bit dubious about spending that much money ... result: I missed the deadline so I couldn't get hold of it. Then, with Europe 72, I just wasn't checking dead.net that often (I was kind of disconnected from the world wide web at that time) and, consequently, missed it too. Well, now I think I've learned the lesson and one of these will make its way to Spain in June :)
May 6, 2013 - 2:18pm

#932

gr8ful0221

Joined:
November 4, 2011

Thank you

Many many thanks. Always my favorite year.
May 6, 2013 - 2:05pm

#933

woodstock

Joined:
July 21, 2007

A bit of a disapointment

I have collected all of the box sets but think I'll pass on this one. Obviously Dave is found of Spring 1977. The first Dave's Pick was the 5/25/1977 show. However, not sure that May 1977 has been "under the radar" as Dave as noted. Dicks' Picks had 5/19 and 5/21; Dick's Picks #3 had 5/22; GD to Terrapin had the 5/28 show plus, like another person posted, a good bulk of the Chicago 5/12 show was on the bonus disc in the Winterland 1977 box set. Unless you were personally at these shows I don't see anything spectacular about these sets that differs from what was already released...
May 6, 2013 - 1:59pm

#934

jkl2000

Joined:
August 24, 2012

Sweet!

Ordered - looks very nice!!
May 6, 2013 - 1:56pm

#935

boombassix

Joined:
June 30, 2007

oh goodness gracious....

....another box set NOT to be missed. well, got my order in,..and will be eagerly waiting to hear some of the very VERY best of the good ole grateful dead.
May 6, 2013 - 1:47pm

#936

claney

Joined:
July 20, 2007

Dimensions of Box?

I was thinking this would be over 150.00 and just plain out of my range, but this price may sucker me in, comes to around 28 bucks a show. I'm not sure Weve, that it is really the same size as, say, the Winterland boxes. Anyone know the dimensions of the box? It actually looks like the box and individual show cases are more like DVD case dimensions (taller). Not a big deal, though I prefer the ones that can sit on the CD shelf with the other stuff... Packaging and everything about this looks amazing.. the only show I really thought I wanted was 5/17 but whoah is this tempting...
May 6, 2013 - 1:46pm

#937

messy13

Joined:
July 5, 2007

some of my fav shows

...from a peak time. Wore out my 5.13.77 cassettes have dls, but looking forward to the mastered cds. #jazzed
May 6, 2013 - 1:43pm

#938

D_MCK

Joined:
January 13, 2009

Bonus material?

Is there any Bonus material considering this partially duplicates the Winterland 77 bonus disc? ( 5-12-77) Will the sound be noticeably better? ( The W77 Bonus disc sounds pretty good to me) Opps I see other posted the same
May 6, 2013 - 1:41pm

#939

simonrob

Joined:
June 7, 2007

Nice, very very nice...

A problem-free, transparent and simple ordering process that went through quickly without a hitch. Praise is due here as there have been so many different problems in the past. $24.99 International shipping to the Netherlands is fair. 5 minutes after receiving my confirmation mail I received the announcement mail - oh ain't I just on the ball tonight. Coming hard on the heels of the wondrous "Dave's Picks 6" the standard is being set very high lately. I hope they manage to maintain this for the remainig "Dave's Picks" for this year. Now its time to calm down and watch Dave's Seaside Special.
May 6, 2013 - 1:39pm

#940

iGrateful

Joined:
June 5, 2007

I'm IN !!

I'll tell my wife to cancel any plans for the kids to get me a Fathers Day gift this year :-) LOV LOVE LOVE this period! Bonus Disc Cornell? I know ... I'm asking too much now... I'll stop! iGrateful (I really am...)

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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