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"The Grateful Dead picked up their instruments and hit the first note with perfection. They never missed a note for the next three and one-half hours. People followed the flow of the tunes. Down on the floor in front of the stage was a sea of heads keeping time with the music. No one sat still. No one, except the youngsters behind us sat still. They were still and stunned." - The Power County Press
And what a stunner it was, that show at the Boise State University Pavilion in Boise, ID on September 2, 1983. Dave's Picks Volume 27 contains every stitch of music from this mid-80s show (our first in this series), one that's as good as any other in Grateful Dead history. When the Dead were on, they were ON! Straight out the gate with a definitive take on the old standard "Wang Dang Doodle," the band swiftly switches back to a setlist of yore, firing off 70s staples like "Jack Straw" and "Brown-Eyed Women" and wrapping things up with a terrific trio of "Big Railroad Blues"/"Looks Like Rain"/"Deal" (don't you let that epic guitar solo go down without you). Primed for the second set, they tackle the complexities of "Help>Slipknot!>Franklin's" with heart and ease. It's clear there will be no stopping their flow - Bobby and Brent hanging in for a fantastic pre-Drums "Jam" and Jerry and Bobby in the zone on a not-to-be-missed melodic "Space." Not a skipper in the whole lot!
Dave's Picks Volume 27 has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman and it is limited to 18,000 individually-numbered copies*.
*Limited to 2 per order. Very limited quantity available.
Thin, church songs
From The Simpsons Rev. Lovejoy: “our next song is In The Garden of Eden, by I. Ron Butterfly.”
Cover art
Here's what I could put together: https://i.imgur.com/j8ETou2.jpg
"Brown Sugar" has a historical context and everything, but it's still a happy little song about raping slaves.
That imgur link was cool....
.... especially when I swiped left once. I want one!
mhammond12-defensive
There's no need to be scared-its an interesting debate how art is re-interpreted according the to the era in which is perceived. Art doesn't actually reflect reality as such. It reflects the reality of the times in which it was produced. As the times change, the critical perspective of the work of art can change, too. Some people say that you need to understand the times it was produced in to understand the work of art. The opposing view says that you should evaluate the work in the context of the time in which you are perceiving it instead.
With respect, its quite narrow to try and defend one point of view exclusively. You need to understand both approaches to fully understand the implications of the work in question,.
Incidentally, I didn't say the lyrics to "Under My Thumb" were not defensible. I said you would have a hard time defending them. And you would-with some of the people I have known over the years!
@copper Brown Sugar
What if the tempo were slower and the music somber. Would it change your perception of the song, which, correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be negative. I take it you think the song is a deplorable one by a deplorable person. I have no vested interest in the answer, nor do I have a string opinion either way. I am interested in where the line is drawn and why.
it's ok to eat the brown sugar, but not the brown acid
(Woodstock reference)
anyway, please do bathe and delouse after listening to the Rolling Stones.
interestingly, when I went to the local burger joint yesterday, the place was playing the RS's 1971 album Sticky Fingers (ew...see what I mean?)
it was already on side two (Bitch), but I remembered the Great Brown Sugar Debate, and smiled at the synchronicity.
@trainwrecked Brown Sugar
Slower tempo and somber melody probably wouldn't help much, because the lyrics are still about what fun rape is. Where exactly is the line? Big question that's open to debate. When the words read, "I'm no schoolboy but I know what I like," about attacking someone, that's over the line.
Good song? Great song. Liked it a lot more when I thought it was about consensual sex. Ask yourself if you'd be okay with a song called "Let's kill the Deadheads," if it had a rockin' tune and there were people who argue Deadheads make up this stuff about getting killed.
10859/18000
Been in the house a couple days now. Listening to it with breakfast pizza. It's gloriously sloppy with rushed tempos. About what I'd expect from a 1983 release. Nice audience sound, louder than most which I like.
In defense of the Rolling Stones, I love them, but then I'm not politically correct. If you don't like it, don't listen to it.
Oh please, Mr Postman....
....looks like I'm getting Boise a couple of days early. My mailbox is glowing. And in regards to the Stones, I'm a Beatles guy. They never really hooked me. Sorry?
Jack Straw From Wichita...
I got to thinking about the Jack Straw lyrics. How come no one is bemoaning the fact that the Dead are singing about getting drunk and passing the women around? Who decided that should happen? The men? How do the women feel about it, being spoken of as a commodity to be passed around like wine?
Bob sings plenty of old blues songs full of innuendo. And what about Pigpen and his boisterous, sexist rants during Lovelight, etc?
No one seems to be bothered by this, because, on some level you understand that when Mick Jagger goes onstage, he is stepping into character. Brown Sugar, Sympathy For The Devil, Street Fighting Man etc.
Not unlike an actor who portrays an unsavory character onscreen. There may be elements of these artists in the parts they play, at times, but they are simply painting a canvas. I wouldn't take any of it literally and get all hung up about it.
And as far as needing a shower after listening to the Stones, more Dead fans could use a shower than any other fanbase I have ever encountered, so go on, crank up the Rolling Stones and reach for that bar of soap!
ok in the house...
...as of yesterday...but I guess it says something about my pre-conceived thoughts on it since I haven't played it yet...hard to tear away from Monk, Hawk & Coltrane at the moment...just going to start ripping it to my iTunes (thanks to JiminMD for the lossless Apple tips last October) so I can maybe give a real good listen on the next 180 mile drive to town and back this week...wanted to listen today since my Wife is in Flagstaff today but I really need to catch up on my latest Criterion releases (after i tear myself away from Monk) by King Hu (Dragon Inn & Touch Of Zen) while she's gone...she doesn't care for sub-titles and sword play...
So...is Midnight Rambler about Tony Curtis then?
Good points.....all of em, LedDed!
Hard to gauge these days what stories we can still tell and I agree-lots of unsavory lyrics from our favorite band! Food for thought....
favorite "kill the Deadheads" tune
Try this!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x9p1RGza8U
Brown Sugar is a GREAT Stones song IMO and lyrically VERY ugly. Just like "Sympathy For The Devil" and "Under My Thumb". The former two have never tripped my PC alert becuase they are rather widely focussed, but UMT has often creeped me out with it's more one-on-one mysoginy. Still, a great bassline that floats my music-appreciation boat! I am moderately PC (at 50yo, my values are based on 80s PCisms that are far behind the current standards), but would NEVER give up listening to pre-80s Stones (simply The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band).
Nice to read people thinking about serious stuff in a serious way while still talking about "our" music. Very cool discussion, IMO.
I had this shirt
Cool,I had this shirt on tour that summer. They added the Frost and I was at 11 or 15 of these venues for 16 shows.
Stepping into character-LedDed
It seems obvious now that a lot of bands are performing a show which doesn't necessarily reflect how they really feel. But it wasn't always thus-for me anyway. When I was in my mid teens, I thought that what bands sung about reflected their lives. I assumed that the way they were on stage was how they were in "real life". People who got screwed up-or who died seemed even more authentic-as I thought they were walking it the way they talked it.
I got disabused of this notion, initially in 1973. It was quite a shock to me when David Bowie drew the distinction between himself-and the character he was on stage-at that time Ziggy Stardust. It was confusing in 1973 when he announced his retirement. Everyone assumed that he meant he himself was retiring - but he obviously didn't-he was just retiring a character he had been acted as-in preparation for taking on a new role. Sometimes its hard to work out what is real and what is not.
80's PCisms....
....as a fellow 50 year old, I hear ya Seth. Things were simpler and more inoffensive then. "Thin Ice" is abundant these these days. If I sneeze, I feel like I "offended" someone, somewhere. Pussies are rampant. Everyone feels like they deserve something. Speaking of the 80's, my son and I watched Ready Player One last night. If you played video games in that decade, that movie is a celebration of memories. Im biased though. Atari 2600 anyone?
Nappy/ Commander Cody
The ooolllllleeeeee Commander!Yes in deedie, always was fun seeing the commander. First time, probably 80 or so, they had one roadie who basically just kept making trips to the bar with one of those old big round wait trays. And the dude nonstop would bring a load of like 20 at a time of I believe Molson Golden’s and then head back and load back up at the bar. Usually just about the time he got back from the bar run the band would be tipping back that finally swallow and ready for a fresh one.....poor bastard was the hardest working man in the outfit! LOL
By the end of the night, there wasn’t an amp or flat surface anywhere that wasn’t piled with Molson bottles....I can still see it in my minds eye. Guess still being relatively young, it made quite an impression?
Ahhh, what a night, they still had a few of the long timers, and they could still bring it! Psychedelic Texas Swing, ye-doggy!
Didn’t think they wrote that, like you said Nappy, they didn’t write so much, but man their version of that song as well as most had a whole different mojo level that’s for sure. Fun song via a fun band!
Thanks for the post, neat version, the lead almost sounds like a young Willy!
Close, but no . . .
Tracking info from UPS/Mail Innovations made it look like Dave's 27 would land today, a day or two early. Then I received an ominous auto-tracking message, "The status of the shipment has changed." More specifically, "Exception Reason: Mis-shipped; Package routed to wrong post office (Pecos, TX). Package will be transferred to correct post office for delivery." Arrrgggg! Shoulda known it was too good to be true. . . Not that bad really with the Watkins Glen soundcheck and Saturday show more than rising to the occasion.
WTF?....
https://amp.kptv.com/story/38754573/detectives-investigating-assaults-w… stones. Literally. Shit like this boils my blood. What's up with people these days? Does that get them off? And in what way? To hurt other people? It doesn't compute for me. Cops are on it though. Throw away the key. People need to better themselves. Not stoop to crap like that. Puts a bad name for the rest of us. Congrats asshole. Hope you had a grand time chalking that event up when you got home. Give me a rock or two and your address, big man.
So Glad The Eighties Made It
1983 had so many fun memories in full "Dead-Belt" Tour mode. Jerry and Phil had switched sides and have found their comfort zones. Jerry n Brent together was pure logic. For our crew during '83, we peaked that year at TOGA and again in October about 6 weeks after this show in Boise with 2 crushing St.Stephens (MSG NYC and Hartford). Then truckin'up to Lake Acid for a perfect "Sugaree" opener and a melting "To Lay Me Down". I just finished listening to the DP 27 (delivered today). Aside from a minor splice during "Eyes" this recording is a perfect soundboard. Not confused with audience/soundboard mixed onsite. The bass is not overpowering which is nice. But for the 80's, unless someone parks a remote-truck next to the stage, this is what a good 80's soundboard is and what we all yearned-for. Crisp n Clear vocals,FuLL Phil is thumpn' away during Throwing Stones and Goin' Down The Road Feeling BadWe Love It
Cub sez #27
Two Thumbs Up
Mas on the Commander
Yes yes yes...all that booze! Good one Oroborous...one of my fave memories of a CC & TLPA show was at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, probably '71 or so...about ten of us went and we were sitting up in the rafters just about of the balcony...My great late lamented pal, Dogweed Al, went into the dressing room to schmooze and some how walked out of it with a case of Molson's that was in there (among other libations I'm sure)...no one stopped him or questioned him...he just brought it back up to where we were bench sitting...we broke it open and put the beers behind our legs and just had a few on the band....I might've been just a few months shy of legal drinking age come to think of it...mighty fine times...
You know you got some dark eyes....
https://youtu.be/4d6TY_6dyhwGD Yoga. I think I could do that.
Jack Strawness
Jack Straw is a cautionary tale about all the shit that can go wrong when you're acting so cavalierly and blithely as the protagonists did in this tale.
Notice that Jack had to cut his buddy down, and that was just one man down and another to go (Jack). So, they would pay the ultimate price for their misdeeds.
PC-ness...oh yeah, wouldn't want anybody to feel put upon for slinging insults they might think are funny....it's a matter of having a little respect for others who may not be part of our own tribe. It's funny when the tables are turned how the tender little cupcakes who normally fire off those barbs get all bent and whiny when they find them coming their way for a change...but that said, yeah, it's hard sometimes to define where the boundary lies. It's not like I'm immune from blame myself.
My Pappy said son you're gonna drive me to drinkin' if you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln. Long live the Commander.
Mail tracking says my DaP 27 should be coming today. The clips I heard were ok, better than some of the snoozers I sat through back in the 80s, lol. So I'll give it a chance.
D’oh
Postal carrier left mine in the leasing office, which closed at 5pm. D’oh!Guess I’ll pick it up tomorrow.
As a palate cleanser today I’m doing Led Zep How The West Was Won.
80’s.......
A time when it was believed that Canadian beer was good because it was imported.....
We Can Share the Women
Since the Jack straw lyrics are under discussion...This skit always comes to mind when I hear that verse (Jack Straw reference is 3:25 into it, but really, the whole thing is a piss):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I0WtC_vm9e8
When all else fails....
....take a nap. Woke up. Lo and behold. #1907 arrived. Thanks Sandman!! Is that a lo #? Lo enough for me....naps are underrated.hint. There's a Jack Straw brewing in Boise....
The liner notes....
.... say this Mountain Tour was all recorded on PCM. There's Hope for Santa Fe yet! Maybe it'll be a Dave's Pick 44!
No Thanks
I will remain concerned and frightened. Camille Paglia once publicly defended Under My Thumb and look what happened to her.
Some time ago someone here requested the Dead no longer release Pigpen concerts because they found his material offensive.
Such thinking scares me.
With all due repect.
well as far Brown Sugar goes,
well as far Brown Sugar goes, it's like that old saying they used to say: Dank memes, dank penis
That pic of Bobby on the back of the booklet....
....says it all.
Requesting To Not Release Pigpen archivals
how about you don't buy it, while the rest of us enjoy it.
I know I've posted this before....
https://youtu.be/RHf6tiFkr2s....but, oh. What the hell.
How do you know
How do you know what was in Mick's mind? He was dating Marsha Hunt, a black woman, when he wrote it. Maybe he felt guilty over aspects of that relationship and compared his guilt to slavers or whatever, but at the end of the day, just loved that brown sugar? You don't know what was in the man's heart to judge him as sexist or racist. Shouldn't be judging people anyway. Only if a man among you got no sin upon his hands, can you cast a stone at Mick - he's just a singer in a rock 'n roll band.
2/3 Through First Listen
Anyone else dig in yet? I am through the Eyes and kind of blown away. I am more of a early 70s fan, and I've had middling success digging into the 80s. 10-10-1982 is in my top X shows, and I liked 10-12-84. But most of the usual recommendations besides those two fell flat for me.
This show I'd never even heard of, and it's really something special. Jams are interesting. Tempo and style is unique is very different than what you hear a few months before or after. And, unlike 90% of what I've heard form the 80s boards, the sound/mix is very good. I think this one just worked its way into regular rotation. Great pick!
VGUY....THANK YOU
for your YOUTUBE post. I was in tears as was my wife. From Elaine to Mr ED to Batman to Chrissy Snow and THE JACK TRIPPER...that was truly a classic. I think that is worth a post once a month.
Just exactly perfect
Haven’t posted in a while, but just had to say how fun this release is. The mix and Jerry’s tone are raw. The tempo is fast and reckless. And the overall sound is supurb. Great energy. And I’m still on disc one. Big thanks to everyone who keeps these high quality releases coming. They sure do brighten one’s day.
Is the sound good or bad?
I've read a couple reviews that the sound is good ("superb") and some say it doesn't pass the sound quality check at the door.
Sound Quality
Sound quality is very good, but is not as good as some of the more pristine stuff from the 70s. In terms of early 80s, it's among the best I've personally heard. Everything comes through pretty clear. Bass drum sounds a little flat but that's my only complaint. This mix is also very good, which is something that's sometimes a problem in the early 80s. Phil is well represented. Everyone else is fairly even.
Overall something like a B+/A-, but surprisingly good after listening to a lot of fall 83 this week to get the flavor before I heard this one.
Sound Quality
Sound quality is very good, but is not as good as some of the more pristine stuff from the 70s. In terms of early 80s, it's among the best I've personally heard. Everything comes through pretty clear. Bass drum sounds a little flat but that's my only complaint. This mix is also very good, which is something that's sometimes a problem in the early 80s. Phil is well represented. Everyone else is fairly even.
Overall something like a B+/A-, but surprisingly good after listening to a lot of fall 83 this week to get the flavor before I heard this one.
product sku
081227931599