My go-to on Relisten is this one: Taper: Rudy Huston Transferer: Charlie Miller Source: (2) Beyer M160 + (1) Beyer M88 -> Cassette Master (Nakamichi 550/TDK SA90/Dolby B) Lineage: Cassette Master (Nakamichi DR-1/Dolby B) -> Sound Devices 744T (24bit/96k) -> Adobe Audition v1.5 -> Samplitude Professional v10.22 -> FLAC/16 Description: Hover Rating: 4.88 / 8 reviews Why? It's as clean as it gets to my ears and at the very end of Dew, it actually captures Phil's dive bomb to the final note. The other versions up there don't capture that. I'm fairly sure that Relisten has all of the archive versions, but I haven't done a comprehensive statistical analysis as to whether that's likely a true statement or not.
@Crispy Rob Made good on 2/3 of my promise and listened to 6 15 and 6 16 90 while driving out ti texas today 6 15 was one of the greatest shows ive ever heard. That Scar Fire and that EPIC Hes Gone space meltdown! Sick. Night two is equally great but i think i prefer night one more. Killer stuff and some inspired song placements.
Discs reunited, and it feels so good. @ianuaditis inspired me to spend the last hour and a half hunting down the cases for my perennial Caselogic discs. Only a few strays remain but I have the enemy surrounded. I think that was me, only I was tying an onion to my belt which -- wait for it -- was the style at the time.
Well, I didn't find DP 7 disc 3 yet. But I did knock over a stack of CDs while cleaning up and came across a blank CD-R inside of Springsteen's Born to Run (A CD I've never actually owned, but I believe I have two 'repurposed' cases of it. ) Anyway, I didn't need to hear but a minute to realize it's my (still unlabelled...jeez) former mystery disc of Cleveland 12-6-73! Sometimes, life gives you lemons....this will be a good soundtrack to find the missing Dark Star.
Listening to 12/30/79 now from an Archive audience recording by a taper named Mark Severson. The jam between Scarlet and Fire is unusual and very good.
If we ever get a Dave's Pick from '79, it might be from that run. Recorded and mixed by Betty on reel to reel. Same as 4/22
My guess is 4/22/79 is the most likely of the '79 Bettys. I remember an interesting soundcheck jam on Shakedown Street the day before that was on the Tapers Section.
This was the most don't give a crap show I have heard out of the band in a long while. Can't say they are playing terribly aside from the few clear botches lyrically, but man this show sounds like the band REALLY did not want to be there. Slow tempo, no energy... It feels like the Dead resented even being on stage. The one bit that I have seen called out for this show before was the post Estimated jam with Bobby Brent and the drummers before going into Drums and that is a pretty slim highlight to be honest. That said the actual audience recording was of good quality and the same taper did a run of summer shows I downloaded so looking forward to the Red Rocks run and the Austin show to come.
Is it a coincidence that was around the time I was starting to lose interest? By spring of 81 I was done following on a regular basis.
Heading west of Abilene today. Oasis spinning now but Dead will be on later. 10 13 94 has been on my mind this morning.....
Og jeez. Im marathoning 82 slowly and thats one of my next couple shows. Trucking right now but in a few weeks when i get a review posted i cant wait to see how our opinions of the show compare.
after three shows at radio city where I hoped they'd bring it, I gave it one more run at Nassau the following spring. radio city was very good but that was about all, at least for me.
I don't agree. There wasn't the consistency of earlier periods but I saw plenty of fiery hot playing from Jerry in the 82-85 period. 12/27/83 may have been the best show I ever saw out of the 60 or so I caught between 78-91. All of October 1983 he is on fire, and there's a reason why so many are calling for a summer 85 box set. Not up to the pre-hiatus levels for sure, but undeserving of a blanket dismissal.
I really enjoy your reviews. But for the life of me I don't know how you make it through all those 80's and 90's shows in a row. Or just an entire show from some of those tours.
I don't equate "serious degradation" with "blanket dismissal." I saw 5 shows in October '83 and they were very fine (8 shows in '83 and I guessed right most every time), I also saw some shows in '82, '84, and '85 that were not very good at all. And I am not saying there were not good shows all along the way, but Jerry's playing was suffering at times. Went to about 75 shows from '79 thru '94, and if I could only go back in the time machine it would be to my first two, when Keith & Donna were in the band. All that said, I find @warewolf95 so inspiring because he does not bring the same jaded view to the music I do, reading his reviews of any year is a fresh window into the music.
His playing deteriorated in 1992, sure. He got a little sloppy in the 80s but he rocked out, and the Dead were not Steely Dan or Yes, they were always a band that valued feel over perfection. I don't believe he began to "deteriorate" in 1979. His playing changed, sure. And I will grant you this--until 1974, his playing progressed more or less linearly, he was simply better in around 1974 than he was in any previous year, and I will also grant that you could not say that in any subsequent year, I don't think (although he did claim to have mastered the fretboard around 1978, you can't tell that he hasn't already done that in 1973 by listening). But I refuse the word "deteriorate" here because I can think of whole concerts in the 80s where he is masterful.
I already knew that, USB. I have a pretty good idea of what you do and don't dismiss, and I know you're hep to the 80s.
I had planned to listen to that today and got sidetracked....I'll take this as a "sign" and get back to it!