I was just listening to Europe '72 Complete Recordings 5/23/72 last night, and that show's Dark Star (like the very different one on 4/8/72) is as gorgeous, profound, and overwhelming as anything the Dead ever created.
Really wish Nugs had the road trips available to download individually. Last time I checked you could only buy them all at once for hundreds of dollars.
Europe 72 is the tour that keeps on giving! If there was ever a box/release worth the big bucks it's this one.
I'm popping into this thread to ask a question. In his marvelous review threads of various releases, @MikeP5877 doesn't rate the Egypt release (recorded September 15-16, 1978 at the Gizah Sound and Light Theater) highly. But I just heard the bonus track performances from 2004’s Beyond Description boxed set, and fire on the mountain and Stella blues are really top shelf. I'm just wondering if they are that much better from the rest of this release?
"Shakedown Street" from Egypt is one of the best. In another thread I think I bumped up the rating an extra star for that.
This arrived yesterday, completing a two-year quest to fill the gaps in my physical Dick's Picks collection. There's still a couple I want to upgrade (since they're scratched up from me carting them around the country, and abroad, years ago). But I now have them all so I'm cracking a cold one and popping in disc one to celebrate. I took my time and waited for reasonable prices, and slowly but surely it came together. Several took more than one attempt as there's no shortage of online resellers that overstate media condition. But I also came across a lot of nice sellers who were a pleasure to buy from.
Thanks. Shakedown Street is not one of my favorite Dead tunes. I run hot and cold on Dead Songs sometimes but maybe this release will change my mind on that song. I do love the Fire on the Mountain and on Stagger Lee the slide guitar is amazing and Jerry gives it his absolute all on the vocal. The vocal kinda puts me in mind of Lou Reed and Jerry pulls it off. Anyway, If the rest of the Egypt September release is in this style it would be one of my favorite grateful dead albums.
[video] http://spiritcats.com/gd-tour-europe-1974-Wi-Fi.mp4 This is something of a hybrid NedDead post: I find Ned quintessential to the resurgent "weirdness" that helped elevate that Summer 74 tour to epic status in my esteem, particularly June, and no show more than 6/23, which put "strange" into the "long trip". I've been following Ned's site since discovery of his fantastic recent release "Cat Dreams", which contains some terrific stuff, beginning with the linked video above, about which he says: "More than a few years ago I received a DVD in the mail from Steve Brown. I was quite surprised that it contained Steve's Super 8mm movies he made during the 1974 Grateful Dead tour of Europe. He only asked that I not copy or share it publicly. However, recently he gave me permission for it to be viewed on Nedbase (and on the archived Nedbase on spiritcats.com.) but not for wider distribution. Steve retains copyright and ownership. With the exception of "The Grateful Dead Movie," and a video snippet from the September 21, 1974 Paris concert, there are no other movies or videos in which I appear from those years. I met Steve when he went to work for the newly formed Grateful Dead Records and Round Records in 1973. Steve had several roles including album recording sessions, production and promotion, live concert on-site promotion, and working on the "Mars Hotel" LP and "The Grateful Dead Movie." I remember Steve as a very nice, sincere, knowledgeable person who really cared about the band and the music, and truly helped make good things happen. Steve's Super 8mm movies cover the 1974 Grateful Dead European tour. London's city life of the times and the Alexander Palace set up of the Wall of Sound (2:02), Munich and the Olympic Halle (4:26), band (5:37, me at 6:00 reading the Sunday Times) and family members getting on the bus and the bus ride from Munich through Luxembourg to Zurich, hanging out on the street in Geneva with Jerry, Parish, Hunter, Keith, Donna, baby Zion, Bob Matthews, and others, and then Phil, Steve, Dan Healy, and me on our drive through the high Alps and villages of Switzerland (7:25), into rural France (with castles) and on to Dijon (14:58) ending in Paris. Two additional notes come from Steve: *It was silent 8mm so I added a soundtrack from that Summer's U.S. tour -- Roanoke, VA 7-27-74. **Most of it was filmed while in an altered state, thank you Bear. So wonderful we all traveled together and that Steve was wise enough to capture the adventure, and the spirit of the times, on film." ****** Additionally, there are a couple recordings, the first, and truly 'beyond the pale', a soundcheck for one of my A-list shows, Dijon: http://spiritcats.com/gd_091874_nlagin_cro2_n90-nr_dn1_soundcheck.mp3 The second is just a fantastic historical nugget: " This was a jam session ("The Other One Jam" > "The Wall Song", "Jam", "Blooz", and "R&R Jam") with members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, David Crosby, and others. Ned plays organ and piano." http://spiritcats.com/nl_aditc_ok.mp3
A few weeks ago when I first got into my current Dead state of mind, I naively went to a local shop that sells used CDs hoping to find some used Dick's or maybe One From the Vault... no luck. They did have new copies of Road Trips 4-5 and Live/Dead so I guess it worked out ok, though.
If you can track down Blair Jackson's book Goin' Down the Road, it has a good article from Steve Brown about his experiences working with the band around 1972-76 when they first tried having their own label. Interesting that he has happy memories of that Europe 1974 tour, while in other books I've read claims that it was a bad time and played a part in the band's decision to go on hiatus after the Winterland October run.
Cool quote in one of the newspaper articles in the DiP 35 booklet: "At best, the Dead is an overwhelming experience. Rumor has it that one New Year's Eve at the original Fillmore the group provided enough highly concentrated energy for a successful levitation demonstration." And some funny ones too (the article is about 8/24/71 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago): "At the low point, thousands of fingers were seen plugging thousands of ears." "They're real. They tune up on stage. They decide what to play between songs. And they're even sort of ugly."
The 2 Beacon and all of the Chicago shows are ripe for the picking! If you have not already....dig the DL series Vol 4 from 6/18/76. That show is nice, but the 6/21 Playin'->Wheel-> Playin filler from Philly is especially psychedelic.
We agree on that, I've had the CD of Seastones for many years and it's truly out there. Even those who aren't into Seastones or his appearances with the GD can find a lot of insight into the band on Nedbase, and for those who are into that era it's an indispensable resource. Thanks for posting the links. And for fans of Keith, there's an AUD of that Roanoke show that was clearly recorded in his zone, it's interesting to hear him so loud in the mix, and in this period he was really in his prime. (and for those with interest, the Phil and Ned segment is not on the SBD.) The Keith Zone - Roanoke
I completed my physical DiPicks collection last year. It still feels somewhat like a minor miracle. Congrats.
I didn't do any comparisons but a quick listen to the etree version recently discussed here wasn't as narrow sounding; it might be that more clarity and air coming through is the reason as opposed to anything else, but it is a much easier listen.
Folks who have both the Get Shown the Light and Complete '78 sets, which one could you absolutely not live without? Just curious, as I was planning on ordering the '78 box tomorrow but now I'm starting to wonder if I should order the GSTL box instead. I've listened to more of the 7/8/78 concert and really dig it; I'm planning on trying to listen to a little more of the 5/8/77 Cornell tonight to get a feel.
Neither, quite honestly. Meaning, to be clear, I could quite easily get by without either one. As far as committing to one or the other, you need to determine what eras and styles you like the best. Personally, I'm a '72-'74 type, although when feeling generous, I'd extend that to a '70-'76 type. OK, toss in some '69 as well. But '78 is more experimental than '77 and '77 is more polished than '78. So, I'd ask you: what is that you prefer and I/we can advise you if you are dead set (see what I did there?) on getting at least one of them. I like '77 for first set material far more than second set material. But '78 is similar in that respect, just a bit more pushing the envelope (not that they push the envelope all that much in the first sets, but hopefully, you follow me). So, it's difficult for me to differentiate '77 and '78 all that much because where they are different are in aspects that I don't listen to all that much (I like Scarlet but not Fire; I like the jam out of Eyes, but not Estimated; the Other One is generally truncated in this time period and Dark Star is almost non-existent, so it comes down to how good the Peggy-O's are). All that said, I'd wager that 9/10 heads would tell you that GSTL >> July '78. But make no mistake, the best playing in the GSTL box is after about 2:00 into Help--> Slip from Buffalo on May 9, 1977.
Pick one. I'll give you a month or two and you'll end up getting the other one also. Personally, I prefer 77 to 78. Why not go listen to a few other shows from the two years. 77 and 78 are quite different (May/June 77 only - fall 77 is a bit more like 78). There are plenty of other releases as well as excellent sounding tapes on archive.org. If neither box is sold out now, take a few days/weeks before deciding. Then get both. Check out the resale prices on the Winterland 77 and Fillmore West 69 boxes. If you want them, better to get them now. Even the 73 Winterland box is no longer available for ~$100, which was not the case last year.
I'd like to get both and this will probably be the case, but I can only really get one at a time. So if I were to get one now and then find the other to be sold out when I get around to it... that's why I ask. I like more experimental jams with more/longer instrumental breaks; I also like more "together" performances in terms of basic things like tuning and vocal performance. Some out of tune singing doesn't bother me so much, though, but the instruments being out of tune definitely notches something down. For example, Dave's 13 (2/24/74) & 22 (12/7/71) which I both got last week, the tuning issues on 22 would instantly tip me toward 13 (even if I didn't already prefer everything thus far about 13 anyway). I also would like to get a good version of Fire on the Mountain as none of the sets I have yet have it. As far as material I like all of Scarlet, Fire, Eyes, and Estimated. The Estimated that I listened to the other day on 7/8/78 was really hitting the spot, I'll add.
