In my opinion, the box is a great way to hear everything they released commercially from the get-go through Europe '72 and Bear's Choice. People will quibble about various mixes and masterings and whatnot, but here's what the band put out from '67 until mid-1973 plus a generous slice of ur-Dead and a bunch of bonus tracks. The basic Grateful Dead early canon in one convenient little black casket, and it tends to be a steal.
Do you have 5/24/72? If so, check out China Cat. Bobby's fine up until just after the vocals end. By 3:15, his tuning is slipping and by 4:00 it's a mess. He manages to clean it up by the start of Rider, though. As for Pig, he tended to sing in a blues style, so throwing a #9 over a DOM7 chord (or adding other blue notes) can sound a bit "off" from one perspective but it's perfectly acceptable.
I see you Aoxomoxoa, and raise you Anthem of the Sun. Or should I just show the Live/Dead in my hand and take the pot? Note to self: ALWAYS take “the pot.”
IWT! Woo! I think that's the first time in almost 2.5 years I've ever gotten to say that on this thread.
More jams tonight, but fewer of them. Terrapin 11/6/77 PITB 11/30/73 Jam in need of a name 12/2/73 Dark Star 4/8/72 TIFTOO 11/14/71 The Eleven 2/28/69 NFA 9/3/77
Various 1976 June/July jams. The first Travis Bean sounded real good. And once again, it would make for a great compilation. Right now Boston 6/11-12. Great Wharf Rat>Comes a Time
@Archtop, you're right - the Cow Palace '74 Weather Report Suite - specifically the final instrumental section - is excellent. Jerry seems to play fewer notes than he sometimes would in '74 Let It Grows and it makes for quite a thoughtful performance up until the the final bit without much power but, by the final part of Let It Grow on that night, they really hit their stride. They burn it up. Good recommendation. I know it's one you mention not infrequently.
I hadn't heard the original Dear Mr Fantasy in decades, but it happened this weekend. Strong song, with meatier guitar work than I remembered. So I am prompted to wonder if any of the Dead versions are any good. I'm a 72-79 listener and not a Brent fan so I've never paid the track any attention. Meanwhile, I don't believe I've ever given 10/18/72 a proper listen, so that's the mornings project.
I think it’s one of the best, if not the best Brent sung tunes. His voice fits very well and the usual placement of Dear Mr. Fantasy post-space is welcome.
Heading out for another 3 week tour sometime this afternoon. Most likely going to Texas. Been in a Phish mood all week, but the Dead seem to work a little better as truck driving music. No idea what's gonna get played but I guarantee something will be played!
You’ve left the door wide open for suggestion! Go for the 1990 Berlin shows at the Internationales Congress Centrum!
Good idea. I've only heard them the one time and have no memory at all of it. Here's my review from a few years back 10/19/90 - Berlin, GER ** The show starts swimmingly with a FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC Good Times. Not kidding, this might be THE BEST ONE YET. Set one is FREAKING AWESOME. EVERYTHING is a PRIMO version. Shakedown, Rooster, BEW, you name it, it's kick ass tonight!!!! Set two begins with a SCORCHING Scar>Fire! The energy is through the roof! This is tropical paradise!!! We get to cool down with a lovely LLR followed by Terrapin. Unfortunately, LLR sucked ALL the energy out of the boys! They are falling asleep during Terrapin! Thankfully, after their break for D/S, the boys come ROARING back out with ONE OF THE HOTTEST THE OTHER ONES EVER HOLY S### THEY ARE EXPLODING G## ####! This segues perfectly into one AWESOME Wharf Rat!!! With Around/Around and THE MOST PERFECT SUGAR MAG EVER, the main show comes to a spectacular end. The Baby Blue encore is just the icing on this cake of gold. *(I guess I really dug the show because I deleted about 20 instances of the f word ) 10/20/90 - Berlin, GER Set one tonight is great. The band seem a little "unsure" tonight and take a few songs to settle in. The energy is HIGH tonight, but it's easily a step below the previous shows. That being said, FOTD is EXCEPTIONAL tonight! DANG THIS ONE IS AWESOME! BT Wind is really great too! BT Wind is damn EXPLOSIVE! Let It Grow is freaking KILLER! 15 MINUTES OF F###! HORNSBY DOES AN AWESOME SOLO JAM AT THE END OF IT FOR LIKE FIVE MINUTES! This long 75-minute first set comes to a rocking end with Box Of Rain and OMSN. Started poor ended amazing! A stunningly gorgeous Eyes begins set two in perfect manner. Aww yes. It's not the greatest Eyes ever, but it does the job and it segues PERFECTLY into a hot Samson. A lovely Ship Of Fools brings us down next before a 18 minute Dark Star. Unfortunately Jerry sounds very tired and the song portion is totally butchered by bad timing. It never really goes anywhere. They try to go all deep-space, but the plain truth is that it's just not a very good Star. Th boys sound refreshed after D/S though and this strong B+ gig comes to a close with a pretty good TS>NFA combo. Not the best gig, but a good amount of highlights make it worth hearing.
Both of the Berlin '90 shows were favorites from that tour back in the day, both for myself (on tape) and for my buddy who went on that tour. IIRC this was a smaller-than-usual venue. The second night was one of my most-listened to shows from that tour.
And 8/23 is one of those nights in the Primal Dead blast furnace, my favorite night of the run. Noah’s commentary is well worth reading: Grateful Dead Listening Guide: 1968 August 23 - Shrine Auditorium
That show gets a fair bit of negative press (and perhaps rightly so in the bigger picture) but the WRS is a good example of why I tend to drill down to sections, segments and yes, even moments when I listen. I have that version of WRS right up there with the 6/28/74 version (minus the ~30-minute out jam, of course) in terms of tightness and intensity. You've now mentioned it and I've mentioned it before, but particular mention of the final jam, starting at 11:48 is in order. In there, Jerry and Phil get into a melodic sparring match from 12:54-13:20 that's just about as good as anything they ever did (I've successfully channeled my inner Dave hyperbole, apparently).
10-19-71 - U of Minnesota - Keith's debut, I've had this tape for a long time (also some rehearsals,) since maybe 96 or so. While there is some stuff Keith does that works quite well, a lot of the organ is strange and it's easy to see why he didn't play it much. Also unlike the Summer 71 debuts, these songs all have their final arrangements (if not their final lyrics.) The rehearsal in the interim definitely made a difference. This show, apart from Keith's debut, is notable for being the first Playin' in the Band with any kind of jam. You can hear Garcia already playing the minor key against the Main Ten theme, which is really a 'neutral' riff with respect to major or minor, but in the body of the song is harmonized with the major chord. It's nothing profound, but as a birth of sorts it was neat to hear. There's also an excellent Other One, building on what they were already doing in the summer, and a very effective Uncle John's Band>NFA>GDTRFB>NFA closer (with Garcia playing the part of Pigpen in the NFA reprise.) I also listened to Brent's debut recently, it struck me as just as average show, but this one had a bit more of interest. It may just be down to the difference between 71 GD and 79.
I think that what Keith had to learn was to deal with the fact of being part of a band with big audiences. Sometimes I believe he never managed it quite well, even though you can't tell it by his performances.
