Grateful Dead album by album thread

My only problem with this thread is that I wish I could have participated in it in real time. Oh well.

I probably listen to 71'-74, '77, '85, and '89-'90 the most, but really am a fan of all eras, except the Vince era. There are some strong '90 and '91 shows with Hornsby, but I find myself listening to them less and less over the years - too much clutter in the mix with two keyboard players, and I find Vince's vocals grating.

These days I mostly listen to the official releases, as they generally sound fantastic and I don't have as much time or energy as I once did to seek things out on my own (and plus have tons of other music that I want to listen to as well), so nice to have Lemieux curating the stuff. I'm usually happy with his choices.

I started buying the studio albums and collecting tapes in '85, going to shows in '87, so I'm familiar with a lot of the shows from '85 on and a lot of the well-known classics from the '60s and '70s, but there are a lot of good ones from '79-84 (especially through '82) that I've yet to get to know, and I've been dipping into those waters a bit on archive.org lately. Manor Downs '82 was a hot one I recently discovered (Manor Downs '81 is excellent, too, but had it on cassette back in the day). Also went back and listened to 9/19/70 for the first time in probably 20 years a few days ago (just the partial show matrix, not the aud) - highly recommend that one.

 

All I listen to is the official live stuff. I just can't find myself digging into archive.org with everything I have already. Although, I must admit I am tempted to find 5/8/77 on archive just to hear what the hype is all about. I do love '77 Dead the most and everything up to '80 in general. I'll buy anything I don't have from '81-'95 but it usually gets one spin and then tends to get played only when the wife asks for it. When we make dinner together I'll ask here what year she wants to listen to and play a show! We'll go see DSO or Futhur and the wife is always on the look out for a small Dead cover band to see like Jack Straw or Forgotten Space. She's a real dancer!

I started listening to the Dead in 1989 when I went to college. A friend had Skeletons From The Closet and I found myself loving "St. Stephen". I didn't go hardcore, but I picked up the original Reckoning on CD around then and really enjoyed "It Must Have Been The Roses", "The Race Is On" and of course "Ripple". I started to get the bug. My friend picked up One From The Vault and Infrared Roses and I was still fascinated but ended up not digging much deeper. I had chances to go to Dead shows but never did. I was also a big collector of live music in general when bootleg CDs started hitting the used stores in the early 90's. Live Hendrix. Live U2. Live Dave Matthews. That kinda stuff. If it was rare and it was live and it sounded good, I'd buy it.

And then Garcia died in '95 and I had missed my chance to see them. I had just started dating a girl in Denver about this time and it turned out she had been going to shows since '89. So we put on Skeletons and Reckoning and... I just got hooked. Like something clicked. The girl I was dating when Jerry died ended up marrying me and she obviously loved them too, so we didn't have to fight over the CD player. So they were in rotation along with DMB, the Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam and Hendrix and whatever else we listened to.

Then my Mom got real sick in '03 and my wife and I went out to Cape Cod to be with the family while my Mom slowly faded. I remember going to a used music place out there cause I just had to get out of the house and they had like DP16 and DP18 and I bought them for quite a penny. That's all I played while I was out there for a month. Sitting in the hot tub with my wife and listening to the Dead and just letting the water and the music soothe me while my Mom faded and faded and finally left us.

It was a terrible time but the music always makes me think of my Mom and that's a good thing.
It reminds me of college and independence.
It reminds me of the beginning of my relationship with my wife.
It reminds me of Jerry's death.
It reminds me of my wedding.
It reminds me of Cape Cod.

Of relationships.
Of beginnings.
And endings.

I listen to their live stuff all the time now. I buy everything they release at dead.net (David Lemieux is really doing a nice job). I think I'm missing maybe 5 or 6 of Dick's picks. I've got all the Road Trips. All of Dave's Picks. All the box sets except Fillmore '69 (and eventually I'll pay the exorbitant price for that one too). I collect obsessively because the music is great and it has my own emotions and feelings and history inexorably intertwined in it.

 

That was very poignant. I don't think I can put it as well, but GD and Jerry have certainly been a significant part of the soundtrack to my life from when I first got into them as a high school sophomore in '85 on (starting with vinyl purchase of American Beauty). I wound up starting my tape collection by recording the radio broadcast of the second set of the New Year's show that year and played it to death. I lived in CT then (NY burbs) and couldn't drive yet, and didn't have friends with a car who were into the Dead, and they didn't play anywhere I could get to by train in '85 or '86, so I didn't see a show until Dylan and the Dead at Foxboro in '87, was hooked from then on. Saw 3 more shows that year and then ramped up from there, and have made many lifelong friends through the GD touring scene.

I went through a period beginning in the late 90s and lasting for several years when I didn't listen to them much, but thankfully I kept up with the official releases anyway, and I am glad I did. I think I have all of the official GD and Jerry releases (including almost all of the bonus discs), except for Postcards of the Hanging, Garcia Plays Dylan, Infrared Roses, and the Mother Mcree's Uptown Jug Champions release (kicking myself for sleeping on that one, will probably wind up picking the others up eventually, too). I don't have the Vintage Dead and Historic Dead semi-official vinyl releases either.

Mostly trailed off in listening for that long while because I was dating a couple women in a row who weren't into them - the second one is now my wife - and I had other musical fish to fry. I've been back on a kick where I've been listening to them a lot more over the last three or four years. Getting the massive Europe '72 box really got me back into them heavily. My wife doesn't mind them as much as other "jam bands", though (most of which annoy me too), and we did have a JGB tune on our wedding reception playlist.

I am a huge fan of Hendrix, too, by the way, and have kept up with the various releases of his live stuff as well. Miami Pop is quite good.

 

I read someone's music blog that recommended Miami Pop. I think as soon as I see it used at a reasonable price, I'll get it. I don't imagine it will be rare or hard to find anytime soon. I do love me some Hendrix and hearing that he played the show dosed means the music must really be out there.

That Europe '72 box is a real kicker! I must admit I've only listened to a few shows from it so far, but I'm thinking that this summer, I'll wade through them all (I'm a lucky fellow and get summers off). I can't listen to other jam bands. Phish (or any of the others) just doesn't do it for me. I really need to get Infrared Roses and especially Fallout From the Phil Zone. I'm not generally one to want a compilation CD, but reading a lot of these Dead threads lately, it really does get mentioned a lot.

I was fairly lucky in that I started getting the official releases starting with Road Trips 1.4. I'm not sure I could swing the crazy prices for copies of Dave's and Road Trips and the rest on eBay as they stand. I also have to say (and this would likely be an unpopular opinion) I don't get the hysterical hate for flippers on eBay. If you look at the amount of a release (10k copies or 12k copies) and compare it to the number of copies on eBay, the percentage of flippers is so tiny it's almost meaningless. If I have to pay $400 for the Fillmore '69 box, then them's the breaks, but it's not because a couple of people are selling their copies on eBay. It's because 99.9% of people are never going to sell their copies.

I've got lots of unpopular opinions about the Dead's limited release strategy which contradict nearly every opinion out there. IMO it's a sound strategy which allows them to release stuff on a regular basis and makes it economically viable and profitable to continue to do so. When people start invoking Jerry and communal ownership and the famous "once we're done with it, I don't care what they do with it" quote, I just

 

I agree with you in general regarding the limited release strategy. A lot of people don't understand the reality these days that the music industry can't afford to have product sitting in warehouses forever, and other releases by various artists that aren't announced to be "limited" still go out of print incredibly fast. At least with the GD stuff, you KNOW you have to act fast. I am glad that there is an economic model that allows David Lemieux and Jeffrey Norman to do their thing and release what they do with, usually, the best possible sound. (Don't get me started on the decision to use Cutler's on the fly mixes for the Spring '90 box rather than using the multi-track recordings, though).

I would be all in favor of the GD making more of the out of print stuff available as downloads; they've recently taken a big step in that direction with Road Trips. I get just as annoyed at those who care about having high-value, exclusive collectibles as I do at those who whine about limited releases. I like to have the physical product whenever possible, but it would be nice if everyone who really wanted to hear the music could get it without costing an arm and a leg, and it's not that hard for the powers that be to make that possible. I have a feeling more will be available soon.

They're going to have to pry the Fillmore '69 box out of my cold, dead hands. They definitely miscalculated the demand for that one, but it was kind of understandable because it was the first big box.

Fallout from the Phil Zone is definitely worth getting. I used to own Infrared Roses, but then sold it in order to fund some other music purchases when money was tight years ago. I'll probably re-buy it for OCD/completist reasons, but honestly don't miss it very much.

The Hendrix Miami release is probably going to be available for quite some time. I'd prioritize the Berkeley and Live at the Fillmore East releases higher, if you don't have those.

 

To be honest, well, in my opinion anyway, if you already love a lot of '77 stuff, you may love 5/8/77, but you might also be thinking "um, but why is this any better than the rest of the shows". Because the simple reason is that it was just the first high quality Betty Board that EVERYONE heard... It was shocking to hear it. Personally, I think it's a fine show, but I do think it's over rated. There are SO many other 77 shows that I find more exhilarating.

 

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who buys all of it! Sadly, I'm pretty sure I haven't missed a single release...

By the way beautiful post. My wife and I met online in 1995 in a Grateful Dead chat room on AOL. We weren't on there to meet potential romantic relations... but it just happened that way. We've been together for 18 years (since March 3) and 14 years married (also March 3). I understand how moving the music can be...

 

As to the limited release thing... Rhino knows the trip, they get theirs, heads get over.
It's all good.

 

710?

 

BTW - I apologize for reviving an old excellent GD thread and then getting ranty about the Dead/Rhino strategy. It was uncouth of me.

However, now that I've attracted some of the frequent posters to this thread, I'll say

 

LOL! That's the one! Man did I spend hours on that thing... Sometimes just waiting for the dial-up modem

 

Hmm, for some reason I thought the Formerly The Warlocks was sold out. Nope - still on Dead.net for $69 FYI -

http://www.dead.net/store/1980s/formerly-warlocks-hampton-october-1989-cd-box

 

Paid off.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((710))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 

LOL! I was actually PhoffiFozz on there too, every once in a blue moon my wife will do the ((((((((Fozz)))))) thing in email.

We had actually met a lot of people on there over the years, so we would organize a camping trip in Kentucky once a year (it only lasted about 3 years) with all the people we 'knew' from there... Do you remember what your screen name was on there?

 

I started with a certain name only to have someone take it by adding a number
Olompali has been my 'net nom de plume for 18 years or so... Can't remember any names off hand except Zman and Steve Ross

 

There ARE a lot of great 77 shows, but 5/8/77 is something special, and anyone who loves 77 Dead should also check out Buffalo 5/9/77, which is just as good (and actually has the better first set of the two). Boston 5/7/77 is just a notch below those, but also worth listening to while you are at it.

 

I thought I remember someone on this forum saying the SQ is bad or something. I've avoided it because I'm not a huge fan of late 80's/early 90's (but I am a completist ). I've heard the sets are great though. Anyone with opinions on the SQ?

 

That's amazing!

 

Hmm, yes would love to hear any comments about SQ on this set. Still, at "only" $69 for 6 discs, I grabbed it because most things that sell out on Dead.net seem to increase in price quickly...

From Blair Jackson's blurb: "The Formerly The Warlocks box collects every note of the band’s two nights there, spread over six CDs. The concerts were originally recorded by Grateful Dead sound wizard John Cutler in the Le Mobile remote truck, and mixed recently by longtime Grateful Dead-associate and Bob Weir/RatDog studio engineer and front-of-house mixer Mike McGinn. As always, the discs have been mastered to HDCD specifications, so needless to say, it sounds like you’re there, in the best seats in the house."

 

I just realized it wasn't Skeletons I heard back in the early 90's, but rather the 2-disc What A Long Strange Trip It's Been. Stupid brain cells!

 

I haven't listened to these in a little while, but I recall SQ being pretty good... I believe they worked from the multi-tracks, unlike the Spring '90 box, but not 100 percent sure. A little biased because I was at those shows. The packaging and accompanying swag is pretty cool, they did a nice job with that one...

 

By the way, if anyone here was at the 10/8/89 show, and noticed all of the hair all over the floor after the show, I can tell you what I remember about the story behind that ...

Also, it is worth listening to the audience recording of 10/9/89 just to hear the crowd reaction to the first Dark Star in over 5 years, and first for the vast majority of the people there.

 

Is that really one of the reasons 5/8/77 is so hyped? I had no idea! Now I'm really intrigued!

 

That's the commonly accepted theory, and there's much truth to it, but it's kind of a chicken and the egg question. Is 5/8/77 is so highly rated because it's so widely circulated, or is it so widely circulated because it is so highly rated?

I was out of the loop when the Betty hit circulation, but the most excellent AUD was very popular in the early 80's - there was an eager audience for the board.

Anyway, the Scarlet>Fire is suis generis and the Morning Dew ranks with the very best. As the tape features landmark performances of two signature tunes set amidst a typically sharp '77 set, its popularity is not surprising.

I'm in the camp that prefers the next night with the huge H>S>F and Comes a Time...