Thanks so much for this tip. ~$83 USD is a fantastic price for the 6-lp box compared to ~$130 on Dead.net!
I'm having a hard time characterizing them. If you like 72, it's kind of like that, but more. Jazz-fusion country funk space rock jams? There are some really massive and out there jams in these shows, running the gamut really of what they did back then. I just listened to all 3 of the 73 shows a few weeks back, I haven't heard the 74 shows in a while. 74 is typically funkier, they do the individual songs with more idiosyncratic rhythm. 6-22-73 I had the first set tape forever, it was one of the perfect first sets of that era, IMO, my introduction to the Race is On, early Looks Like Rain, Box of Rain etc. If I had to pick just one year of Grateful Dead, it would probably be 74 (though thankfully I don't.)
Ah, 3CD set! Didn't see that, thank you! They did a nice job on the selections, I think that will soothe me for now. (I'd trade Brown-Eyed Women for They Love Each Other, though.)
Yeah, that was my understanding from NedBase. Still, my initial thoughts went, "1974... Seastones!" I fantasize about a digital-only thing (because it wouldn't sell enough to warrant physical copies) of all the Seastones from the existing 1974 releases that weren't included for space limitations. With the crown jewel being the Seastones>Jam>Eyes>Wharf Rat from 9/11/74. I recognize I have a problem.
Take time to watch DL's viddy chat, a good place to start. (One of these days Dave is going to slip on those damn rocks, hit his head and it will be all over. I sure hope he's training someone with the same initials.)
The good and bad news is that this is a must purchase for almost any Dead fan. 73/74 is definitely their jazziest and most improv heavy, to the point of occasionally being meandering. But at its best I think these are some of the best shows they’ve done.
There is a pretty meaty looking 3CD compilation if you can't muster the box financially, as I was alerted to by this thread : ) If you're light on these years, though, this is the "jazzy Dead" as others have noted and this looks like a nice representative scoop of that era. 5/19/74's the only one I'm personally familiar with, but the band's playing & mind-melding at an extremely high level in this era. This is the peak era for Eyes of the World & Playing In the Band. China Doll is in its first flower, and China Cat jams are long and a little slower-grooving. This is the only period with the fast They Love Each Other, or Here Comes Sunshine at all until a 90s revival in a different arrangement. And shortly after these June '73 appearances, Box of Rain & Bird Song got retired for the remainder of the 70s.
How lucky were those folks in Vancouver to get Dead shows in 1973 and 1974! Why they would play out there and not in Toronto is beyond my comprehension. Anyway, the 3-CD set for me.
If money is a concern, I would pass. There is a ton of great sounding 73-74 already released and freely available on the archive. These boxes are for the obsessives and the mildly deranged. There is nothing uniquely compelling about pretty much any GD release. And yes, I have pre-ordered.
I sometimes think that the guys at GD HQ just sit around all day pondering what challenge they can throw down to the interior decor of their fans ....
I actually have emailed them about changing to expedited shipping and they are replying very quickly. And my order went through with no hassles.
