I never put too much thought into it but you are right. I guess that's why I looked forward to a good Memphis Blues or It's All Over Now at shows. Was always holding my breath for a Let it Grow, even more so than MNS.
I’ve been using the Relisten app to preview and download shows from Archive.org. You could characterize me as a casual GD listener since the 80s, and I only took the deep dive into their live recordings (other than LIVE/DEAD and EUROPE’72) in the last decade or so, and that was limited to some of the Dick’s Picks and the Complete Fillmore box. It can be somewhat overwhelming to a novice looking at the sheer volume of recordings, and as someone who never got to see them live or was part of the tape trading community, a little challenging to know where to start. Where do you find yourself coming back to over time? The Pigpen years? The ‘74 Wall of Sound? The comeback after the layoff? I know the answers will be as varied as there are fans, but I’d love some guidance. Here’s what I’ve got for live recordings as a reference: Live/Dead Skull & Roses Europe ‘72 Europe ‘72 Box Complete Fillmore Box Hundred Year Hall One From The Vault Sunshine Daydream Closing Of Winterland Cornell 5/8/77 Dick’s Picks 4,8,12,15,33,36 Road Trips vol 2.2, vol 4.3 I guess I had more than I realized!
Picasso Moon is one of the better late era GD songs. Liked it from the beginning. The 93 Boston version was epic.
The doc I watched on Bob (The Other One) and the Amazon doc on the band are what really set me off on a journey.
Oh yeah, definitely. I think I'd go for Let it Grow on the merits, but beyond that even I think it has, at least by the 80s/90s, a much higher percentage of having exciting Jerry on it...not that there aren't a lot of MNS with exciting Jerry, but I've got LIG at close to 100% for that, and only "close to" because there are possibly ones I haven't heard where Jerry doesn't deliver, or the mix is bad or something...I can't really think of any renditions that aren't pretty fantastic lead guitar-wise though
So I was at a Farm School benefit show in Cambridge in 2005 that Ratdog played at with guests. Does anybody have any information about this show? I have recordings which I found tonight while doing some pandemic, boredom cleaning but no lineage. The information I have found on line has been minimal. It was a night to remember though. I got my CD's from one of the event hosts and have literally not heard/seen them in 10 years. Pretty good show so far!
Edited my post above, the show was actually 2005 not 2007 and is officially my favorite version of Victim.
A. 10/71>10/74 though you can get a buzz from any release after a short cessation B. There is not enough though someday there might be
I have DeadBase 50 which includes WeirBase, but I'm still not sure of the year of your Cambridge show. Dave's 30, disc 2, China Cat.
I’m no expert but some noticeable absences in that list are the movie soundtrack and two from the vault. There’s also the issue of what’s easily available. Dicks Picks tend to be the easier to find (in the U.K. anyway), particularly the first 10 or so. So I’d opt for DiPs 1, 2 & 3 as a starter.
I guess I come back to most all of it except post-91, and I try to keep my hand in there a little anyway. I'd recommend looking into some 80s stuff, judging by that list...although I don't know all the DP and RT by number, maybe you have some there...
Please listen to the performance of FOTD that’s on the album Dead Set and report back, please. Sincerely, Freebird
I’d say that’s a pretty decent start to a collection! That’s a decent finish even. The answer to your question is gonna depend on what you want most out of the band. I like collective group improv above all, so 72-74 is my primary listening. But I suspect I’m like most in that I seek out the best of my favorite version of the band and then I seek out variation to mix things up. So sometimes I’ll listen intently to 73 for a month and then I’ll do Spring 1990 for a couple days and keep jumping around. Of what you have listened to do you have a favorite? Sometimes you have to listen really focused for awhile to start picking out differences. I would definitely add some Brent Mydland years stuff to your collection. So much is available streaming, which is what I do almost exclusively, but something like Without a Net should be easily available if you like silvers.
1. Reckoning -- you really should have this acoustic set. If you get things on CD, the expanded set is fantastic. If you get on vinyl and you can track a copy of the Acoustic Sounds release, it is a sonic wonder. 2. Without a Net -- I am a believer that there are merits to all eras of the Dead. Yes, this is a compilation. But it is a wonderful introduction to 89-90 Dead. Althea, Mississippi 1/2 step, Bird Song, Eyes (w Branford), Cassidy, China/Rider, Help>Slip>Franklin -- even Looks Like Rain. This is a very good set.
Legendary Grateful Dead sound woman “Betty Boards” ASK ME ANYTHING (May 22) over at r/gratefuldead : jambands
Jeeze given the news cycle I saw the first part of the headline and was already anticipating that Betty just died.
26 March 1973- Baltimore Finally getting to the heart of the matter this morning: He's Gone > Truckin' > Weather Report Suite Prelude > Space > Wharf Rat > Me And Bobby McGee > Eyes Of The World > Morning Dew
34 years ago tonight, I saw my first Grateful Dead show at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, ME. A lot of crazy **** went down that night (which I don't have time to get into here) and the show was pretty good too. Not an all-time classic by any means but like most Dead shows, it had a few highlights: * Solid first set featuring a then-rare "Wang Dang Doodle" and the only performance of "Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues". * Smokin' China>Rider to open the second set. * The real highlights for me were the jams into and out of drums/space. In those days, there were a lot of shows where Jerry couldn't seem to get offstage fast enough before drums (e.g. the following night, where Bob and Brent hung around to jam with the drummers for a while). On 3-27 though, at the end of "Eyes", Jerry stayed onstage and played this long, dreamy solo with the drummers. I don't think I've heard anything else like it. I assume he was high as a kite. The rest of the band had headed backstage already, and Jerry just stuck around for a long time. He wasn't tearing it up, more like just fooling around with ideas to see where they led, but it was, as I said, really unique and quite pretty at times. * Coming out of "space" was a fairly long and extremely well-developed version of the "Spanish Jam" (which was pretty rare at this point, too). The rest of the show pretty much a write-off, with Bobby's voice completely shot and Jerry not sure whether he wanted to play "Black Peter" or "Wharf Rat", but overall, it was still very much worth the trip. The next night was great, with the second set opening with "Playing in the Band>Franklin's Tower" and never letting up.
