On recent listens to a better sounding copy it appears that Jerry teaches the band the song quietly, runs through the changes, then they play it. In line with what @ratstack says above, this capacity for spontaneity is something that got lost in the fog. His musical genius in the Dead, various JGB-like bands, the NRPS, Old & In The Way, studio work with PERRO, etc., the constant outpouring of amazing playing in various settings was a huge lass. Some of it came back for a while with the acoustic band, side projects with Merle and Grisman, and the like, yet we lost something special along the way.
It's possible, I hadn't thought of that. In concert it was a clunky gear change from Eyes to Moon, the very discord that Bobby loved to inject into the proceedings.
washed my hands in muddy water wasn't an original by the way. Written by Cowboy Joe Babcock and recorded by Stonewall Jackson. Released as a single in 1965 from the album "Trouble And Me", it reached #8 on Hot Country Songs.
one of my favorite attended shows in 72. the place was very nice. actually nicer than many of the theaters we were used to. Stanley Theater (Jersey City, New Jersey) - Wikipedia
6/20/83 Bob Star...lol...such a great show. My buddy Dean’s recording is still as much fun today as ever. He had his DAT strapped to his chest...lololol...notes still crack me up. He still talks about it to this day.
For the latter half of 1978, 12-16-78 is worth a visit, too, as are the post-Egypt shows at the Winterland.
How do you all listen to shows off the archive.org? I'm learning about DACs and headphone amps and would like to improve the quality of my listening experience.
Plenty of 1977 this week, finished listening to Dicks 29 twice. Right now Dicks 3 5/22/77, Great Music !
The key to a good late 90/91 show for me is that the guitar players are mixed out in front of the keyboards. When that's not the case my ears rebel. It's a shame too because it seems like most shows in 91 have this problem including that 6/28/91 you suggested Warewolf. Seriously, listening to the beginning of that Touch of Grey it sounds like the Vince Welnick band featuring members of Grateful Dead. Conversely the 9/8/91 board that Miller just put out is flat out awesome to my ears as was the Giants 6/17 show and others I'm sure (worth making a list?). I feel like Healy must've struggled to get the keyboards right in this period. It's not that the keyboardists suck but I don't need them up front and center in my mix - especially when Jerry and Co. are dialed in like they were in general throughout this period. Sometimes it's worse in the second set - check out 6/6/91 where the first set is one of the best of the year and gets followed by a second set that sounds flat out goofy for lack of a better term. Just my opinion folks and thank you SHF for letting me escape into it here for a few minutes. Bottom line: when it comes to the post-Brent era, the mix matters!
The first piece of research is to determine the streaming bitrate from the archive. If it's mp3 quality then the investment in a quality DAC, amp, and cans will provide an improvement, yet one that is source limited. Although your rig will sound great with CD's, Hi Res, redbook or better level streaming, and so forth.
Listening to Blues For Allah studio album. The bonus Crazy Fingers (Distorto) jam is cool. Did they ever do this live? I've only heard ballad versions.
1981-12-31 Oakland Someone on Twitter suggested that it might be the best show of the '80s. It is a loaded setlist, three and a half hours from Shakedown to Baby Blue, with plenty of the old jazzy psychedelia along with everything else they could do. The fun and adventure of the night comes across on the recording. If someone was curious to know what the Dead were all about, this wouldn't be a bad place to start. The opening set by Joan Baez is not really essential, although the Dead back her for part of it, while she sings a few oldies and two new songs, Lucifer's Eyes and Children of the '80s, that she had recorded with them for an album that never was released. (You can find a poor-quality download of the sessions; I listened once and didn't think it was worth keeping.) During the Dead's sets, her background vocals on It Must Have Been the Roses and Iko Iko don't fit in, and they probably should have just let her sing the encore It's All Over Now, Baby Blue by herself, because she just sang over Jerry, anyway. Matt Kelly and John Cippolina mesh pretty well in their spots, though. Anyway, a great New Year's Eve show. Possibly an all-timer? Anybody have a NYE Top 5?
Winterlnad 31 Dec 1978 for the "eventness" of the occasion. Winterland 31 Dec 1972 is the best NYE show in terms of the music, and especially the big jam in set 2 with David Crosby.
VMP does imply they are new cuts cause they "had lacquers cut " "TOP-TIER AUDIO MASTERING All 8 titles in this VMP Anthology had lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood, CA. All titles were cut 'AAA' from the original analog tapes
So I'm listening to 22 May 1977 and then I heard it- Keith's piano during Franklin's Tower. This is the magic show where Keith is playing the keyboard part for Foolish Heart. In 1977.
It doesn't say when the lacquers were cut. Maybe they mean that new lacquers were cut, but it doesn't explicitly say that.
I purchased an 'in stock' Cecil Taylor' Silent Tongues record from them on 4/30/20 (my first time dealing with them) - it shipped out on 5/15/20, after I sent an email to inquire about my record - now it's bouncing around the postal system. I get that they may be a bit short staffed - but 16 days slap a stamp on a single record is a bit poor. Hopefully the records sounds good. I don't think I would have ever contemplated purchasing the Dead box set, due to the expense - but now it is a hard no.
Any lawyers in the house? It is strangely worded but does seem to imply they had lacquers cut specifically for this release.
