This makes sense to me, Phil’s bass becomes more prominent to my ears during HCS (volume or mix), I will track down the time and report back, also I will listen to the whole show via archive later this week. Thanks for being nice on the new guy, this thread will challenge me to relisten to DP’s w/ a critical ear!
Ill go ahead and subscribe to this thread. I just spun my two from the vault record last week. I may have to put DiP3 on the turntable once we get to that point.
I noticed changes to Phil’s mix/volume during 4 minute’ish point and around 10:45 into the song (both subtle) the later change may have to do w/ the jam building before Jerry sings the last part of the song. As noted previously I like Keith being louder on the recording (not quite as prominent as October of 71) and Billy’s is front & present (I know back in the Bear days he used 2 overhead mic’s (DP 4 liner notes) any guesses on # of mic’s on Billy), my preamp was set to volume level 7.5 during my listening this AM
I don’t have an answer off hand, though if I get some time I’d like to peruse some photos of the era and find that out, but your post reminded me to make sure you’ve seen this thread, The Grateful Dead Live Sound and Recording Legacy There’s a ton of great info in there
I have, it is full excellent posts and must read for any fan of the Dead or live music and the evolution of PA systems, my kids are amazed to learn if it wasn’t for the Dead they would not enjoy seeing Tedeschi Trucks Band live because of the evolution of PA’s driven by the Dead & others.
If the brief was just to create an idealized 2-CD Live Album from one concert, moving "Here Comes Sunshine" to the start was a savvy move--and the selections throughout the first disc are well-paced, too. You get three extended set pieces--a fanfare at the beginning, a suite roughly in the middle, and the big first set finale at the end, buffered by a few snappy tunes that fairly represent the Americana flavor in other parts of the show. And then the second disc delivers the heart of the late set. It would be cool if they had added a few more songs, but while I'm listening, do I really miss "Bobby McGee" or Phil's bass solo? No, not really. 2FTV came out in May 1992, when I saw the Dead in Mountain View, but I had no idea about that release at the time--and I'm pretty sure that I didn't hear about Dick's Picks until sometime in the late '90s, when Rolling Stone or some magazine did a rundown of the first 8 volumes or something. By that point, I'd moved on to other music, and the idea of risking money on the chance that some random, old Dead shows might turn out to be worthwhile (but better than Without a Net?) didn't really appeal. Maybe hearing this would've brought me back into the fold then, but I don't know. "He's Gone > Truckin'" isn't really my favorite of Dead fixtures, but the jazzy noodling, and the noise washes after "The Other One," are very much my jam.
Some pre-emptive DP2 listening today. As I remembered correctly, this is a killer Dark Star, with some nice jamming from the 3/4 point, the tease into Sugar Mags is great as well. I would rank this is my top 5 Dark Stars (but I probably haven't heard enough of them): 8/24/68, 2/27/69, 2/13/70, 10/31/71, 8/27/72. Can't go wrong with St. Stephen, NFA > Going down the Road > NFA either. Will give the full show a listen on archive.org.
DP1 remains one of my favorites of the DP series. It's probably a sentimental favorite as it was my introduction to what live Dead was like in the 70's. Prior to this release I had only heard official, live releases such as Live Dead, Skull, Deadset and Net. In college, in the 80's, a few buddies had some concert tapes but I generally shied away from them as I thought they sounded awful, and I was more enamored with buying and listening to cds. Hearing Jerry solo on HCS was ear opening in that it left no further doubt he was the real deal on guitar, right up there with all the other guitar gods from the 60's. And that groove they lay down for him, that is top shelf jamming. Overall it's a great release I still listen to it regularly. I will always list this in my top five of the series. Also, these days, I'm fine with a curated set as opposed to full shows. I think DP1 flows nicely imo.
I can't believe I don't own DP1 in any format and needed to listen to it streaming. Regardless, it reminded me of why I fell in love with this band. The thought of live shows being curated and provided in CD format intrigued the hell out of me back then and it was this release that got me fully into the live stuff. There was a little headshop off campus called "Sunshine Daydream" that had a huge binder with all the shows they could tape for you if you gave them a blank tape and $5. I think I spent most of my money there and it was because of DP1. I was very surprised how well this flowed considering it is not a full show. I am now waiting impatiently for the copy I bought when this thread started and still hasnt arrived.
Just listened to all of Set 1 of 10/31/71. Some great stuff, lots of personal favorites. No definitive performances, but some things of note, such as that heavy handed riff from Jerry on Jack Straw. And Keith being rather high in the mix, plonking away at his piano. Wonderful Cumberland Blues. It's a good thing they started releasing full shows when they did, I don't see any reason why set 1 and the encore should remain unreleased. Any thoughts on why this release was curated?
Probably mainly that at the time the band (Phil) still had veto power over releases and that they weren't sure multi-CD releases would sell.
I think my favorite Dead releases end up being stuff like Ladies And Gentlemen. I'm a big fan, but also a big fan of so many other artists, that I'm always into stuff that picks the highlights from a run or tour. I know that probably angers purists, but what can you do.
No jams, I guess. It isn't especially remarkable, so I can see why they decided just to skip to the good stuff, but then I wonder why they didn't do the same with 10/14/83 (DiP 6), where the second set is fantastic but most of the first set isn't worth keeping.
Did Phil wield that much power, or was he considered the principle curator at the time? It may not have been as memorable as DP23 or DP36 or the stuff on L&G, but still good enough to warrant a full release. Didn't this get a lot of criticism at the time? Of course internet wasn't what is is today, so that would be difficult to gauge. Anyway, if I owned the full set, I wouldn't exclusively listen to disc 2.
I suspect a bit of "test marketing" was part of the decision to limit DP2 to a single disc. Perhaps they wanted to see if a lower price point would affect sales.
I didn't read any books on the Dead yet, but were they really that self conscious? How do they do it now? Kinda sounds like Neil Young, reappreciating his older music and finally releasing it.
Thread guide By Release Date List of releases One from the Vault (1975-08-13 San Francisco, released 1991-04-15) Infrared Roses (1989-1990, released 1991-11-01) Two from the Vault (1968-08-24 San Francisco, released May 1992) Dick’s Picks Volume 1 (1973-12-19 Tampa, released 1991-10-31) By Concert Date 1968-08-24 San Francisco (Two from the Vault, released May 1992) 1973-12-19 Tampa (Dick’s Picks Volume 1, released 1991-10-31) 1975-08-13 San Francisco (One from the Vault, released 1991-04-15) 1989-1990 (Infrared Roses, released 1991-11-01)
Dick's Picks Volume 2 Recording date: October 31, 1971 Release date: March 1995 Recorded by Rex Jackson "Dark Star -> Jam ->" (Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 23:14 "Sugar Magnolia ->" (Weir, Hunter) – 6:33 "St. Stephen" (Garcia, Lesh, Hunter) – 7:10 "Not Fade Away ->" (Petty, Hardin) – 7:25 "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad ->" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 10:38 "Not Fade Away" (Petty, Hardin) – 3:19 The second Dick’s Pick stays in the classic ‘71-’74 era, this time the fall of 1971. A lot of great new songs were introduced during this tour, but they aren’t on this disc. Instead it contains the second set of a Halloween night in Ohio. It’s the only single-disc Dick’s Pick, and one of a small number of single-disc archival releases. At less than an hour, it’s a bite-size slice of prime Dead, and if I remember correctly it was uncirculated at the time of release. The centerpiece (and opening track) is the wonderful version of Dark Star. It takes its time to unwind, meandering its way to the first verse. Then a series of short and somewhat disconnected jams leads to an exciting, dynamic section that starts roughly halfway through the song; the whole band is playing as one in this stunning example of full-band tight improvisation. The jam breaks down into a series of more dissonant sections before Sugar Magnolia brings the music back to the real world. This transition reminds me of the E72 tour, where this sequence would be played several times, often followed by Caution. But that’s for future discussions... St. Stephen is solid but it doesn’t quite fit in the set for my ears. We finish with a typical high-energy late 1971 Not Fade Away/Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad/Not Fade Away sandwich; this has some unique jamming, and is most enjoyable with a lot of lively and inventive Jerry guitar work. Sound quality is a little dull and occasionally harsh; maybe they hadn’t perfected the transfer and mastering process this early in the series. The packaging is again very basic, just a jewel case with a single color paper insert serving as a cover. But consider when it was released - very few people had heard unaltered live Dead recordings of this quality from this era. This was an eye-opening release for me, and I’m sure for many others. While there are several more complete and better-sounding releases from this tour, the music on Dick’s Picks Volume Two makes it an essential part of any serious GD library. This one stands up 26 years after its release (and almost 50 years after the performance).
I've said before and I'll say again: minute-for-minute, DP2 could easily be the best live release the Dead ever put out. Certainly the best single disc of GD music available commercially. There's something really special about Keith's first couple of months in the band. You can hear it especially in the "Dark Stars" from this period, and this is an exceptional example. As I've also mentioned before, the transition from GDTRFB>NFA is one of the best examples they ever performed, as well. Check out the track timing... 10-1/2 minutes! I can't say enough about the brilliance of this release. Real desert-island stuff.
Dick's Picks Vol. 2: Ohio Theatre, Columbus, OH, 10/31/1971 I like this release very much. Short and sweet. This Dark Star holds to its hype. It's gorgeous. First jam is fluid and interesting, with Jerry squeezing some really psychedelic runs; then it morphs into that elevating major key (AKA »Tighten Up«) jam, while towards the end we get some genuine sonic chaos. Full Dead package here! Sugar magnolia that follows is rather (below) average. While I prefer energetic '68-'70 versions of St. Stephen, this rendition is interesting with its somewhat slower pace and more laid back feel. NFA-GDTRFB-NFA here is truly one of the all-time classics - they just burned the house down! At this point I must single out Jerry's playing. It is just amazing how he was constantly changing his playing style through the years, but you can always tell it is Jerry in any given year. His playing style in NFA screams late 1971 and it is already different from early 1971, let alone 1970 or 1972 versions of NFA. This is one of the reason why I just love this band (and Jerry) so much. Some say that he is overrated as a guitarist. While that may partly be true in some respects - in terms of general impact, you can't compare him with likes of Jimi Hendrix - you just cannot underestimate his inventiveness and morphing of different styles into his own, and I think it was his eagerness to evolve and search that was one of the primary catalyst for evolving sound of the band as a whole. Back to the release itself, I need to trim down the final rating a bit, just because this release is too damn short. Still an essential release to hear for gorgeous Dark Star and out of this world NFA-GDTRFB-NFA. Overall rating: 3.7/5 P.S. Reading the OP's post...I wasn't aware this was uncirculated at the time of its release; this puts some additional weight to it. Also with every release being a first timer from an era, this must have been really really exciting back in the day! I really enjoy reading posts like this, putting things into a perspective. Keep 'em coming!
I am a bit behind - but my Two from the Vault arrived from Discogs on Tuesday. It has not left my car since. I am not usually as much of a fan of "primal" dead than later years, but this set may make me rethink that. What a great show.
You might want to amplify on this ? Keith is barely audible on Dark Star, and when I do hear him, he doesn't seem to be on the same page with the rest of the band. Sometimes I wonder that whoever was at the mixing desk noticed this and reacted accordingly. Please don't throw tomatoes at me - I adore Keith and I see him as a crucial contribution through the best years in band's history. But this release is not a good exemplar of him.
