Remember, next up is Dick's Picks 3 tomorrow. I recently made a week-by-week spreadsheet and added a couple of releases missing from my original list (like the 50th anniversary editions), and came up with 248 weeks to cover all the releases, not including anything not-yet-released. This will be week 8 - only 240 to go!
Grayfolded For the longest time, this was the only Dead/Dead-related (circle as appropriate) CD I had but it did help nurture an appreciation for The Dead.
It's great, but 4/24 and 5/26 are, IMO of course, far better. 4/24/72 contains my favorite Playin' of the tour and my favorite Dark Star of all time. 5/26/72 is just a beast, with a NFA--> GDTR--> NFA to end the first set (at the insistence of the audience) and the Truckin'--> The Other One--> Drums--> The Other One--> Morning Dew--> The Other One--> Sing Me Back Home is one for the ages. But it's all subjective; hence why we discuss these things...
Agreed on 5/26! The 5/13 show is one that I feel flies a bit under the radar. I love the "Other One" from 5/13. 4/16 is another that always is near the top for me as well. Such an amazing tour.
Something tells me this thread will turn into a temporal paradox. Never beginning or ending, with only vague memories of an OP, and constant confusion of DiP and DaP.
Maybe we'll just start over when we're done in five or six years. It'll turn into one of those sci-fi infinite loops. We just finished Dave's Picks 51. Next up: One from the Vault.
Thread guide List of releases By Release Date 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) Dick’s Picks Volume 2 (1971-10-31 Columbus, released March 1995) Grayfolded (1968-1993, released 1994 and 1995) Hundred Year Hall (1972-04-26, released 1995-09-26) By Concert Date Various (released 1994 and 1995 on Grayfolded) 1968-08-24 Los Angeles (released 1992-05 on Two from the Vault) 1971-10-31 Columbus (released 1995-03 on Dick's Picks 2) 1972-04-26 Frankfurt (released 1995-09-26 on Hundred Year Hall) 1973-12-19 Tampa (released 1993-10-31 on Dick's Picks 1) 1975-08-13 San Francisco (released 1991-04-15 on One from the Vault) 1989, 1990 (released 1991-11-01 on Infrared Roses)
Dick's Picks Volume 3 Recording date: May 22, 1977 Recording location: Sportatorium in Pembroke Pines, Florida Release date: November 7, 1995 Recording: Betty Cantor-Jackson Disc 1 "Funiculì, Funiculà" (Luigi Denza) – 0:28 "The Music Never Stopped" (John Perry Barlow, Bob Weir) – 6:45 "Sugaree" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 15:54 "Lazy Lightning" -> (Barlow, Weir) – 3:22 "Supplication" (Barlow, Weir) – 5:34 "Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, Ivy Jo Hunter, William "Mickey" Stevenson) – 14:28 "Help on the Way" -> (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:23 "Slipknot!" -> (Grateful Dead) – 6:29 "Franklin's Tower" (Garcia, Hunter, Bill Kreutzmann) – 15:32 Disc 2 "Samson and Delilah" (traditional) – 7:31 "Sunrise" (Donna Godchaux) – 4:15 "Estimated Prophet" -> (Barlow, Weir) – 9:00 "Eyes of the World" -> (Garcia, Hunter) – 13:38 "Wharf Rat" -> (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:14 "Terrapin Station" -> (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:58 "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew" (Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose) – 14:21 Consisting of several first-set songs and most of the second set, Dick’s Picks Volume 3 was a show from the famous spring 1977 tour. Unlike the first Dick’s Picks, this one keeps the released songs in order. Prior to its release, the show was almost completely unknown. I believe this was the first official release of a Betty Board, so for many listeners this was their first exposure to a 2-track recording of such high quality, straight from the master tapes. For me, this was revelatory. Betty’s talents are beyond belief - most recording engineers couldn’t get a recording like this with all the gear in the world. And she did it, night after night, mixing on-the-fly to a 2-track recorder. The show itself is one of the best of the famous spring 1977 tour. The band blasts straight into a powerful version of The Music Never Stopped, which ranges from a little jam in the middle to an explosive conclusion where Jerry once again proves himself to be one of the best rock guitar players ever. From there it’s one highlight after another. Sugaree is in contention for best-ever version; the tension-and-release here is stunning, and the band is so synchronized it’s impossible. Keith is playing particularly well here. Lazy Lightning>Supplication builds into a mighty climax. I might have preferred a couple of different tracks substituted for Dancing in the Street, but it’s a fine version nonetheless. Next we get one of the greatest versions of Help>Slip>Franklin’s (which started the second set). Again the band is playing as one, even in Slipknot! where the music gets somewhat out there. This is essential Dead. Samson and Delilah and Sunrise make for a little respite before we come to the heart of the second disc. A fiery Estimated Prophet leads off the sequence, leading into a wonderful Eyes (where the recording weirdness mentioned on the caveat emptor occurs). The end turns into Jerry playing quietly almost by himself, a simply gorgeous section that’s not common in 1977. This leads into a powerful Wharf Rat, out of which the Terrapin Station conclusion unexpectedly arises. The set ends with a dynamic Morning Dew, a perfect exclamation point. Packaging was again very simple - a slimline 2-disc case with a single slip of paper serving as the cover. It might have been nice to introduce the novice listener to the tour, or to explain the way these shows were recorded. Now there’s an entire book on just the 5/8/77 concert! But at this point we were happy to get music of this quality in any form, and the idea of lavishly packaged box sets containing entire runs was still years away. More than 25 years after its release, this remains a cornerstone of any live Grateful Dead collection. I’m very familiar with every track here, and yet it still sounded completely fresh when I listened to it in preparation for this post. It’s a must-have.
I do not have Dick's Picks Volume 3 and haven't heard it. I'm generally less of a fan of the vaunted Spring 1977 tour than of the early 70s period, but I still think I should check this one out.
Some folks 'round these parts will tell you May 22, 1977 is the best May '77 show, if not the best Spring '77 show, if not the best '77 show. So good, no Scar>Fire is needed. Talking to a friend who was there, The Sportatorium was a barn.
An essential Pick. Some brief notes posted previously in The Grateful Thread— The Sugaree here is quite possibly the best I’ve heard—if not the best, it’s definitely upper echelon. It’s utterly brilliant. Jerry’s playing just takes off to another plane. It builds and builds and his soloing is just spot-on. Blissful. I mentioned earlier this week that the Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower was also superb and there’s a better Morning Dew than Cornell (just), IMO. Oh, and a real slinky, funky Dancing In The Street. In fact, that whole 2nd set sequence from Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Wharf Rat > Terrapin > Morning Dew is magnificent. This is a great Pick, even though it misses a few songs from the show.
Dick's Picks Vol. 3: Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, FL, 5/22/1977 Now this is more like it! This was the release that first introduced me to the year 1977, which is a close contender for my second favourite GD year. I was gobsmacked the first time I've heard this. I like the grandiose big hall sound. From the first notes of TMNS up to the last cry of Morning Dew, energy level almost never drops. This Sugaree is glorious. It just keeps building and building with Jerry's perfectly controlled slow arpeggios that build almost unbearable tension. For me, music can hardly get any better than this. Help on the Way>Slipknot!>Franklin's sequence is practically played to perfection. I even like Sunrise – it is a good song and Donna sings it beautifully. The final sequence from Estimated Prophet to Morning Dew is a pure perfection. It brings to the table a whole range of intensity levels and emotions; it sounds like some grandiose statement, like band has something special to convey, something larger than life itself. And those perfectly smooth transitions are incredible, especially the one from Wharf Rat into Terrapin and on into Morning Dew. This is a music on a totally another level. DiP3 is also the first time I've heard a Terrapin Station, albeit in this shortened form and I was stunned. This coda out of Terrapin station remains one of my favourite pieces of music by anyone. Only Morning Dew could follow up on this and bring this sequence to its climactic conclusion. While subsequently I've heard much more 1977 GD music, for me this second set still remains one of their greatest performances / statements. In fact not just from Grateful Dead but in all of music. Dick Latvala sure knew what he was doing when he chose this concert for DiP volume 3. Again I am being picky and will not go for a full star rating. Don't know exactly why. I could as well give it 5/5. Maybe one reason is we don't have a full concert here. Second reason, contradictory to the first, is I don't like this Dancing in the Streets that much, it should be shorter, and I am not the biggest Samson fan out there. I guess I'd also like Franklin's to be somewhat shorter. Anyway, my knit-picking aside, this is absolutely essential release on all accounts. Also it is an excellent starting point for exploring this glorious year. Overall rating: 4.6/5
When we did DiP 1 I mentioned that Here Comes Sunshine is easily one of my most played individual tracks in the Dick’s Picks series. The DiP 3 Sugaree is right up there too; it’s definitely my favorite version and it still gets me every time.
Yeah for a long time the 19th was the one most people touted. I always had a few (from May, even) I liked better than that one...but I no longer remember most of them well enough to know if I'm right...
I'll pile on with others - a great May '77 release that still holds up against all the subsequent great May '77 releases. Was fun this week revisiting the Sugaree from our discussion in the main Thread. Toe-to-toe with Hartford and Atlanta. And the H>S>F is up there with Buffalo and Winterland in terms of great '77 H>S>F's Easily a 4+/5
