The first "Wall of Sound" Show! Details below. Here is a link to get a special preorder price of $40 off retail list Grateful Dead Dick's Picks 24 (4-LP Set) --Real Gone Music Continues Its Long Strange Trip Through the Grateful Dead Catalog with a Vinyl Release of One of the Most Momentous Shows in the Band’s Long History --Dick’s Picks Vol. 24—Cow Palace Daly City, CA 3/23/74 Captures the Dead’s Very First Show Using the Notorious “Wall of Sound” Concert PA --Built by Owsley “Bear” Stanley, the Wall of Sound PA Offered Unprecedented Clarity in a Live Setting Even as the Freight Costs to Transport It Nearly Bankrupted the Band --Real Gone’s 4-LP Release of Dick’s Picks Vol. 24 Goes to Great Lengths to Preserve That Audio Clarity in the Vinyl Format --Mastered from the Original Tapes by Long-Time Dead Engineer Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering --Lacquer Cut by the Venerable John Golden at Golden Mastering --Test Pressings Rejected and Finally Approved by Mastering Engineer Jeffrey Norman, Grateful Dead Archivist David Lemieux, and Real Gone’s Own Gordon Anderson --Pressed on 180-Gram Vinyl to Minimize Warpage and Surface Noise --The Four LPs Are Housed Inside a Full-Color Hardshell Box and Come in Poly-Lined Sleeves --Includes a 4-Page, Full-Sized, 4-Color Insert That Includes Bear’s Original Notes for the CD Release --Never Before on Vinyl --The 3/23/74 Show Was Notable for the Premiere of Two Songs That Became Staples of the Dead’s Repertoire, “Cassidy” and “Scarlet Begonias” --Also Marked the Third and Last Appearance of the “Playing in the Band/Uncle John’s Band/Morning Dew/Uncle John’s Band/Playing in the Band” Medley, a Definitive and Daring Rendition --Limited to 1500 Hand-Numbered Copies
I was there! Although that's not saying much. My friends and I had purchased our tickets weeks earlier but just before the show, KSAN gave away tons of free tickets. The band, used to playing Winterland, was having trouble filling the Cow Palace. The only way to properly test the Wall of Sound was with a full house so thousands got in free. I clearly remember standing back by the soundboard. The budding audiophile in me was listening to the stereo image. The band was sonically laid out left to right, just like they looked on stage. I found that amazing. I had never heard that before from a PA. I still have not heard it done better. Needless to say, I will be buying this release.
Just placed an order - hope it is better than their version of Dick Pick's 34 on vinyl, which I found to be deficient in overall sound quality.
The vinyl remastering is by Jeff Norman who did the Brookvale remasters, which mostly, excepting 10/14/83, sound great, so I"m optimistic.
Ordered at $89.98, which I guess is the special pre-order price at $40.00 off. Regular retail price for this item will really be $129.98? If so, glad to have jumped on this pre-order deal (thanks, Real Gone peoples!)
Thanks for the heads up. Of course I'm in for this one. The Playing/UJB/Dew sandwich is one of my all time fave sequences by these guys.
Just played the first LP, sounds pretty good, but just like DP 34 that Real Gone released on vinyl, it is cut real low. I needed to crank the gain on the volume more than any other LP I own. Thankfully it sounds better than the RG Dicks Picks 34 vinyl issue. Note, there were very minor issues with non-fill on the first LP, which were made most evident due to the fact I needed to crank the volume knob higher than ever to get any volume out of the LP.
Just started listening to the first lp-definitely cut low. Cranking at 11 o clock which is high for me-and could go higher. Some non-fill on Promised Land. I hope the non-fill doesn’t continue. If so, this will be my first and last Real Gone Dicks Picks on vinyl. Update: Non-fill on Beat It on Down the Line too. Argh.
I’m still waiting on my copy so I can’t complain about it yet. But for those of you commenting about the quietness of the album, that’s how I remember the cd sounding as well as many of the early Wall of Sound shows. There is only so much you can do with a quite source before you introduce a bunch of noise or drive the peaks into distortion. The style of the band is a bit dreary and lethargic in this time. Sure face melting and very looooong songs/sets but not super snappy, more of a trance style of GD. I would also add the weird vocal mics that have three heads are sibilant and have a soft ghostly kind of sound to them. This is the first Wall of Sound show, a system that had many technical issues, expecting any recording or pressing to be without issue isn’t reasonable because they were inherent to the performance, it happened. As the line notes in the original said, “warts and all”.
The low volume cut of the LP may be what was present at that time (I have the CD version but haven't compared or listened in quite some time), but the low volume cut of the LP requires you to boost your volume gain to get a decent sound. This in turn may also introduce noise, as the imperfections of the vinyl are brought to the forefront. Either way with both Real Gone Dick Picks vinyl issues (DP 24 and 34) you lose. I am no longer going to purchase any Real Gone GD vinyl, as both DP 24 and 34 are deficient in many ways - so I will just stick with the CD versions as I own every Dick's Pick and Dave's Pick on CD.
I think it’s only fair to compare to the CD before trashing the label. It’s been a long time since it was released but I was one and done with the cd because of the sound. These are all archival recordings and easy to pick apart. You can do the same with most of the brookevale releases. Pembroke Pines for example is a very very quiet cut. Friday Muisc of NYE 76 blows as does the the rhino RSD of Hampton 79. They are what they are, field recording not meant for commercial release. and let’s not forget that equipment in the analog chain is a much larger variable than with CD. I have a very quiet table, a phono with adjustable gain and there are thousands of different carts, stylus profiles with different output voltage. I like a quiet cut, I can give it a lot of knob before things get grainy. again, I’m still waiting so I can’t say how this pressing holds up but there is more going on with the sound than what the label was doing. It’s not going to sound like the dire straights MOFI.
The sound of the recording doesn’t bother me at all. The non-fill does-of which there’s plenty on sides one and two. I haven’t listened to the rest yet. Sadly, I don’t own the cd version but I’ve still got the archive and could find one on the used market. It’s all good.
Point taken... I should pull out the CD and listen to compare, as I haven't listened to the CD in years. Actually, other then a bit of non-fill (very minor in my case) on LP1, I just listened to LP 3 (Playing - UJB- MD jam) - and I couldn't believe how silent the vinyl was cranked to get sound during the very quiet parts where at one point the band is playing as loud as a whisper. So, the pressing isn't all that bad, it is just cut so low as to require adding more gain to the volume than any other item I have in my possession (CD, vinyl, SACD, etc).
This is good news! I look forward to listening to the rest! I’ll be listening to the Second and third lps tonight. Crossing my fingers the non-fill is no longer an issue.
Ok. I compared the original Dead.net release DP24 CD to the Real Gone vinyl. To my ears, the CD was a more cohesive and pleasant experience. I listened to CD 2 vs. LP 3 and 4. The vinyl wasn't bad, but to match the volume between the CD and the vinyl, I really had to crank the volume on the vinyl... higher than I was doing when just listening. One thing, I was able to listen to the CD with HDCD decoding (this set was released in 2002). That may have had a difference in what I heard. So, I may think twice before picking up another Real Gone Dead vinyl release.
