Me too. I was going to wait for a deal but @GuidedByJonO)))'s post inspired me to go order it now. This will be my first Real Gone reissue.
Here you go http://db.etree.org/shn/132361 Plug that shnid number into search at bt.etree.org or shnflac.net and you've got the whole show.
I'm grooving along to one of the essential audience tapes: Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY: November 8, 1970 Here's a nice review of the show from the Grateful Dead Guide blog: Grateful Dead Guide: Port Chester - November 1970 11/8/70 Excellent sound here, the band is right up-front - the audience is very keyed-up as well for this final night. The acoustic set is the best of the run; it's also the last acoustic set for ten years, and the last time the slow 'spiritual' I Know You Rider would be heard. After Dark Hollow, Weir wants the audience to know, "You realize we're all missing Godzilla vs King Kong on TV - it's really good, we saw the opening scene - I didn't get to see King Kong, but Godzilla, he was one mother****er, he spits radioactive fire and blows things up - I'd hate to see him crawl out of my high school...." The crowd loves El Paso (it really was a big favorite at the time, Marty Weinberg put it on his bootleg LP). When Pigpen comes on, I think someone in the audience shouts, "Let's ****!" to great acclaim; Pigpen merely sings Operator again. After Ripple, there's a strange screaming session in the audience, prompting Garcia to comment, "Lighten up man, lighten ****ing up..." After Friend of the Devil, they start playing John Hurt's old blues tune Stackolee for a bit, but Weir admits, "That one hasn't passed the hotel-room stage, we don't know all the words." The audience seems disappointed, but they're thrilled to hear Wake Up Little Susie (it was also a hit back in March). The electric set starts on a high note with Morning Dew (Weinberg put this version on his LP). Before long, the band embarks on a whole slew of rarities. The medley of Mystery Train>My Babe sounds like they may well never have played it before (and they never will again); the audience shouts out all kinds of requests until they're reduced to random hollering, and the Dead unleash their first Around & Around on them. Still the band has more forgotten oldies up their sleeve, going back to their garage-band roots with a well-received New Orleans>Searchin'. Perhaps they could have gone like that all evening, but Garcia decides to chill everybody out with a powerful Baby Blue. There's still lots of yelling and requests from the crowd (the Not Fade Away and St Stephen lovers are the most vocal) - they're ecstatic to hear Casey Jones but won't calm down. The Dead are ready for business. A prime Truckin' with a heavy ending jam dwindles down to a fingerpicking whisper, and Dark Star sneaks up underneath the audience cheers. This is quite a journey, from the quiet, graceful intro jam, to a solemn verse, into minimal gong space - interrupted by some restless audience whoops - the band patiently drifts into alarming squalls of feedback - bass drones, xylophone & siren pull the music back into the void. Garcia pulls the Main Ten out of nowhere, and the others join him - the theme fits perfectly, floating like a ship on a dark rainy sea. It slowly unwinds into the music of the spheres, the band hovering in a beautiful realm of pure melody - not returning to Dark Star, they unconsciously find their way to Dancing in the Streets. Garcia starts with a chordal solo - then Weir starts Tighten Up and the air brightens - bright notes pop out of Garcia as the band spins in a jazzy rhythm - finally turning the corner back into Dancing. After all this, the crowd still isn't satisfied, but the NFA lovers get their wish as the familiar drum pattern starts. There's a hypnotic jam into Goin' Down the Road; after the "son don't go down there" verse the band heads into another Mountain Jam tease, which turns back into Not Fade Away. They decide not to conclude with NFA but jump into another Good Lovin' - this one is quite fiery (though some copies are spoiled by a horrible bass buzz), and again finds the band teasing the riff for a long time before ending the show with a bang.
10/15/77 Moody Coliseum Dallas Texas on SiriusXM's Grateful Dead channel via the webstream........a little rough sounding compared to Cornell earlier that year but still a listenable soundboard recording imho.
Unique 1976 "Stephen" where they get into a long jam after "one man gathers" and can't seem to figure out how to get back to the song. Soon afterwards they "solved" this arrangement challenge by going into "Not Fade Away" at this point in many Keith and Donna era versions.
Interesting in that on 5/6/70, they did (a must-listen, if you haven't, despite me prattling on about it many times here): St. Stephen (One man gathers...NFA right away! from Phil)--> Not Fade Away--> St. Stephen--> Not Fade Away Then again, 1977 is not 1970. Nor was 6/9/76, 6/8/76 (the "I don't remember what I had for Lunch yesterday" syndrome).
Just checking in. Drinking half n half(local ale+Guinness) and Glenmorange at the Clocktower in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Great cellar bar with 26 beers on tap. Rock n roll on the jukebox. Took this pic one hour after sunrise in Yosemite Valley. Happy Trails If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine.... Let it be known there is a fountain, That was not made by the hands of men.
This show may be one of their finest nights. It has everything across the Dead spectrum from casual campfire tunes to masterful, magical group-mind improvisation. If anything, the audience tape makes it even more transportational than a soundboard would have been.
Buffalo, 5/9/77, closing show of Get Shown The Light. The last part of what Deadheads consider a sacred trilogy, so I'll have to tread carefully My two cents, then... Buffalo kicks off with a flawless "Help>Slipknot!>Franklin's", one of the best I've heard, in fact. As these particular pieces of music require, the band is precise and absolutely focused from the get go. This is a very strong first set, which is not strange, as we're talking about Spring '77. I'm not a big fan of "Cassidy" or "Mexicali Blues", but I have to admit they're perfectly executed. Luckily, some songs I love, like "Brown-Eyed Women", "Peggy-O" and "Tennessee Jed" are given the same treatment (the instrumental bridge of the latter is always thrilling when well-played, ain't it?). In contrast with other fans, I do like "Sunrise", so it's welcomed. After this song's quiet ending, the band continues with an explosive "The Music Never Stopped" before intermission (I can't remember which of the three versions of this song in the box had to be patched, by the way). I could point out more highlights, like Jerry's furious playing in "Big River", or the subtle "Peggy-O", but if you're still reading, you must already have got the idea that I love this first set. I love "Bertha" so much that I named my dog (whom I love even more than "Bertha" or almost anything in this world) after it, so it's always nice to have it on the show, even in its slower incarnation. I can't say the same about "Good Lovin'", which was so nice back in the Pigpen days. The latin-flavoured arrangement it's ok, but it's still a song I tend to skip. Anyway, a very nice "Ship of Fools" (another favorite of mine) follows, with Jerry singing and playing his heart out. Beautiful. As I said when I reviewed 5/7/77, "Estimated Prophet" was getting better with each show, and this version confirms it. Not only does Jerry nails the outro of the bridge perfectly (Keith hits a wrong chord, though), but the band has the brilliant idea of making the song segue into another piece of music for the very first time. That means jamming, exploring that contagious groove and letting it morphing into something else. Around the 8.00 mark, it starts to turn into a sort of "Estimated/Other One" fusion which, in my opinion, is one of the best moments of the year. Finally, Phil decides it's time for a proper "The Other One" and delivers the classic bass line. Such a transition smooth reminds me of the reason why I keep on buying archival releases from this band, in spite of all the bureaucratic crap I have to deal with. Mesmerizing playing. After a expeditious "Other One", it's time for the band to take a short break, except for Bill and Mickey, of course. This is a short and clever "Drums", like those great solo spots Bill would play back in 1972. Nice exchange of phrases and rhythms between the drummers, really nice. The section evolves naturally into a very strong "Not Fade Away" (and let me tell you I'm not generally a fan of this song, except for its unique rhythmic pattern) during which Jerry has lots of fun with the Octave Divider pedal. To make things even more remarkable, the transition to "Comes A Time" is something that must be heard to be believed. Few bands could make things like that out of the blue in such a natural way (listen to Keith, he's the key of that marvelous segue). "Comes A Time", yet another favorite of mine. Perfect performance, perfect solo, I couldn't ask for me, but the Dead don't care and give me more: a beautiful jam, which I would call "Filled Cup". Somehow, the band manages to turn the sad melancholic mood of the song into a sweet uplifting one, as if that empty cup was being finally filled with love (we have another example of this beautiful subtle transition in Dave's Picks 18, and that one is so perfect I couldn't believe my ears the first time I listened to it). Somehow, we end in a major key, in "Sugar Magnolia" territory, and we didn't even realize how that happened! (until @Archtop comes and explains it, of course ). "Sugar Magnolia" starts slowly, like waking up after a beautiful dream, if you indulge my bad poetry (hey, English is not my mother tongue!) and ends in the usual rockin' style. "Uncle John's Band" as an encore, I certainly couldn't ask for more. Sorry for the extended review, but this is the show of the box set, and one of the best in the tour, and I couldn't help it.
Spending the morning with both sets from April 8, 1985 at The Spectrum, courtesy of Deadpod. The first set was surprisingly solid, with quite a few surprises and unexpected songs, with the transition into "Cumberland" from "Uncle" and all of "Althea" being the peaks. But, oof, this second set is rough so far. A even sloppier than usual "Revolution" (never a good cover for them anyway) starts off on the wrong foot. "Hell in a Bucket" is, well, "Hell in a Bucket" for better or worse, the sloppy "Touch" does no one any favors. "Estimated" isn't bad and Jerry's playing on "Eyes" is pretty nice, almost making up for more sloppy vocals. Let's hope the post "Drums > Space" salvages this set a little. If you wanted to dabble in '85, the first set is recommended but I'm not encouraged by the second set at all.
Thanks for this. Whetting my appetite for my second listen if I ever get there this weekend. So far I'm loving 5/7 & 5/8 with a slight nod to the famous Barton Hall show. Really the 3 shows deserve the holy trinity moniker. There is magic in the dust.
If I remember correctly that was the first version since fall 71. I hadn't seen it played since spring 71. The crowd went expectedly ctazy.
This was the last show of the Spring '85 tour and was added after the first two shows at the Spectrum sold out so quickly. I have great audience tapes of these shows but haven't listened to 'em since last century. I remember the second night opening with a great "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" going right into "Mississippi Half-Step". The third night was cool for the then-somewhat rare versions of "Midnight Hour", "Walkin' the Dog" and "Big Boss Man" in the first set but, as you mentioned, Jerry's voice was shot.
Thanks for the additional context! Yeah, that first set opening was very unexpected, even on paper it looks pretty cool - I just wish they could've carried that energy back out after the break. In The Midnight Hour > Walkin' The Dog > Big Boss Man Me And My Uncle > Cumberland Blues Down In The Bottom > I Ain't Superstitous Althea Tons Of Steel > Supplication Jam > Might As Well
I heard part of this last night, specifically "St. Stephen." Good version, but much too plodding. I was thinking about their comments in interviews about dropping the song because it killed the energy and had locked-in transitions, and I wondered whether they had thought about (wild idea here) ... playing it faster?
1. I'm pretty sure that Buffalo has the patch in Music Never Stopped 2. The "uplifting" end to Comes A Time is one of the great moments of this box (and of Dave's 18).
In the middle of 5/15/70 with the messy but very energetic China>Rider. I love the 70 versions of these despite the lack of Jerry's transitions. I love listening to the boys learning how to improvise during this period. In some ways the electric stuff from late 69 through Spring 70 is my favorite Dead. Combined the primal force of 67 through early 69 Dead with the great new WD songs, the development of the best Aoxomoaxa tunes - and a continuing improvement in the Playing of the Band
I really think that more or less everyting from 1977 is really that good. But I totally understand that some of that wildness that others seem to enjoy so much from years like '69 and '78 is missing. This and '73 (one of my other top years) were slicker, more gentle and fusion-y, with a slight gospel bent for good measure. A bit more like Jerry solo, which for me is among best things that ever were. I prefer this period to the E72 tour (sacrilege!) even if I find that tour more artistically satisfying (if that makes any sense). When I feel adventurous I play the early years or the later, but for pure pleasure and comfort it is always '77 (or '73) that pulls me back. Ah, Lucky Luke. Forgot about that one. I think I had 30 to 40 of those when I was a kid. Still fun and the scripts when Goscinny wrote them were really good while not exactly up to his Asterix-standard. Then again, what is. Averell and Ma Dalton and that stupid dog being favorites
...and yeah, I'm also watching Long Strange Trip. Had to make dinner and a couple of other things, so I paused it but it is really good so far.
I'm not a Dead fan... actually, I've been fairly anti-Dead for a long while. But a buddy passed me the recent '77 Cornell show to check out, and there's something to the music that intrigues me. I'm interested in that Amazon doc. To those who have seen it - how is the quality of presentation (editing, writing, scope, etc.)? Would it be a good introduction to a semi-curious virgin like myself?
It is fantastic for long-term fans but probably even more so for those unfamiliar with the band. I cannot help but think you will come away with a whole new perspective on what they were all about. They did a great job on the editing, writing, casting front; it never gets bogged down in detail and has a nice thread to it. I cannot recommend it enough for you the semi-curious especially.
Watching Long Strange Trip while trying to work from home today. After just watching Act II, I'd love to see more of this Hollywood Festival footage (no matter how trippy the footage may have ended up looking.)
