Having just done most of the June tour following advice from @LandHorses, I’d recommend 6/30/85 as the best of the lot. Either 6/24 or 6/27 would be my next stop. Hunter Seamons has done a matrix for almost every show of the tour, so the sound quality is also very good.
Thanks. Looking at Relisten and on paper it seems like that last week of shows in June from Alpine through July is where it's at. I'll have to poke around there.
I'm curious, what do people think of Ready or Not. Bought the CD a couple of weeks back and really love it, particularly Lazy River Road, So Many Roads and Days Between. Garcia's voice positively echos with autumnal melancholy. There's a life lived in every vocal. Overall such a laid back mellow groove. I have to admit I'm enjoying every song. Am I mad? What would the boys down the Arms have to say?
It’s a tremendous tour. I went through it earlier this year (if you want to look back at my notes) on @LandHorses recommendation, and boy, it did not disappoint. There’s a reason he keeps banging on about a SPAC > Hershey > Merriweather x 2 box set.
Check out this first set Fire from 7/13/85. Gets me every time...listen to the crowd blissing out, Mickey's snapping his bungee chords. Here's another 85 moment. First set Sportatorium 10/26, feel the energy of the crowd as they go into Gimme Some Lovin'. For this period in particular I prefer good quality audience tapes. The boards sound stiff and are less forgiving on Jerry's larynx. In my dream Betty stuck with the band into the eighties and insisted they stick to the reels and the truck out back..
I like Ready or Not. It's the wide-release album to represent the Vince era like E'72 and Without A Net represents the Pig/Keith and late-Brent eras respectively and is a nice follow up to the Without A Net/Infrared Roses albums. It's sort of ties up loose ends in that it provides closure on the original catalog before it became all about archival releases and then Jerry died, and gives some attention to lesser-known Dead 'hits' like Liberty, Lazy River Road, So Many Roads, Days Between, some jamming in Corrina and some songs that some hate but some enjoy, like Easy Answers, Way To Go Home, and Samaba In The Rain. I think it works great as an ultimate album for the original catalog.
Yep. That's how I felt about Disc 5 of the SMR Box Set. But since lots of folks don't have that... I agree this is a nice addition.
Gandalf popped in for a pint and he said "all you can do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you". Personally I would choose another way to spend my time. I suffered through "Easy Answers" from the Wasserman CD earlier today and as such I strongly counsel to pursue a different path. Great googly moogly, that was awful.
I'm with you. I like those three songs in particular, a lot. Lazy River Road has such a mellow-Jerry vibe to it. I know most people don't love it, but it's great stuff, if you ask me. Days Between is similar and I think its the last great Hunter/Garcia song. It's so slow, deep and emotionally intense, I think a lot of people can't get into it. But it's great. It's a mood. So Many Roads is great, too. I'd guess it's more widely loved than anything on Ready or Not. Liberty has also grown on me a bit. I'm learning to like that one. It's almost like a Jimmy Buffett song, in a way, and I mean that as a compliment.
Thank you !!!!!!! ordered. Mac gear does the heavy lifting in my home system too, so couldn’t resist. Great shirt.
If Lazy River Road had been released in the 70s… people would think very differently. The one thing that bothers me a bit on this song is Bobby’s rhythm playing… but I do like the song a lot.
It's a great song. I was never clear why Bobby was playing a table saw during this one, a guitar would have sounded so much nicer.
“Liberty” is actually an older In The Dark era song. Robert Hunter recorded a version of it in 1988 having it sound similar to “Touch of Gray.” I bought this CD back when it came out.
Yo, Dave … another that needs releasing (pretty please) — Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC, 08/12/73. Actually, just bundle it all together in that December ‘73 box set that’s coming. I: Me And My Uncle, Sugaree, Mexicali Blues, Dire Wolf, Black-Throated Wind, They Love Each Other, Me And Bobby McGee, Don’t Ease Me In, The Race Is On, Brown-Eyed Women, Big River, Candyman, Weather Report Suite, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider. II: Around And Around, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Row Jimmy, Greatest Story Ever Told > Bertha, He’s Gone > Truckin’ > Nobody’s Fault But Mine > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Stella Blue, Johnny B. Goode > Uncle John’s Band. E: One More Saturday Night.
^ not expensive enough for my wallet , I mean the $1,500 backlight empty McIntosh really impresses my friends w/ it’s “soundstage, 3d imaging, etc.” Seriously who (stills) wears black t-shirts in public? Why not grey?
