You're covering such rich territory, and is such great quantity, that your impressions can serve as a guide to the perplexed.
Don't Ease Me In - mix is messed right up which is unfortunate cuz it has a lot of energy and a good opener. BTW - a really, really nice version. Ton of energy with Bobby going overkill on vocals.. but it works. This mix has great bass and drums. You can really hear Billy's intricate drumming in this period. He was on fire in 73-74. Peggy-O - really good mix. Piano sounds beautiful and nice counterpoints on bass. Jack Straw sounded gorgeous with Jerry's guitar popping out. Greatest Story is a really nice ripping version. Love this song. A really nice non acoustic Dire Wolf. PITB gets way out there. Really nice drum work by Bill.
I always love a PITB > UJB. Playing in the Band.... whose band? Uncle John's Band. This one is just a beautiful combo too... weaving and dazzling the whole time. And then a nice transition back into PITB to end set one. Again this Charlie Miller is just a beautiful listen. A nicely recorded 73/74 is always heaven. Hence why my 73 show was marred by a poor AUD first set. Maybe its the gummies but this show and this SBD are just gorgeous
Was this your pick? I always listen to Seastones cuz I'm dedicated but... meh. It'd be cool if it was shorter.
Ho boy this is just a money China > Rider. A nice long transition jam too. Nothing is quite as perfect as a China > Rider.
It was my pick, you need to hear the great, unreleased shows from this year. I also suggested 20 September 1974- Paris, and I'm curious how that landed.
74 has always landed right in my sweet spot. And that Paris show was fantastic. I can't remember if I said much about it then but I clearly recall it as a stand out.
This show is just perfection. Just a great snippet of a really cool and brief phase. Maybe one of the best Around and Arounds and Help/Slip/Franks. Also love King Solomons/Stronger Than Dirt, Sage and Spirit and Blues for Allah and wish they did them all more.
Well, when bzfgt reviewed that Dark Star, he wrote about this moment: "At 15:13 Garcia starts playing the descending melody I pointed out a couple of times recently; I thought maybe it came from another song, but now I think that this is where I remembered it from." And looking back, the 9/16/72 Dark Star: "At 3:22 Garcia starts hinting, and not for the last time tonight, at the little descending lick that I pointed out last time as something I associated with another song; I wonder now if it wasn’t just other Dark Stars of which I was thinking." [Just a bare hint in this one, though.] And the 9/10/72 Dark Star: "At 5:25 Garcia starts toying with a descending sequence that he sometimes plays in a different song, but I can’t remember which one. Weir and Godchaux echo him with some arpeggios and there is a pretty section here." [It's more of a group effort in this one, the way Keith echoes Garcia.] So yeah, that lick does turn up a few times in September '72 and I bet it's in a few more Other Ones too. But this is a good instance of the dreamlike nature of Dead improvs, where little pieces will float up to the surface now and then and you go, "hey wait, have I heard that somewhere before?"
I think the first time I heard the Dead's Around and Around was the Steal Your Face double sometime in the late 70s. I knew the song best from the Stones 5 5 x 5 EP and the Bowie Drive in Saturday b side. I don't really have a favourite Dead version. Oh Steal Your Face is in the 5lp Grateful Dead Collection vinyl box and on the high resolution official download. I never minded the album although yes compared to live stuff we have through the archival releases it does not quite make it. I had no access to Dead tapes in the 70s and vinyl boots were jolly expensive and GD boots not that easily found in the UK (in my recollection anyway).