My review of the Dick's Picks series - Grateful Dead

Sounds good. I'll definitely track that MSG show down.

I've been concentrating on mostly getting '72 '73 and '77 shows, it'll be nice to change things p a bit.

 

DP 36 sound quality is great. As for the show itself, it has a little bit of everything. You want hard heavy rocking? There's Promised Land, Sugar Magnolia, Not Fade Away, or Truckin'. You want some spacey Dead? There's Bird Song, Playin' In The Band, and Dark Star.

DARK STAR - thirty six minutes long, it starts of with a nice, loose improvisational section, then the verse is sung, then a complete meltdown - all pretty typical 1972 Dark Star. Then....just as it seems like they are going to start in on "Morning Dew", Jerry makes a detour and out comes one of the most beautiful passages of musical improvisation I've ever heard. Then they finally descend in to "Morning Dew". Whew! There's nothing quite like it in any of hundreds of hours of Grateful Dead music that I've heard. The ending of the 4/8/72 Dark Star comes close, but that's it.

The bonus material of He's Gone>Other One> Wharf Rat is fantastic as well.

So I have no idea if you'll like DP 36 or not, but as I stated above, it's my favorite Dead show.

 

That sounds awesome!!

 

I LOVE that Philly 72 show...don't have the DP, but I downloaded a very crispy SBD of it a long time ago. The Dark Star>Dew is as incredible as everyone says....absolutely magic.

re: 3/18/77...it's been pulled from archive.org, which most likely means it's under consideration for a DP or official download release.

 

Cool, we're due for a new Dix Pix soon.......!

 

Is there anywhere to listen to some sound samples of Vol. 36?

 

All the dix pix sound great...as good as your gonna get....why not just dig the music and not worry if the bass drum sounds compressed or the stereo separation is off -2 mhz...damn.

 

My memory was good on that msg show, but if I HAD to pick one show form the eighties I would choose 10/10/82 from the Frost Amp. The 7/13/84 greek show mentioned earlier with the dark star encore is a classic too, but I really like 10/10/82. Killer first set with a smokin china->rider to close the set.

BTW. The warlock shows are 10/8/89 and 10/9/89. Good ones!
10/8 is the return of help->slipknot (4 year absence), and
10/9 is the return of dark star last played at the 7/13/84 greek show mentioned earlier
(5 year absence), and more impressively attics of my life (17 year absence).

Have fun!

 

You can hear the show here: http://web1.nugs.net/vault/show.asp?page=/vault/show.asp&artist=1&show=75&cmd=shows

 

Thanks!

Im thinking I need DP 36......

 

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned it yet, but as far as 80's shows go, it's hard to beat Go to Nassau (May 15 and 16, 1980) for both sound quality and music. It's a little heavy on the recently (or soon to be) released Go to Heaven material, bit it's all top shelf.

My personal favorite for both sound and music is Nightfall of Diamonds (October 16, 1989). Both of these (Go to Nassau and Nightfall of Diamonds) are From the Vault releases, which are generally a little better sound-wise than the Dick's Picks series. That being said, the only Dick's Pick that I think has substandard sound is 8/7/82 (Alpine Meadows) - great show, but muddy recording; so much so that I'm surprised they released it.

What also surprises me is that the Dick's Picks from the 60's and 70's generally sound better than any of the 80's (Dick's Picks) releases.

Anthony

 

Mike:

Have another listen to the first set of DP21 (11-1-85). This is the Fatman (bloated coke/heroin Jerry) at his finest. I think it's a perfect set. But like I said in my post above, this 80's DP does not have the best sound.

I'm not a big fan of the second set. I wish they did a mixed release here as the second set form the next night was quite excellent and would have been a nice match to Set I from 11-1.

Anthony

 

Aren't the 80's soundboards typically sourced from cassette or DAT?

 

Yes quite a few of the early 80's shows were sourced Cassette tapes.

 

You know, now that I think about it, I really, really like some of the tunes on One From The Vault 75. Help On the Way has a monsterous Jerry Guitar tone and Eyes of the World is the kind of jazzy spacey playing I really enjoy! Any of the DP's reperesent these songs in a killer way?

 

For "Eyes of the World" check out the version from 8/6/74 found on DP31. Probably my favorite "Eyes". 6/10/73 and 9/11/74 are very cool also, though not officially released.

EDIT - I see rcb30 mentions the GD Movie Soundtrack version. This is one of the best ever too! The version the GD Movie soundtrack is edited somewhat. The same performance (from 10/19/74) is found on the So Many Roads box set. I also like the one from 9/73 that's a bonus track on the Wake of the Flood remaster.

For Help>Slip>Franklin's check out DP 3 (5/22/77) and 33 (10/9/76). For unofficial recordings, find 5/9/77 and 6/9/77. For latter day performances, I love the one from 9/19/90 and the one on Without a Net.

 

I think the the Help>Slip>Franklin's on 1FTV is the best official one so far (the one on Without A Net is very good, though). On the other hand, there are a ton of nice versions of Eyes on different DP's, with the performance on DP31 (8/6/74) being perhaps my all-time favorite. Other fine versions on the GD Movie Soundtrack, DP28, and DP15.

rcb

 

GREAT!

Now Im stuck between 31 and 36!

Ahhhh!!

 

What is the "Weather Report Suite"?

 

There's no such thing as "in between"... Get 'em BOTH!

Weather Report Suite is made up of three sections:

1) WRS Prelude - a nice little Bob Weir instrumental
2) WRS Pt 1 - written by Bob Weir and Eric Andersen.
3) Let It Grow - written by Weir and John Barlow

The entire suite first appeared in concert in 1973, though the "Prelude" had been played a few times in 1972 and maybe earlier, as a tune up exercise.

The studio version closes the Wake of the Flood album. Favorite live versions can be found DP 1, DP 7, DP12, and DP 24. Actually almost any version is great.

After 1974, the first two sections were dropped completely. "Let It Grow" remained in their sets until the end. It usually showed up as a closer for the 1st set.

 

What kind of music is it? Like an "Eyes" instrumental or more of a spacey "Dark Star"?

 

The first two sections are relatively short, nothing too "out there" - very pretty. The song "Let It Grow" is probably closer to "Eyes" than "Dark Star", although some 1973/1974 versions stretch out until it just dissolves in to deep space, much like "Dark Star" does. Check out DP 12 (6/28/74) for a great example of this

 

You sir, are quite learned in the way of the Dead! And I thank you for your info!


If you ever have any FZ questions let me know....I am to FZ what you seem to be to Dead!

 

There's a terrific live "Eyes" on the new reissue of "Wake of the Flood." I like the one on 1FTV, too, but I always thought that Jerry's guitar was too low in the mix. I also really like the very relaxed one from 11/11/73, especially the way it emerges out of a spectacular "Dark Star." I was lucky enough to get this show from the archive just before the lossless files disappeared. I hope they do release these Nov. 73 shows officially.

L.

 

Just got DP 8 and am not overly impressed. My recollection is that Jerry played pedal steel during the acoustic set when I saw them do it, and Phil played bass. Neither are to be heard on DP 8, and Jerry and Bob are who they are. They sure aren't Flatt and Scruggs. The electric set had some good crescendos on Jerry's solos, but the organ was practically inaudible in the mix. Even though it's not the equal of the other parts I like the little fills and they just aren't there on DP 8. All told, I would rate this one good but no better than DP 4, and the acoustic set was disappointing. The Bear's Choice acoustic set I think is superior.
But I came not to bury the Dead, but to praise the double CD Fallout from the Phil Zone, which doesn't get mentioned in many threads here. A solid Dancing in the Streets, a great extended New Speedway Boogie, over 30 minutes of Midnight Hour, even Visions of Johanna. A good mix of Dead tunes and covers, solid performances. I would always trust Phil's judgement in selecting stuff from the vaults. Anyone agree/disagree?