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

It's a great official 'mix tape.' One of my favorites. Even though I love full concerts, I'm also a fan of some of the compilations that the Dead have put out, such as the So Many Roads box, Go To Nassau, Dozin', and, probably the one release that really got me into the Dead: Without A Net.

P.S. The electric stuff is where it's at for DP8. Some of the playing is transcendental, IMO.

 

I agree 100% on the Phil Zone CD

I wish there were more CD's like it, nuggets from various shows that most likely won't get released in their entirety. That live version of "Hard To Handle" from 8/6/71 just kills me. By the time that ends I'm screaming along with the crowd.

 

Viola Lee Blues is stunning! Then again, so is everything else from cds 2 and 3. Too bad the electric set was recorded in mono, I have nothing against mono but I sure prefer stereo for my Dead live recordings.

 

I agree with you on "Fallout," but I do have to disagree on the acoustic set of DP8. It's pretty ramshackle, but that's a part of its considerable charm. Didn't you at least groove on that (I think) very funky and compelling performance of "Deep Elem Blues?"

L.

 

To each their own. I think I got overhyped on this release. I still say it's a vastly inferior recording, even by DP standards. I loved the acoustic sets I heard back in the day, but they were more than Jerry and Bobby playing acoustic and singing. Ramshackle works better for me live than on record.
In my quest to find the perfect Dead concert on record I've heard Ladies and Gentlemen, Hundred Year Hall, Fillmore East 2-11-69, Steppin' Out, DP 4, 7(huh?), and 8, Phil Zone, and Complete Fillmore West 1969. I've experienced a few transcendent moments (Jerry's laser-like solo on Playing in the Band, Hundred Year Hall and Wharf Rat from Ladies and Gentlemen), but I invariably turn to the original recordings for the most iconic live performances of all those tunes.
You can drum me out of the Deadheads if you want, but you'll have to pry the Golden Road box from these cold dead fingers.

 

I think that most excellent Jack-a-Roe also is available on DP29 (5/21/77 Lakeland FL).

Anthony

 

So I was listening to Hundred Year Hall on the way into work today....haven't listened to this in about 3-4 years!

Disc 1 was rather....well, lacking. They weren't rocking it quite enough for my liking. BUT, then Lovelight came on and they proceeded to go into a jam for the ages! Heavy Phil lines all over the place, Jerry weaving in and out, and the whole band breathing together as one organic form! Amazing! I was blown away! I really, really was genuinely having my morning commuter mind blown!


This is when I love the Dead best!


SO, how does DP 36 (which I'm so close to buying) compare to this particular show? Anything close to the Lovelight-Type jamming on there? Anything that heavy?

 

This is the best DP period. Buy It!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What he said

Even without Dark Star>Morning Dew this would be an excellent show. With Dark Star>Morning Dew this is a masterpiece, my favorite Dead show. It must be heard. Report back!

 

The Jack-a-Roe from Philzone was from 5/17/77 Tuscaloosa.

 

This thread exemplifies how difficult it is to single out whole shows for universal approval. There is something irreducibly subjective about the way particular shows (or, I should say, particular sections of particular shows, carry us away--or not). I find that my own feelings about particular recordings change quite a lot from listen to listen. I think it has something to do with the way the quality of my attentions ebbs and flows differently at different times. Add to that the way the energy and musical flow of a given show tends also to ebb and flow, and you've got a lot of chaotic ebbing and flowing going on. The big highs happen when the attention and one of the band's peaks of energy flow together, and that doesn't happen with every listen. If you're distracted or not concentrating the whole time (and who is over the course of a three-hour recording?) it's very possible to miss that little hook, that moment where something starts to build and then expands and gathers energy over the course of an extended jam--and then loses energy or turns into something else, or just ends. You've got to be listening in the right way at the right time to get swept away, and that doesn't always happen. You also can't always hear the power of a particular jam if your attention drops in in the middle. These things have a dramatic and musical shape to them that's not always easy to perceive at a given point (the drama of a solo seeking for something and then finding it, the musical shape of dynamics or harmonic movement or rhythmic complexity rising, falling, and/or unfolding over, say, 20-30 minutes, etc.).

I think that everytime I've bought another show, I've been moved to do so by a desire to hear another of those perfectlly flowing stretches of intensity (sometimes they emerge out of a lot of more lack-luster playing--you can't really have one with out the contrast of the other). I have very seldom sold a Dead live recording because I know that some day I'll put the thing on, I'll be paying attention at the right time, and I will get swept away. I almost sold my DP's 11 and 7 last year, but I gave them each one last spin, and sure enough, I got swept just enough by moments on the last disks of both to make me keep 'em.

It's an odd thing....

L.

 

Wow, you just put in words what I often feel about shows/jams and people's reactions based on their particular moment or thoughts.

The other night I thought I wanted to listen to Santana. So I threw on Caravanserai. No, thats not what I want! III? No....1? No...Fillmore 68? No! Nothing worked. As much as I wanted some Santana, it just wasnt working. My particular emotion and environment was repelling my want for Santana.

So what happened? I threw on Neil Young Live Rust.....which is pretty far from Santana. And you know what? I got sucked in for the entire freakin album! I went from thinking I needed Latin tinged, precussion heavy, quick fingered guitar rock to Neil Young! It suited the moment. It suited my internal need. An internal need that I didn't know how to quench.

This happens to me quite often. And I frequently see it in my wife. If a jam isn't going right, she can be quick to turn it off in disgust. A week or so later and I'll find her playing the same jam and telling me how amazing it is. The first mood just wasn't right, but now for some reason it works.

The beauty of music!

 

So I listened to Hundred Year Hall Disc 2 on the way in today and Phil Lesh is one sick bass player!


So, whats the deal with 1972 Dead? They lost Pigpen (although he was still alive?), they lost Mickey Hart, they gained Keith, and they really transformed their sound. Or I should say they honed their skills. They certainly are a far cry from the 1970 DP4 Dead. Was it the loss of Pigpen, the addition of Keith, or just a natural, musical progression?

 

It was a combination of things, but I think one of the most important was the fact that they found their way to a new improvisational mode as they integrated all of the new material they introduced to the live set over the previous two years.

L.

 

Cool!

Why did Mickey leave?

Also, is Hundred Year Hall before or after DP 36?

 

Mickey left because he was distraught over the fact that his father, Lenny Hart stole large sums of money from the band. Lenny was their business manager. From all accounts I've read, Mickey left on his own - it wasn't like they kicked him out or anything. He came back in 1975.

Hundred Year Hall is from 4/26/72. DP 36 is from 9/21/72.

 

Hundred Year Hall is 4/26/72 and DP 36 is 9/21/72.

[edit= you beat me to it, Mike]

 

A few years ago (6-8 years maybe) Dick released the leftover tracks from Hundred Year Hall. By editing those tracks with the official release you came out with a 4CD set of the entire 4/26/72 show. A really hot show, and it flows much better with the tracks that were left off reinserted and everything in it's correct running order. The best thing is it edits perfect and the quality between the two is almost perfect.

 

Where is the complete "Hundred Year Hall" (4/26/72) show available?

 

The complete show isn't available. You have to purchase "Hundred Year Hall" and then find the the leftover tracks. They're known as "Dick's Hundred Year Hall leftovers" or something like that. They used to be widely and legally available, I'm not sure how easy or hard they are to find any longer.

Once you have the official release and the leftover tracks all you have to do is burn them in the correct running order. There's really no need to edit as they flow perfectly, there isn't any jarring cuts between tracks, etc. The concert setlist is available online.

 

The Dead doesn't get much better for me than Europe 72'...THE high point of the band IMHO..how about a Europe 72' Boxset? (The whole tour was multi-tracked)

 

Wasn't there dubbed over instrumental and backing vocal tracks on Europe '72?