Next Grateful Dead Road Trips: Denver 1973?

Quite possibly.

 

I have "borrowed" a copy of the bonus disc, this "Dark Star" is really something else. Who is playing the organ though?

 

Keith?

 

Package arrived today (sans contraband ) ... along with this RT I finally got DP29. First disc of the RT is very pleasing indeed, two Bobby cowboy songs notwithstanding.

 

You don't like Weir singing cowboy songs

 

i have to wait around 4 weeks for orders from dead.net store....
still waiting for this release....

 

I just got my bonus disc.I went straight to Dark Star but I only had a chance to hear the first third of it.

 

I do like them... I just have about 900 different versions of "Mexicali Blues" now

 

Great combo package there! DP29 is one of the best in the series! Happy listening...

 

I love the bonus material from 12/6, but ouch - I miss that "Stella Blue". It's just exactly what is needed after 57 minutes of Dark Star>Eyes.

"Greatest Story" and the China>Rider are not bad, but should not have been added at the expense of "Stella Blue".

The disc sounds real nice though. (but no, I haven't yet compared it to any of the "other" versions out there)

 

I only heard the bonus disc last week. Bob's voice cracks a bit in GSET, but JG really cuts loose for an extended period on this one. A very nice lead guitar sound/attitude on China/Rider.

Ditto what they've been saying about Dark Star.

 

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I miss Donna's usual wailing at the end of GSET.

 

I just flat out LIKE Donna. Yeah, she's rarely on-key, but her presence adds a certain indescribable "something" to the music (and the stage) that I like.

 

Me too.

She was a very beautiful woman in 1973.

 

I like Donna a lot, too. I've met her at one of the Gathering of the Vibes and she seems super nice...plus there's just something reassuring about seeing her play with Phil or Bobby now, after all those years...

...and she definitely added to the band 1972-1979, and often was quite good....

but man, if you're blasting a 73-74 "Playin in the Band", and her vocals come in on the reprise...yikes~!

 

I recently posted on the 77 Winterland thread with a SQ question. I took some great advice and went back to 73 and picked up DP14. All I can say is wow. I had never heard anything like it. Disc 2 was stunning and the Jam out of PITB was unbelievable.

Needless to say I want to hear more 73 and 74. I have the Movie Soundtrack and bought RT 2 volume 3 last night. With limited funding I am deciding between this or the 73 Winterland box. Can anyone comment on if there is a noticeable difference in sound quality between the two? I may end up getting both at some point but I want to pick the one with the best SQ first. ( I would try listen to samples but they are hard to get on an iPad) Thanks for any comments.

 

I bought the '73 Winterland box set, but don't have the '77 Winterland box set. The SQ on the'73 set is stellar throughout, even better than DP14. So I would tell you that you won't be disappointed with it if you liked DP14. I have the shows that are included on the '77 box set, just not the official copies. I'm sure that you will enjoy those as well. It just comes down to which period (and set list/song choices) you like more. I think the playing on the '73 set is much more adventurous and interesting than anything the played in '77. However, from a SQ/recording perspective, I think the '77 shows sound better as they have better high end frequency, particularly found in the drumming.

 

If it's a simple choice between Denver and Winterland '73, I'd say it's clearly Winterland.

Personally, Denver is good, but I'd recommend DP 28 (new or used if it's OOP) before it as well. Hard to find much bum playing anywhere in the year, though.

 

I can't disagree with what rcb28 said but I will offer these up as well: DP12 (6/74), DP31 (8/74 with a definitive Eyes and the best portions of the 8/6 show). DP19 (10/73) disc 3 is one of my favorite discs of music as well.

 

Don't forget DP 1 from 12/19/73 - best ever "Here Comes Sunshine", and a fine jam on disc 2.

 

Best ever officially released HCS maybe.

 

Thanks for the comments. From what I have read it seems that the 73 Winterland Box is going to be the best bet in terms of sound quality and performance for any 73 and 74 Dead (excluding the Movie Soundtrack). In truth, I want everything from this period but will have to take some time to do that.

My comment on DP14 was confusing - I did mean that Disc 2 was stunning but referenced the PITB jam on Disc 4. The HCS - WRS - Dark Star - Eyes sequence on disc 2 blew me away. I had never really heard a live HCS and this was much funkier than I expected. On all of the Wake songs I kept expecting to hear Donna come in so it threw me for a loop on first listen. I prefer to have Donna in the mix but It was cool hearing Jerry sing Stella without her. I kept expecting some harmonies but he did something very cool with the guitar to compensate for not having backing vocals. I could go on all day about how great this stuff is and I haven't even mentioned Keith yet!

 

I agree. Not that I would want to be limited to just a couple of tracks or discs from 1973 but Here Comes Sunshine from DP1 and Eyes from Dicks Pick 18 (or all of Disc 3 from DP 18) and the Dark Star->MBJ from Winterland I would be set.

 

IME, 1973 & 1974 were plain magical.