Dave's Picks 43
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I think it's safe to say nobody saw this one coming.
A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear. - Starfinder Stanley, Hawk, and Pete Bell, Owsley Stanley Foundation
With a wink and a nod from Bear, we've peeled back those banana boxes to find some of the oldest and rarest of all recordings of the Dead including the double dose of shows that make up DAVE’S PICKS VOLUME 43. The two virtually complete performances from San Francisco 11/2/69, Live At Family Dog At The Great Highway, and from Dallas 12/26/69, McFarlin Auditorium, are complementary in their clarity and consistency thanks to Bear himself, and in their ability to foreshadow where the Dead were headed in the years to come. If the two killer 20-minute+ "Dark Stars" don't get ya, how about the Pigpen-centric sets featuring "Midnight Hour," "Next Time You See Me," "Big Boss Man," "Good Lovin'," and the once-lost-now-found complete rendition of "Dancing In The Streets," or the first full acoustic set ever performed? And we're certain you'll be fascinated to uncover the "Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes" as told by Starfinder Stanely, Hawk, and Pete Bell in the liners.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Joe Buck is Back
That Dallas date looks
That Dallas date looks familiar. Have these circulated before?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Back to Back
12/26/69 is decently well
12/26/69 is decently well known as the first-ever full acoustic set, as the release announcement notes, and the existing SBDs that circulate are good, but it's new as an official release. Pieces of 12/11, 12/12, 12/20, and 12/21 have been released as Dave's Picks or accompanying bonus discs also
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: (~)};)StealYourFace
"Mystery Of Bear's Banana
"Mystery Of Bear's Banana Boxes"
Hopes for a "bunch" more releases either via Dead.net or Owsley Foundation...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
Awesome!! Apparently that
Awesome!! Apparently that wasn't the only thing stashed away at Front Street. See also the Bob Bralove interview from Half-Time @ DeadCo Foxboro. The entire interview (as well as the many others that Gary & David conduct) is very good but the juice of this issue begins around 19:30. Cheerz!
https://youtu.be/KmVEZYE3dTg
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: fishcane
Cool cover with the Live Dead
Cool cover with the Live Dead woman
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I thought she looked kinda
I thought she looked kinda familiar.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
sounds grate from here
sounds grate from here
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: pride of cupertino
Wooooooohoooooo!
Wooooooohoooooo!
Been waiting for 11/2/69 for a long time.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Joe Buck is Back
That chick on the cover of
That chick on the cover of Live Dead looks like Melania Trump
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
I was very pleasantly
I was very pleasantly surprised to find my copy of DP 43 waiting in my mailbox today; I usually don't get mine until a week or two after the official release date.
I'll be listening to this tomorrow, but I do want to comment here that the running order of the CDs is all over the place. Disc 1 is 9 tracks from SF, and then 5 tracks from Dallas. Disc 2 is 4 tracks from SF, and then 2 from Dallas, and then Disc 3 is all Dallas. The first thing I do when I get these is rip them to FLAC, so I'll straighten them out that way, but it really doesn't seem like they took flow into account for this one.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: (~)};)StealYourFace
any new reels from'69 are
any new reels from'69 are welocme!
but 12-26-69 is missing Cold Rain & Snow ,due to space constraint?
WTF
make it a 3cd show with some filler
wait for DP44 to complete the show?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
There's plenty of room on
There's plenty of room on Disc 3 for the Dallas Cold Rain & Snow. Maybe they didn't want to repeat it because it's also played at the SF show?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: (~)};)StealYourFace
good thing they didn't apply
good thing they didn't apply that rational to the Dark Stars...
a previous DP was missing the encore from a show that they included in the next release.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
That would be completely
That would be completely unacceptable.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: donster
Just got mine ...
Just got mine ...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: donster
Not Crazy about the format
Not Crazy about the format Family Dog 11/2 > Dallas 12/26 > Family Dog 11/2 > Dallas 12/26
Road Trip on Thursday. Will spin it then
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
Enjoying this one today.
Enjoying this one today. Does anyone know who is the "dead" guy in the photo on the back of the booklet?
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#11 on the Billboard 200
#11 on the Billboard 200
their 53rd top 40-charting album on the Billboard 200, the most among groups in music history...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: manofpeace
This is a very good release.
This is a very good release. Both Dark Stars are superb, but the family dog one is really special. Jerry sings death dont with such gusto, he forces out a cough into the mic!
The acoustic stuff is really eye opening. In general, i dont like the late sixties acoustic/bears choice era acoustic stuff(maybe i just compare it to 1980 too much) but the harmonies and song selection is very nice here. master bouquet in particular is great. the harmonies on the uncle john are also really sweet(i dig the ripple tease on the intro too)
The guitar on new speedway gets some killer tone on the intro. (not good back ground vocals on that one though:)) good stuff