3-16-73: nassau memorial coliseum, uniondale, NY.

a little over a month after the dead broke out the prototype wall of sound at stanford’s maples pavilion, they headed east for an 11-show run. the second night of the tour in uniondale is a performance that should be on your '73 radar. the 14 song first set is solid and the birdsong > playing in the band closer is brimming with improvisational panache. they keep their foot on the gas for the second frame, highlighted by a fabulous dark star > truckin'> morning dew sequence that easily covers the 2 dollar admission price. charlie miller does his usual magic with the transfer from betty's master reels.

https://archive.org/details/gd1973-03-16.sbd.miller.79186.sbeok.flac16

9/28/75: golden gate park, san franciso, CA.

this tape is one of my all-time favorite field recordings of the grateful dead, in a year that they only played four shows. in addition to recording blues for allah, 1975 found the individual band members gravitating to a number of interesting side projects: jerry was rehearsing and playing with a jgb line-up that included bassist john kahn, drummer ronnie tutt and keyboard ace nicky hopkins; bill kreutzmann joined keith and donna godchaux's jazz and r&b band (dubbed keith & donna, though manager john mcIntire was tempted to rename it the godchaux-kreutzmann band, "just to make it more interesting"); phil lesh teamed up with MIT trained composer ned lagin to create seastones, a venture into bioelectric music (with a fine release on the round records label); bob weir gigged for several months around california with kingfish, which featured ex-new riders dave torbert on bass; and finally, mickey hart created the innovative diga rhythm band, a lively percussion ensemble that showcased the tabla master, zakir hassain.

the lindley meadows gig was officially billed as a free concert sponsored by the Haight-Ashbury People's Ballroom, with the good ol' grateful dead in their first public performance in nearly a year since their so-called “retirement." this recording was made possible by bob menke, who stood about 10-15 feet from the stage with two sony mics mounted on broomsticks (handheld), split about 20 feet apart. the result is undoubtedly one of the best audience recordings ever made of the band. here's a link with a downloadable mp3 zip:

https://archive.org/details/gd1975-09-28.fob.menke-falanga.motb-0069.91769.flac16

6/21/71: chateau d'herouville, herouville, france.

in the summer of 1971, the dead traveled to france to play a free outdoor festival at the rodeo ranch at auvers-sur-oise. when that gig was rained out, they gave an impromptu performance at the château d'hérouville (the former country residence of frédéric chopin). i've returned to this set over and over and it really is one of those gigs that is more than the sum of its parts.

there’s two full sets of fun, packed with unabridged broken french banter. pigpen, unfortunately, is a bit out of sorts & doesn’t do either of his big closers, although we do get another hard to handle with a devastating jam. other highlights include a sublime morning dew, a succinct and well-jammed china > rider, a load of garcia-weir rockers, and a new-fashioned 25-minute cryptical envelopment > drums > the other one > wharf rat. pig even gets a little jazzy on the latter. the show is also the debut of courtenay pollack’s tie-dye speaker system, for anyone who cares about recondite grateful dead history.

jerry was interviewed in rolling stone that year, and he shared this about the scene in hérouville: "we were there with nothing to do: france, a 16-track recording studio upstairs, all our gear, ready to play, and nothing to do. so, we decided to play at the chateau itself, out in the back, in the grass, with a swimming pool, just play into the hills. we didn’t even play to hippies, we played to a handful of townspeople in auvers. we played and the people came — the chief of police, the fire department, just everybody. it was an event and everybody just had a hell of a time — got drunk, fell in the pool. it was great."

here's the soundboard recording from that evening, courtesy of another fine c. miller transfer: https://archive.org/details/gd1971-06-21.sbd.miller.94356.flac16

the gig was recorded and videotaped by ORTF (french radio and telivision broadcasting). here are a few of the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWbzmRBU6Lg

7/11/69: flushing meadow park, queens, NY.

this dick latvala soundboard transfer is one of my favorite recordings from this era. jerry's pedal steel guitar in the first set is a joy, and charles lloyd adds some fine reeds to the mix. in her review of the performance, village voice columnist annie fisher spent a good deal of copy railing on the venue: “…you can walk up to the bandstand close enough to touch a leg of whoever it is you want to touch on the leg on stage. no goddamn revolving stage, no goddamn lightshow, and no seats anywhere...you can plant your ass on the mosaic new york state on the floor, if you must, but it's just about impossible when the grateful dead are playing."

the dead, as usual, take half of a marathon set to warm up, but once they do they're unstoppable. this is very much evident in the jam> other one> death don't have no mercy sequence. queue it up and see for yourself.

https://archive.org/details/gd1969-07-11.123417.sbd.latvala.lee.smith.flac24

7/3/69: colorado springs, CO.

this rare recording from a joint called reed's ranch is short, but extremely sweet. the sound quality is A++ thanks to bear's wizardry, rob eaton's attention to detail, and charlie miller's sterling transfer. dig it.

https://archive.org/details/gd1969-07-03.sbd.miller.92771.sbeok.flac16

10/24/71: detroit, MI w/NRPS

another unheralded show from 1971, took place at the eastown theatre in detroit. a notable addition to this tour was keith godchaux on keyboards who, on this evening, was all over it on the shittiest, most out-of-tune piano in michigan. after a fine opening set from the new riders (w/garcia on pedal steel), the new and improved good ‘ol grateful dead played one of their best gigs of their autumn run. the pinnacle of the night is a magnificent dark star that occurs midway into the second set. extremely loose, and open, the playing is a voyage, constantly going in unexpected directions. upon listening, one can easily see why dick latvala grouped this version with his all-time favorites. give it a spin.

https://archive.org/details/gd1971-10-24.sbd.miller.125887.flac16

an obscure diamond in the rough from ’71 is this fine allegheny college gig from meadville, PA. like many of the shows at this time, it was broadcast over the FM airwaves which were essential to the dead’s success and had opened up a whole new market for the band. this performance is culled from one of the early betty cantor 7” two track reel recordings, and the pre-FM quality really jumps off the tape. every tune is played beautifully and jerry rips off some extremely fierce solos. check it out. https://archive.org/details/gd71-04-15.sbd.eD.11652.sbeok.shnf

3/24/71: winterland ballroom, san francisco, CA w/the NRPS

the dead play a benefit gig along with a very mysterious crew, which featured a sufi choir, a few whirling dervish dancers, and yogi bhajan (the sikh teacher who introduced kundalini yoga to the west). if this wasn’t weird enough, local members of kailas shugendo, a buddhist sect dressed in oriental-style hiking attire, presented ritual segments, including a fire-walk on stage. jerome and the boys finally plugged in at 11 pm for their regular set. the charlie miller transfer from the ¼“ master reels is crisp and ready for aural consumption.

https://archive.org/details/gd71-03-24.sbd.miller.25313.flac16

one of my favorite dead shows from the early 1970's is this fine gig from springers inn in portland, OR. everything is well-played, with the highlights of the night being the eleven jam following alligator > drums, and a damn nice cryptical envelopment > cosmic charlie to close out the second set. hell yeah.

https://archive.org/details/gd70-01-16.sbd.popi.7111.sbeok.shnf

5/7/72: bickersaw festival, wigan, england.

the dead headline a sunday performance from the 3-day northwest UK rock festival, that featured the likes of captain beefheart, the incredible string band, nrps, the kinks, and donovan. by the final day, all semblance of organization had disappeared and locals wandered freely onto the site to catch the good ol' grateful dead, including coal miners and their families in their sunday best. here's charlie miller's first set transfer from betty cantor's recording mix:

https://archive.org/details/gd1972-05-07.133598.sbd.set1.miller.flac16

and for all you completists, check out scott clogston's seed of the entire show. the dark star> other one > sing me back home is completely off the charts good:

https://archive.org/details/gd72-05-07.sbd-aud.clugston.9193.sbeok.shnf

there's also video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7eh6NDAR-s&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7eh6NDAR-s

11/14/71: texas christian university, fort worth, TX. the dead and the new riders play a rollicking gig at the daniel meyer coliseum. while the next night’s show was released as part of the road trips series, i think this night might actually one-up the austin performance. anyway, the boys really showed up to play on this evening, and the music shines throughout. this baby is worth repeated listenings, especially the other one suite. charlie miller’s transfer from the bob mathews 7 inch ¼ track reel master is a damn nice recording for this period. sure’nuff. https://archive.org/details/gd71-11-14.sbd.miller.23568.sbeok.shnf

11/13/72: soldiers and sailors memorial hall, kansas city.

every once in a while i stumble onto a really special grateful dead recording. this night in kansas, definitely qualifies. what makes this particular gig really shine--aside from the beautiful playing--is the quality of the sound. there were several shows during this fall '72 run that owsley resorted to audience taping, producing really sweet room recordings. owsley experimented with the placement of the mics, and to a certain extent with kinds of mics (he was limited in the choices available and, as a result, preferred an omnidirectional type of set up). the result is a sonic wonder, filled with abstract passages, manifold chord patterns, and dynamic contrasts. and although it’s only a segment of the full show, it’s a dark star suite that’ll set your head on fire. plug in your headphones and cue this weird and beautiful thing up. https://archive.org/details/gd1972-11-13.aud.owsley.gems.105812.flac16

5/13/72: mother’s day, lille, france. 

the dead play a make-up performance for the one they were to give following their two nights at the olympia theatre in paris (necessitated by a stray equipment truck and no gear). the highlight of the free outdoor concert is an excellent 28+ minute—sometimes spacey—performance of the other one. here’s a portion of betty cantor’s second set mix, via another stunning charlie miller transfer. vive la europe ’72.
 https://archive.org/details/gd72-05-13.psbd.miller.21725.sbeok.shnf