11-25-73: feyline field, tempe, AZ. here’s an overlooked show from the fall ’73 tour. note for note, this performance is almost flawless; the playing goes from average to downright brilliant, with strong and deliberate vocals all around. some first set highlights include a fine take on sugaree, a very hot china cat > know you rider with a nice bluesy jam, and a highly exploratory playing in the band, loaded with thick jazzy textures.

set 2 finds the band ready to jump back into where they left off. after a rollicking around and around dusts off the cobwebs of the intermission, they haul out a few chartbusters from the recently released wake of the flood LP. the 30-minute sequence—eyes of the world > stronger than dirt > weather report suite—is revelatory, including an absolute scorcher of a pre-coda jam from jerome on let it grow. listening to this portion of the show, it’s not hard to imagine how satisfying it must’ve been to have made the trip to tempe that day. the charlie miller transfer from kidd candelario’s master reel recording is a huge upgrade from the cassette transfer previously available on the archive. https://archive.org/details/gd1973-11-25.sbd.miller.113007.flac16/gd73-11-25d1t11.flac

4/14/71: bucknell university, lewisburg, PA.

the dead and the new riders play a swell gig at the on-campus davis gymnasium. tour manager sam cutler introduces the band’s “penultimate pennsylvania performance.”

the show is a real scorcher and well worth repeated listenings. highlights include a nice truckin' opener, a sweet 9-minute bird song (the first since the port chester debut(s) in february) and a brilliant cryptical envelopment > drums > other one > wharf rat sequence. the tape also features some very early ’70s stage banter, and the dick latvala transfer from the bob mathew’s 7 inch ¼ track reel master is a damn nice recording for this period.

https://archive.org/details/gd1971-04-14.132733.sbd.matthews.wise-droncit.flac1648

11/2/69: family dog at the great highway, san francisco, CA.

chet helms opened his family dog operation to great fanfare in june of '69. helms was a clever promoter, but a poor financial manager, and despite financial support from bill graham, the family dog was in dire financial straits by august. the dead certainly helped keep the club afloat, playing a number of dates in august, september, and two shows in early november. on the whole, the family dog shows tended to be a bit more laid back as a general rule, but this particular night found the boys playing with unbridled passion and authority. all of the pigpen numbers are a gas, and the good lovin’ is as hot as any you’ll ever lay your ears on. heck, the big boss man and next time you see me ain’t no slouches either.

the intro stuff is solid, but it’s the final 60 minutes of the set that makes this gig so special. the dark star suite and the transitions into st. stephen, the eleven, and the show-ending death don’t have no mercy, is about as good as it gets for 1969 dead. recorded by bear, and digitally transferred by charlie miller, this night at the family dog is one i'm happy to return to again and again.

https://archive.org/details/gd1969-11-02.sbd.miller.32350.sbeok.flac16

12/31/72: winterland ballroom, san francisco w/sons of champlin and the new riders of the purple sage.

one of the finer new year’s, a “regular” ’72 show with slight extra edge. the performance came on the tail end of a wonderful year that found the band, as always, in development. keith had moved in, pigpen was heading out, and a whole bunch of new songs had been added. in general, they were 'little' songs, so the big jams tended to revolve around dark star or the other one during the second set. for those of you who adore the more primal dead, check out the hour-long truckin > other one > morning dew suite from the second set. holy moly.

https://archive.org/details/gd72-12-31.prefm.vernon.20559.sbeok.shnf

12/23/70: winterland arena, san francisco, CA.

the dead team up with hot tuna and the new riders for a benefit for a local montessori school and the bear. while a good number of people must have recognized that bear was famed chemist and soundman owsley stanley, even the grateful dead must have had some trepidation about overtly publicizing a benefit performance for a recently rearrested LSD chemist (even if he was ostensibly retired from the pharmaceutical business). at the end of the performance, garcia says that hot tuna will be coming out to do a set, and thanks everyone for “helping us to bail out the bear.” it’s a miracle the tape survived since owsley was probably in jail at the time the whole thing was thrown together. the recording sounds terrific and stands as a superb example of how well the dead executed even the most basic material on a good night in late 1970.

and as it happened, it didn't work, and bear wasn't freed.

https://archive.org/details/gd1970-12-23.132343.sbd.miller.flac16

12/30/69: the tea party, boston, MA.

this soundboard recording is a real gem, with a near perfect mix of instruments and voices. historically this is a watershed period for the dead, and as the decade closes out the structure and style of the band is shifting. these are the final days of the 7-man ensemble, with the departure of keyboardist tom constanten on the near horizon. in addition to the personnel changes, the sound and songs that would emerge in 1970 as workingman’s dead have begun to come into their own. on this tuesday evening in boston’s south end, the lads treat us to the full range of their repertoire. there are extended and exploratory ragas—dark star and the other one—juxtaposed with short country-flavored tunes; there are songs on the wax, such as uncle john’s band and cumberland blues, together with alligator and the eleven, numbers that would shortly be vacating the playlist.

the opening set features the first new speedway boogie available on tape, appearing just a few weeks after the tragic altamont speedway free concert. another song introduced within the previous month is black peter, which comes off quite nicely. the highlight of the set, however, is the cryptical suite. lesh’s bass pulls and steers the band and sets the pace throughout. the raw, yet coordinated ensemble performance is downright tasty.

the second set opens with two more tunes that are less than a month old—uncle john’s band and mason’s children. they both feel rough around the edges, although it is nice to hear the early chord progressions of uncle john’s, prior to it’s eventual rearrangement (with the G-B-C-D chords at the introduction and between verses). following a solid performance of china cat > know you rider, the band regroups very briefly, and then launches into 50 minutes of exploratory and visceral music, including an absolutely stellar version of dark star. this star is typical of late ’69 renditions: mellow and sweet, with TC’s organ right up in front of the mix. of course, there’s plenty of sonic play—long stretches of feedback and space—and the familiar riffs that make this tune so special. and then, after a tight spirited jam that has us sensing a transition into another motif, the tape is cut and we drop midstream into alligator. both the alligator and the eleven that follow are intense and played with vigor. although neither of these songs would be played more than a handful of times moving forward, there is no hint of boredom or inattentiveness in this performance. it’s what makes live dead so goddamned good.

https://archive.org/details/gd69-12-30.sbd.miller.28469.sbeok.shnf

1/17/69: robertson gymnasium, santa barbara, CA.

early 1969 finds the dead playing in luminous improvisatory mode, served up with an overwhelming feeling of immediacy. a few weeks prior to the avalon ballroom performance that would provide part of the music for the live dead LP, this performance is a prime example of a band fully in the midst of some absolutely vital creation. the 80-minute set presents some of the most affecting music i’ve heard in quite a while. of note, the dark star > st. stephen > the eleven > death don’t have no mercy sequence is stunning, played with an intensity and spirit par excellence. of course, the mythic status afforded the material on live dead makes it almost impossible for long-time devotees to view it objectively, but rest assured, the music on this evening is of the same innovative and vociferous quality. much of the show is a dramatic flow of dynamic ideas between the band members, who repeatedly pass rhythms and phrases across the stage. the energy is high and the interplay and quick directional changes are quite extraordinary—clearly an unassailable peak in the history of the grateful dead. listen up. https://archive.org/details/gd69-01-17.sbd.miller.89798.sbeok.flac16