11/1/68: silver dollar fairgrounds, chico, CA. w/gunge.

by late 1968, chico was becoming somewhat of a hip satellite of san francisco. a number of national acts made their way to the sacramento valley city, including the cannonball adderley quintet, johnny cash, it's a beautiful day, lou rawls, the 5th dimension, and rod mckuen. by fall of the year, chico's silver dollar fairgrounds armory was starting to host regular gigs. quicksilver messenger service played a date in october, along with the all-female bay area band ace of cups. the grateful dead, already established in san francisco, made their way up to the armory the following month. the local psych garage band gunge, featuring frontman martin taylor, opened the show.

the dead's chico debut is a beauty. the 12-minute dark star opener-although less freeform-is a little more energized than the october versions. tonight's take is an exercise in precision, with punctilious leads by garcia that drive the jam between verses. it serves as a nice prelude to an absolutely shredding that's it for the other one. the cryptical intro is oh so sweet, played with delicate fidelity until it drops, with the force of a cannon, into the other one. weir ignites the band with some ferocious, guttural vocals. just prior to the first verse he yells, "yoo hoo" into the mic, as if he's calling out for a lost pet. with lesh and garcia in full assault mode, the band forges maniacally along in 12/8 psychedelic euphoria. the cryptical reprise is awash with brightly lit tonalities and subtle touches before transitioning to another round of psychotic jamming, highlighted by a savvy display of rabid finger-picking by jerry and tomahawking counter rhythms from kreutzmann and hart. in time, the music drifts into deep space-which the sextet is happy to explore for a few measures-before drifting into 7+ minutes of glorious feedback.

the segue into new potato caboose is like a portal opening into another world, but then somebody kicks out a plug or something and we land in the back half of a lengthy alligator > caution > feedback > we bid you goodnight. the tape cut is unfortunate, and one can only imagine how amazing the middle of this set must have been, given the energy of the music we have. and when the short but sincere, bid you goodnight rises out of the output signals of the amplifiers, it's easy to picture the kids from chico removing their hands from over their eyes to clap along.

a month after the dead's visit, LSD guru timothy leary made a stop at CSU chico. following the appearance, the chico state yearbook quoted leary, “raising the hedonic level of chico is not child’s play.” i don't know about you, but i think the dead's performance might have pushed it up a notch or two.

https://archive.org/details/gd1968-11-01.150968.sbd.eaton-latvala.miller.flac1644

10/25/69: winterland ballroom, san francisco, CA. w/the jefferson airplane, stills & nash, and sons of champlin.

after a year of extensive touring with shows in mostly smaller clubs and auditoriums, the dead play three nights at the winterland ballroom. with a capacity of 5400, the renowned sutter street venue was over twice the size of the fillmore west, so this was a substantial show, hence the co-billing with the jefferson airplane. the poster advertised two nights, and the third night-sunday, october 26-was added when ticket sales justified another performance. this is probably how bill graham had it planned all along, a strategy that he would employ many times in subsequent decades. portions of the dead shows were recorded in mono and broadcast later on KPFA-FM, berkeley.

the dead followed sons of champlin, a short acoustic outing by stephen stills & graham nash, and the airplane, closing out a monumental show. while their set contains only four songs, it is absolutely brilliant from a performance aspect. every tune is played with precision and swagger, much like the transcendent fillmore west recordings that made their way onto live dead.

the action begins right away with a beautifully executed dark star, that features all the variations and nuances we've come to expect from this era. the synergy is palpable as the band reaches further and further toward deep space; garcia, lesh, and TC propel things along, exploring contemplative themes and jazzy, opulently melodic improvisation. we get both verses and, as was the custom, a high voltage st. stephen rises out of the ashes of the dark star. the eleven that follows is just as explosive and the degree of collaborative expression is astounding. garcia creates new phrasing and infectious riffs at every turn, while lesh carrys us madly along, ruthlessly plucking out diverse combinations of meter within the eleven-beat time signature.


as the jam extends and morphs, phil steers the group into turn on your lovelight. pig takes over vocal duties, and the lads roll out an absolutely rousing take on the bobby bland r&b number that, no doubt, had everyone in the winterland crowd up and dancing. about six minutes in, the band locks in on a groove; mckernan raps intuitively, punctuating the mix with his standard rodomontade. among the background vocals by weir, garcia and lesh, we can make out the voice of stephen stills in the chorus, "let it shine, let it shine." in due time, stills begins to integrate his gretsch white falcon into the fray. garcia's strat and owsley hot-wired rig thunders with equal sonic vigor, although his tone is cleaner and sweeter than stills' biting timbre. for the remaining fifteen minutes, jerry and stephen trade riffs and vamp along, adding great piquancy to an already great rendition. the band pushes the envelope further and the playing reaches a feverish intensity before the musicians usher the song to a searing climax.

following a minute or two of standing ovation, bill graham takes the stage and sums it up perfectly by saying, "we may be a little prejudiced but let's get one thing said… on any given night, the very greatest rock and roll band in the world, the grateful dead."

https://archive.org/details/gd69-10-25.sbd.jagla.81.sbefail.shnf

10/12/68: avalon ballroom, san franciso, CA.

this show has circulated for years mislabeled 10/13/68, but it's really october 12, 1968. the gig didn't have a live FM broadcast, although there was a mid-1970's KSAN broadcast (up through the jam after new potato) and that is the origin of the 10/13/68 tapes. dick latvala found the master reel in the vault of the complete second set, which was not in circulation until recently. this performance was a favorite of dick's and always landed on his topnotch, must-hear, tape list. one listen and it's easy to see why. it should be noted that pig is absent for this show, maybe temporarily fired, maybe not.

before we get the goods, jerry shares some thoughts: "hold onto your bodies and relax, everybody. everybody relax for crissakes, everybody just cool it. everything's gonna be alright. we're gonna play here until, until uh, until we drop." weir, the consummate mc follows garcia, "we’re going to do an elementary dance number-it’s a foxtrot and also a ladies' choice." we've heard that one before, but it still seems appropriate for the occasion.

they dig right in and, without pig, the band's sound really opens up. the three previous nights of hartbeats experimentation at the matrix are immediately obvious in the 38-minute first set consisting of dark star > st. stephen > the eleven > death don't have no mercy. the dark star is bold with soaring instrumental work by garcia and lesh. the remainder of the set is completely off the rails good, highlighted by a plaintive, massive death don’t have no mercy, with jerry reaching in deep and fervidly belting out every last lyrical phrase. some would argue it's possibly the greatest grateful dead tape side out there. having listened to the opening sequence from this night countless times, i'd have to say i'm open to such a claim.

set two is another 42-minutes of pure pleasure. the cryptical suite is well-developed and loaded with brilliant musicianship; it escalates to beastly heights, with garcia peeling off notes at a dizzying rate. the reprise flows easily into new potato caboose with concise drum breaks and major key bliss, including a happy thirteen's jam awash in warmly psychedelic experimentation. in due time, the jamming shifts gears and a caution theme threatens to develop before decending into a haunting 7 full minutes of glockenspiel-laced feedback to close out the night.

seeded by david gans with a solid digital transfer from chris frisco, this show is a must for any fans of late '68 grateful dead. the band is playing with a special intensity—fearless, messy, and monstrously weird. plug in, it's très contagious.

https://archive.org/details/gd68-10-12.sbd.eD.10909.sbeok.shnf/gd68-10-12t11.shn

9/13/78: soundcheck—sphinx theatre, giza, egypt.

one of the highest moments in grateful dead history came on september 16, 1978, in front of the great pyramid of giza, when a rhythm and percussion choir led by mickey hart’s friend, hamza el din, opened for the band’s second set by playing his song ollin arageed. as they sang and jammed, the moon went into eclipse and then, one by one, the band members drifted onto the stage and joined them, eventually segueing into fire on the mountain.

the psycho-spiritual nature of the egypt trip undoubtedly contributed to the dead’s identity and mystique. on a larger scale, they were not there just to perform; they were there to record an album, harness the ancient energy of the location, and to possibly levitate pharaoh khufu's pyramid. the journey itself was symbolic of so much more. the event represented a connection to a past the participants could just barely glimpse. a relationship to ancient humans. a sacred place on the planet, and the planet’s place in the universe. all that metagalactic stuff.

in true grateful dead fashion the sound crew attempted to wire up an elaborate complex of audio equipment at the center of the great pyramid that would serve as an echo FX for the concerts. bill graham provided technical advice deep inside the king's chamber, while kesey, in full prankster form, freely distributed a specially procured liquid owsley. the stage was set for the historic shows. at the least, it was a perfect framework for a cosmic wild goose chase.

along with the soundboard recordings and shaky video footage of the three shows (remastered and delivered with fun packaging via the official rocking the cradle: egypt 1978 box set), there exists a very unusual field tape of the dead, hamza el-din, and a handful of drummers rehearsing el-din’s ollin arageed. what's striking about the tape is the immediacy and beauty of the music. it has a timeless, otherworldly feel. the vibe, ambling like the iaro sediments of the nile, is at once stirring, holy, and unfettered by the windy desert conditions & ambient limitations of the recording device. the music begins with just garcia at first, weaving notes through clapping/singing. the tune is soothing and hypnotic, a balm for the ears. the other 10 tracks on the recording feature el din’s opening set the following night, leading rhythms on the oud. the playing, a rich fusion of arabic and nubian sounds, is entrancing and deeply satisfying. it's easy to see why garcia loved collaborating with hamza and visiting his sonic universe.

the dead playing african music is undoubtedbly one of the best things to come out of the egypt junket. plug in some good headphones and give it a listen. very heady music.

https://archive.org/details/gd1978-09-13.aud-schk.unknown.miller.87779.sbeok.flac16/gd78-09-13d1t03.flac

8/19/70: fillmore west, san franciso, CA. w/the new riders of the purple sage.

another acoustic-electric curiosity from the grateful dead's storied history is this fine gene taback field recording. dupes of the master cassette made it into trading circles very early and, based on the rarely taped american beauty songs, on-point harmonies, pigpen's piano, and great setlist, the tape is essential listening for any devotee of the era.

the first premeditated acoustic sets of 1970 occurred during the late shows of the last two nights of the dead’s legendary february run at the fillmore east. portions of these sets were released in 1973 as part of bear’s choice, including pig's note-perfect take on the lightnin' hopkins country blues number, katie mae. acoustic sets became the norm after this, and were featured nightly in the "an evening with the grateful dead" set structure (acoustic grateful dead, new riders of the purple sage, electric grateful dead), before ebbing to a close the following year during spring tours to midwest and northeast towns and colleges.

in late july, the dead returned to bill graham's fillmore east for another run prior to heading home for the remainder of the summer to work on american beauty. in between studio sessions, they managed a number of gigs, many in very small venues, as they introduced much of the new material, and some additional covers, into their repertoire. they also experimented with a format incorporating just the acoustic dead set and the new riders at some of these shows. this gem of a recording, courtesy of raoul duke, is a nice window into one of those nights.

the whole acoustic set is sheer joy. billy adds some drums & pig plays lively, soulful upright piano on how long blues, dark hollow, candyman, ripple, truckin,' and new speedway boogie. there's a long gospel/bluegrass portion with NRPS, but the set centerpiece is unquestionably the stunning ripple > brokedown palace pairing with big outro vocals. the electric portion of the show gets a waggish introduction by an enthusiastic emcee: “out of the backwoods of marin county sometimes known as the kodiak woodchuck motherfuckers, the grateful dead!” the set is straight ahead ramble and boogie, including a slow, funky cold rain and snow, a robust st. stephen > sugar magnolia, an outstanding good lovin', with fiery garcia licks and full-on mckernan swagger, solid takes on new minglewood blues and casey jones, and a 39-minute not fade away > turn on your lovelight finale that features a wobbly david crosby on rhythm guitar.

this night at the old fillmore west is archetypal 1970 grateful dead—a large helping of countrified blues choogle, with a side of imperious electric-ensemble sonic contortion. it might be the best '70 acoustic sets you’ve ever heard. you be the judge. you may even come back for a second or third listen.

https://archive.org/details/gd1970-08-19.aud.taback.cdjones.81775.sbeok.flac16

12/6/80: recreation center, mill valley, CA. w/santa claus.

this is a pretty remarkable and strange little show. just a couple months after their acoustic residencies at the warfield theatre and radio city music hall, the dead played a holiday party for the local muscular dystrophy association, at the behest of justin kreutzmann.

“thank you to the clowns for the nice entertainment, you were very good,” says the woman emcee before introducing the band. she doesn’t quite know everyone’s names (“weir? wire?”), so jerry takes over, which is charming. with brent on the rec center piano, the boys casually play the same tunes about sex and death (and the one about the train-driving monkey) that they did during the october sets but to an audience that likely (mostly) doesn’t know them, though at least one wheelchair has a stealie sticker.

the short set begins with a rousing rendition of dire wolf, and the perky little workingman's murder ballad never sounded so good. weir takes the lead on the next number. a jug band fave, she's on the road again has made its return to the dead's repertoire. it's essentially a new song compared to the electric versions in '66. it's got a jouncy feel that seems genetically connected to the '72 bakersfield era. as they did for the reckoning LP, been all around this world and monkey & the engineer go back-to-back with weir’s classic banter in between, “this next one's a song about disaster narrowly averted…” jack a roe—played on/off since ’77 (once acoustic in 1978)—is next, now finding virtually perfect form with naturally weaving acoustic bounce. next up, an excellent off-mic moment when a kid approaches garcia. kid: "i want rock & roll." garcia: "you do? this is sort of like rock & roll, this next tune." they deliver cassidy, which is sort of like rock & roll, which includes a deft little jam with jerry building to a big peak.

ice cream is served up before bird song, which does feel ideal for a holiday celebration. garcia really brings it on this version, and it's about as stormy as the acoustic bird songs get. a slow, sweet rendition of elizabeth cotton’s oh babe it ain't no lie is next in the queue. the song would only be performed two more times by garcia and company (in the netherlands for an acoustic set, and finally at marin vets, on 3/28/84, in a performance that kicked off the second set, without weir and mydland onstage). ripple ends the show, which seems like the perfect finishing touches on another offbeat story in grateful dead history. and then, it’s time for santa! the ambient amusements linger as the band scatters after the set, including a crowd-supported search for brent who apparently left without his gift.

recorded by betty cantor-jackson with a swell new transfer by jason chastain in 2020, this tape is jolly good. and it's a betty field recording, so you can go ahead and download the sucker!

https://archive.org/details/gd1980-12-06.151263.betty.master.flac16

3/22/73: memorial auditorium, utica, NY.

in august of ’69 the dead began their push into upstate new york at the woodstock festival. by 1970, the band’s itinerary included a number of performances due north of new york city. sam cutler had stripped down operations and had the boys touring with abandon. the goal was to get a paid, as many nights as possible. this included touring with the nrps and a new format, "an evening with the grateful dead," which featured acoustic dead sets most nights. the tour featured gigs at SUNY alfred/delhi, harpur college, and the U of rochester palestra. they ventured north of the hudson again in the fall ’71, touring in support of skull and roses (which warner brothers reinforced with a $100K worth of FM broadcasts).

the next time the dead traveled upstate was the spring of 1973. the tour began with three dates at nassau coliseum. to get through the week and onto the larger venues ahead, they had to at least cover expenses, and that meant playing at a smaller facility. the utica memorial auditorium was a typical multi-purpose civic center of the era. it was erected in 1960 and had a capacity of 5700 for floor events. for the most part, it was used for minor league ice hockey, and the AHL utica comets still call it home. the increasing size of the dead’s sound system in 1973 made one-nighters harder to justify, so the citizens of utica were lucky enough to get two nights of the good ol' grateful dead. thanks to the tapes, we know that the band absolutely killed it in utica—as they did most nights in 1973—and anyone from oneida county who got to see either of the shows was lucky indeed.

the tape of the second night from handshake city is plum archetypal ’73 dead. the 18 song first set is nearly two hours long and has a bit of everything. the short tunes are all solidly played, including my favorite take on the briefly performed loretta lynn song, you ain't woman enough. it's sublime the amount of twang garcia gets out of his strat on this one. some great first frame jams abound as well, with stellar versions of birdsong, china cat > i know you rider, and playing in the band. and there's even some playful banter in response to the local fire marshal (who apparently asked the band to make an announcement about keeping a fire isle clear, and that smoking is dangerous for you). in classic prankster style, lesh & garcia charmingly bait the municipal officer, with lesh leading the way with a stoned public service anouncement. a chuckling jerry responds: “yeah, try to keep your fires in the fire aisle.”

the back half of the show opens with an absolutely scathing big river. it's one of those early 70's versions that surely could have earned the quintet a place at the grand ole opry. a few cuts later, they roll out here comes sunshine, one of their new wake of the flood numbers. it's a good early take and hints at the jazzy direction they're heading in. billy tinkers with his snare and phil plucks a few familiar bass notes that signal the arrival of truckin'. like the europe '72 versions, tonight's take really swings. seven minutes in, we're treated to a sweet early instrumental version of nobody's fault but mine; garcia's open D solo is fluid and expressive, and adds a mournful feeling to the mix. the boys shuffle back to truckin' proper for a brief jam and then launch full tilt into the other one. it's a gorgeous performance with inspired jamming that draws us out of the basic theme and into a space of attunement, rich in complexity and ambiguity. kreutmann's drumming is other wordly throughout, pushing the ensemble deeper into the music. in time the other one theme returns, weir offers the second verse, and the band segues gracefully into eyes of the world. the second single from the album—released as a promo with mono and stereo mixes—eyes of the world is the perfect vehicle for exploration and thematic jamming. and tonight's take is no exception, with it's rich samba carioca feel, jerry's signature Emaj7 vamping, a dramatically framed coda and, as they did so nicely in the '73-'74 versions, it is elegantly paired with china doll.

the band isn't done yet—they still have two weir sung tunes left in the tank. sugar magnolia is rocked out with a classic extended finish, and the one more saturday night encore is more than acceptable. it's a fine ending to a dynamic show with many impossibly good moments. from a business standpoint, this mid-week utica stopover gave the band a couple of modest paydays during an already fruitful spring tour. their upstate history was starting to reap financial benefits and the fires would continue to burn in this region of new york for years to come.

culled from betty cantor jackson's 10" master reels with a digital transfer by jamie waddell, this tape purrs from start to finish.


https://archive.org/details/gd1973-03-22.136267.sbd.GEMS.flac16