Full Show Friday: Joe Russo's Almost Dead 10/2/15 Brooklyn Bowl

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's.  These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Joe Russo's Almost Dead!

We have discussed this group of players before here, but the full group of Joe Russo (drums), Marco Benevento (Keys) Dave Dreiwitz (bass) Tom Hamilton (guitar) Scott Metzger (Guitar) are an adept bunch of players who breath life and energy into the Grateful Dead's catalog. JRAD don't hold the music sacred, they know it is living and breathing, amping up the pace when needed and delving into the bands enormous back catalog.

It is simply the best "Dead" related playing we have heard since the days of the Phil Lesh Quintet.  Yes, that includes this summer and any project the original members have been a part of.

This show can't get any fresher as it comes from last Friday night at Brooklyn Bowl. We were seeing the TTB on the upper west side, so it is great to hear/see/experience this show from across the river. Our personal highlights from this one are the killer "Standing On The Moon> Wheel" combo and the pairing of our favorite Springsteen song "Atlantic City" with "I Know You Rider". This is a hell of show, pro shot, pro sound.
  
Full set list below, Enjoy:

Album Review: Dave McMurray - Grateful Deadication 2

Dave McMurray

Grateful Deadication 2 

**** out of *****

Here is the second collection of Grateful Dead covers from Detroit based saxophonist Dave McMurray as he and his band dip back into the San Francisco based legends catalog with Grateful Deadication 2. While the first collection veered into the light/easy/smooth jazz and poppy side of things, this album works much better overall, feeling more lived in and authentic, truly connecting with the Dead originals, while staking their own claim. 

With McMurray leading the charge on sax, the core band of: Wayne Gerard guitar, Maurice O’Neal keyboards, Luis Resto piano, Ibrahim Jones bass, Jeff Canady drums, Larry Fratangelo percussion, start things on a positive note as "Playing In The Band" begins with a smooth jazz/New Age vibe that gains in grit and determination throughout as the drumming of Canady is noticeable. 

"China Cat Sunflower" uses strong bass work and twinkling keys which pair together to establish a good groove as the song moves along becoming increasingly adventurous with odd sounds, while the slow rolling "Bird Song" deploys chimes/percussion, solid sax lines with the drumming moving into a funkier realm to close. The spirit of The Grateful Dead is coursing throughout this album as the players shift and experiment.  

One of the more straight ahead numbers is the eulogy-like "To Lay Me Down" which is smooth and has a host of guests helping out including Jamey Johnson vocals, Greg Leisz pedal steel, Larry Campbell guitar, Don Was bass. These aren't the only guests on the album as Oteil Burbridge sings on the most rocked up track here, "Fire On The Mountain" while Bob James adds silky piano to both the soft, yet delightfully weird, take on the "The Other One" and the pretty "If I Had The World To Give" which features some gorgeous lines from McMurray.      

The whole effort is commendable and shows that McMurray and company are willing to change up originals with success. "Truckin'" goes in a blues vamp direction with a bass line out of Pink Floyd's "Money" while album closer "Crazy Fingers" uses a reggae foundation before jumping off into a huge build with fiery sax work, closing the record on a triumphant note.   

Rarely does the sequel surpass the original, but that is the case here as all of these tracks are successes and a major improvement over the first installment. With Grateful Deadication, it felt as McMurray was just dipping his toes into the water of those hippies tunes, now with Grateful Deadication 2 things have truly clicked as it feels he has lived with the songs and injected this collection with his own feelings. 

Here's hoping he digs in even deeper with a Grateful Deadication 3 sometime in the near future as the songs keep on growin'. 

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Support the artist, buy the album and peep some video below:

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Pick's Volume 50: 5/3-4/77 Palladium NYC

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 50:

5/3&4/77 Palladium NYC

***and1/2 out of *****

Standard disclaimer: When reviewing the Dave's Picks series, and really any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released shows.

That said, this series still exists for a reason, obsessive fans (like RtBE) will always listen to anything from The Grateful Dead as Dave and his team continue to unearth rare gems.

Album Review: Dave McMurray - Grateful Dedication

Dave McMurray 

Grateful Dedication

** out of *****

The Grateful Dead had a large hand in basically inventing jazz rock. From the acid drenched freak outs of 1968 to the cool relaxed, space outs of 73-74 tours to later day excursions, the band mix rock and jazz when they were at their free flowing best. A full on jazz tribute to the band is an interesting proposition and Dave McMurray's Grateful Dedication works on some numbers and misses on others, like the Dead themselves. 

The main issue is McMurray's focus on more of a pop feel for the songs than an exploratory deep searching. Fanatical followers of the band (present company included) relish getting lost in the wandering exploration but McMurray and Co. take things in a much lighter vein, veering close to background music at an uptight dinner party at times, far from the bands original work. 

On the plus side "Estimated Prophet" develops into a soaring showcase for McMurrary's horn work while "The Eleven"  pushes forward with steam and gusto and "Franklin Towers" uses full band interplay to grow into more than the individual players. When guest vocalist Bettye LaVette delivers the blues and Bob Weir himself joins on guitar for "Loser" things instantly brighten to spotlight levels as Robert Hunter's lyrics shine a whole new dynamic on the playing and allow McMurray to solo around the vocalists; the way jazz players work best with this band (Branford Marsalis is Exhibit A). 

Not every guest vocalist works well though as "Touch of Grey" goes full smooth jazz with Herschel Boone delivering vocals before McMurray offers an instrumental version directly after the effort while the opening "Fire On The Mountain" displays whiffs of cheese, if not full on Jimmy Buffet like pop rock. Even "Dark Star", the most jazz inclined song in the bands repertoire, comes off stiff as the intro plays it snappy straight before a jam semi gets to the heart of the Dead; playing without a net. 

That said the music of the Grateful Dead is endlessly malleable and hearing McMurray and company try out a few tried and tested numbers in new smoother forms is worth checking in on, especially if you are into the more sunshiny sound of the group. Grateful Dedication on Blue Note was recorded out of love for a band that is always overjoyed to be talked about in the same breath as jazz players, somewhere Jerry Garcia is smiling. 

 

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Support the artists, buy the album and peep some video below:

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 9/10/91 MSG, NY, NY

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 90's get some love, 1991 in particular.

The nineties saw the end of the band with Jerry's Garcia's passing in the summer of 1995 and even though the music never truly stopped, things have never been the same. In truth if you are listening with a critical ear, anything after 1991 is not that great, there are moments sure, but '91 is pretty much where the must hear shows end, and this show we are highlighting today is the best of an underrated year. 

Once Brent Mydland died the band used both Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby for sometime as replacements, sharing the keyboard work. Bruce in particular is excellent on this night but for this MSG show a different addition to the band plays a huge part, Branford Marsalis.

The saxophone player is a huge plus and while he had played with the band before this is the pinnacle of his contributions in what many fans consider the last great Grateful Dead show, 9/10/91. From the first notes of "Shakedown Street" things are just on. The first set is a joy through and through, other highlights after the opening "Shakedown Street" (an RtBE personal favorite) are...well hell, the whole set rocks. It is one of the best first sets of any era, let alone the 90's.

The second set gets a bit more adventurous but that is never a bad thing with this crew.  The opening "Help>Slip>Frank" with Branford is must hear as is the "Dark Star" reprise coming out of drums. This version of "Standing on the Moon" always brings a bit of a tear to the eye as well, this is a great one so put it on and enjoy. 

Not quite pro shot, but pro sound, full set list info below. Enjoy:

Grateful Dead September 10, 1991 Madison Square Garden New York, NY Lazy Cow Production Video: AUD (Tripod) Master NTSC 4:3 8400 kbs 720X480 Set 1 & 2 Master: JVC Single Tube Camera, Nak 300 Shotguns ? Decks JVC Deck VHS Master Transfer: VHS Master Panasonic AG-7150 Canopus ADVC-100 iMac G4 Final Cut Pro 3 DVD Studio Pro 1 Audio: SBD DAT(M) DAT(1) DAT(2) Transfer: DAT R500 M-Audio 24/96 CD FLAC LPCM 1.5 Mbs DVD 1 Set 1 Intro Shakedown Street C.C. Rider It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry Black Throated Wind Hight Time Cassidy Deal 01:00:20 DVD 2 Set 2 Intro Help On The Way Slipknot Franklin's Tower Estimated Prophet Dark Star Drums 00:57:43 DVD 3 Space Dark Star Space I Need A Miracle Standing On The Moon Lovelight It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 00:43:57 Jerry Garcia - Guitar Bob Weir - Guitar Phil Lesh - Bass Vince Welnick - Keys Bruce Hornsby - Piano, Achordion Branford Marsalis - Sax Bill Kreutzman - Drums Mickey Hart - Drums

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 8/4/76 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 70's get some love, 1976 in particular.  

This is a pretty famous show, with some big crowds and thanks to the magic of the internet the whole thing can be enjoy in the year 2019 and beyond. This was a great tape in our cassette collecting days, because it unequally turned up Phil's bass levels to uber loud. This video is more even but Phil is still a force to reckon with.  

Excellent sound, gives the live feel and the video is just dynamite, showing the band in the prime days. Full set list and information below, including tons of "noodling" call outs from the original poster. 

Enjoy:

Grateful Dead - Full Concert Recorded Live: 8/4/1976 Roosevelt Stadium (Jersey City, NJ) More Grateful Dead at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF Setlist: 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:06:05 - Sugaree 0:17:42 - noodling 0:20:16 - New Minglewood Blues 0:24:56 - noodling 0:30:34 - Row Jimmy 0:41:18 - noodling 0:42:55 - Big River 0:48:43 - noodling 0:50:29 - Loser (Incomplete) 0:55:25 - They Love Each Other (Incomplete) 0:57:16 - noodling 0:58:35 - The Music Never Stopped 1:05:10 - noodling 1:06:59 - Scarlet Begonias 1:22:23 - Crowd Noise: "Fireworks Display" 1:28:34 - Announcements 1:31:07 - Jay Green Juggles 1:38:34 - Mr. Jiggs Performs 1:47:05 - Announcements 1:49:17 - noodling 1:52:45 - Help On The Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower / Dancing In The Street / The Wheel 2:42:13 - Samson And Delilah 2:49:19 - noodling 2:51:14 - It Must Have Been The Roses (Incomplete) 2:58:26 - noodling 3:02:43 - Not Fade Away / The Other One Jam / Space Jam / The Other One 3:29:47 - Ship Of Fools 3:37:52 - noodling 3:38:46 - Sugar Magnolia (Incomplete) 3:45:52 - Sunshine Daydream 3:49:38 - Crowd Noise: "Encore Break" 3:53:15 - noodling 3:55:47 - Johnny B. Goode 4:00:28 - Outro

Grateful Dead New Yorker Article

There is a fantastic article in the New Yorker that I need to point out by Nick Paumgarten on one of RtBE's favorite topics, The Grateful Dead and specifically their back catalog of music. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/songlyric

You can read the full article, titled The Vast Recorded Legacy of The Grateful Dead here.  Fair warning it is a long one, but it is really a solid read from an obvious fan of the band who can easily communicate with non-fans.

I had never heard Brent Wood's characterization of the Dead as "Electronic Dixieland" but I love it. We have called the Grateful Dead, the best American Band and that description accentuates it nice-like.     

In talking about the community and taping of the band this sentence stands out:

So a drug-addled, rehearsal-averse, error-prone band of non-virtuosos perfected a state-of-the-art sound system that created a taping community that distributed a gigantic body of work that often came to sound as sloppy as some of the performances.

Some of those sloppy tapes will always be my favorite (as I am sure they are for Paumgarten) and that was kind of the personal touch and generosity that really got me and countless others into the band.  These tapes were mine, I owned them, shared them with any who wanted them for free, entering into a special kinship with the music. 

Nick's recollection of the Fox Den tape is so fucking funny and spot on it is hysterical, and he is right, that transition from "Scar>Fire" is amazing, Grade A stuff.  I wonder if the digital age is going to feel the same way with all of the top notch streaming shows on sites like archive.org as opposed to dusty old tapes?

Just the sheer volume of live tapes described in the article is staggering.  While it is always sad when a person dies, having the musical legacy the Dead has is unequaled; new fans will be analyzing it for years to come and that is exciting.    

Something odd also came out of reading the article, I realized after the latest mishap with my iPhone's music I do not have one Grateful Dead show on the phone...an error I need to correct this weekend, and that Fox Theater show will be on there.

Also I have not pointed out this year that once again the Dead are releasing a song a day for November, 30 Days of Dead.  When they are all aggregated come the end of the month I will post a link for all of them, but feel free to jump in now and enjoy a pretty good version of "Playin' In The Band".  Thanks to Paumgarten for a great article and a reminder of how important the Grateful Dead truly are

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Duke '78

Grateful Dead

Duke '78

** out of *****

Standard disclaimer: When reviewing any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If you are new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released shows.

That said, the band still release shows because rabid fans (RtBE included) will listen to everything they put out. So click that "Read More" button and dive in...

Album Review: The Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 48

The Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 48

****and1/2 out of *****

2023 was a strong year for the Dave's Picks. As stated before, when reviewing the Dave's Picks series, and really any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows have already been professionally released. The selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released shows.

That said, this series still exists for a reason, it continues to unearth rare gems like this release, which is the best of the four released this year. Dave's 48 contains the full show from November 20, 1971, at Pauley Pavilion UCLA in Los Angeles, California and a single disk from October 24, 1970, at Kiel Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Album Review: Grateful Dead - RFK Stadium 6/10/73

Grateful Dead 

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73

****and1/2 out of *****

As RtBE has mentioned in past reviews of recent Grateful Dead releases, there aren't that many major Grateful Dead shows to still officially release. The band and their archivists have done an amazing job of getting their best music out through Dick's Picks, Dave's Picks, Box Sets, Road Trips, Download Series and the list goes on. 

That said, this release, RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73, a stand alone show from the recent Here Comes The Sunshine Box Set, is a major show from the bands past, capturing them at the top of their game. 

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 51: 4/13/71

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks #51:

April 13, 1971 Scranton Catholic Youth Center

** out of *****

Standard disclaimer: When reviewing the Dave's Picks series, and really any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released shows.

That said, this series still exists for a reason, obsessive fans (like RtBE) will always listen to anything from The Grateful Dead as Dave and his team continue to unearth rare gems.

Album Review: Deadjazz - Plays The Music of The Grateful Dead

Deadjazz

Plays The Music of The Grateful Dead

*** out of *****

This Paris based outfit Deadjazz does just what it's title states as it Plays The Music of The Grateful Dead with a jazz twist. 

The group is comprised of Lionel Belmondo, tenor and soprano saxophone, flutes, arrangements, Stéphane Belmondo, trumpet, flugelhorn, effects, Laurent Fickelson, Farfisa organ, Fender Rhodes, Eric Legnini, Fender Rhodes, Novation Bass Station, Thomas Bramerie, double bass, Dré Pallemaerts, drums, tambourine and the crew get after it. 

The opening "China Cat Sunflower" starts out fairly direct, playing to the songs melody and tempo then things shift as a warbling sax solo takes off, electro funky keys get loose and the tune leads to a big climax to finish, starting the album off strong. Less successful is the weepy torch ballad/light jazz delivered on "Stella Blue" and the outfits bright and cheery take on "St Stephan>The Eleven" which never takes hold. 

The group twist "Dark Star" into a funky upbeat number that is lead by the crisp drumming as more electro keys and saxophones color the fringes. The slow, easy rolling groove of the bands take on "Fire On The Mountain" is pleasant as is the closing "Rosemary" with it's soft sonic tones. The free jazz finds it's weird way forward on "Blues for Allah" which weaves and wanders ominously before a Dixieland jazz like ending.  

The best of the bunch though is the groups take on "Bird Song". The fresh and crisp drumming again stands out, keeping the song moving forward while bras easily flows in and out around more keyboard work. A standout that takes inspiration from the Dead's live take of this song with Branford Marsalis, but also puts it's own spin on it. 

A fun twist on the Grateful Dead's catalog, Deadjazz's Plays The Music of The Grateful Dead allows fans to arrive at these time honored songs from a different, yet still somewhat familiar angle. 

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Support the artists, buy the album, peep some video below:

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 10/3/87 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 80's get some love, 1987 in particular.

The eighties were tough on everyone, especially long touring musical bands as New Wave, Glam and Rap took hold of the pop charts. The decade was especially hard on Jerry Garcia who fell into a diabetic coma in 1986 and when he awakened he needed to relearn how to play guitar from scratch. 

The last few years of the decade however saw some really strong tours from the Dead, Summer '89 has a few great shows, Spring '88 was solid and Fall '87 was good as well. Today we are going to grab a show from that run, 10/3/87 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. 

The key to late eighties is Brent Mydland's modern key's and Bob Weir singing strongly (in his Daisy Dukes)as they both had a few big songs to work with including "Throwing Stones" which anchors a really strong second set on this night. By this point in their career the group fell into a two set routine with "Drums and Space" every show, and on this evening they are worth a listen (not always the case). Brent's sound and singing may not be for all Dead fans, but it sounds proper to RtBE.  

First set highlights are the funky "Hey Pockey Way" with Mydland's electro keys and beautifully gruff voice leading the charge where as "Candyman" just oozes out of Garcia's guitar. "When I Paint My Masterpiece is a joy as well.

Pro shot, pro sound, full info below. Enjoy:

Grateful Dead October 3, 1987 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA A Peanut Production Field Recording: Don Pearson Tapes Provided By: Charlie Miller Capture, Edit, Encode, DVD Authoring: Markiki Audio Synchronization: Kevin Tobin Video: Pro Line Feed - Master Master: Pro Line Feed - Unknown Signal Chain - Unknown Beta Deck - Beta HiFi Master Transfer: Beta HiFi Master - Sony SL-HF900 - Canopus ADVC-300 - iMac i3 - Final Cut Pro 6 - Compressor 3 - MP4 - YouTube Audio: SBD - Cassette Master (Maxell MX90) Transfer Info: Cassette Master (Tascam 122mkII) - Apogee MiniMe (24bit/48k) - Samplitude Professional v9.02 - FLAC/16 Remastering Info: FLAC - Adobe Audition v3.0 - Samplitude Professional v11.2.1 - FLAC - (shnid=121961) All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller - September 14, 2012 Set 1 Tuning Hey Pocky Way New Minglewood Blues Candyman The Addams Family Tuning When I Paint My Masterpiece West L.A. Fadeaway My Brother Esau Birdsong The Music Never Stopped Set 2 Maggie's Farm Cumberland Blues Looks Like Rain Terrapin Station Drums Space The Other One Stella Blue Throwing Stones Lovelight The Mighty Quinn Jerry Garcia - Guitar Mickey Hart - Drums Bill Kreutzmann - Drums Phil Lesh - Bass Brent Mydland - Keyboards Bob Weir - Guitar

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 5-3-68 Low Library Plaza Columbia University, NY, NY

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Grateful Dead!

For June The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 60's get some love, 1968 in particular.  

This amazing footage from the band sneaking onto the Columbia campus and playing is fantastic. VoodooNola has so many great videos and he even syncs this one with the vocals almost on point.  A piece of history here. 

   

Amazing video, with soundboard music, that is different to start but syncs perfectly post vocals. Enjoy (and don't sleep on the bonus below):

And since that is not the full show, obviously....here is a killer soundboard from a bit later in 1968 minus the video, but def worth a listen as the band gets waaaay out there, some prime '68 Dead, even without Pigpen to add to the cosmic madness. This is a tight ass band who explore the cosmos, great soundboard, full info below:

Grateful Dead October 12, 1968 Avalon Ballroom San Francisco, CA

Recording Info: SBD ... Master Reel ... Dat (48k) 

All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller August 12, 2011 

Notes: -- Pigpen was absent -- First notes of 2nd Set missing -- 

Thanks to Joe B. Jones for his help with the pitch correction  

--Set 1-- 

Introduction 

Dark Star ... 

Saint Stephen ... 

The Eleven ... 

Death Don't Have No Mercy 

--Set 2-- 

That's It For The Other One ... 

New Potato Caboose ... 

Drums ... 

Jam ... 

Feedback

Dylan Cover #382 The Grateful Dead "When I Paint My Masterpiece" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by The Grateful Dead playing "When I Paint My Masterpiece"

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this song:
Emerging from the writing/recording demo sessions at Big Pink and credited to Dylan "When I Paint My Masterpiece" was first was recorded and released by The Band and associated with them as much (or more so) then with Dylan himself. A fantastic rollicking tune that trapezes through history, in a fun bouncy manor. Engaging, fun, lyrical and musical, an upbeat gem of a Dylan tune that I am sure the boys in The Band had a hand in.
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE loves the Grateful Dead. We have voted for them as the Best American Band in our favorite bar stool conversation and are showcasing them this month in our Master's Series.

Thoughts on Cover:
A really solid cover kicks off this month's Dylan series as we focus on the Grateful Dead in our Master's Series and the Dead were never shy about breaking out a Dylan cover at a show. This version is from 1988 and the group firsts started performing it in 1987. This version comes from MSG and was during a rain forest benefit, whatever the circumstances it is a fantastic cover of a great song, kicking off our months long focus on the Grateful Dead.

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 41: May 26th 1977

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 41: May 26th 1977 

Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, Maryland

***and1/2 out of *****

May 1977 is the most famous month in Grateful Dead history. One of the bands most beloved shows happened then, box sets have been released from this month, multiple special releases have been spotlighted, along with multiple Dick's Picks, including the first Dave's Picks which was the show the night before this current release. Archivist David Lemieux stated that this show was almost his pick for the first release in his series, and feels it holds up to any shows from this historic month.

While it comes close and is well played, overall it ends up slightly lesser than most of those nights from that glorious time. One of the things about May '77 is that the band (Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals Bob Weir – guitar, vocals Phil Lesh – bass Keith Godchaux – keyboards Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals Mickey Hart – drums Bill Kreutzmann – drums) is in peak, tight form, but things are not that experimental and do not shift that much from night to night. Sure the band is super in sync and playing strongly but is every night worth owning?  Maybe. 

Dave's Pick 41 first set is almost an inverse of a lot of '77 first sets with "The Music Never Stopped" opening the show, instead of closing the set and "Bertha" wrapping things up instead of kicking things off. The start is strong with Godchaux's piano and Garcia's guitar leading the charge before a mellow, drawn out "Sugaree". 

"Mama Tried" has pristine vocals from both Weir (and Garcia supporting) while the flow is a bit off with  mid-set "Deal" feeling out of place. Things improve with Lesh's sliding bass on the punchy "Passenger" and the rhythmic pumping "Brown-Eyed Women". "Looks Like Rain" finds Weir and Donna Jean trading vocals expertly and while Donna could be off some shows, this show proves when she was clicking with the band it could be glorious vocally.  

"Sunrise" along with all of her backing vocals make this show one of the best performances Donna was ever a part of live with the Grateful Dead. An upbeat and slightly groovy "Jack-a-Roe" has more energy than usual while "New Minglewood Blues" might just have the best solo work from Garcia in the whole first set. 

All of Dave's Picks have excellent production/sound and 41 is no exception, the opening notes of set two find "Samson and Delilah" ringing out gloriously as Lesh and Garcia have a musical conversation over the pounds of the Rhythm Devils.  One of the highlights of this whole show arrives with a beautiful version of "High Time" accented with great piano work from Godchaux, but things go off the rails with a disco beat version of "Big River". Archivist Lemieux also supplemented this show with the missing "US Blues" encore from Dave's Picks 40, breaking up the flow. 

The original show continues with a quicker than normal "Terrapin Station" and a syrupy "Estimated Prophet" which again finds Donna vocally on point. The most exploratory song of the whole evening arrives after some drum work with "Not Fade Away", this version is unique and wanders, but can be a bit aimless at points during the seventeen minute run time. Donna again sounds fantastic supporting the band during the set ending "Around and Around" while a sweet encore of "Uncle Johns Band" is always well received.   

Taken in a vacuum, Dave's Picks 41 is a fine example of the bands playing during one of the best months in their long and storied career. Positioned against other releases from that month, it is somewhere towards the back of the pack of May 77. That is not to say it is not worth hearing for fans and newcomers alike as anything from that glorious month is top notch stuff from the good old Grateful Dead.  

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Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:

(This is not the official audio from the release)

Album Review: The Grateful Dead - Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 3/9/81

The Grateful Dead

Madison Square Garden, NY NY 3/9/81

**and1/2 out of *****

The Grateful Dead decided to release this individual show as a standalone from 17 CD box set In and Out of The Garden, March 9th, 1981 and it is a solid effort from the worlds most famous arena. 

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks 52: The Downs at Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (9/11/83)

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks 52

The Downs at Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (9/11/83)

*** out of *****

Standard disclaimer: When reviewing any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If you are new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released shows.

That said, the band still release shows because rabid fans (RtBE included) will listen to everything they put out. So let's dive in...

Beginners Guide To The Grateful Dead - Part One

There is a lot of music out there and some artists have massive catalogs which can paralyze new listeners with overwhelming choices. This Beginners Guide series will attempt to give those new listeners entry points to some of these artists. Today we will look at: The Grateful Dead.

This post became very long so we are breaking it into two parts. This first offering will discuss the five places RtBE feels are the best entry points to the band. The follow up post will dive into the different eras of the Dead and pull out some well known and underappreciated shows for further listening. 

In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic here in NYC the soothing sounds of The Grateful Dead helped ease my mind during a tumultuous sense of loss and uncertainty. Shortly after lock down, a co-worker reached out and mentioned they wanted more information on the band as they were just discovering them. 

That request led to this series, so it makes sense that the good ol' Grateful Dead should be the first group we discuss when it comes to Beginners Guides. RtBE will take an extensive look into their career with a focus on new listeners and will provide links to youtube when possible, but feel free to buy all of the albums from the band themselves. We also wrote about the band in our Masters series previously ranking our favorite studio albums, official live releases and more. 

Also feel free to check out the amazing Internet Archive with its phenomenal collection of Grateful Dead shows.  In the early days of this site (2010-2011) we wrote on most Monday's about random Dead shows, we covered 46 of them, and they are in a list on the archive here and you can scroll back and read our takes if you want. 

Almost everything you could want is on the archive and usually with multiple recordings from the groups insanely dedicated fan base. The truth is the band could hit amazing highs any night they played and while they have the reputation of drugged out hippies, the quality of their musical output remained incredibly consistent and excellent for the majority of their careers.  

We will dissect the bands shifting sound in part two of this post, for now let's start with the basics. Click the read more button: 

TL:DR Version:

Start with, in order: 

1. Cornell 1977

2. Workingman's Dead/American Beauty

3. Sunshine Daydream 8/27/72

4. Dick's Picks Volume 8 Harpur College 5/2/1970

5. Without A Net

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991

Grateful Dead

Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991

*** out of *****

The summer is here and while Corona Virus has wrecked havoc on live tunes in 2020, the ultimate summer time band the Grateful Dead released (in fall 2019) a huge box set commemorating their jaunts to the 80,0000 seat Giants Stadium in the swamps of New Jersey and we can use the lock down to revisit the behemoth.

These years in Dead history history (somewhat surprisingly) found the Grateful Dead at their popular peak and while long time fans will love/bemoan any era, the band was generally in fine form during these years. Playing these massive outdoor shows spitting distance from the countries largest city guaranteed huge crowds, and if you were one of the thousands who caught these shows this is a fantastic memento...if not, you can skip this bloated release from the band.

It is not that these are bad shows, or poorly played, but there is very little that is must hear over the 15 CD's. Unlike say the recent June '76 box set which illuminated an era and proved wondrous, these concerts have been available to fans in high quality versions for years. If you are new to the band, start elsewhere, this is too big of an investment. The best option may be to just skim the cream of the crop as the best show from this box set has been released on its own and find a good copy of 7/10/89 to round it out.

Below are highlights and comments on each of the shows, it should be noted the quality of the music is fantastic with crystal clear production and restoration of these tye-dyed nights: