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Official Grateful Dead Thread

Trekmaster said:
After seeing the Grateful Dead movie on Paladia the other night I want to experience more! I went to I tunes and checked out the offerings and my God there are a lot to choose from. Do you all have a list of the Dead's must have best live performances for me to use as a reference? I have a fairly nice set up and vinyl is prefered but it will take me awhile to get a good collection going. Would appreciate it greatly! :music:
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That's very subjective as there are so many great live performances. They allowed their shows to be taped and most of the tapers knew what they were doing when it came to recording. Forget about iTunes and start here* for all your digital needs.

The Dead organization has also released a lot of their shows via the Dicks Picks, From the Vault, Daves Picks, and Road Trips series that are a good place to start too.

Personal faves, shows from the 72-74 era, 77 was good too. Early eighties has some smoking hidden gems. If you liked the GD movie (Winterland Oct 74) that can be had on CD.

Here's some links for you to get yourself going, have fun, take your time, and enjoy the ride.

*
https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead

http://www.dead.net/store/music?intcmp=topnav/music

http://www.deadlists.com/default.asp
 
Sweet! Thanks for the info. At my age time is irrelevant haha it will take as long as it takes! I knew I was in the right place when I came across this thread.
 
One more thing, if you like fat, meaty, Bass and who doesn't, then Phil Lesh is your man. I once read a story (myth? true? who knows) that he was banned from playing The Alexandria Palace in London, and I'm paraphrasing, for willfully and maliciously trying to cause structural damage while playing his bass during a concert there. Something to the affect that the reverberations were causing damage to the ceiling.

See my avatar, that's one of his bass guitars known as the "Godfather"

Track down "Eyes of the World" from Atlanta 6/20/74 and listen to Phil & Jerry play some musical give and go. Outstanding!!!!!
 
Oh yeah me and my 4312'S will love that! Thanks again. I've tagged this thread will take me a few days to catch up with all the good stuff here.
 
Trekmaster said:
After seeing the Grateful Dead movie on Paladia the other night I want to experience more! I went to I tunes and checked out the offerings and my God there are a lot to choose from. Do you all have a list of the Dead's must have best live performances for me to use as a reference? I have a fairly nice set up and vinyl is prefered but it will take me awhile to get a good collection going. Would appreciate it greatly! :music:
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Spring (May) of '77 is a benchmark for sure. 5-8-77 is recognized by many as the best show they ever had, but curiously not found in the vault. There is a Betty Board that circulates (boot) that is awesome. Also February of '70 is my favorite run, Bear's Choice is a must have!
 
stupidhead said:
Spring (May) of '77 is a benchmark for sure. 5-8-77 is recognized by many as the best show they ever had, but curiously not found in the vault. There is a Betty Board that circulates (boot) that is awesome. Also February of '70 is my favorite run, Bear's Choice is a must have!
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Agreed!!! and let's not forget June of 74 too
 
My favorite is the November 73 Winterland box set. I love lots and lots of GD, and I own lots of it, but if there could be only one...it would be that.
 
This is going to be fun!

My first Grateful Dead LP! Thanks for all the info. I can start the trek to fill in a gap in my music library for sure! :music:

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stupidhead said:
Spring (May) of '77 is a benchmark for sure. 5-8-77 is recognized by many as the best show they ever had, but curiously not found in the vault. There is a Betty Board that circulates (boot) that is awesome. Also February of '70 is my favorite run, Bear's Choice is a must have!
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Barton Hall at Cornell Univ.? It's one of the most downloaded shows at Archive.org. And for good reason; it's a fantastic show.
 
My turn!
I look at the Dead in sections: Pig Pen , post Pig Pen/early Keith and Donna, later Keith & Donna, early and late Brent, Vince. Each have their sound and supporters. From more blues/psychedelic to exploratory to groove to jams you can find your preference in the archive sites that have shows available.

For vinyl playback Live Dead was my first album and they had me at Dark Star. A good view of ca. 1969 playing. Workingman's Dead and American Beauty are known for the songs. You have Europe '72.

For disc purchases there are a lot to choose from. Winterland '74, May '77, Spring Tour '90 are probably good bets (I have most of these via tapes and can't speak much about CD sound).

Have fun. Hard for me to recommend specific shows as I get into a niche. Currently spinning a lot of Red Rocks shows (my old haunt).
 
Thanks Wharf im writing all this down and I love what I'm hearing. I got caught up in 70's rock then I found blues now i've found the dead. This is going to be great. Nice thread im glad I came across it.
 
GuyK said:
Barton Hall at Cornell Univ.? It's one of the most downloaded shows at Archive.org. And for good reason; it's a fantastic show.
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Yes, Barton Hall. The Betty Board is available on archive, and a variety of MTX that have been done. I have probably four or five MTX, my fave probably being Eaton's.
I spoke with David Lemieux about this show years ago at a show and he confirmed that the original tapes are not in the "vault", so the likelihood of them ever issuing a release at dead.net is highly unlikely.
A cute conspiracy theory has emerged over the years, sort of like the moon landing, where people say the 5-8-77 show never happened.
 
I actually know some people who attended 5-8-77, so I'm pretty sure it happened ;)

That said, it's not my favorite May 77 show. I prefer 5-19-77, just to name one, and the official release of that show is killer!
 
Trekmaster said:
My first Grateful Dead LP! Thanks for all the info. I can start the trek to fill in a gap in my music library for sure! :music:

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Fabulous place to start! Remember that run was very close to the end for Pigpen. The band is solid for basically the whole run, and your choice is a nice aggregate of EU. Enjoy. :yes:
 
Trekmaster said:
After seeing the Grateful Dead movie on Paladia the other night I want to experience more!
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My recommendations...
Get the Grateful Dead Movie double DVD set. The second bonus disc is worth having alone! I've converted a few playing that DVD.

Also Dick's Picks Three Pembroke Pines Florida 5-22-77 one of my favorites.

And what I've been listening to for the past couple of hours... Grateful Dead The Closing of Winterland: December 31, 1978 4 CD Set.
 
Ed in Tx said:
My recommendations...
Get the Grateful Dead Movie double DVD set. The second bonus disc is worth having alone! I've converted a few playing that DVD.

Also Dick's Picks Three Pembroke Pines Florida 5-22-77 one of my favorites.

And what I've been listening to for the past couple of hours... Grateful Dead The Closing of Winterland: December 31, 1978 4 CD Set.
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And the list keeps getting bigger and bigger! Thanks for the suggestions with such a large collection of their music out there it really helps to start with some suggestions from people who know the music! :yes:
 
When purchasing early and/or original Grateful Dead LPs, look for the WB green label. I see that on the "Europe '72" above. Nice catch. Just a bit more mojo from those green label grooves.
 
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