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| GimmeExile |
I'm looking for a list of the best Dead boots. What are the must-have shows for a general music lover. I'm interested in the legendary shows that feature great setlists, stellar jams and cool vibes.
Thanks in advance! |
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| mac_daddy |
well, there are a ton of audience recordings up on the LlaMA (live music archive)...
then there are all of the 2 channel sbds (dicks picks) and the full matrix releases (from the vault) of alot of live shows - those are over at the store @ gd.net. you can buy all of that stuff through itunes, too...
as for the best period of the band's history, that is subjective...
w/ pigpen (spacey electric blues), check out fillmore run from the end of feb - early march of 69
i love the sound of the one drummer lineup, which was from 72 - 74. 72 is the most acessible, 74 had the heaviest jams...
then there is the mid - late 70s, with keith (piano) and donna. everybody in the world seems to gush over 1977, saying that the may 8, 1977 show at cornell is the finest live rock concert, EVER. you can decide for yourself...
then come the 80's, with brent (electric keyboards). there is alot of good stuff here. some of the finest sounding audience recordings i have ever heard were done by the oade brothers in the mid 80s. those are all up on the LlaMA, and they sound wonderful. the greek theater run in june of 85 is solid; my personal favorite is the first of two nights in maine that year, and the oade bros' recording of that show is one of the recordings that made me decide to get into the sport, when i realized just how good an audience recording could sound...
then came the 90s, with vince welnick (electric keyboards and synthesizers) and bruce hornsby (piano). there were some great shows in there, but alot of stinkers, too... the best of those that i personally saw, were the six shows at boston garden in the fall of 1991. the second set of the final night still ranks up there with one of the finest sets of live music i have ever witnessed live. there were alot of great shows at shoreline ampitheater, too. and @ deer creek in the summer time... oh, there was a knickerbocker arena show in 91 that absolutely smoked - that "loser" ROCKED THE HOUSE...
hth
edited for spelling and type-o's
[Edited by mac_daddy] |
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| Poplar |
nice list Mac. I'm spoiled with these guys, cause my older brother left me all his tapes. I've got more dead than i know what to do with - but damn if they ain't te perfect band on the right day.
I'd suggest dropping some quid on a few Dick's Picks. They're all pretty damn good, and sound fantastic.
I love Dick's Pick #14 (5 man band, and really laid back).
Fillmore shows (east & west) are great.
Without a Net ain't a bad show (great Althea).
Dead Set is mellow, but truly awesome.
one more note: don't overlook their albums. some good stuf there too: Workingman's Dead, Wake of the Flood, etc.
[Edited by Poplar] |
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| gimmekeef |
Saw them at Watkins Glen with about 600,000 other Deadheads (with The Band/Allman Bros)...wish I could get a boot of that one...None exist of any reputed quality.Anyway I would say Dick's Pick's is a good start and at ITunes you can download single tracks so as to avoid duplicates unless you want em... |
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| gimmekeef |
http://web1.nugs.net/attics/77may_mp3.asp?artist=1&show=214&cmd=shows
Try this....You might get what you need!!!! |
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| Poplar |
I've got the Watkins Glen soundcheck - which is very highly regarded:
Half Step
Me & My Uncle >
HUGE jam >
Wharf Rat
Around & Around
ps - Phish's new "Live Phish" release is the '98 Island Tour. Great shows, saw 'em all and would give a digit to see 'em again. But the cool part is they're starting to add soundcheck filler to the released shows, which - I think - is always interesting stuff.
nice to see the Dead mentioned here. 
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| mac_daddy |
quote:
gimmekeef wrote:
http://web1.nugs.net/attics/77may_mp3.asp?artist=1&show=214&cmd=shows
Try this....You might get what you need!!!!
that's the run...
the barton all gig is the cornell one...
my fave from that run is the new haven show (wonderful peggy-o)...
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these should keep you busy...
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=11804
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=14058
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=23881
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=16415
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=17312
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| Poplar |
Pretty Peggy-O.
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| GimmeExile |
Thanks so much for the great info and links, guys!
mac_daddy, you always impress me with your wealth of knowledge on audio recordings and technology. I read somewhere recently that 77-78 shows were great, cool jazzy jams.
Please keep this thread going with thoughts and suggestions as they come to you. It's nice hearing advice on the Dead from Stones fans as opposed to jumping into a huge pool of Dead fansites which is overwhelming to a casual fan.
[Edited by GimmeExile] |
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| doo doo doo Dude |
You're in for a real treat GimmeExile.
Happy listening. |
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| Dan |
I am looking for an NTSC DVD of Essen,Germany 1981, complete and NTSC only - its for a friend otherwise region encoding wouldnt really matter. |
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| Lazy Bones |
I have these DPs - all are excellent:
4,6,8,10,12,16,20,23 and 26.
I'm w/ mac re: Cornell. Excellent show!
Some other favs of mine include -
28-feb-69
29-apr-71
22-sep-91. |
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| Child of the Moon |
I just got a great show off of Archive.org the other day - six discs from the Fillmore East shows on 5/15/70, complete with New Riders of the Purple Sage. Great stuff.
Most of the important stuff has been covered. As mentioned above, the one drummer era ('71-'74) is great - Bill Kreutzmann is one of rock most underrated drummers. I love the '71-'72 stuff especially, and they got a little more jazzy as '72 became '73. I personally love the late Sixties stuff, as they began to phase out Pigpen more and more. I highly suggest anything from late '67 (when Mickey joined) to early '69 (around the time of Live/Dead), because that's the sound of a primal band playing for their lives.
The hiatus that began in '74 really hurt them, in my opinion. I dig the few shows they did in '75 (the Great American Music Hall show is a high point), and they did some quality shows in '76, but after that Jerry discovered heroin and everything began to fall apart. They had their high points during the Brent era, but I'm just really not a fan of that stuff to begin with.
Be warned: any shows from late '72 up to early '79 will feature the vocal stylings of Donna Jean Godchaux, which will ruin any song they "grace" with their presence. |
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| mac_daddy |
quote:
Lazy Bones wrote:
I have these DPs - all are excellent:
4,6,8,10,12,16,20,23 and 26.
I'm w/ mac re: Cornell. Excellent show!
Some other favs of mine include -
28-feb-69
29-apr-71
22-sep-91.
that 91 date looks familiar... where was that show..? |
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| Left Shoe Shuffle |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
that 91 date looks familiar... where was that show..?
9/22/91 was the third of six nights at Boston Garden.
Greatest run of Dead shows I ever saw. |
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| mac_daddy |
that's why it looked familiar - i was there, too... the final night, 9/26 was my favorite... |
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| Lazy Bones |
quote:
Left Shoe Shuffle wrote:
9/22/91 was the third of six nights at Boston Garden.
Greatest run of Dead shows I ever saw.
It's probably the best-sounding Dead show I have, too. Opens with a terrific Shakedown Street. Very energized! |
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| mac_daddy |
re: boston garden 91...
soundboards circulate for that whole run. one of them (saturday iirc) is a dicks picks. the rest should be on the LlaMA...
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here are a few more for you...
you folks that like the later brent - without a net will like this...
a healy mix (which is the same way without a net was sourced) >>
a standout AUD recording from 88 >>
and a sbd from 70 - good stuff, indeed  >>
[Edited by mac_daddy] |
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| Child of the Moon |
quote:
Poplar wrote:
one more note: don't overlook their albums. some good stuf there too: Workingman's Dead, Wake of the Flood, etc.
Thanks for mentioning, Poplar. I love their albums - it's how I got into the band in the first place. All you will hear everywhere you go is how the Dead's albums just aren't as good as their live shows. Well, I say "mush" to that.
My personal reccomendation goes to anything between 1968 and 1975. Of course, a couple of those discs will be harder to get, since the post-Warner's albums are now only widely available in a boxed set. But the ones to get are:
Anthem of the Sun (68); Live/Dead (69); Aoxomoxoa (69); Workingman's Dead (70); Bear's Choice (recorded 70); American Beauty (70); Skullfuck (71); Europe '72 (72); Wake of the Flood (73); From Mars Hotel (74); Blues for Allah (75).
But I suggest all of their discs, purely because there's something to like about all of them. And don't forget Weir's and Garcia's first solo albums - they're just as important. |
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| GimmeExile |
Man, great stuff! I appreciate the feedback.
I listened to some of the tracks on nugs.net last night. Love that version of "Loser" at Cornell...Sweet!
mac, how do the archive.org downloads work? It looks like you can download individual songs in .shn or mp3. Can you download the whole show in flac? |
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| Child of the Moon |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
and a sbd from 70 - good stuff, indeed >>
Just got that show not long ago. Six discs, man! I'm still in the middle of listening to it. The acoustic stuff is all really great - it's nice to hear things like I Know You Rider and Candyman in that setting. |
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| mac_daddy |
quote:
GimmeExile wrote:
mac, how do the archive.org downloads work? It looks like you can download individual songs in .shn or mp3. Can you download the whole show in flac?
either flac or shn, but yes there will always be lossless available...
download song by song, or the whole thing at once (click the "losssless" link on the left side... click the question marks on the page for more help...
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| lotsajizz |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
that's why it looked familiar - i was there, too... the final night, 9/26 was my favorite...
remember the jaw-drop of the crowd on night one when they went 'Help'>'Slipknot'>'FIRE'!!!!!
otherwise a mediocre run following the incendiaries of the summer...check out Giants Stadium and Bonner Springs '91 for the best Hornsby-era shows
my 100th and final show was my 31st birthday in 1995 at Giants Stadium
fuckin' miss Jerry
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| mac_daddy |
another one (86, dsp by doug oade)
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
Child of the Moon wrote:
Be warned: any shows from late '72 up to early '79 will feature the vocal stylings of Donna Jean Godchaux, which will ruin any song they "grace" with their presence.
Man, I couldn't agree more. I was into the Dead in high school (early 70s), never saw them but did see the JGB. Then I sort of got away from them as I got into punk, or, pharmacologically speaking, stopped tripping and started doing blow.
My sweetheart Miss Youngblood is a latter-day Deadhead so I have been rediscovering all of this stuff through her...last Xmas I got her The Closing of Winterland DVD and was shocked by how much of it Donna just RUINED.
The Dead performances included in the "Festival Express" DVD are pretty great. |
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| mac_daddy |
i like keith's keyboards, and i just kind of ignore donna, hard as she makes that task to be...
if you ignore that period, you are missing out on some wonderful music...
i will go find some for you, but seriously, check that barton hall or new haven show from may 1977 (they are up on that nugs.net link that was earlier posted in this thread; you could also just go to nugs.net, and look)...
this period is considered by many to be their finest. |
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| Dan |
quote:
Dan wrote:
I am looking for an NTSC DVD of Essen,Germany 1981, complete and NTSC only - its for a friend otherwise region encoding wouldnt really matter.
And its on the way. |
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| Poplar |
y'all heard the show where Bob announces: "donna won't be joining us this tour" - and there's a faint roar from the crowd.
she was SOL bad.
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| mac_daddy |
yes - she sucked. and the song she sings on terrapin (the dtudio album) is laughable...
but her husband played a mean piano, and the band had a errific sound in the 70s. they did alot of cool stuff. they played a ton of gigs, and some could argue, really set the standard for live gigs. they developed what would become state of the art sound reinforcement, much of which is still being emulated, copied or tried...
do you know why dead bootlegs sound so good..? part of it is because they have been properly taken care of and passed along with care. part of it comes from the blind eye the band turned to taping until the mid 80's whne they established an axtual taping section for audience members. but the MAIN reason the tapes sound good is that the band sounded good. they got the sound right - they always did. and they did it better than ANYBODY. ever. the reason the stones boots sound so bad is, in NO small part, due to the fact that the sound sucks. you hear it in the boots. you hear it, see it in the videos. dont get me wrong, the stones are still the greatest live band ever - but that is because of who they are and what they play. but to be technical, their sound sucked. you always are hearing ampls blown and miscues that fall on the soundguy's shoulders. i always wonder why the band kept thaose guys around, when they could have done so much better...
maybe they were gunshy (pardon the pun) about asking the dead for career advice after the debacle at altamont...
edit:
and here is a picture of the system the dead was using in 1973...
and a sketch...
[Edited by mac_daddy] |
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| Child of the Moon |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
yes - she sucked. and the song she sings on terrapin (the dtudio album) is laughable...
Ugh, yeah, "Sunrise." That song's fuckin' terrible. It's the only one on that album that I have to skip every time. But I personally like the disco send-up of Dancing in the Street.
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
but her husband played a mean piano, and the band had a errific sound in the 70s.
Keith was, in my opinion, the best keyboard player that band ever had, as far as chops, overall sound, and sympathy with the music were concerned. His jazz background really helped the band when they were, at the time, going for something that was indeed a lot more jazzy. Of course, I think that was the next logical step for a band so rooted in improvisation. After the acid rock improvs, where do you go when the LSD wears off? Jazz (and heroin, I suppose, in Jerry's case, althought hat wasn't until the late '70's). |
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