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DICK'S PICKS FIFTEEN
The Grateful Dead
(Grateful Dead Records GDCD4035)
Dead Heads love to argue over which year produced the best Grateful Dead concerts.
I argue the case for 1969. With those famous shows at the Fillmore West, renowned for their wonderfully, improvisational journeys into psychedelia, along side those acoustic sets that explored the Dead's blues and folk influences, '69 is the year for me.
Others feel that 1977 represents the best in live Grateful Dead music.
It's hard to disagree with that, especially if Dick's Picks 15 is any indication. Culled from a September 3rd show that year at a New Jersey speedway, this three-CD package finds the Dead in fine form.
1977 was an important year for the Dead in many ways. Tunes that became staple songs of the Dead's repetoire, like "Terrapin Station", "Estimated Prophet" and "Fire On The Mountain", appear for the first time, while pre-1975 retirement numbers "Brokedown Palace", "Jack Straw", "China Doll" and "Black Peter" made their way back into the rotation.
Crisscrossing the U.S., the band was playing on college campuses and in hockey arenas, drawing larger and larger audiences. A smoking fall tour (including a one-night stand at Toronto's Seneca College in November) was capped off by a four-night New Year's Eve run at San Francisco's venerable Winterland Arena (commemorated in "Dick's Picks #10").
"Picks 15" is classic '77 Dead. It's a hybrid of new tunes, old material and blues standards that helped define the Dead's early sound.
The first CD is your standard opening-set fare. The highlights are a 13-minute workout of "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" and "The Music Never Stopped", punctuated by Bob Weir's animated vocal delivery.
CD #2 starts off rocking with a medley of "Bertha" and "Good Lovin'" before slowing down for a sombre "Loser". From there, the boys kick it into jam mode.
The reggae strains of "Estimated Prpohet" flow into a spirited reading of "Eyes Of The World". It is a thing of beauty: Jerry Garcia's two summary solos intertwine with Weir's rhythmic gulitar lilts, as the gentle percussion splashes of Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart provide the perfect backdrop.
The band pays homage to their blues roots with a version of the Reverand Gary Davis selection "Samson And Delilah". Kreutzmann and Hart literally attack their drum kits in the opening solo, setting the pace for a rocking rendition of the old Negro spiritual.
CD #3 starts off with a muddled "He's Gone". That's followed by a jamming "Not Fade Away". At 20 minutes in length, the song goes to places that Buddy Holly and the Crickets never even knew existed.
It ends with a funky "Truckin'" and encores with a pretty "Terrapin Station". Still in its formative stages, the song clearly had promise and you can see why it became such a favourite among Dead Heads.
While this was a very good show, one has to question the logic of making it a part of the Dick's Picks series. When Dead tape archivist Dick Latvala started this project six years ago, his intention was to pick out tapes from the Dead's tape vault that either a) didn't enjoy wide circulation among the network of tape-trading Dead Heads or b) needed to be cleaned up in the studio.
This show falls into neither category. Broadcast simultaneously on a New York FM radio station, it has been circulating among Dead Heads for a while (I've had my copy since high school). Several clear sounding copies of the FM broadcast are out there, making this a peculiar choice for reissue.
No matter. It's still an excellent show, providing a window into one of the greatest eras in Grateful Dead concert history.
Track Listing
Disc One
1. Promised Land (5:08)
2. They Love Each Other (7:41)
3. Me & My Uncle (3:52)
4. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo (13:35)
5. Looks Like Rain (7:52)
6. Peggy-O (9:18)
7. New Minglewood Blues (5:21)
8. Friend of the Devil (8:13)
9. The Music Never Stopped (7:03)
Disc Two
1. Bertha (8:36)
2. Good Lovin' (6:00)
3. Loser (8:37)
4. Estimaed Prophet (9:30)
5. Eyes of the World (13:17)
6. Samson and Delilah (6:40)
Disc Three
1. He's Gone (14:19)
2. Not Fade Away (20:07)
3. Truckin' (10:06)
4. Terrapin Station (11:02)