Grateful Dead Flac

Charm city was nothin' but! Clocking in at a full four hours, 33 songs, and some of the most purposeful and inspired playing the Grateful Dead ever did do, is DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 54, the complete show from Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD, 3/26/73. A so-called underdog favorite of both Dave and Dick, 3/26/73 is packed with highs from the 17-song (!) first set, to classic covers ("Promised Land," "Big River," "Me And Bobby McGee"), early renditions of songs that would later be cemented on WAKE OF THE FLOOD ("Eyes Of The World, "Here Comes Sunshine"), the prelude to what would officially become "Weather Report Suite," and by golly, that's Wolfman Jack introducing, you guessed it, "Ramble On Rose." Limited to 25,000 numbered copies, DAVE'S PICKS VOL. 54: BALTIMORE CIVIC CENTER, BALTIMORE, MD (3/26/73) was recorded by Kidd Candelario and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering.

Grateful Dead So much more than just the archetypal jam band, the Grateful Dead grew to become an artistic and cultural institution that existed entirely on their own terms. While the band initially came out of a psychedelic revolution in the Bay Area's musically and chemically exploratory mid-'60s, they quickly evolved from their acid rock beginnings, incorporating elements of Americana and Bakersfield country into gently majestic albums like 1970's American Beauty. Their live shows were completely separate from their studio output, based on freeform improvisation borrowed from jazz and made up of extended performances and set list variations that ensured no two shows were exactly like.

By any measure, 1970 was a high-water mark for the Grateful Dead. Hot on the heels of the incredible success of Workingman’s Dead that summer, the band returned in the autumn with the equally stunning American Beauty. Those back-to-back classics not only introduced songs that would be a key part of the group’s live repertoire for decades, but they also opened a gateway into the world of the Grateful Dead for generations of Dead Heads. American Beauty will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year with two new releases.

Grateful Dead So much more than just the archetypal jam band, the Grateful Dead grew to become an artistic and cultural institution that existed entirely on their own terms. While the band initially came out of a psychedelic revolution in the Bay Area's musically and chemically exploratory mid-'60s, they quickly evolved from their acid rock beginnings, incorporating elements of Americana and Bakersfield country into gently majestic albums like 1970's American Beauty. Their live shows were completely separate from their studio output, based on freeform improvisation borrowed from jazz and made up of extended performances and set list variations that ensured no two shows were exactly like.

Rock's longest, strangest trip, the Grateful Dead were the psychedelic era's most beloved musical ambassadors as well as its most enduring survivors, spreading their message of peace, love, and mind expansion across the globe throughout the better part of three decades. The object of adoration for popular music's most fervent and celebrated fan following – the Deadheads, their numbers and devotion legendary in their own right – they were the ultimate cult band, creating a self-styled universe all their own; for the better part of their career orbiting well outside of the mainstream, the Dead became superstars solely on their own terms, tie-dyed pied pipers whose epic, free-form live shows were rites of passage for an extended family of listeners who knew no cultural boundaries. The roots of the Grateful Dead lie with singer/songwriter Jerry Garcia, a longtime bluegrass enthusiast who began playing the guitar at age 15.

Available for the first time on vinyl is the complete OLYMPIA THEATRE, PARIS, FRANCE 5/3/72 show from the Grateful Dead’s legendary Europe ‘72 Tour. 6-LP, 180-Gram, Limited Edition of 10,000 worldwide.

Garcia still works wonders on the guitar. His obbligato behind rhythm guitarist Bob Weir's vocal on the gun-fighter ballad, "El Paso," ranged from flamenco figures to blues lines. The latter created a humorous and musically interesting mixture. Slipping around the sunny Mexican-American rhythms were the riffs and diving glissandos of a music that grew up among the chilly winds of Chicago. - Cliff Radel, Enquirer Pop Music Critic. The vocals and instruments blended perfectly into one cohesive unit. The artists themselves seemed to enjoy playing and the concentration they commanded was unshakable in the fan-filled Coliseum. - Douglas Fechter, The NewsRecord Cincy, The Nati, Paris Of America, call it what you will but when the Grateful Dead came to town, they certainly helped propel her to "Queen of the West." The previously unreleased complete show from the Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH 10/2/76 is all up from start to finish with xxx 70s-era first set songs like "Promised Land" and "El Paso" to Europe '72 staples and classic covers ("It's All Over Now," "Big River"), wrapped up with a unique second-set jam that opens with "Dancing In The Street" and closes with "Sugar Mag." An all-around good time! Limited to 25,000 numbered copies and shipping this week, DAVE'S PICKS VOL. 53: RIVERFRONT COLISEUM, CINCINNATI, OH 10/2/76 was recorded by Dan Healy and has been mastered to HDCD specs by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering. P.S. As a bonus, we have a quintet of songs from 5/4/77 (recorded by Betty Cantor-Jackson), the rest of which was featured on Dave’s Picks Vol. 50 and its Bonus Disc. As we mentioned in 2012 when this series started, we’re determined to provide complete shows whenever possible. And even when a show is only partially included on a release as bonus material, we’re happy to complete it later on down the line, as we’ve done here. We hope you dig it. - David Lemieux