Grateful Dead Winterland

The ongoing Dave's Picks archival series takes on the lifelong challenge of presenting some of the best of the Grateful Dead's endless back catalog of live sets, cherry-picking recordings from nearly four decades and literally thousands of gigs and revisiting them with refurbished sound and meticulously detailed presentation. Vol. 13 of the series presents the full three-set performance from the band's February 24, 1974 date, the third of three nights at San Francisco's Winterland Arena. This date finds the band in fantastic form, using a sound system that predated their famous "wall of sound" amplifier system by just a month, and spinning their cosmic wheels through a spirited first set of rockers like "U.S. Blues," "Candyman," and "China Cat Sunflower" before relaxing into more wide-reaching territory in the second and third sets on extensive jams like "Weather Report Suite"…

This nine-disc box set gathers music from a trio of consecutive Grateful Dead gigs – November 9 – 11, 1973 at their hometown hockey rink Winterland Arena. At the time the band consisted of Jerry Garcia (lead guitar/vocals), Donna Jean Godchaux (vocals), Keith Godchaux (keyboards), Bill Kreutzmann (drums), Phil Lesh (electric bass/vocals), and Bob Weir (rhythm guitar/vocals). In 1973, they atypically played a mere handful of gigs in San Francisco. According to Dennis McNally's liner notes, the run represented within could be considered over half of their Bay Area appearances for the year. That shouldn't suggest that the combo weren't keeping a full calendar, as they played about every five days or so for a total of 72 live shows. As the overwhelming bounty of strong performances on 2008's Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings substantiates, the combo were operating on all cylinders and – when applicable – at full velocity.

One more Saturday night at Winterland! Yes, we're back to home base for DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 42, the complete show from Winterland, San Francisco, 2/23/74. The one that featured the earliest amalgamation of what would soon become the Wall of Sound, the one that is so "loud, clear, and defined," it's been ripe for release for quite some time and we're glad it's finally getting its due. First set or second, there are no wrong answers here. From the unique show opener of Chuck Berry's "Around And Around" and an incredible "Here Comes Sunshine" that would then disappear for 18 years, to a medley of WAKE OF THE FLOOD tracks - "Row Jimmy," "Weather Report Suite," and "Stella Blue" - cementing their status in the canon and an unstoppable hour through the classic 1973-1974 Dead that is “He’s Gone”>“Truckin’”>“Drums”>“The Other One”>“Eyes Of The World,” it's all exceptionally hot.

This month's covermount CD is Grateful Dead: From The Bay To The Pool, Live 1971–1978. A must-hear curation of classic and rare tracks to delight Deadheads and non-believers alike. Wharf Rat, Truckin’, Casey Jones and more!

The entire original KSAN, KQRS, WEBN, KSFX, WNEW & KADI FM Broadcasts Covering performances from Seven Incredible 1971 shows at The Fillmore West, Northtrop Auditorium, Taft Auditorium, Harding Theater, Felt Forum, Fox Theater and Winterland.