Grateful Dead Dave's Pickes

A sealed, unlabeled box sat undisturbed for decades on a shelf in the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael tape vault on Front Street, its contents an enduring mystery, even to those few with access to the vault. All David Lemieux knew about that box when he became the Dead’s archivist was that it contained tapes belonging to Bear—Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s first soundman and architect of the Wall of Sound. Even in the Dead Heads’ Holy of Holies, the taped-up box was tantalizing. But this was Bear’s personal property, and so he didn’t touch the box out of an abiding respect for the elder luminary of sound. Bear’s archive of Sonic Journal recordings had been kept safe for him for years within the Grateful Dead’s vault—over 1,300 reels of tape stored in heavy-duty cartons like old banana boxes. At any time, David could have popped the tops and explored them to his archivist heart's content. But they were off-limits without the nod from Bear.

The Grateful Dead‘s September 8, 1973 concert at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York will be featured on Dave’s Picks Volume 38, which is due in the second quarter of 2021. Dave’s Picks 2021 subscribers will receive a bonus disc containing highlights from the previous night’s show at the same venue.

We are thankful to be here today celebrating the Grateful Dead's most lauded studio masterpiece with a 50th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION. Available on October 30th, the three-CD set will feature the original album with newly remastered audio, plus one of the most requested archival recordings in the Dead's vault - the unreleased concert recorded on February 18, 1971 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. On stage that night, the Dead debuted a whole new batch of songs, five in all: “Wharf Rat,” “Playing In The Band,” “Bertha,” “Greatest Story Ever Told” and “Loser.”

Dead Set is the seventh live album (eighteenth overall) by the Grateful Dead. It was released in August 1981 on Arista. The album contains live material recorded between September and October 1980 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in New York. Original CD pressings omitted the track "Space" so the entire album could fit on one CD. However, "Space" was included when the album was later rereleased as part of the 2004 Beyond Description box set, as well as on one CD in 2006. The 2006 release also included a bonus CD of live material.

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!