The Music Never Stopped

Only the second major career-spanning retrospective of the Dead, The Best of the Grateful Dead - released in the spring of 2015, just before a series of farewell shows in the summer - takes advantage of the extra disc 2003's The Very Best of Grateful Dead lacked. Weighing in at 32 tracks - a full 16 cuts longer than Very Best - The Best of the Grateful Dead also follows a strict chronological sequence, so it takes a little while for the psychedelic haze to lift and the Dead to settle into the rangy, rootsy groove that characterized so much of their existence - right around "St. Stephen" and "China Cat Sunflower," both from 1969's Aoxomoxoa. From there, many - but by no means all - of the group's warhorses are marched out, all in their studio incarnations…

Is there anything better than being a Dead Head when one of your favorite shows is officially released in its entirety? We'll double down on your sentiments WolfmansBrother, with DAVE'S PICK VOLUME 50: PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY, NY 5/3/77, and we'll bring the fire extinguisher to cool you off after you listen to Betty Cantor-Jackson's complete recording. Don't want the party to end? We'll stoke those embers with a few hot tracks from the first set of 5/4/77. Dave's Picks Subscribers score the monstrous second set from 5/4/77 featuring "Scarlet>Fire," "Terrapin," 'Playing In The Band," "Comes A Time," and more. Woowee!

During the mid-1970s, the Grateful Dead saga was unfolding like a Greek classic. The Sisyphean Wall Of Sound had nearly broken the band. From it spawned a Medusa head of countless side projects, all deliciously fruitful but woefully not the same as the whole. The chorus lay in wait, pondering the reemergence of their heroes, and wondering if "THE LAST ONE" had really been it…

BLUES FOR ALLAH is the Dead’s unique vision, a deeply humane parable that framed their own artistic renewal in the most inclusive, expansive terms. Fifty years later, it remains one of their most musically successful and resolutely experimental albums. - Nicholas G. Meriwether, Executive Director of the Grateful Dead Studies Association, BLUES FOR ALLAH (50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION) Liner Note Writer

Hugely positive and sometimes crushingly sentimental, Germany's Mark 'Oh (Marko Albrecht) is part of a long line of German musicians who threw down the mantle of rock amateurism in order to embrace his country's post-rave mainstream dance. After disbanding his first guitar outfit, Line Up, 'Oh began as a DJ in 1990 and worked his way up to production with the 1993 limited release of "Randy – Never Stop That Feeling," a cheery, helium-sampled single that found its way to the top of Germany's charts for half a year after its re-release. Subsequent singles furthered 'Oh's light Super Mario Brothers trance style and his three albums – 1995's Never Stop That Feeling, 1996's Magic Power, and 1999's Rebirth – showed an increase in guest appearances and unusual covers, such as reworkings of Visage's "Fade to Grey" and Nick Kamen's "I Promised Myself." A premature Best Of collection was released in 2001.

The 32nd installment in the Dick's Picks series serves up the first offering from 1982 – August 7th at Alpine Valley Music Theater, to be exact. By some accounts, early-'80 shows could often be accurately classified as hit-or-miss affairs; on this evening the Grateful Dead are particularly inspired throughout. This is primarily evident in their musical interaction, yielding a few above-average renderings of repertoire staples such as the Bob Weir (guitar/vocals) led cowboy combination "Me and My Uncle" and "Big River," as well as the Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) ballads "It Must Have Been the Roses," "Althea," and "Ship of Fools." …

Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Volume 31 - Uptown Theatre, Chicago, Il, 12/3/1979 (2019) {3CD Set Rhino R2-573509}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.25 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 527 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 63 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2019 Rhino / GD Prod. | R2-573509 | HDCD
Rock / Classic Rock / Psychedelic / Folk Rock / Jam Band

Hold on to your hat, we're coming in strong with one from the Windy City that'll have you movin' and shakin' from start to finish. DAVE'S PICKS VOLUME 31: UPTOWN THEATRE, CHICAGO, IL 12/3/79 signals a true rebirth of the Grateful Dead, reimagining classics and foreshadowing their 80s sound. This is as much in part due to freshly-minted member Brent Mydland bringing the organ back in as it is to Jerry finding new vivacity with his custom Tiger guitar. New guy, new guitar - it all makes for a heck of a good time!