Dick's / Dave's picks

Does anyone have any of the old vinyl on the Pig label?  I have (somewhere) one Dead concert on colored vinyl from the Pigpen days--pretty decent sound, as I recall.  There was at least one Pig LP with the Airplane live as well--I think it may have been a tv show they did.

Oh and don't forget Live Dead aka 1/26, 2/27 and 3/2 1969 Fillmore West to me the absolute best renditions of Dark Star>St Stephen>The Eleven.

If you like the Dick's Picks series there are a wealth of recordings circulating out there, anything from Charlie Miller particularly, that often sound better. Pretty much the entirety of 68 is out there much of 69 also if you like late 60s. For me some highlights are 2/13-14/70 Fillmore East, which makes up Dicks Picks 4, 4/28-29/71 Fillmore East which was an official release, no a Dicks Pick though. etree.org is a good site for shows if you are into torrenting. Also the recent 30 Trips Around the Sun has some very good shows, 8/15/70 Winterland and 1975 Golden Gate Park were highlights for me. For something more recent the entire 1990 Spring tour was released as a box set great shows i was fortunate to catch 8 shows on that tour, great stuff. I guess what I'm trying to say if there's a lot of stuff out there, beyond Dicks and Daves and official releases, so if you want to explore have fun! I have about 125 shows in my collection and counting.

Thanks! for sharing- jriggy

Lets not forget the Road Trips series... They are not full shows but still some great stuff! Imagine a show with some killer versions of songs sprinkled throughout a few stinkers, they just give ya the goods from two shows in one release. OR if a shows tapes were marred in some areas, or missing reals for some, but otherwise really great stuff existing, they give it to ya...
Id have to look back a see what my faves were. I can think of the just back from Egypt shows as being one that is surprisingly good. And the all the bonus disks for Road Trips are all quite good. I don't know if they are including the bonus disks in the file format "Complete Road Trips Recordings" available on Deadnet or not... 
 

The band played Boston Garden many, many times.

DP Vol 8 Harpur College Binghamton 1970,
DP Vol 12 Providence Civic Center and Boston Garden 1974

Reckoning on vinyl is fantastic

Never too late-  jriggy

Welcome! it appears as if you quite a collection. I own all of the original studio releases as well as a few Dave's Picks. I did buy the 4-CD best of version of the 30-trips super box set.  Happy Listening!

Im late to the party...

I have it all. Im kind of a "Dead Freak" Deadhead and have been getting the releases as they come since their inception... 

There are enough recommendations here and as mentioned, everyone will have there faves... I, of course, love the "best" years, 72, 77, 90. But the transition times right before the popular years are some incredible shows --late 71 and 73, late 76 and Im big Brent fan, so even 87 thru 90 are good with me... The Spring '90 boxset is better than 'good' (as mentioned) IMO. But maybe theres a touch of 'had to be there' involved, which I was. With that said, "Dozin' At The Knick" is a monster show from '90 that anyone can love.

Regarding the Wall of Sound, I do think you can tell these recordings apart from others (maybe not all?). There seems to be more power and immediacy, a bit more instrument separation, also where the drums sit in imaging and presence. Over the years a few band members have said the Wall did indeed change their playing, as they could hear each other much better. Billy says their interplay at those shows was phenomenal. 

I have recently been going through the 30 Trips Around The Sun box (50th anniversary boxset w/ one show each year. i.e. "Boxzilla" haha) and I must say, these shows sound incredible! David Glasser's best work so far wit the Dead, IMO. with special note going to the early 67 and 68 shows. You will be hard pressed to find cleaner, quieter and detailed early shows than these. Just awesome. System dependent of course (;

I will agree that the Dick's Picks series has the more 'epic show' quality stuff over the Dave's Picks series. I mean, why wouldn't it, Dick Latvala was there through the '70s'  and on and an expert on the shows and tapes, so not to take anything away from what David Lemieux has done. He is releasing some great shows. Off hand: Vol. one (great sound). Vol. 8 (the only Matrix recording release ever) and Vol. 11 (one of the best Other Ones you will hear).

On tap for todays listening is the newest Dave's Vol. 17... 

Happy listening!

PS: Don't forget to pick up the Sunshine Daydream movie bluray release. 8-27-72 film. what a fantastic time capsule with one of the best versions of Dark Star and Playin' you will ever witness. 

Those late 60's shows are magical indeed -rbbert + tostadosunidos.

Thank You! garebear and others for your input.

Many thanks to fourwnds and rbbert for that info.

Two From The Vault is from 8/23,24/68 and has an excellent New Potato Caboose.

As far as "big label" releases, the primary criterion is not performance quality but rather sound quality.  The vast majority of the major label releases are from multi-track masters rather than 2-track, and vice-versa for the Picks series.

I would not mind finding the complete set (vol1-36) to purchase.

TostadosUnidos, try archive.org to get started. I think it's Stream only now but you might be able get zero’d in on the particular show and then source it from there. Hope that helps.

There are (2) big boxed sets- The Golden Road + Beyond Description
where all original studio releases were remastered and bonus trax added.
Those bonus trax offer a wealth of live versions.

I think there's a reason that sets such as Reckoning and Dead Set are on the "big, important" label and some of the soundboard stuff is available with less fanfare.  But there are some great moments on the soundboard tapes.  I was cruising through Houston with the radio on the left end of the dial a few months back and heard a mind-blowing version of New Potato Caboose.  I think the date was 8/24/68 (I could be off on the year).  I had forgotten the sort of magic they could muster at times.  Does anyone know where this track is available?

Both Reckoning + Dead Set are tough to beat (no pun).
The thing about the GD, is that, we all have our fave year/line-up.

There are plenty of recordings to go around. I am intrigued by the wall of sound (WOS), so these short-lived shows are of interest to me.

Those early Fillmore shows are excellent w/ pigpen as well.

I've been buying Dick's Picks since around the time that Jerry died.  My favorites are #1 from '73, every song is excellent except "Weather Report" which I never liked.  #2 from '71 has a great, jazzy "Dark Star".  Volume #3 from '77 is excellent and widely regarded as one of the best.  #4 from '70 is also outstanding especially Rider-High Time-Dire Wolf-Darkstar.   I also really like #7 from '74.  I have to say though that my all time favorite live show was from '80 - their superb Reckoning cd.  I haven't been compelled to buy any Dave's Picks.  Maybe you could recommend a show or two that I should check out.  

Yep, '72 & '77 were magical years in the GD arsenal.

Dick's Picks, Vol. 10. December 1977 at Winterland. Their performance of China Cat Sunflower was magical that night.

I like warts and all, Peter.

You won't actually hear the wall of sound on the recordings, but perhaps it influenced their playing.  I don't think so though.  I favor everything from 1970-77, with just a tad less love for 72.  My suggestion is that you get a trial membership for spotify (get premium for better sound quality).  I think you can listen to quite a few Dick's Picks there.

Also, listening to soundboard recordings you can really hear how raw, unadulterated recordings also sound much better than highly processed studio recordings, even with their warts exposed!

Thanks! for sharing- guys.
As we start 2016, Dave's Picks are into Volume 17- another release featuring the "wall of sound". I am intrigued w/ the Wall of Sound, as it was a short-lived, endeavor.

I think there are plenty of Deadheads here, but most probably prefer to discuss the group and their music at other more dedicated (hah!) music forums

dicks: vol 3, vol 4 are required. as in, if my house were burning, i'd grab those.
others: vol 7, vol 25, 29, and 36

really, the band was peaking in 71, 72, 77 and occasionally in 78. get all those. 

(every so often an 80s or 90s show is incredible, like the nightfall of diamonds set, but they're more hit or miss). 

Jafant,

I could be wrong but I have a feeling there might be more rap and hip hop enthusiasts on here than Deadheads.