The Grateful Dead Dark Star

[Chalupa]

Dick's Picks #33 is available for ordering....

http://stores.musictoday.com/store/product...5Fid=171&sfid=7

[jazzbo]

The five cd set . . . www.gdstore.com has it and it WAS in the soundtrack section of cduniverse a few days ago but I don't see it now! Looks to me as if at the moment only Grateful Dead sites have it listed. . . ?

[Chalupa]

The five cd set . . . Looks to me as if at the moment only Grateful Dead sites have it listed. . . ?

Yup.

FWIW, the Eyes of the World on disc one is missing about 5 minutes of music.

[jazzbo]

Whuzzzupwiththat? I haven't gotten my order yet. . . probably today!

[gdogus]

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 26, 1988 Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton VA

[jazzbo]

Still no order yet. . . but I guess Monday.

Now Playing: Jams 7 and 8 from the Granz set. BUT right before that I had the disc of alternates and addenda for the Garcia studio box set spinning.

[alankin]

Still no order yet. . . but I guess Monday.

Now Playing: Jams 7 and 8 from the Granz set.

Does Jerry play on that one?

[gdogus]

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 26, 1988 Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton VA

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 27, 1988, Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, VA

Edited November 13, 2004 by gdogus

[Quincy]

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 27, 1988, Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, VA

That's a good 'un! One of my favorite Brent era shows.

They were really on from mid-March to early April (maybe longer, I'm just basing that on the few recordings I have.)

And since this is a jazz board I guess I'd better mention the brief "So What" tuning for those who don't know about it.

[jazzbo]

Finally got my package! I listened to a lot of the first disc of the soundtarack and am now watching the bonus songs on disc two of the dvd set. . . . HELL YEAH!

[gdogus]

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 26, 1988 Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton VA

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 27, 1988, Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, VA

NP:

Grateful Dead - March 28, 1988, Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, VA

[Chalupa]

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=5914

OPENING THE DEAD'S VAULT: DAVID LEMIEUX

David Lemieux has one of the greatest jobs on earth. Not only does he get

paid to listen to Grateful Dead music that no one else has access to, but he

also helps decide what we actually do get to hear. As the Grateful Dead's

archivist, David holds the key to the much talked about Vault. Lucky for us,

David has decided to open the doors and talk about both the past and what may be

in store for the future. Welcome to The Vault.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

JamBase: What was your first Grateful Dead show?

Lemieux: March 26, 1987. The opener was "Midnight Hour" into "Cold Rain

and Snow," and even then, when I was 16, I thought "Man, that's how they would

have opened a show in 1967!"

JamBase: How long have you been working as the archivist for the Grateful

Dead? What were you doing before this and how did you come about this dream job?

Lemieux: I started working with GDP [Grateful Dead Productions] in early

1999, on contract, cataloguing the video collection. Throughout most of 1999 I

kept coming down here from Canada, working different contracts for the band,

cataloguing different parts of the video and film collection. Then around

early-September, 1999, I became the full-time tape archivist. Prior to that I

was the audiovisual curator at the British Columbia Archives in Victoria, taking

care of the province's film, video and audio collection, amongst other things.

JamBase: What percentage of the archive have you listened to?

Lemieux: Well, certain years of the collection, such as 1972-1974, about

100%. For others, such as 1984, probably closer to 50%. For instance, if a show

has absolutely no release potential due to the tape being poor quality, I

generally don't spend too much time critiquing it, unless I'm listening to it

for pleasure.

JB: It must be a challenge to figure out what shows to put out. What are

the

criteria for deciding what music to release on CD or DVD? How involved are the

band members in this process?

DL: Generally, we begin with a year. The recent Dick's Picks Volume 33 is

a

good example. We wanted to hit 1976 again, so we take a good overview of what we

have from that year in the vault. Then we narrow it down to the best five or six

shows, and then go through them very critically, taking input from a few good

ears. Then, we settle on a Pick after months of listening and comparison. In

terms of how that year is selected, we look at what has been released recently,

say, the last six Picks, and try to mix things up. With video, we have so little

that the selection process is really a matter of going through the 20-25

releasable concerts we have and determining what is the right release for the

time.

The band members are all very busy on current and future projects, so they

are not actively involved in production of the archival Grateful Dead releases.

However, whenever one of the band members calls the studio or vault, they are

always very curious and encouraging about what we're up to.

JB: When you were putting together the new box set, Beyond Description

(1973-1989), how did you choose the bonus songs that you included with it? What

do you do with the bonus songs that don't make the cut?

DL: With each album, we included music that was from its era. Our first

choice

is usually excellent rare studio outtakes, as those always make great additions

to an album (except a live album, of course). For Wake Of The Flood, though, we

knew early on that it was essential to include a live "Eyes Of The World," as it

was played so well in 1973. In the case of Blues For Allah, we found some

excellent studio outtakes, so although there are loads of excellent live

versions of the songs on that album, these rare studio jams were too good to

pass up. The two live albums in the boxed set, Reckoning and Dead Set, have been

expanded to two-CD sets, with live music from those Warfield and Radio City 1980

shows (with a couple of bonus songs from 1978). For those albums, we had

somewhat limited choices, as much of the multi-track tapes from those shows have

been erased for a number of reasons. However, much of the best stuff in the run

was mixed back in 1981, and those tapes were our sources for these albums' bonus

songs. We did manage to get more than seven hours of bonus songs onto the box,

and about 80 more minutes that did NOT make the cut was released as a bonus CD

for those who ordered the box set directly from GDP (including the stunning

3/23/75 "Blues For Allah" jam).

JB: What has been the most popular Grateful Dead release in your tenure? Is

it

your favorite?

DL: One of my favorites has been Dick's Picks Vol. 22, from Lake Tahoe in

1968, and it is NOT the most popular. I think the most popular release has been

Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead. Ladies and Gentlemen... The Grateful Dead,

The Closing Of Winterland, and Dick's Picks 18 and Dick's Picks 29.

JB: Have you ever considered putting out a whole tour or is that

impractical

because of the varying quality of the shows?

DL: About the closest we have got is the six-CD Dick's Picks, Volume 29.

That

is two complete shows on a great tour. I don't think the impediment to doing a

whole-tour release is varying show quality, but rather putting out a 20-CD box

set. Fall Tour 1972 and Fall Tour 1973 are worthy candidates for whole-tour

consideration, certainly.

JB: What show has been the most requested (by the fans) for you to release?

DL: Hmmm, many of the most-requested shows have been released: 5/2/70, 2/13

and 2/14/70, 12/31/78, 10/16/89. Of course, 8/27/72 (a very good possibility

some day, with great multi-track master tapes to mix from) and 5/8/77 (not in

the vault) are the other top-of-the-listers.

JB: How long were you working on producing The Grateful Dead Movie DVD?

What

kinds of changes did you make from the original? Was it one of your biggest

projects since taking over as the archivist?

DL: The production took about a year, with preliminary work being done

on-and-off for a couple of years before 2004. Not a single frame of the original

movie was altered. We even included the original theatrical 5.1 Surround Sound

audio mix, in addition to a new 5.1 mix and a new stereo mix. However, we added

A LOT of bonus material on Disc 2, including almost 100 minutes of

never-before-seen footage from the original 16mm negative, mixed in 5.1 sound;

three new documentaries about the movie and the DVD; and several other cool

items. Oh, we also had a great commentary track with the original film editors

who worked on the movie with Jerry. This was by far the biggest project I've

worked on since coming here. The quantity of material to go through, as well as

all of the technical issues 16mm film raises, was quite a challenge, but Jeffrey

Norman did a great job making sure the audio was perfect, and we had quite an

extensive technical team involved in the overall production. It's a really

satisfying project.

JB: Do you have any other big projects that you'd like to tackle?

DL: A couple come to mind, the biggest of which would be another two-DVD

set

of the other outtakes from The Grateful Dead Movie. There is still plenty of

material, both live musical performances and backstage and interview footage to

include.

JB: What percentage of shows have video as well? Was there a point when the

band decided to record video for every show?

DL: There are about 100 shows on video in the vault, of which maybe 20-25

are

releasable based on performance, video and audio quality. The bulk of these

concerts are the screen-feeds that people would have seen at stadiums or at

Shoreline. That's about it. So, no, a decision was never made to tape every

show. Luckily, the live directors of these screen feeds (Len Dell-Amico and Bob

Hartnett) hit record on a professional-quality video recorder to make these

masters.

JB: In the late '80s when Dan Healy was doing his ultra-matrix, are there

pure

soundboard versions or just his mix?

DL: Not really. When the ultra-matrix is what was recorded for any given

tour,

that's all there is. The tapes from 1987-1990 are particularly hit-or-miss in

this regard. When the matrix (audience mics and soundboard blend) was dialed in

perfectly, these tapes sound outstanding.

JB: Which of the Grateful Dead's sound engineer's produced the best mix?

DL: I say this not only because I work with him, but I really do think

Jeffrey

Norman's mixes are outstanding. Very sensitive, democratic and dynamic. In

saying that, though, I also think Bob and Betty, Dan Healy and John Cutler were

excellent studio mixers, and perfect for this band. They shared an understanding

of this music and what it required in the mix.

JB: Are there any shows for which soundboards don't exist because of

recording

problems or any other reason?

DL: Plenty. Some shows simply weren't recorded, some have gone missing over

the years, and some (some of October, 1972, for example) were recorded as

audience tapes only.

JB: Would you ever digitize the archive to make it available for download?

DL: Yes, and this is something that we've been looking into for a number of

years. It seems the technology is just about there, which means it's time we

start looking at it seriously. I'd love to see it happen.

JB: What era do you feel has the best sounding recordings?

DL: I'm quite partial to Betty's tapes, 1976-1977 in particular, but Bear's

1969 recordings and Kidd's 1973-1974 recordings have a special clarity.

JB: What does 2005 hold in store for the music of the Grateful Dead?

DL: Stay tuned. Likely several great releases in many forms: DVD, vault

release, Dick's Picks. Currently, though we're just finalizing what to do for

2005, so nothing is definite.

[Guest akanalog]

i have boxes of dead live CDs from years ago when i used to trade and download them all the time. i tried to get back into them-listened to stuff like 3/31/73, 7/19/4, 12/6/73, 8/6/74...but i couldn't do it wholeheartedly. the post-retirement stuff just bored me and even this prime dead stuff, and i was just listening to the jams-no first sets, i dunno....wasn't doing it for me too much. my friend coincidentally just got back into it and is abusing archive.org and tried to give me some of the good stuff he just downloaded but my heart wasn't in it. i am totally burnt on hard bop but i think i am just as burnt on the dead.

[jazzbo]

Well, send some of those downloaded shows my way!

I can definitely understand that; I'm in a resurgance of interest in them, but there are certainly some artists I was once very excited about. . . that I can't get interested to hear now!

[AfricaBrass]

That Lemieux interview is interesting.

I think I'm going to work on downloading more soundboards now before they start charging for them.

Edited January 6, 2005 by AfricaBrass

[Chalupa]

That Lemieux interview is interesting.

I think I'm going to work on downloading more soundboards now before they start charging for them.

Well that sounds like a good idea especially in light of this exchange...

B: Would you ever digitize the archive to make it available for download?

DL: Yes, and this is something that we've been looking into for a number of

years. It seems the technology is just about there, which means it's time we

start looking at it seriously. I'd love to see it happen.

[WD45]

Some of the items on archive.org sound quite good. I have listened to many of the 1968 vintage shows. A couple are crap, but overall, the sound is solid. Especially for 1968.

The one Dick's Picks that piqued my interest was the Tahoe show he mentions in the interview. Anyone have it?

[GDTRFB]

The one Dick's Picks that piqued my interest was the Tahoe show he mentions in the interview. Anyone have it?

Yup.

It's good, although probably not my first stop for that year. I like the 8/23/68 set from the Shrine Auditorium ... it usually comes with some filler from 8/29.

[AfricaBrass]

Some of the items on archive.org sound quite good. I have listened to many of the 1968 vintage shows. A couple are crap, but overall, the sound is solid. Especially for 1968.

The one Dick's Picks that piqued my interest was the Tahoe show he mentions in the interview. Anyone have it?

I have that Tahoe Dick's Picks and I LOVE it! The quality is a little rough, but it's an enjoyable set. I agree with GDTRFB, I'd get the Shrine shows first. I think they're on Two From the Vault.

I like a lot of the 1968 shows I have heard, but I actually like most 66-74 shows I have.

Some interesting shows are the Mickey and the Hartbeats shows from late in '68. Basically, the GD had kicked out Weir and Pigpen and were playing without them, but with cool guests like the Airplane's Jack Casady, etc... I don't know if these shows are on archive.org, but I'd check out www.gdlive.com or bt.etree.org. You might find them there.

But... I pretty much stick to the soundboards. There are a couple audience recordings I have (I think they're August 5-6, 1971) that I really enjoy.

I think my absolute favorite period of the Dead was 1972. I enjoy everything from that year, but I think the fall of '72 through the end was a real climax for them.

[Chalupa]

I believe Two from the Vault is 8/24/68.

8/23/68 is great. I also like 10/12-13 shows too.

Oh yeah another for the Tahoe Pick.

[Chalupa]

Anyone interested in downloading VIDEO of the dead from 4/26-27/77 should check out the following links:

4.26: http://www.easytree.org/torrents-details.php?id=18398

4.27: http://www.easytree.org/torrents-details.php?id=17631

[Chalupa]

Dick's Picks #34 is on sale now.

http://stores.musictoday.com/store/product...5Fid=171&sfid=7

[AmirBagachelles]

For me, '68 Dead is the apex for pure visceral energy, I can't get enough. Check out that supplemental Alligator on the Anthem re-release, it's the part of FTV 2 that's missing, and it might be the most fun part.

[AmirBagachelles]

that's really GREAT news on DP 34!! A huge winner!!!

[vajerzy]

Wow- haven't checked it in a while..... any promotional codes that will get a discount on purchases??

I have most of DPs up through 24.