Customer Reviews

Dick's Picks 35 8/7 & 24/71 San Diego & Chicago

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The Legend Of The 'Houseboat Tapes' comes alive on Dick's Picks 35. In the late summer of 1971, just before Keith Godchaux started rehearsals with the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia handed him a box of reel-to-reel tapes, and said: "Here, this is our most recent tour. Learn our music". It is likely that Keith never even listened to the tapes - he had a great ear for music. He left the box of tapes on his parent's houseboat near Oakland, and there they stayed - for almost 35 years!!

In the Spring of 2005, members of the Godchaux family who were cleaning out the houseboat discovered the box of vintage 1971 tapes. The tapes found their way back to the Grateful Dead's archivists - and VIOLA! - the missing year of 1971 had been instantly resurrected for all to hear.

These shows highlight the Grateful Dead in a primal period, when Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan was very much one of the leaders of the band. The shows on Dick's Picks Volume 35 were recorded in two different cities on two different dates. Discs One and Two are comprised mostly of music from August 7, 1971 at the Convention Hall in San Diego, CA. Of note here are ALL of the 'Pigpen' tracks, including "Mr. Charlie", "Big Boss Man", "Hard To Handle", and "Next Time You See Me" (aka "Wrong Doin' Woman"). There are some great jams here (what would a Grateful Dead concert be without jams?) on what we now consider 'classics' like "Not Fade Away" > "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad" and "China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider". This is 1971, people! The Grateful Dead at the top of their game.

Disc Three and most of Disc Four (the show actually starts on the end of Disc Two) capture the August 24, 1971 show at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. This show opens with an acoustic section featuring then-new material from 'Workingman's Dead', including "Uncle John's Band". A very rare 'Pigpen' track called "Empty Pages" (NOT to be confused with the song of the same name and era by the British band Traffic) follows a rip-roaring acoustic "Cumberland Blues". The show then goes electric and really sparks with the "Saint Stephen" > "Not Fade Away" > "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad" > "Not Fade Away" sequence. The tone slows again with several country and blues tinged numbers, including a lovely "Brokedown Palace", before the smoke and fire of a rockin' "Good Lovin'" closes out the night.

The last seven tracks on Disc Four are from a small club show performed August 6, 1971 in San Diego, the night before the Convention Hall concert. Here we find the monster jam "The Other One" > "Me & My Uncle" > "The Other One", as well as a great version of "Turn On Your Lovelight" with 'Pigpen' very much in charge.

The Grateful Dead in all of their glory from 1971 - it doesn't get much better than this!

A good value as 4 cds with lots of songs. Doesn't have enough improv jamming in my opinion-and I prefer Jerry using a Fender (single humbucker) for the country songs. They can sound schrill and abrasive with ther Gibson. But it is the Dead, and though Pigpen is sometimes off key many of his songs are special and rare on releases. I much prefer the Road Trips from Summer 1971 as it contains the singles and also has a Dark Star>Cumberland and in and out of Other One jam.