Customer Reviews

Fillmore West 1969

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're not already a fan of the Grateful Dead, then move on; there's nothing here for you to see (or hear). This 3-CD set will drive you just as crazy as any of the other 3,687 or so `Live Dead' collections. If, on the other hand, you are a `Deadhead' and buy into their marketing concept of eventually releasing virtually every recorded performance, then you have just stumbled upon the Rosetta Stone of `Live Dead' recordings.
The first `officially' released live recording of the Grateful Dead appeared in 1969, entitled "Live/Dead". To this day, a large percentage of fans consider this to be the band's best album, their shining moment. `Fillmore West 1969' is compiled from the same set of shows that were excerpted for "Live/Dead". It is special for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it captures the band just as they are discovering their own ability to explore the outer regions of their spontaneous compositional abilities. During a four-night run from February 27- March 2, 1969, in San Francisco, the Grateful Dead were the perfect band in the perfect place at the perfect time.
The `Live/Dead" album was a two disk set, approximately eighty minutes in length. At the time, this was fairly lavish, but by necessity, it represented only a fraction of the music from this historic stand. "Fillmore West" is compiled from the best parts of those shows that did not `make the cut' for "Live Dead". The 3-CD package generously triples the playing time of the original album, and structures itself as if it were one incredibly long, exhaustive set. A 20-minute version of "Dark Star" is the centerpiece, and segues beautifully into "St. Stephen," followed by "The Eleven," all of which capture the rich, exploratory nature of a band that was at the nascent crest of its powers. A near-perfect 23-minute version of "That's It For the Other One" precedes a 25-minute track simply entitled "Jam". The packaging is a lavish, hard-covered booklet that includes a lengthy, informative essay, and a multitude of excellent photographs. If you don't get the Dead by now, then it's safe to assume that it's never going to happen. If you're a fan, though, then this is one live collection that you simply must own. A Tom Ryan

Now that I have this set I am gonna be sorry I never sprung for the 10 disc complete Fillmore 69 stand. That was limited to 10,000 copies. Guess that's how the Dead pays the bills these day. We keep buying this stuff.

The sound quality is amazing. This was the first live recording to use a 16 track. Darkstar is amazing, but different than the performance on "live dead." Unlike the original Allman Brother's Live at Fillmore, there are no splices, every performance is as it happened. Morning Dew is one of the three best I have ever heard. Get it.

Highlights:

Disk one: Morning Dew: grittier version while retaining staggering beauty. Doin' That Rag: quirky song that sticks in your mind, then really pays off with kewl Jerry guitar solo at the end.

Disk two: DARK STAR: Energetic as well as psychedelic; if you're a lover & collector of Dark Stars...you gotta have it.
The Eleven: Other than the "Filmore East 2/11/69" version, this is the best Eleven jam I've ever heard...very creative.

Disk three: JAM: Fantastic jam, goes through several changes...
all extraordinary. It really has a power.

This is by far the best pre 70's Grateful Dead music out there. This is a small slice of the four night show in 1969 at the Fillmore west. Any Deadhead that does not pick this up is being unfaithful to the band. The 10 CD box set is now history. The version of Dark star is awsome, jamming St. Stephen and pigpen heats up the harmonica. Get this today, [...]This set of tunes has a lot of long jams and sounds great.
[...]

This three-disc set tracks the Grateful Dead's performances during the height of their early power. The material collected here had been previously bootlegged by the Dead's legion of collecting fans, but this official release cherry picks the finest performances and adds lengthy liner notes and many color photographs to create a nice package. While the music contained herein demonstrates the breadth of the bands music, certain things do stand out. For me it was Ron "Pigpen" McKernan lending the band some bluesy credibility that they may have otherwise lacked. Pigpen plays swirling organ and some strong harmonica throughout the music, but is heard to best effect on the blues songs he took lead vocals on.

He leads the band through an absolutely charging version of Bobby Bland's "Turn on Your Lovelight" and sings with great authority on Muddy Waters' "King Bee" and John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl." The rest of the band is certainly not to be undone, as the music alternates between spacey on "Mountains on the Moon," "Dark Star" and blasting rock and roll on tracks like "Cosmic Charlie" and the go-for-broke final concert ending medley jam. In a sense this music would be the high water mark of the band's early period, with a shift to acoustic instruments and the first of many personnel additions and subtractions on the way. Still, this is a great snapshot of one of the finest live-performance bands in rock and roll history.

This 3 disc compilation provides an excellent distillation of the four night run at the Fillmore West in 1969 that yielded much of the Live Dead album. The whole run is 10 discs, but this complilation has been done with a loving ear and eliminates duplicate tunes. Not that duplicated tunes are redundant in the Grateful Dead canon - each time a song is performed live it is a new musical adventure, especially the longer jamming vehicles that make up the bulk of this material. So, I disagree with an earlier reviewer that this set renders the 10 disc set redundant. However, given that the 10 disc set was sold out months before its release, that observation is itself redundant for most.

This is a superb release, ranking with the very best Grateful Dead music available.

The song "Eleven" on this collection and "dancin' in the streets" from Harpers Binghampton 1970, and the "st. stephens" from Closing of Winterland are probably the three of the most powerful, yet exquisitely played baroque rock music ever played. Although Led Zeppelin is probably the only group I know that I like their studio music as much as their live stuff, and they basically pulled it off with only 4 gents, the Dead on those three live recordings showed how a multi-member band can build on so many influences and personnel and make it seem as if one person is playing. I personally believe it is thanks to Garcia they could achieve that kind of unity thru diversity. He was no saint, but he was a band leader. tremendous. Really amazing stuff.

Although I wish all the best to present day jambands, the Dead are legends. Nobody comes close to Garcia and the band, in its prime(which there were serval prime periods, this collection capturing one of them).

Garcia was one of the top 5 UNIQUE rock'n'roll guitar players that reached widespread mass appeal and effected countless others.

now let me listen to disk 3...:-)

Buyer beware. For the 3 CDs of music here, I should give this set 5 stars, but I can't for one reason. The original tapes used for these recordings sound amazing for the age they are, but in a few places, in particular CD 3, a second source is used to fill in the gaps where the multi-track tapes ran out during recording. The bits used to patch up these missing pieces are from the same shows (just an alternative source), but they are not of the same pitch/tempo to the rest of the music!
As for the rest, the music sparkles. If you love Live Dead, you'll love this.

These 3 discs (there is a limited edition 10 disc set which has obviously sold out!!)are a continuation of Live Dead. If you haven't heard the Dead Live then start with this or Live Dead.

You will realise why to many they were America's greatest improvisational rock band. The playing, the interplay between the musicians - particularly Garcia and Lesh is staggering. And how about a big hand for Bill Kreutzman on drums?

I`ve bought this today... And I`m not happy about that! It`s a shame that I didn`t buy it that very first moment I saw it in the store! This is beautiful piece of music. Beautiful... If you like Live/Dead you gonna like this one. I`m not gonna write comments about versions of songs here and there... They`re different and that`s good. Enjoy...