Dead freaks unite!
It’s time to “get back Truckin’ on” to the 1970s glory days of the Grateful Dead with two “new” releases announced by Real Gone Music, distributor of the ongoing Dick’s Picks and Road Trips reissue series.
The two-CD set Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 4–From Egypt with Love, and the limited 6-LP vinyl Dick’s Picks Vol. 19–10/19/73 Oklahoma Fairgrounds Arena, Oklahoma City, OK, are set to drop on March 11 and April 1, respectively.
Both of these shows already have been widely-circulated for years among collectors of Grateful Dead concert recordings, both already are available to stream on Spotify, but hey, who doesn’t like a couple of fantastic shows packaged up all nice and tidy for retail purchase? (ahem)
Available on vinyl for the first time, the 19th entry of the beloved Dick’s Picks series, which started with the Halloween 1993 release of the Dead’s well-known December 19, 1973 show, showcases the spacey night that kicked off the band’s eight-show 1973 midwest fall tour.
A press release issued by Real Gone Music, which is of course full of Grateful Dead cliches we’d rather not repeat here (admittedly having already dropped one in the second sentence above), says the latest Road Trips entry will be pressed on 180-gram black vinyl – whatever that may be, it seems to be important – and include inserts with graphics from the original 2000 CD release. The vinyl run is being limited to 4,500, and each copy will be hand-numbered.
“With the release of Wake of the Flood just a few days prior, Vol. 19 finds the band invigorated with a wealth of fresh material to explore, highlighted by stellar renditions of ‘Stella Blue’ and ‘Eyes of the World,’” the press release says.
Um, yeah.
The “Stella -> Eyes” from this night is a classic pairing long celebrated among Dead tape collectors as worthy entries for “best ever” versions of each song. Also of note from this show is the band’s foray through Dark Star -> Mind Left Body Jam -> Morning Dew, and that night’s version of Playing in the Band – all must-hears for any serious fan of the Grateful Dead who has not already listened to their fall 1973 stop in Oklahoma.
Roads Trips Vol. 4 also is a well-known Dead show, performed at San Francisco’s Winterland Arena during the fall of 1978 following their return from playing at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
The two-CD release highlights performances curated from the final two nights of the five-night Winterland run and includes noteworthy renditions of Not Fade Away -> Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad featuring Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina sitting in, and Got My Mojo Workin’ -> The Other One -> Stella Blue -> Sugar Magnolia featuring War harmonica player Leee Oskar.
The highlight of this release is the Dead’s newly-minted pairing of Scarlet Begonia’s -> Fire On the Mountain — a barn-burner for sure and a classic version from the band’s often-celebrated 1978 shows, which singer/guitarist Bob Weir once described as night’s where the band was pretty certain “to achieve lift-off.”
So, that’s something to sort of look forward to this March and April.
