Grateful Dead Announce Dave’s Picks Vol. 3 – October 22, 1971 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

When keyboardist Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead for the band’s Fall ’71 tour, he changed the group’s sound significantly with his barrel-house performance style that gave new life to their tunes. Godchaux hit the ground running as many of the shows from that first tour were outstanding. Yet, over the past 20 years only two performances from that fabled tour have been officially released by the band. With the release of Dave’s Picks Volume 3, featuring the complete October 22, 1971 concert from Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre on two discs, with a third disc containing highlights from the previous night, we’ll soon get to hear a fully remastered recording from Fall ’71.

While much of this collection shows off the beautiful tunes the Dead had just written for Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, the heart of Dave’s Picks Volume 3 is a beast of a That’s It For The Other One that runs 29 minutes as well as a fantastic Dark Star. There’s also a rare pre-hiatus take on St. Stephen with Godchaux on keys, one of only three performed with Keith before the tune got shelved.

The Dead are only pressing 12,000 copies of this new release, so if you want in, head over to Dead.net and place an order ASAP. Listen to samples here.