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Wade “Wyllys” Wilby shares a mix from his set opening for the Disco Biscuits at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ back on May 8… I always jump at the

If you gave us a chance to sing Hunger Strike with Pearl Jam in front of a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden, we’d probably freak out, screw up

It’s time the next installment  in the ever-popular and ever-expanding Stormy Mondays Acoustic Mix Series. This is Volume VI if you’re keeping track at home, kicking off with Jorma Kaukonen

Last month we shared a killer Grateful Dead compilation put together by HT reader Joe Kolbenschlag called Steel Cut Oats which pieced together highlights from the band’s 1972 run at the historic Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Today, we’ve got the next installment which features the best moments from three nights of shows at The Ark in Boston on April 21-23, 1969.

Steel Cut Oats #6 : Raiding The Ark

Grateful Dead, April 21, 22, & 23, 1969, The Ark, Boston, Massachusetts

I: Morning Dew, Schoolgirl, Doin’ That Rag, Top Of The World, Cryptical > Drums > Other One > Cryptical > Death Don’t Have No Mercy

II: Dupree’s > Mountains Of The Moon > Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight, Alligator > Drums > Jam > The Eleven > Caution > Feedback > Bid You Goodnight

E: Viola Lee Blues > Feedback

• CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD STEEL CUT OATS #6

Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight. More often than not, this hallowed suite of music is associated with the versions found on the Grateful Dead’s first live album, Live/Dead. The 16-track recordings that comprise the core of the Live/Dead material were recorded in San Francisco during four shows at the corners of Market and South Van Ness on the last two nights of February and first two nights of March 1969. A well-rounded batch of shows from the same year are also classics – check out 2.22, 6.7, 11.8, and 12.12 – but, without question, to my ears, the month of April showcases the most consistent block of shows of the year.

For several reasons, I present Steel Cut Oats #6 – a compilation of April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, 1969, from The Ark in Boston, Massachusetts. April 22nd features one of the most thrilling Mountains Of The Moon > Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight suites of all time – this sequence is worthy of the Rhino Road Trips treatment, not to mention an addition of just about any other selection from those three nights would be suitable as a multi-disc set. There’s plenty to be culled from these shows, including an extremely passionate reading, and what I consider to be the definitive version of Death Don’t Have No Mercy – a track that certainly could not be overlooked in the context of a Live/Dead discussion.

READ ON for more of Joe’s essay on the Grateful Dead @ The Ark…