Grateful Dead acoustic sets beyond Reckoning?
I recently got addicted to Reckoning, and I was wondering, are there good acoustic sets by the Dead out there? Which ones are your favorites?
Posted Feb 5, 2023, 2:29 PM UTC
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Just Jerry and John Kahn but 5-5-82 Oregon state penitentiary is rad!
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I saw the 6/5/82 Garcia/Kahn acoustic show at South Eugene High School auditorium that summer.
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That’s awesome whenever I go to Sundance I think about that show
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[deleted]
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It’s the nicest, and I believe the oldest natural food store in Eugene next to the high school.
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They played an acoustic set at the Mill Valley Rec Center around the time Reckoning was recorded. It was a benefit for kids with Muscular Dystrophy and is a terrific performance with some good stage/audience banter:
https://archive.org/details/gd80-12-06.cantor.clugston.5478.sbeok.shnf/gd80-12-06t01.shn
A guy I went to high school with happened to be walking in Mill Valley that day and heard the Dead's music coming out of a building; he went inside and caught the show.
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Def scour 70 and 80 . But here's a fun modern show
https://archive.org/details/1994-09-24.paf.sbd.zelner-vernon.14071.sbeok.flacf
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Lazy river so good acoustic
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Phil lesh & friends - 9/24/94
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How early was Phil doing his own solo shows? I always assumed Phil & Friends came after the dissolution of the original group.
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[deleted]
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1970-09-20 New York, NY @ Fillmore East
Set 1: Uncle John's Band, Deep Elem Blues, Friend Of The Devil, Big Railroad Blues, Dark Hollow, Ripple, To Lay Me Down, Truckin', Rosalie McFall, Cumberland Blues, New Speedway Boogie, Brokedown Palace
Set 2: Together Again
Set 3: Casey Jones, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider, Candyman, Sittin' On Top Of The World, Big Boy Pete, Me and My Uncle, Easy Wind, Sugar Magnolia, Attics Of My Life, Mama Tried, Drums > Not Fade Away > Bid You Goodnight Jam > Jam > Not Fade Away > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Feedback > And We Bid You Good Night
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There’s an acoustic set from 11/17/78 that’s really nice. Sound quality is iffy at best but the band is definitely having fun, and there’s some rarities and songs they wouldn’t play until much later in their career
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Not GD, but when the first version of The Dead (Weir, Bill, Mick, Herring, Barraco, Chimenti, Osborne) toured, for one show and one show only - Jones Beach - they did an acoustic set. Really nice versions of Blackbird, Mountains of the Moon, UJB and a few others. Check it out on the Archive if it's there.
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Early 70s.
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Dont expect them to be as polished as Reckoning.
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There’s a double LP from the Warfield which is really beautiful, and gives you a sense of how the same songs can be played with vastly different vibes in a very short span.
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4/18/70
Very unique show with lots of interesting history to read up on. A solo performance by Pigpen at the end of the set is a rare gem 💚
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1970-04-18 San Francisco, CA @ Family Dog at the Great Highway
Set 1: Don't Ease Me In, Silver Threads And Golden Needle, Friend Of The Devil, Deep Elem Blues, Wake Up Little Susie, Candyman > Cumberland Blues, New Speedway Boogie, Me and My Uncle, Mama Tried, Katie Mae, The Rub, Roberta, Walk Down The Street, Flood
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Ooh just listened to 9/20/70 yesterday. Very good acoustic set.
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1970-09-20 New York, NY @ Fillmore East
Set 1: Uncle John's Band, Deep Elem Blues, Friend Of The Devil, Big Railroad Blues, Dark Hollow, Ripple, To Lay Me Down, Truckin', Rosalie McFall, Cumberland Blues, New Speedway Boogie, Brokedown Palace
Set 2: Together Again
Set 3: Casey Jones, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider, Candyman, Sittin' On Top Of The World, Big Boy Pete, Me and My Uncle, Easy Wind, Sugar Magnolia, Attics Of My Life, Mama Tried, Drums > Not Fade Away > Bid You Goodnight Jam > Jam > Not Fade Away > Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) > Feedback > And We Bid You Good Night
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05-14-70 RT 3.3 Bonus Disc, Kirkwood, Missouri, acoustic set
05-15-70 RT 3.3 Fillmore East, 2 acoustic sets
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1970-05-14 Kirkwood, MO @ Meramec Community College
Set 1: Intro, Don't Ease Me In, Friend Of The Devil, Deep Elem Blues, Silver Threads And Golden Needle, Candyman, Tuning
Set 2: Six Days On The Road, Whatcha Gonna Do, Brown Eyed Handsome Man, I Don't Know You, Cecilia, Can't Pay The Price, Henry, Henry, Garden Of Eden, Fair Chance To Know, Last Lonely Eagle, Lodi, Honky Tonk Women False Start, The Weight
Set 3: Intro, Casey Jones, China Cat Sunflower > Jam > I Know You Rider, Mama Tried > High Time, Drums > Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Me and My Uncle, Dire Wolf, Cold Rain and Snow, Attics Of My Life, Cumberland Blues, New Speedway Boogie > Nobody's Fault But Mine Jam > New Speedway Boogie > Saint Stephen > Not Fade Away > Turn On Your Lovelight
Encore: Cold Jordan
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Almoat all the shows where NRPS performed between sets starts acoustic. That's easy way to search for them on archive.
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Warfield… so good and mellow.
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This is from “Back Stage Pass.” I’ve always absolutely loved it and thought you might enjoy as well.
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10/16/81. Both this and the previous night in Amsterdam are on YouTube to watch. They played on rented equipment
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1981-10-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
Set 1: On The Road Again, Dire Wolf, Monkey And The Engineer, Bird Song, Cassidy, Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie, The Race Is On, Ripple
Set 2: Playing in the Band > Hully Gully > The Wheel > Samson And Delilah, Gloria > Turn On Your Lovelight > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Playing in the Band > Black Peter > Sugar Magnolia
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10 13 80
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1980-10-13 San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
Set 1: On The Road Again, Bird Song, El Paso, To Lay Me Down, Heaven Help The Fool, Jack-A-Roe, The Race Is On, Deep Elem Blues, Ripple
Set 2: Sugaree > New Minglewood Blues, Peggy-O, C.C. Rider, Big Railroad Blues, Lazy Lightnin' > Supplication > Deal
Set 3: Cold Rain and Snow, Jam > Samson And Delilah, Ship Of Fools, Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance > Drums > Space > He's Gone > The Other One > Stella Blue > Around And Around > Johnny B. Goode
Encore: Casey Jones
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Oops meant 10 31 80
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1980-10-31 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Set 1: Heaven Help The Fool, Sage And Spirit, Little Sadie, Monkey And The Engineer, It Must Have Been The Roses, Cassidy, Bird Song > Ripple
Set 2: Jack Straw, Cold Rain and Snow, Me and My Uncle > Mexicali Blues, Ramble On Rose > Little Red Rooster, Brown Eyed Women > Looks Like Rain > Deal
Set 3: Don't Ease Me In > Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance > Franklin's Tower > Drums > Space > Fire On The Mountain > Not Fade Away > Stella Blue > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Good Lovin'
Encore: Uncle John's Band
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5/15/70 is generally my go to.
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They played a ton of acoustic sets in 1970. I highly recommend 5/2/70, also released as Dick’s Picks 8. It’s got an awesome acoustic set, plus an equally-awesome electric one to boot!
1970-05-02 Binghamton, NY @ Harpur College - State University Of New York
Acoustic: Tuning, Don't Ease Me In, I Know You Rider, Friend Of The Devil, Dire Wolf, Beat It On Down the Line > Black Peter > Candyman > Cumberland Blues, Deep Elem Blues, Cold Jordan, Uncle John's Band
Set 1: Workin' Man Blues, Watcha Gonna Do, Glendale Train, Brown Eyed Handsome Man, Truck Drivin' Man, Can't Pay The Price, All I Ever Wanted, Henry, Lodi, Intro, Sawmill, The Race Is On, Mama Tried, Me and My Uncle, The Weight
Set 2: Saint Stephen > Cryptical Envelopment > Drums > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Cosmic Charlie, Casey Jones, Drums > Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Cold Rain and Snow, It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World, Dancing In The Street
Set 3: Morning Dew, Viola Lee Blues > Feedback > And We Bid You Good Night
archive.org | Spotify
Cold Jordon is the highlight of this set for me.
Best UJB ever
Spot on.