Three hours of prime Grateful Dead circa 1976, at their New Years's Eve performance at the Cow Palace in California, featuring plenty of Dead staples and no shortage of exploratory jams. Many hardcore fans will no doubt have already heard this show, as tapes of this splendid show have been circulating around for quite some time, but here the show is presented in pristine audio quality, sprawled across three CD's with all the trimmings.
Seeing as this is a mid-70's recording, there were many elements colliding together this particular night. The band were in the midst of transitioning from their jazzy, folky stage to a more funky and rock oriented sound, so you get a little of everything here, but for the most part this is all upbeat and lighthearted stuff from start to finish. While some of the tracks tend to meander a bit (then again, that's the Dead isn't it?), look for mindblowing, epic renditions of classics like "Scarlet Begonias" (Jerry Garcia's lengthy guitar solo is delightful here), "Playing in the Band", "Eyes of the World", and a fun "Sugar Magnolia". Good rockin' can be heard on their covers of "Good Lovin' " & "Morning Dew", and the band gets down to some funky licks on "Around and Around". Garcia's tasty fusion leads permeate the dark funk-rock of "Help on the Way", and "Slipknot!" is almost like Santana meets Weather Report. Like I mentioned earlier, plenty of jazzy jams abound on this set!
Overall, there's lots of music to dig into here, and it's good fun. Honestly, you don't need to be a fanatical Dead-head to appreciate a live recording like this, so if you like cool grooves and lots of soaring instrumental passages, check this live Grateful Dead CD out. Chances are you will dig it and be in the market for more, and this band has plenty more available.
Track Listing
Disc: 1
1. Promised Land
2. Bertha
3. Mama Tried
4. They Love Each Other
5. Looks Like Rain
6. Deal
7. Playing in the Band
Disc: 2
1. Sugar Magnolia
2. Eyes of the World
3. Wharf Rat
4. Good Lovin'
5. Samson & Delilah
6. Scarlet Begonias
Disc: 3
1. Around and Around
2. Help on the Way
3. Slipknot!
4. Drums
5. Not Fade Away
6. Morning Dew
7. One More Saturday Night
8. Uncle John's Band
9. We Bid You Goodnight
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