Just received this e-mail...the sad thing about it, is that the preorder 'enticement' is not a bonus disc, but a 10%-off the $20.00 price. Sign O' The Times... but it does look interesting...


Whether or not the fabled spring tour of 1977 was, as many Dead Heads believe, the strongest Grateful Dead tour ever, it was unquestionably a magical time stuffed-to-overflowing with amazing shows. Say the word “Cornell” to any hardcore Head and it means one thing—the 5/8/77 show at Barton Hall on the august school’s campus. But there were numerous other stops on the tour that produced monster shows, as well, from the five-night run at the Palladium in New York, to the incredible Fox Theatre in Atlanta (5/19 was part of the two-show Dick’s Picks #29), to the two Florida shows—Lakeland and Pembroke Pines (Dick’s Picks #29 and Dick’s Picks #1, respectively)—Tuscaloosa, Richmond… the tour was a scorcher from beginning to end.

What was up? Well, by the spring of ’77, the Dead had been back on the road for nearly a year following their famous performing hiatus, so Mickey Hart was thoroughly re-integrated into the band, and the septet was hitting a new stride. There was a handful of great new songs being integrated into the repertoire, including Garcia and Hunter’s complex, epic “Terrapin Station” suite, Weir and John Barlow’s cool, off-kilter reggae tune “Estimated Prophet,” and Phil and Peter Monk’s rollicking “Passenger.” Those songs would form the core of the album that the Dead were recording in the winter of ’77 with producer Keith Olsen down in Los Angeles. Olsen was a sharp guy with good ears (as they say in the biz), and he worked the Dead hard in the studio, forcing them to play perhaps a bit more precisely than they were accustomed to. Now, one can endlessly debate whether the result of Olsen’s approach was ultimately an album that was a tad too precise—a criticism even the band leveled at Terrapin Station—but all the laboring over parts and arrangements in the studio seemed to have an extremely positive impact on how the band played live that spring.

Which brings us to Hartford, Connecticut on the night of May 28, 1977—the final night of this Tour for the Ages, and the source of our latest release, To Terrapin. You’d never know from listening to this show that the band had been on the road for more than a month and 25 previous concerts, because it has that sparkle and intensity the band only had when it was fresh, feelin’ good and in full exploration mode. From the rippin’ “Bertha” > “Good Lovin’” > “Sugaree” trifecta opening, through the spectacular second set sequence comprised of “Playing in the Band,” a brisk and buoyant “Terrapin,” a fantastic one-of-a-kind “Not Fade Away,” “Wharf Rat,” and the “Playing reprise.” Definitely the band at its best!

So, why put this out now? Why the hell not? And what’s with all the questions? Just enjoy it. OK, aside from it being a classic show worthy of release, we thought it might be fun to revisit a concert played in one of the venues The Dead are hitting this spring on their tour—that would be the Hartford Civic (now the XL Center) on 4/26/09… why, that’s the 31-year, 11-month, 2-day anniversary show of this epic ’77 show! Anyway, this three-disc complete show release has been lovingly mastered to HDCD specs from the original reel-to-reel tapes by Jeffrey Norman utilizing the usual array of mysterious black boxes and sonic tools unavailable to us mere mortals. Artist Scott McDougal, who’s done such a bang-up job for us on the Road Trips series, has designed a beautiful package, and the always erudite Gary Lambert has contributed a fine essay which is accompanied by glorious photos of the band in Hartford in 1977. And because we know that in these tough economic times everyone could use a bargain, we’re offering To Terrapin at the very low price of $17.98 for all pre-orders placed on dead.net before the April 7th release date. That’s $2 under the suggested retail price. For the complete track listing and ordering info, click here.

Celebrate the Dead's final exclamation point on the legendary Spring '77 tour, all captured here from start to finish, in pristine HDCD audio. TO TERRAPIN catches the guys at the top of their game, unleashing a slew of new tunes that would "officially" debut two months later as part of TERRAPIN STATION.

Standout tracks include an especially sweet “Sugaree” that clocks in at over 21 minutes of bliss. The explorations inside the transitions are magical throughout, and one particularly mind-blowing moment comes between “Not Fade Away” and “Wharf Rat.”

There’s something very special about the energy level here. It stays high from the moment they hit the stage, to clear through the encore. It’s no wonder so many Dead Heads will point to this night in Hartford as one of the “best EVER!”



DISC 1
1. Bertha>
2. Good Lovin'>
3. Sugaree
4. Jack Straw
5. Row Jimmy

DISC 2
1. New New Minglewood Blues
2. Candyman
3. Passenger
4. Brown Eyed Women
5. Promised Land
6. Samson and Delilah
7. Tennessee Jed

DISC 3
1. Estimated Prophet>
2. Playing In the Band>
3. Terrapin Station>
4. Drums>
5. Not Fade Away>
6. Wharf Rat>
7. Playing In the Band
8. One More Saturday Night
9. U.S. Blues

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TW2S9E/?tag=imwan-20

Off the top of my head I don't think we've had a really top sound quality release from 1977, even though we've had a number of Dicks Pick's, Road Trips etc from that year. This is definitely one I'll be picking up, but when? A bonus disc is enough to get my preorder in every time, but a $2 discount?

I guess there's a good chance that they don't want to use any material from this tour up on a bonus disc hence the discount.

I'm not sure I'll be pre ordering, but we'll see if they came up with some further enticement after the initial announcement, it wouldn't be the first time.

Yeah, I'm not doing a preorder on something that won't have a bonus disc and will be available in shops. It won't be much of a savings for this Canadian boy.

No bonus disc? I'll wait to get it on the street or online cheaper.I would jump on it if they released a Cornell U Barton Hall bonus disc! BTW, I have a Charlie Miller remaster of this that sounds pretty awesome.It is a smokin' show.

My GD collection of CDs started at zero in 2003. By now 2009 I have over 200. And I can say there is not many dudd shows apart from a few in the 1980s where things went a bit iffy.

I'll be getting this show when available in Australia.

What a great set list!!!!! There are only 2 or 3 that are not in my top Dead favs. IF the performance is tight, I'll want this one.

It looks like this will be a general release, not a gdm production.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TW2S9E/?tag=imwan-20

$15???! I need to remember to nab this before the release date!

Current Amazon is cheaper than Dead.net.

Just picked this up on sale at a local independent record store. It sounds terrific. The "Sugaree" is one of the best versions I have heard. "Brown Eyed Woman" is steller. This comes from one of the best stretches of Dead (May, 77), but this one is special.

I came across this at Best Buy last night. 14.99 stickered, rang up for 16.99, but they honored the price. Plan on listening to today. (Was going for the N Young disc, since its on sale, but figure this will be used pretty quick). Also snatched the new Hold Steady Live Cd/dvd combo - 11.99 sale price at BB.

Wow! This is a heckuva release! Definately one of those "if I'm only going to get a few releases"... Now this is said by listening only to 1/2 the first disc so far, but I have to echo hbbfam's praise for the Sugaree. Monster.

I will be buying this one in the next couple days.

I've listened to about a disc & a half so far. The Music is awesome. My one complaint is the sound; it's the most "modern sounding" mix I've ever heard from the Dead. Lots of reverb & it sounds to me like they went for a significant amount of compression. This is the most shrill sounding Dead official release I've ever heard.

I wonder if Rhino is the cause?

I don't think Rhino is the cause. The CD was mastered by Jeffrey Norman, who mastered many a Dead CD since long before Rhino took physical possession of the vault.


Some of the Spring 77 tapes have quite a bit of reverb on them - my Dead in Cornell boot is bathed in it.

I wish I could comment on the release but mine hasn't shipped yet and I can't get the GD store to respond to my e-mail. They've cut off the old customer service phone number so I'm just in limbo. This happened once before. They made an error with my credit card and never told me there was a problem. That time I just got on the phone and it was handled very easily. This is going on six days without a response. Say what you will, I never had this problem when the hippies were driving the bus.

Jeffrey screwed around (reverb) with '69 Fillmore West Box set. I like the sdb's that went around before it was released. They need to stop playing around with sound and do flat transfers.