(LP) Grateful Dead - Dick’s Picks Vol. 12: Providence Civic Center & Boston Garden 1974 (6LP Box Set)

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August 9th, 2024. 6LP 180g Hardshell Numbered Box Set

When we were offered the most welcome opportunity of choosing another “virgin” (as in never released on vinyl before) volume from the Dick’s Picks catalog, we did our Dead diligence, combing through the many chat rooms online to see which one the fans really wanted to see come out on LP. It will come as no surprise that opinions were varied and vehement…but a consensus emerged that Dick’s Picks Vol. 12—Providence Civic Center 6/26/74 & Boston Garden 6/28/74 was the one. Which is interesting, because that Pick is a little different, combining the second sets of two different nights instead of offering a single show. But it’s the exception that proves the rule—the playing is so extraordinary, and the repertoire so unusual, that one can understand why Dick Latvala played more curator than archivist here. Side A picks up the second set from Providence three songs in, featuring a short jam that leads into what many have labeled the most extraordinary live version of “China Cat Sunflower” ever recorded, complete with a sublime transition (“Mud Love Buddy Jam” a.k.a. “Mind Left Body Jam”) into “I Know You Rider.” The revelatory moments continue throughout the Providence set, highlighted by a dazzling, 15-minute “Spanish Jam.” But the second set of the Boston show—which appears here complete, after a superb encore performance of “Eyes of the World” from Providence—is the one that has passed into legend among Dead fans (a performance of Phil Lesh and Ned Lagin’s electronic music piece “Seastones” provides an appropriately adventurous interlude). The set boasts one of the most renowned live jams of the band’s career, a flawless, 14-minute “Weather Report Suite: Prelude/Pt. 1/Pt. 2-Let It Grow” leading into a 27-minute “Jam” that is simply one of the most far-ranging, telepathic improvisations ever played by, well, anybody. That this set also includes a separation of the “Sunshine Daydream” section from “Sugar Magnolia” for only the second time ever is just gravy.

TRACKLIST:

A1. Jam    
A2. China Cat Sunflower    
A3. Mind Left Body Jam    
A4. I Know You Rider    

B1. Beer Barrel Polka    
B2. Truckin'    
B3. Other One Jam    

C1. Spanish Jam    

D1. Wharf Rat     
D2. Sugar Magnolia   

E1. Eyes Of The World    
E2. Seastones   

F1. Sugar Magnolia    
F2. Scarlet Begonias    
F3. Big River    

G1. To Lay Me Down  
G2. Me & My Uncle    
G3. Row Jimmy    

Weather Report Suite    (15:09)
H1. Prelude    
H2. Part 1    
H3. Part 2 Let It Grow
    
I1. Jam

J1. Jam 
J2. U.S. Blues 

K1. Promised Land 
K2. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad 
K3. Sunshine Daydream   
K4. Ship Of Fools   

* Side L is etched