The Fillmore East shows
On February 11, 13, and 14, 1970, the Grateful Dead — along with the Allman Brothers Band and Love — performed at Bill Graham's Fillmore East auditorium in New York City. The February 13 and February 14 Dead shows were widely regarded as among the band's best concerts, even before the release of Dick's Picks Volume 4. In addition to the evidence offered by Bear's Choice, high quality soundboard bootlegs of the concerts had been in circulation for quite some time. In a 1993 poll of Grateful Dead tape traders, based on the concert recordings then in circulation, the 2/13/70 show was ranked #2 on the list of all-time favorite Dead tapes, and 2/14/70 was #17. (The May 8, 1977, concert at Cornell University's Barton Hall received the top ranking.) The same poll rated the 2/13/70 versions of "Dark Star", "The Other One", and "Turn On Your Love Light" as the best ever. (The "Dark Star" played on August 27, 1972, in Veneta, Oregon, was ranked #2. The February 27, 1969, version from the Fillmore West, included in Live/Dead , was #9.) [2]
Selections from the Allman Brothers Band's performances at this set of concerts were released as the album Fillmore East, February 1970 .
Enclosure and liner notes
Dick's Picks Volume 4 is the first release in the series to include an enclosure. Consisting of a single sheet of paper folded into thirds, it is six pages long and about the same size as the CD case.
The front page duplicates the cover of the CD and the back shows a photo of the venue. On the inside, the first page lists the contents of and credits for the release and next to that is a full-page black-and-white photograph of the band performing. The last two pages contain liner notes. [3]
Liner notes by Bear
The liner notes were written by Owsley "Bear" Stanley, who recorded the show. This short essay briefly reviews the place these shows hold in the band's history and spends some time discussing the sound equipment the band used at the time.
Bear writes that the PA system "worked pretty well most of the time" but that "Monitors continued to be a vexation until 1978." He goes on to describe the system used for the shows in some detail to "help those technically inclined to understand why this recording sounds the way it does."
Following these technical notes, the author goes on to make some personal observations, noting that "Taping was just something that I always did and the performance was always more important than getting the tape right." He then mentions that the Allman Brothers also played during these shows, and "Everyone was having a real good time."
Bear closes with some nostalgic musings, stating that "Listening to these tapes again after so many years was a real treat for me, remembering what a good time we all had in those early days of youth and hijinks." [4]
Critical reception
Dick's Picks Volume 4 received a rating of five stars out of five from Rolling Stone , The Music Box magazine, and Allmusic.
Greg Kot of Rolling Stone wrote, "But when the early Dead were at their best, few American bands were better in concert. Exhibit A is Volume Four, which culls highlights from two masterly 1970 performances at the Fillmore East. Here the full range of the band's arsenal is represented: the luminous 'Dark Star', a raging 'Not Fade Away', the sheer nastiness of McKernan on his showpiece, 'Turn On Your Love Light'." [8]
In The Music Box, John Metzger said, "I don't think I need to tell anyone about the performance of the Grateful Dead on February 13 – 14, 1970, as these have long been fan favorites.... If you have never heard the February 13 performance of Dark Star / That's It for the Other One / Lovelight, you must be living in a cave or have never seen the Grateful Dead. It's one of the most amazing performances they ever did. Over 90 minutes of pure bliss that is sure to convert the unconverted." [9]
William Ruhlmann of Allmusic wrote, "It isn't just the set list that makes this a legendary show, it's the playing: amazing interaction among the players on every song, with Garcia noodling his way to nirvana. While it would be an exaggeration to say that if you own this three-CD, three-hour-and-ten-minute album you have all you need of the Grateful Dead on disc, the overstatement is only slight." [10]
On Jambands.com, Dan Alford wrote, "This performance really needs no introduction; it's one of the most famous two night stands in the Grateful Dead's history, and if you don't think 5/8/77 is the best GD performance, it's possible you think 2/13/70 is.... Easily one of the best moments of the 30 year trip." [11]
Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings is a 10-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains four complete concerts recorded on February 27, February 28, March 1, and March 2, 1969, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. The album was remixed from the original 16-track concert soundboard tapes. It was released as a box set in November 2005, in a limited edition of 10,000 copies.
Dick's Picks Volume 22 is a two-CD album by the rock group the Grateful Dead, the 22nd installment of the live archival release series. It documents portions of the concerts on February 23 and 24, 1968, at the Kings Beach Bowl in Kings Beach, California. It was released in June 2001.
Live at the Fillmore East 2-11-69 is a double live album by the Grateful Dead recorded during the Live/Dead tour on February 11, 1969, at the Fillmore East in New York City. The first disc represents the early show that night, the second the late show. The Dead opened for Janis Joplin. This album contains the first Grateful Dead CD release of the Beatles' "Hey Jude".
View from the Vault, Volume Two is the second entry in the "View from the Vault" series by the Grateful Dead. It was released simultaneously as a three-disk CD and a one-disk DVD. This volume features the June 14, 1991 concert at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C., and bonus material from a show at the same venue on July 12, 1990. It is the only Grateful Dead video release featuring Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby.
Rockin' the Rhein with the Grateful Dead is a Grateful Dead triple live album released in 2004. It was recorded April 24, 1972, at "Rheinhallen", in the German town of Düsseldorf, during the band's European tour of 1972. The complete concert is included, but the order of the tracks on the CD was altered to fit the show on three discs, while preserving groups of segued tracks.
Dick's Picks Volume 2 is the second live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on Halloween night in 1971 at the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. The album consists of the second set of the concert. It was released in March 1995, the last Grateful Dead album to be released before the death of Jerry Garcia.
Dick's Picks Volume 8 is the eighth live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 2, 1970, at Harpur College in Binghamton, New York. It was released in mid-1997.
Dick's Picks Volume 16 is the 16th live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 8, 1969 at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California. It contains the first live performance of "Cumberland Blues". There is a monologue by someone not in the band during the song "Caution" shortly before the segue to "The Main Ten," who has never been definitively identified.
Dick's Picks Volume 26 is the 26th installment of the Grateful Dead's archival series. It was recorded on April 26, 1969 at the Electric Theater in Chicago, Illinois and on April 27, 1969 at the Labor Temple in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It contains a rare cover of the Jimmy Reed song, "I Know It's a Sin".
Dick's Picks Volume 28 is an album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Released on four CDs on April 20, 2003, it is the 28th installment of the Dick's Picks archival series. It was principally recorded February 26, 1973 at the Pershing Municipal Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska, and February 28, 1973 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dick's Picks Volume 35 is the 35th installment of the Dick's Pick's series of Grateful Dead concert recordings. It is a four-CD set that contains the complete shows recorded on August 7, 1971 at Golden Hall in San Diego, California, and on August 24, 1971 at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. It also includes bonus tracks from August 6, 1971, at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California.
Road Trips Volume 2 Number 2 is a two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The sixth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was the first to contain a complete concert—the February 14, 1968, show at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco, California. Bonus material on Disc 1, as well as the bonus disc offered to early purchasers, comes from the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service "Tour of the Great Pacific Northwest", immediately preceding the Carousel Ballroom show. The album was released on March 21, 2009.
Road Trips Volume 3 Number 2 is two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The tenth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was released on February 24, 2010. It contains the complete concert recorded on November 15, 1971, at Austin Memorial Auditorium in Austin, Texas. This concert was the 16th concert after Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead on piano. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan did not perform at this or any of the October and November, 1971 concerts due to poor health.
Road Trips Volume 3 Number 3 is a live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. Recorded on May 15, 1970, and released on June 14, 2010, it was the 11th of the "Road Trips" series of albums, and the first to contain three discs instead of two.
Dave's Picks Volume 3 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on October 22, 1971 at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, with bonus tracks from the previous night's show at the same venue. It was released on August 1, 2012.
Dave's Picks Volume 6 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains two complete concerts: one from December 20, 1969, at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco and the second from February 2, 1970, at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. It was produced as a limited edition of 13,000 numbered copies, and was released on May 1, 2013.
Dave's Picks Volume 10 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on December 12, 1969, at the Thelma music venue in Los Angeles, California. It was produced as a limited edition of 14,000 numbered copies, and was released on May 1, 2014.
Dave's Picks Volume 14 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead containing the concert recorded March 26, 1972 at the Academy of Music in New York City It was released on May 1, 2015 as a limited edition of 16,500 numbered copies. Recorded during a seven-day run at the venue, the shows were the final American Grateful Dead shows before the Europe '72 tour commenced.
Dave's Picks Volume 30 is a 3-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete early and late shows recorded on January 2, 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York City, along with five songs from the band's performances at the same venue the following night. It was released on May 3, 2019 in a limited edition of 20,000 copies.
Dave's Picks Volume 43 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 2, 1969 at the Family Dog at the Great Highway in San Francisco, California, and on December 26, 1969 at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in University Park, Texas. It was released on July 29, 2022, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
