Dick's Picks, Vol. 14: Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA, 11/30/73 & 12/2/73 [Live]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
One of the odder collections in the Dick's Picks series, this four-disc set includes most of the music played on the first and last nights of a three-night run at Boston Music Hall in late fall 1973. With Donna Godchaux off the road to give birth, the band was back down to a quintet, and they're mostly found here in a mellow and airy vibe. Many of the tunes are taken at slower tempos than some fans may be used to--with the exception of "They Love Each Other," which is done here in a seldom-heard peppy style with additional verses that didn't make the final cut. There's some duplication of material as well, though you can't argue with any of the performances. --Marc Greilsamer

Tracks:

Morning Dew
Mexicali Blues
Dire Wolf
Black-Throated Wind
Don't Ease Me In
Big River
They Love Each Other
Playing In The Band

Tracks:

Here Comes Sunshine
Weather Report Suite
Dark Star Jam
Eyes Of The World
Sugar Magnolia

Tracks:

Cold Rain & Snow
Beat It On Down The Line
Brown-Eyed Woman / The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down / Beer Barrel Polka
Jack Straw
Ramble On Rose
Weather Report Suite
Wharf Rat
Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

Tracks:

Playing In The Band
Jam
He's Gone
Truckin'
Stella Blue
Morning Dew

Amazon.com

One of the odder collections in the Dick's Picks series, this four-disc set includes most of the music played on the first and last nights of a three-night run at Boston Music Hall in late fall 1973. With Donna Godchaux off the road to give birth, the band was back down to a quintet, and they're mostly found here in a mellow and airy vibe. Many of the tunes are taken at slower tempos than some fans may be used to--with the exception of "They Love Each Other," which is done here in a seldom-heard peppy style with additional verses that didn't make the final cut. There's some duplication of material as well, though you can't argue with any of the performances. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

No MIDI, No Donna and two Dews, What's not to love?.......2007-05-27

I don't get the bad reviews on this. Sure if you want quintessential 73 listen to disc three of Dick's Picks 19 but these are still good shows. Both of the closing sets are great and disc three which is the first set of the last night and the one I grab for the most often has great versions Cold Rain and Snow, Jack Straw and one of my favorite versions of Wharf Rat. There is a trippy version of Eyes on disc two and the gorgeous Jam (feedback into Mind Body Jam) into Stella Blue and Dew on disc four is worth the price of the set alone.

Whelmed, Wildered, and Gruntled.......2006-08-01

When picking a bootleg or dick's pick, it's usually the set list that gets me excited, motivates me, helps me pick what I want to listen to. But of course that's a little bit of a decoy. Any song the Dead play can be miraculous if it is one of those magical nights, and any song can be demoralizing on one of those other nights or an off set. The real sign of a good show is when I'm under-whelmed by the set list but find myself surprised at how absorbed I get in the show. Listening to the beginning of disc 2, from the November 30th, '73 night I assume, when I found myself really captivated by a Here Comes Sunshine into Weather Report Suite parts one and two (not among my top fifty favorite dead songs), I knew this was a special show. The Dark Star, Eyes, and Sugar Mag were icing. Disc 3 has another patch with a Weather Report Suite into Wharf Rat, from a few nights later, and it's not a problem. We also get a great Disc 4, with Playing in the Band dissolving into a particularly spacey jam, holding tension but staying afloat. That feeling again: Relax, I know it seems confusing, but the band is here absorb the confusion and spin some threads to the multi-pronged signposts of gratification, which doesn't mean anything in particular but they are still playing, so it must, don't worry, they've been here before, just keep listening and you'll emerge out the other side no worse for wear. Good stuff. These were mellow outings for the Dead, but it's a little bit of a lazy couple of shows, with chunky pauses and directionless noodling at times, but good music for getting lost and found.

Not the greatest, not the most exciting, but nice entrancing ambient Dead.

Also, Donna is not there for these shows, evidently on maternity leave. Besides the absence of her annoying wailing, perhaps her absence also freed up the band to broader the spacey jams into new places. I know I pick on Donna, but she deserves it, her singing is really, really bad, and it is very embarrassing that the Dead let her sing for as long as they did. Her voice mars the best years of the Dead's playing, so to have a live CD from the Donna years, minus Donna singing, is a treat. Deadheads should buy this CD just to support the release of more from this all too short Donna-less interval.

a great collection from two nights.......2004-04-08

Many are dismissive of this Pick and I suggest that they could not be more wrong. Yes, the music has an overall mellowness to it and is mostly laid back, but there is brilliance in the delivery at every turn.

First, the booklet notes explain that, incredibly, the band's itinerary was confused, causing the band to almost miss its Nov. 30 show. As it was they showed up late for it! Thus, the first song here, Morning Dew, was a sort of sound check for the band. The entire first cd has lots of between song chatter, which I like, and by the time of Dire Wolf and Black Throated Wind (BTW), the hour is late, the band has a "what the hell" attitude and the mellowness is contagious. I'm no fan of BTW and I think that this may be the best recording of it I've heard. The first set closes with PlayingITB and because Donna is on maternity leave, it is a very enjoyable ending to cd one.

CD two has the excellent Here Comes Sunshine and Eyes of the World, but here the songs, which at this time are very new, lack a certain focus that the band applied later, especially to Eyees. Both arre used as spacce out jam fests (especially Eyes) and they lose some of their energy, if not their beauty, presented on other DPs and live Dead. Generally, the less said about WRS, the better, but here the song is still fresh and new to the band and it shows. This cd ends with a very strong Sugar. While I like cd 2, it is my least favorite of this four cd set.

CD 3 is from the Dec. 2 show and, I suggest, is one of the best first sets in the entire DP collection. Brown Eyed Women and Ramble on Rose are great songs and are rarely found, especially together and without Donna.

CD 4 is awesome. The PlayingITB dissolves entirely into a spacey jam and out of it evolves a fantastic slide guitar solo by Jerry that sounds hauntingly familiar, but I cannot place the tune. Any way it's all fantastic. He's Gone especially and Truckin are both great. And then... when you look at the last two songs, Stella and Morning, you may think that this is a really boring way to end the concert. But remember, these cds have an over-all mellowness to them and this ending is in keeping perfectly with what has come before. And the best part is that the Morning builds ever slow slowly to a fantastic crescendo -- the result of a tension building march that is finally released by the band. Maybe the best Morning Dew that I've heard by the boys.

One nit to pick is that the booklet is sparse and not that well done for a four cd set. Throughout the musicianship is very good. Especailly of note are both Phil's bass and Keith's piano. And most importantly Jerry's voice sounds oh so sweet. He is in his prime here both in voice and on guitar. You will get a great feel for the band's progression in this era by listening to DP 14, DP 1 and then DP 7. By far this is one of my favorite live Dead collections.

A good one........2004-02-04

I can't say that I agree with the lukewarm reviews of this volume of the DICK'S PICKS series. In some places, yes, it's pro forma Live Dead, but it's certainly no worse pro forma than, say, the SKULL AND ROSES album. In other cases, though, it's darn near transcendent. There are two versions of "Weather Report Suite" on here and the first one is mind-bogglingly great! This seques into a jam based upon "Dark Star" and then into a fantastic version of "Eyes Of The World" with Garcia playing some of his best guitar ever. The version of "Wharf Rat" included here is also a stunner. Where things get a little flabby is on Disc 1; this is a pretty faithful representation of the Dead's tendency to use the first set as a "warm-up" for more exciting excursions later in the show, and "Dire Wolf," "Mexicali Blues" and "Don't Ease Me In" particularly sound pretty rote here. But don't be deterred, there's some great(ful) Dead on this set which you won't be sorry you heard if you pick this up.

Different, yet an absolute must-have for Nor'East heads.......2003-12-24

Wicked Good! During a weird transition for the band, some great music is preserved in this 4 CD set. PigPen has recently passed. You have the band (minus Mickey and Donna), the crew, and the audience all getting involved in this Beantown Barn Burner. Everyone is loose and having fun and it comes right through the speakers as if it were happening through the nearest wormhole or right around the corner. Imageries of ghosts of colonial patriots dressed as indians dancing to the beat of their own little tea-party, unbeknownst to some of the drunken crowd as the dead break into "Beer Barrel Polka"... Let it be said that deadheads are not usually known for booze. There must have been a bar in the back of the hall. Some cool moments are captured as Bobby tests the equipment, "whooping" up sound checks between songs as Phil cracks jokes and fools with the audience as the crew work with a scaled down version of "the wall of sound" to fit into the music hall. Rowdy crowd yet very intimate. Collected from 2 nights, I prefer to start with disc 3 and end with 2 (3->4->1->2). "Cold Rain and Snow" begins, turn it up, and 'Boogie'!! It sounds sooo good! Man, what fun!

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