Dick's Picks Vol. 12: Providence Civic Center, 6/26/74 & Boston Garden, 6/28/74 [Live]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This three-disc set combines a second-set segment from a June 1974 show in Providence, Rhode Island, with the complete second set of a Boston Garden appearance recorded two nights later. The band was clearly in a playful mood that week, adding new twists to old songs and coming up with a number of dynamite jams out of thin air. Bassist Phil Lesh is particularly frisky and fertile on the Providence material. The collection begins with a distinctive "China Cat Sunflower" taken at an airier, slower groove than usual and bookended by interesting improvisational ideas. There's an exhilarating 15-minute "Spanish Jam" before they eventually encore with "Eyes of the World." The Boston show's second set opens with "Sugar Magnolia" and for the first time ever its "Sunshine Daydream" coda is broken off from its body and reattached at set's end. Also of note is a lovely "To Lay Me Down" and the far-ranging 28-minute jam that occurs after "Weather Report Suite," a ride unlike any other in Dead history. Throughout both shows, Jerry Garcia's guitar leads are as supple and fluid as they've ever been. Though it lacks the cohesiveness of one complete show, this 12th volume marks a true highpoint of the Dick's Picks series. --Marc Greilsamer

Tracks:

Jam (2:29)
China Cat Sunflower (11:24)
Mind Left Body Jam (1:39)
I Know You Rider (6:12)
Beer Barrel Polka (1:08)
Truckin' (11:06)
Other One Jam (3:06)
Spanish Jam (15:31)
Wharf Rat (9:50)
Sugar Magnolia (9:52)

Tracks:

Eyes of the World (11:41)
Seastones (4:52)
Sugar Magnolia (6:12)
Scarlet Begonias (9:31)
Big River (5:43)
To Lay Me Down (8:24)
Me & My Uncle (3:17)
Row Jimmy (8:16)

Tracks:

Weather Report Suite (14:35)
Jam (27:54)
U.S. Blues (9:40)
Promised Land (3:01)
Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad (8:23)
Sunshine Daydream (4:45)
Ship of Fools (6:38)

Amazon.com

This three-disc set combines a second-set segment from a June 1974 show in Providence, Rhode Island, with the complete second set of a Boston Garden appearance recorded two nights later. The band was clearly in a playful mood that week, adding new twists to old songs and coming up with a number of dynamite jams out of thin air. Bassist Phil Lesh is particularly frisky and fertile on the Providence material. The collection begins with a distinctive "China Cat Sunflower" taken at an airier, slower groove than usual and bookended by interesting improvisational ideas. There's an exhilarating 15-minute "Spanish Jam" before they eventually encore with "Eyes of the World." The Boston show's second set opens with "Sugar Magnolia" and for the first time ever its "Sunshine Daydream" coda is broken off from its body and reattached at set's end. Also of note is a lovely "To Lay Me Down" and the far-ranging 28-minute jam that occurs after "Weather Report Suite," a ride unlike any other in Dead history. Throughout both shows, Jerry Garcia's guitar leads are as supple and fluid as they've ever been. Though it lacks the cohesiveness of one complete show, this 12th volume marks a true highpoint of the Dick's Picks series. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

Don t let this one get away.......2007-06-26

The Loser from Aug 20 , 1987 is among the finest interpretations of music i ve heard w my ears . Other moments in music are ' around ' and can be found and discussed due to the fine output and availability of music recordings to us , music fans . Beethoven symphonies . Electronic music a la Klaus Schulze , Steve roach and robert rich ( and Bass communion Steve wilson ) . Well .. But so .. what about this live show ( s ) from 1974 in the Dead s early 70 s universe in time .

Going back to music as being well done ( as in that 87 show i mentioned above ) , it is done here with a style and sound only heard by this band and in that time period . For me , personally , the band didnt come around to kicking a*s until about 1993 , then 94 and finally 95 ( That is my objective opinion ) , and many may think other moments were their favorite or more potent . This band leaves quite a bit of ' stuff ' or subject matter ' in any sense to discuss .

The 3 disc DP is fine . The playing quality on the first two discs is very tight & strong . But when you get to the third disc , pay close attention . After the nice Weather report Suite and let it Grow , the band slides down to jam that begs for open mindedness . The Grateful dead in 1974 had the best ( yes they did ) sound system on the planet . The best technology to amplify their sound - called the Wall of sound and its described in detail in a book called Grateful Dead Gear .

If you are able when listening to the 23 minute jam that percedes Let it grow , you can almost climb inside Jerry s mind , and think ' We got an excelent sound system .. let s take it to places we are qualified to prove its greatness ' . The jam flows into a Mind left body jam ( 6 minutes duration ) , then back into a bridge that would take the band into US Blues . After US Blues , a short tuning break and a 3.5 minute Promised land . Then without stopping a GDTRFB . Show closer Sunshine daydream . Encore Ship of fools .

Rest in peace Jerry . Thanks for leaving us with such great stuff

great jams.......2007-04-12

lots of jams on this one
discs one and two feature some classic improv
Garcia really rocks on this one

Simply fantastic!.......2007-02-17

I've got a lot of Dick's Picks, and a lot of Grateful Dead in general, and this one is really my favorite. (I should mention, by the way, that I am a fan of Donna when she is in tune, and this was one of her better nights. Ok, I'll admit it - for me, there are some Dead songs that aren't complete without her, especially "Weather Report Suite," "Scarlet Begonias" and "Lay Me Down.")

The best parts about this particular Pick are the energy, the singing, the recording quality and, above everything else, the profound beauty of Jerry's solos. Quite frankly, there are Jerry moments on this Pick that are as perfect as anything he ever did that I've heard. Some of these solos are so heart wringing and soul-touching that they'll probably be part of whatever flashes through my mind as I leave this world.

The Dead as a whole were really on during this show, and it's one of the shows that I would highly recommend as a newcomer's first taste of what the Dead were really all about.

My personal tragedy is that I never saw them. In college I had "Skeletons from the Closet" and I assumed that that was the G.D. It wasn't until the late 90's, when I rented a "View From the Vault" on a whim that I finally understood, too late, what they really were.

Luckily, we have enough taped music from them to wind it around the backside of the moon and back to earth six or seven times. Dick's Picks 12 is some of the best I've heard yet.

just exactly perfect.......2006-10-07

This features some incredible and wide ranging music. If you like China Cat Sunflower (and who doesn't), you'll never hear another one like this!

But, there's plenty of other reasons to buy this... top to bottom, this ones packed with gems. If you like creative jamming, this ones a must.

The best of the best. .......2005-10-16

I have listened to and own a lot of Dick's Picks and this is the best of all the volumes I've heard.

Disc !: The best "China Cat Sunflower" in my collection, hands down. Then, an incredible jam out of "Truckin'" that keeps going for about 20 minutes and then morphs into a sweet "Wharf Rat" and "Sugar Magnolia." Classic stuff. 5/5

Disc 2: Some of the best Dead songs performed damn-near flawlessly. "Eyes of the World" and "Scarlet Begonias" are a bit short, but they still have a distinct punch to them. "Seastones" may sound grating to some people, but I actually enjoy it and think it's a good transition between the end of one show and the beginning of another. "To Lay Me Down" makes one of its rare appearences and it's just plain LOVELY. The other songs are all good and well-played, but I wouldn't say this is a perfect disc. The fun of 6/28/74 is just about to get started. 4.5/5

Disc 3: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: a 27-minute track simply titled "Jam." And "Jam" it does! Lots of themes are touched on... "Space," "Mind Left Body," "Dark Star," ect. What really makes this jam worthwhile is the fact that the band is so fluid and moves between the themes with great ease. Then we get perhaps the greatest "U.S. Blues" in Dead history, which isn't really much of a surpirse given what came before. A glorious "Sunshine Daydream" and fairly hard-to-find "Ship of Fools" close the set. 5/5

Conclusion: I think this pick can be summed up in one word: "epic." If you like the Dead at all, this should be in your collection. It's a very good summary of the crazy stuff that could happen in 1974. Sure, '77 and '68 might have been more consistantly excellent... but when they were on in '74, they were on much more intensely than in any other era.

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