Road Trips Volume 2 Number 3
$19.98
Shows
Des Moines, IA – June 16, 1974
Louisville, KY – June 18, 1974
June 1974: Wall of Sound
Can it really be more than 35 years since the Grateful Dead unveiled one of their most audacious (and successful!) experiments – the legendary Wall of Sound? Why, it seems like only yesterday that I was cowering in fear worrying that one of Phil’s bass bombs was going to topple the impressive array of speaker towers that sprawled across the Dead’s enormous stage and rose to a height of more than two stories! What a sight – no one had ever seen anything remotely like it before (or since). What a sound – there had never been a cleaner and or more powerful system. At its peak, it was comprised of nearly 650 loudspeakers powered by 50 giant McIntosh amplifiers, and unlike traditional left-right P.A. systems, this behemoth gave each instrument its own vertical array, and vocals emanated mostly from a center honeycomb cluster above the band. Wow! It was an amazing thing to behold (and a mutha to transport and set up)!
And it just happened to coincide with one of the band’s most fertile musical periods ever, which is why we’ve dipped into the Wall of Sound era for our latest Road Trips release. Talk about your “strangest of places”: These back to back shows from the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa (6/16/74), and Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky (6/18/74), have long been cherished by Dead Heads for their inventiveness, expansiveness and brilliance of execution. The Des Moines material includes a classic ’74-style “China Cat-Rider,” a spectacular “Eyes of the World” and a marvelously exploratory “Playing in the Band” that clocks in at a mind-bending, never-a-dull-moment 29 minutes! Disc Two comes from the Kentucky show, and it’s another prime batch, from beautiful readings of the poignant Garcia ballads “China Doll” and “Stella Blue,” to Weir’s multi-dimensional “Weather Report Suite” – a highlight of so many shows in this period – and a freewheeling “Other One,” and a jam around the blues tune “It’s A Sin,” a sequence considered by many to be among the finest and most highly-regarded jams in the band’s entire career. Check it out and you’ll hear why!
The ultra-clean soundboard master tapes were “crispy” reels (that’s good), and they sound even better now that mastering ace Jeffrey Norman has sprinkled his electronic fairy dust on them and brought them up to HDCD specs. The colorful booklet insert features a cool essay about the Wall of Sound by Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally and lots of great photos of the band dwarfed by the majestic edifice!
By the end of 1974, the band had begun its 20-month hiatus, and the Wall of Sound – so magnificent, but so impractical on so many levels – was never re-assembled. But it was glorious while it lasted and the incredible music that came blasting out of those hundreds of speakers is the reason why.
For more details about what’s on Road Trips Vol. 2, No. 3: The Wall of Sound, and to order your copy, click here. You won’t regret it!
– Blair Jackson
Track List
Disc 1
Recorded live at State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA, 6/16/74
1. China Cat Sunflower>
2. I Know You Rider
3. The Race Is On
4. Eyes Of The World>
5. Big River
6. U.S. Blues
7. Playing In The Band
Disc 2
Recorded live at Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY, 6/18/74
1. Loose Lucy
2. Eyes Of The World>
3. China Doll
4. Weather Report Suite>
5. Jam>
6. Other One>
7. It’s A Sin Jam>
8. Stella Blue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Road Trips Volume 2 Number 3
Live album by Grateful Dead
Released June 18, 2009
Recorded June 16 and 18, 1974
Genre Rock
Length 158:42
bonus disc: 78:30
Label Grateful Dead
Producer Grateful Dead
Road Trips Volume 2 Number 3 is a two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The seventh in their “Road Trips” series of albums, it was recorded on June 16, 1974, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, and on June 18, 1974, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. A third, bonus disc included with some copies of the album was recorded at the same two concerts. The album was released on June 18, 2009.
The cover of Road Trips Volume 2 Number 3 depicts the Wall of Sound. This was the very large and powerful concert sound system being used by the Grateful Dead at the time of these shows. It was composed of more than 600 speakers, powered by dozens of amplifiers. Each musical instrument had its own dedicated array of speakers. The Wall of Sound provided a superior sonic environment for Dead concert audiences of that era.
Track listing
Disc One
State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA 6/16/74
China Cat Sunflower > (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter)
I Know You Rider (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
The Race Is On (Don Rollins)
Eyes of the World > (Garcia, Hunter)
Big River (Johnny Cash)
U.S. Blues (Garcia, Hunter)
Playing in the Band (Weir, Mickey Hart, Hunter)
Disc Two
Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY 6/18/74
Loose Lucy (Garcia, Hunter)
Eyes of the World > (Garcia, Hunter)
China Doll (Garcia, Hunter)
Weather Report Suite > (Bob Weir, Eric Andersen, John Perry Barlow)
Jam > (Grateful Dead)
The Other One > (Weir)
It’s a Sin Jam > (Grateful Dead)
Stella Blue (Garcia, Hunter)
Bonus Disc
Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY 6/18/74
Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose)
Around and Around (Chuck Berry)
State Fairgrounds, Des Moines, IA 6/16/74
Deal (Garcia, Hunter)
Greatest Story Ever Told (Weir, Hunter)
Truckin’ > (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter)
Nobody’s Jam > (Grateful Dead)
Wharf Rat (Garcia, Hunter)
Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead)
Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY 6/18/74
Sugar Magnolia (Weir, Hunter)
Personnel
Grateful Dead
Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals
Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
Keith Godchaux – keyboards
Bill Kreutzmann – drums
Phil Lesh – electric bass, vocals
Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals
Production
Produced by Grateful Dead
Compilation produced by David Lemieux and Blair Jackson
CD mastering by Jeffrey Norman
Recording by Kidd Candelario
Liner notes essay “The Wall of Sound” by Dennis McNally
Archival research by Eileen Law
Cover art by Scott McDougall
Wall of Sound diagram by Mary Ann Mayer
Photos by Kirk Drange, Ray Ellingsen, Lexie Alexander May, and Richard Pechner
Package design by Steve Vance