Search - Grateful Dead :: Dick's Picks, Vol. 24: Daly City, CA, 3/23/74

A surprisingly mediocre Pick - much better '74 out there.

Jeffrey Blehar | Potomac, MD | 10/25/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I'm of the opinion that nearly any Grateful Dead concert recording dating from the years 1967-1977 is automatically worth hearing if you're a fan, but it's also undeniably true that some are far better (or worse) than others. Where to start? Well, the Dick's Picks series theoretically makes the aspiring Deadhead's job a little easier by culling a select group of particularly great, or noteworthy, or rare shows and giving them official release.



I say "theoretically" because every now and then you'll happen across a Pick that just seems musically substandard relative to the others. Dick's Picks 24, a 2-CD set drawing from highlights of the group's March 23rd, 1974 show at the Cow Palace outside of San Francisco, is sadly one of the substandard ones.



The inescapable fact is that this concert only saw release as a Dick's Pick because of its historic nature: it marks the debut of the Dead's legendary "Wall Of Sound" concert sound system, featuring (I believe) 480 separate speakers as well as the ability for each musician to individually adjust the levels on their instrument. Ironically enough, while the Wall of Sound reportedly provided a wonderful experience for concertgoers, the sound quality of the TAPES produced during these 1974 shows is notably inferior to those from earlier and later years - the one exception in the series seems to be Dick's Picks 12 6/26-28/74 - resulting in a compressed drum sound and papery vocals, among other things.



But aside from questions of sound quality, what sinks Dick's Picks 24 is the largely pedestrian nature of much of the performance. The occasion might have been memorable, but frankly the music itself wasn't. As an earlier reviewer very perceptively pointed out, this is largely down to Jerry Garcia's guitar playing. Face it, sometimes Jerry had an off-night, and this happens to have been one of them. The "Morning Dew" here is one of the most lackluster available, and he even fails to engage on songs which are usually automatic on most nights, like "China -> Rider." The fact that this release is top-heavy with shorter "first set"-type material that's only decently played also hurts.



I don't want this review to be entirely critical, as there are some fine musical moments. This disc features the first-ever performance of Bob Weir's "Cassidy" (it's a pretty good one, and also the LAST time they'd play for two years), as well as a great rendition of the "Weather Report Suite" that includes one of the better "Let It Grow"'s I've heard. The "Playing In The Band," while not one for the ages - I feel like they were beginning to lose the heart of this song by this time in its career - is nevertheless excellent, as is the "Uncle John's Band" jam.



But these are only standout MOMENTS which occur over the span of an otherwise undistinguished set. As a lover of live Dead, I'll admit I enjoy listening to this release every now and then, but since I can say that about most of their concerts from this period, that just doesn't pass the threshold needed to give this a strong recommendation. Of the new batch of six Dick's Picks just released to the retail market, this is one of the weakest.



Recommended alternatives for those looking for better live Dead from this era (some are available retail via Amazon, others must be purchased directly through the Dead's official site):



- Dick's Picks 12: June 26th-28th, 1974

- Dick's Picks 19: October 19th, 1973

- Dick's Picks 31: August 4th-5th/6th, 1974"

3/23/74. Cow Palace. Daly City, California

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 08/31/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Disc One:

U.S. Blues (6:16), Promised Land (4:04), Brown-Eyed Woman (5:27), Black-Throated Wind (7:05), Scarlet Begonias (7:13), Beat It On Down The Line (3:46), Deal (5:29), Cassidy (4:09), China Cat Sunflower (8:41), I Know You Rider (6:02),

Weather Report Suite (15:35) Prelude (1:25) Part I (4:23) Part II - Let It Grow (9:46)



Disc Two:

Playing In The Band (14:11), Uncle John's Band (9:16), Morning Dew (12:31), Uncle John's Band (6:27), Playing In The Band (4:11), Big River (5:54), Bertha (6:35), Wharf Rat (9:29), Sugar Magnolia (8:57)



Okay, 2.5 stars. This Pick took me quite a while to get into but there is some nice stuff in places here. Is this the best '74 you've ever heard? No, but if you own most or all of the Dick's Picks you already own some worse Picks than this one.



I know this is never the popular view, but during the times where this Pick suffers, it's because of Garcia. There are some stretches here where he just doesn't have any interesting or emotionally engaging ideas. His playing is atrocious for most of this Morning Dew. Phil is dropping some thunder on this version but Jerry plays very badly almost the whole time. Jerry had a bunch of amazing nights in '74, but aside from a few tunes here, this isn't one of his better performances, which is pretty depressing actually, as Phil and Billy in particular are doing their thing here. It would have been nice if Jerry had been playing off of them better on this night.



To be fair though, on the highlights of this set (Let It Grow, the first Playing In the Band, and the minor rhythm jam segment of Uncle John's Band) Jerry does contribute nicely to the festivities. This Let It Grow is certainly no 6/18/74 but it's still a nice one that I'm sure was loved by everyone in attendance. It's my favorite track of this Pick.



All in all, I would say this was a mediocre performance with some very bad moments and some nice moments, though still there is nothing here that elevates it to the level of any of the phenomenal performances from May and June of 1974. The sound is good. Everyone is quite present in the mix, though there is a bit of a sterile feel to it.



This is not an essential Grateful Dead purchase, especially given how absolutely brilliantly the entire band plays on Dick's Picks 23 (9/17/72), and how great that Pick sounds.



"

Better than you might think

wharfrat | United States | 10/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the uninitiated, Deadheads can be extremely opinionated and the reviews on amazon show it.



I don't know, but I'm guessing that this show made the Dick's Picks cut because the sound quality was high and someone inside Dead Incorporated liked the Playing in the Band > Uncle John's Band > Morning Dew > Uncle John's Band > Playing in the Band sandwich from the second set. I do too, it's excellent. Yes, I can pick at various parts and say the band played this particular section better at a concert two years earlier or three years later, but there aren't that many 45 minute plus jams that are this tight. Jerry finds a very nice line to jam on in the first segment of PITB, the segues between songs are as effortless as any I have heard, and I am sure the crowd was simply blown away at the end.

"