Photo credit: Chris Stone / CC from 2.0
The Grateful Dead is releasing a massive 17-disc limited edition box set of previously unreleased concerts from 1973. The $190 box set will be limited to 10,000 copies.
Here comes sunshine in 1973 contains audio recordings of the group’s San Francisco and Santa Barbara shows, as well as two previously unreleased performances in Washington, DC between May 13 and June 10.
“In my early days as a tape retailer, I only had a couple of 1973 shows, but gosh, did I ever love them,” says Legacy manager David Lemieux. “There was a fresh, agile feel that was completely different from the Dead sound of 1972, taking all the great elements of Europe’s year and building on that excellence.”
“Even though I had hundreds of tapes on hand, I often went back to those 1973 shows,” he continues. “That old saying, ‘I’ve listened to this show so many times my tape broke’? It came about because of shows like this.”
Songs on each tracklist include “Looks Like Rain”, “Loser”, “China Cat Sunflower”, “Bertha”, “Mexicali Blues”, “Tennessee Jed” and “Wharf Rat”. The release also includes live performances of songs from follow the tidewhich the band would not officially release until the following year.
The box retails for $190 and is limited to 10,000 copies, which will be available along with digital versions of the release at The Grateful Dead’s website. Each physical copy includes living artwork by Masaki Koike, liner notes by Ray Robertson and an illustration poster by Mary Ann Mayer, with each live show housed in its own individually designed segment.
The band is also preparing to release a 4 CD and 8 LP set of their show at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The “Ramble On Rose” performance from that show will be released as a digital single.
Last month, The Grateful Dead became the latest legendary group to create an official TikTok presence and release a 30-second compilation of archived concert footage. interviewsand more from the late ’60s to the band’s final performances in 1995. The report will “serve as an outlet to celebrate the decades of music, generations of community, and (an) endless diversity of creativity that the band and their.” members.” fans into each new era of counterculture and consciousness in the world.”