Dick's Picks Volume 8

Dick's Picks Volume 8 is the eighth live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 2, 1970 at Harpur College (now Binghamton University) in Binghamton, New York. It was released in mid-1997.

Dick's Picks Volume 8
Live album by
Grateful Dead
ReleasedJune 14, 1997
RecordedMay 2, 1970
GenreRock, jam
Length176:38
LabelGrateful Dead
Grateful Dead chronology
Fallout from the Phil Zone
(1997)		 Dick's Picks Volume 8
(1997)		 Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
(1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
The Music Box [2]
Rolling Stone [3][4]

The album contains the entire concert, except for one song — "Cold Rain and Snow", which was played between "Good Lovin'" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". The first two verses of "St. Stephen" are also missing. The first set of the concert was acoustic, and was recorded in stereo. The second and third sets were electric, and were recorded in monaural.

In a 1993 poll of Grateful Dead tape traders, the 5/2/70 show was ranked #6 on the list of all-time favorite Dead concert tapes.[5]

Caveat emptor

Each volume of Dick's Picks has its own "caveat emptor" label, advising the listener of the sound quality of the recording. The label for volume 8 reads:

"These compact discs were mastered directly from the original half track 7½ ips analog tapes recorded at this show. The acoustic set was recorded in stereo. The electric sets are monaural. While the reason for this remains a mystery, spurious electrical activity is suspected."

Enclosure and article

The release includes a single page folded in half yielding a four-page enclosure. The front matches the cover of the CD and the back contains a small photo of the band performing on stage inside an oval-shaped frame against a background of clouds that merges with the clouds on the CD's cover. Inside, the page on the left lists the contents of and credits for the release and the page on the right contains an article about the show.[6]

Article

The article was written by Richard Walinsky, is dated May 5, 1970, and is reprinted from the Colonial News SUNY Binghampton. The piece has a very excited tone and the author writes using a sort of stream-of-consciousness style. He includes single-sentence paragraphs in all caps and uses incomplete sentences such as "Painted. Tripping. Stoned." and "Whoo. Whoo. Screams. A Bird Call." to express his extremely high opinion of the show.

The author opens his piece by stating that the "concert was the finest in Harpur history, the finest the Dead have ever given on the East Coast to my knowledge. And the finest concert I've ever seen...." About two-thirds of the way into the article Richard includes a section entitled "it's in the Kool-Aid" and asks a rhetorical question: "The hour grows late and the Dead is giving their best concert on the east coast and where? At Harpur. Here. Binghampton dinktown USA and the Dead are amazing."

Walinsky closes his review by mentioning the last two songs of the show:

"Viola Lee Blues with three buildups, the last ending with people screaming and shouting and Garcia pulling the most phenomenal notes out of one guitar. And We Bid You Goodnight, which they don't stop singing because no one will let them go.
"But they do and the concert ends.
"five and one half hours.
"It's in the music."[7]

Track listing

Disc one
First set
  1. "Don't Ease Me In" (traditional) – 4:38
  2. "I Know You Rider" (traditional) – 7:51
  3. "Friend of the Devil" (Garcia, Dawson, Hunter) – 5:57
  4. "Dire Wolf" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:56
  5. "Beat It on Down the Line" (Fuller) – 3:13 ->
  6. "Black Peter" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:02
  7. "Candyman" (Garcia, Hunter) – 1:43 ->
  8. "Cumberland Blues" (Garcia, Hunter, Lesh) – 5:47
  9. "Deep Elem Blues" (traditional) – 7:30
  10. "Cold Jordan" (traditional) – 2:35
  11. "Uncle John's Band" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:28

Disc two
Second set
  1. "St. Stephen" (Garcia, Hunter, Lesh) – 3:23 ->
  2. "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia) – 1:54 ->
  3. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann) – 3:28 ->
  4. "The Other One" (Weir, Kreutzmann) – 13:56 ->
  5. "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia) – 8:59 ->
  6. "Cosmic Charlie" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:23
  7. "Casey Jones" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:45
  8. "Good Lovin'" (Resnick, Clark) – 15:10

Disc three
Second set, continued
  1. "It's a Man's World" (Brown, Jones, Newsome) – 10:04
  2. "Dancing in the Streets" (Stevenson, Gaye, I. Hunter) – 15:42
Third Set
  1. "Morning Dew" (Dobson, Rose) – 12:40
  2. "Viola Lee Blues" (Lewis) – 16:35 ->
  3. "We Bid You Goodnight" (traditional) – 4:59

Personnel

Grateful Dead

Additional musicians

Production
  • Bob Matthews – recording
  • Dick Latvala – tape archivist
  • Jeffrey Norman – CD mastering
  • John Cutler – ferromagnetist
  • Gecko Graphics – design
  • Morris Zwerman – band photo
  • Richard Walinsky – CD liner notes

Notes
  1. Ruhlman, William. "Dick's Picks, Vol. 8". AllMusic. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  2. Metzger, John (October 1997). Dick's Picks Volume 8, The Music Box
  3. Kot, Greg (May 27, 1999). Review of Dick's Picks volumes 1 through 13, Rolling Stone
  4. The Grateful Dead Album Guide Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, Rolling Stone
  5. Scott, John W; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. DeadBase VIII: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists, 1994, DeadBase, ISBN 1-877657-15-8, p. 356
  6. Enclosure included with Dick's Picks Volume 8, © 1997.
  7. Enclosure included with Dick's Picks Volume 8, © 1997.
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