Sunshine Daydream

For the song, see Sugar Magnolia.
Sunshine Daydream
A skeleton with a flower headdress holds aloft a hawk with outspread wings. In the background is a forest, with a rainbow in the sky.
Sunshine Daydream film poster
Directed byJohn Norris
Produced bySam Field
StarringGrateful Dead
Production
company
Canis Major
Distributed byRhino Entertainment
Release date
  • August 1, 2013 (2013-08-01)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Sunshine Daydream is a music documentary film, starring the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was shot at their August 27, 1972 concert at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon.[1][2] Unreleased for many years, the film was sometimes shown at small film festivals, and bootleg recordings of it circulated on VHS and DVD, and as digital downloads. A digitally remastered and reedited official version of the film was released on August 1, 2013, showing only one time in selected theaters as that year's edition of the Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies.[3][4][5][6] It was screened with Grateful Days, a new documentary short that includes interviews with some of the concert attendees. Sunshine Daydream was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 17, 2013.

Actor Al Strobel, well known for playing The One-Armed Man in Twin Peaks, shot footage that ended up in the film.[7][8]

Sunshine Daydream is also a live album containing the complete August 27, 1972 Grateful Dead concert. Produced as a 3-disc CD and as a 4-disc LP, it was released by Rhino Records on September 17, 2013.[9]

The name Sunshine Daydream is taken from the coda section of the Dead song "Sugar Magnolia".

Concert

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The lineup of the Grateful Dead for this concert: Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Bob Weir on guitar and vocals, Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, Keith Godchaux on keyboards, Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals, and Bill Kreutzmann on drums.[10]

The show was a benefit for the Springfield Creamery in nearby Springfield, Oregon.[11] Merry Pranksters Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs emceed the concert. The Dead played all afternoon and into the dark after an opening set by the New Riders of the Purple Sage. In 2004, the New Riders' performance was released as an album called Veneta, Oregon, 8/27/72.

Film

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Production

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The concert was filmed using four 16 mm cameras, in the woods of the Oregon Coast Range foothills, on the grounds of the Oregon Country Fair.[12] The four 16mm cameras were synced to the sound, and remained focused on the stage, along with two additional roaming cameras for crowd shots.[12] Originally even more cameras had been planned, under an ambitious scheme: "The plot was to develop a signature visual style of representing the band: a camera for each of the 16 channels (at least!) emphasizing the visual kinetics of the music making itself as well as the enormous open communication within the band."[13]

After initial takes were shown to the band, reception was lukewarm and took a backseat to another film project which would become The Grateful Dead Movie. However, the footage for Sunshine Daydream remained sought after by fans and was eventually released after discussions between producer Sam Field and distributor Rhino Entertainment.

Songs in the film

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Album

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Sunshine Daydream
A skeleton with a flower headdress holds aloft a hawk with outspread wings. In the background is a forest, with a rainbow in the sky.
Live album by
Grateful Dead
ReleasedSeptember 17, 2013 (2013-09-17)
RecordedAugust 27, 1972 at Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon
GenreRock
Length176:04
LabelRhino
ProducerGrateful Dead
Grateful Dead chronology
Dave's Picks Volume 7
(2013) 		Sunshine Daydream
(2013) 		Dave's Picks Volume 8
(2013)

Sunshine Daydream is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on August 27, 1972 at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Produced as a three-disc CD and as a four-disc LP, it was released by Rhino Records on September 17, 2013.[9][14][15] The album was mastered from the 16-track concert soundboard tapes.

The album debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200 on October 5, 2013.[16]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [17]

On AllMusic, Fred Thomas said, "The three sets here have everything that made this one of the most colorful and captivating eras of the Dead's live playing. Somewhere between the caveman psychedelia of their beginnings and the bluegrass-steeped folk-rock of their most popular studio albums American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, Garcia and company refined their live jamming skills into something that seemed almost like a mental synchronization at its best. ... A long-traded fan favorite, Sunshine Daydream finally sees a properly mixed presentation of the 16-track master tapes of nearly three hours of one of the Grateful Dead's finest concert moments. It's essential listening for Deadheads and possibly the best place for the curious to jump in."[17]

Track listing

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Disc 1

First set:
  1. Introduction – 4:01
  2. "Promised Land" (Chuck Berry) – 3:24
  3. "Sugaree" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 7:30
  4. "Me and My Uncle" (John Phillips) – 3:16
  5. "Deal" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:55
  6. "Black-Throated Wind" (Bob Weir, John Perry Barlow)  – 7:01
  7. "China Cat Sunflower" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:58 →
  8. "I Know You Rider" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 7:03
  9. "Mexicali Blues" (Weir, Barlow) – 3:49
  10. "Bertha" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:59

Disc 2

Second set:
  1. "Playing in the Band" (Weir, Mickey Hart, Hunter) – 19:57
  2. "He's Gone" (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:32
  3. "Jack Straw" (Weir, Hunter) – 5:06
  4. "Bird Song" (Garcia, Hunter) – 13:17
  5. "Greatest Story Ever Told" (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 5:36

Disc 3

Third set:
  1. "Dark Star" (Garcia, Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 31:28 →
  2. "El Paso" (Marty Robbins) – 5:04
  3. "Sing Me Back Home" (Merle Haggard) – 10:51[a]
  4. "Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter) – 8:45
  5. "Casey Jones" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:25
  6. "One More Saturday Night" (Weir) – 5:03

Notes

  1. ^ Previously released on So Many Roads

Personnel

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Grateful Dead
Production
  • Produced by Grateful Dead
  • Produced for release by David Lemieux
  • Executive producer: Mark Pinkus
  • Associate producers: Doran Tyson, Ryan Wilson
  • Mixing, mastering: Jeffrey Norman
  • Second engineer: Rick Vargas
  • Recording: Bob Matthews, Betty Cantor-Jackson, Wiz, Janet Furman, Ron Wickersham
  • Tape transfer, time-base correction, restoration: John K. Chester, Jamie Howarth
  • Archival research: Nicholas Meriwether
  • Tape research: Michael Wesley Johnson
  • Art direction, illustration: Steve Vance
  • Additional design: Lisa Glines
  • Tie-dye art: Courtenay Pollock
  • Special edition liner notes: David Lemieux, Sam Field, Johnny Dwork, Ken Babbs, Nicholas Meriwether

Charts

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Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[18] 19
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[19] 3

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Capozzola, Steven (February 2003). "Time Traveling Back to 1972 – Unearthing the Long-Buried Dead", San Francisco Herald via archive.org. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  2. ^ McNally, Dennis (2002). A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. New York: Broadway Books. p. 441. ISBN 0-7679-1185-7.
  3. ^ Blistein, Jon (June 6, 2013). "Vintage Grateful Dead Concert Film Sunshine Daydream to See Release", Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  4. ^ "Grateful Dead Meet Up at the Movies 2013: Sunshine Daydream, Jambands.com, June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  5. ^ Gatta, John Patrick (June 28, 2013). "Picking Dave's Brain: The Grateful Dead Archivist Discusses May '77 and Sunshine Daydream, page 3, Jambands.com. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  6. ^ "David Lemieux Raves about Sunshine Daydream "Bird Song", Relix, August 1, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  7. ^ "Grateful Dead Sunshine Daydream: Veneta, 8/27/72, part 1". Grateful Dead. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  8. ^ "Grateful Dead Sunshine Daydream: Veneta, 8/27/72, part 2". Grateful Dead. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  9. ^ a b "Sunshine Daydream Deluxe CD/DVD", dead.net, August 1, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  10. ^ Scott, John W.; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. (1999). DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists. Cornish, NH: DeadBase. p. 565. ISBN 1-877657-22-0.
  11. ^ Robbins, Brian (September 20, 2013). "Talking Sunshine Daydream with Ken Babbs: Kesey, the Dead & Little Kids and Dogs", Jambands.com. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  12. ^ a b Symkus, Ed (July 27, 2013). "The Grateful Dead's Sunshine Daydream Finally Sees Light of Day", Boston Globe. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  13. ^ Field, Sam. Description of the making of Sunshine Daydream, The Traders' Den.
  14. ^ "Grateful Dead to Release Sunshine Daydream Concert Video and Audio Packages in September", ABC News Radio, August 9, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  15. ^ "Grateful Dead's Sunshine Daydream to Get Official DVD Release", Jambands.com, July 25, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
  16. ^ "Billboard 200: October 5, 2013", Billboard. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Thomas, Fred. Sunshine Daydream at AllMusic. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  18. ^ "Grateful Dead Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  19. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2013. 41. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
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