Dave's Picks Volume 34

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Dave's Picks Volume 34
A skeleton holding a cesta, with the Miami shoreline in the background
Live album by
ReleasedMay 1, 2020
RecordedJune 23, 1974
VenueJai-Alai Fronton
Miami, Florida
GenreRock
Length180:09
(Bonus disc 78:42)
LabelRhino
ProducerGrateful Dead
Grateful Dead chronology
June 1976
(2020)
Dave's Picks Volume 34
(2020)
Dave's Picks Volume 35
(2020)
Alternative cover
A boat in the shape of a cesta, with the Wall of Sound at one end
Dave's Picks 2020 Bonus Disc

Dave's Picks Volume 34 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on June 23, 1974, at the Jai-Alai Fronton in Miami, Florida. It also includes a fourth, bonus disc recorded at the same venue the previous night. It was released on May 1, 2020, in a limited edition of 22,000 copies.[1][2][3][4]

The album features the first live performance of "Seastones", an experimental electronic music composition by Ned Lagin and Phil Lesh. It also includes the Dead's only performance of the Chuck Berry song "Let It Rock".[5] Lagin also played for most of the second set; he did not perform on "Big River," "Uncle John's Band," "One More Saturday Night," or "Casey Jones."

The album was originally suggested by former archivist Dick Latvala for inclusion in the "Dicks Picks" series.[6]

Critical reception[edit]

On AllMusic, Timothy Monger wrote, "Although beset with technical issues and difficult to tour with, their gargantuan sound system on this tour [the Wall of Sound] brought a clarity that was unparalleled at the time. Captured from Kidd Candelario's tapes, this complete concert set from June 23, 1974 features highlights of the era..."[7]

Track listing[edit]

Disc 1

First set:
  1. "Ramble On Rose" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 7:30
  2. "Black-Throated Wind" (Bob Weir, John Perry Barlow) – 9:20
  3. "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:49
  4. "Beat It On Down the Line" (Jesse Fuller) – 3:45
  5. "Row Jimmy" (Garcia, Hunter) – 8:03
  6. "Jack Straw" (Weir, Hunter) – 5:53
  7. "Let It Rock" (Chuck Berry) – 3:39
  8. "Cumberland Blues" (Garcia, Phil Lesh, Hunter) – 6:49
  9. "El Paso" (Marty Robbins) – 4:40
  10. "To Lay Me Down" (Garcia, Hunter) – 8:02

Disc 2

  1. "Weather Report Suite" (16:31)
    • "Prelude" (Weir)
    • "Part I" (Weir, Eric Andersen)
    • "Part II (Let It Grow)" (Weir, Hunter)
  2. "China Doll" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:43
Second set:
  1. "Seastones" (Ned Lagin, Lesh) – 9:45
  2. "Jam" (Grateful Dead) – 4:04
  3. "Ship of Fools" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:14
  4. "Big River" (Johnny Cash) – 5:19
  5. "Black Peter" (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:22

Disc 3

  1. "Around and Around" (Berry) – 6:06
  2. "Dark Star Jam" (Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 17:37[B]
  3. "Spanish Jam" (Grateful Dead) – 4:22[B]
  4. "U.S. Blues" (Garcia, Hunter) – 8:50[B]
  5. "Uncle John's Band" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:53
  6. "One More Saturday Night" (Weir) – 6:00
Encore:
  1. "Casey Jones" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:48

Dave's Picks 2020 Bonus Disc

Jai-Alai Fronton, June 22, 1974 – selections:
  1. "Playing in the Band" (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 28:56
  2. "China Cat Sunflower" (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:54
  3. "I Know You Rider" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 5:41
  4. "Eyes of the World" (Garcia, Hunter) – 15:11
  5. "Wharf Rat" (Garcia, Hunter) – 10:10
  6. "Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter) – 8:48

Notes

  • "Tico-Tico" tuning before "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo"
  • The set list for the June 22, 1974 concert at the Jai-Alai Fronton was:[5]
First set: "Promised Land" · "Bertha" · "Greatest Story Ever Told" · "Deal" · "Me and Bobby McGee" · "Scarlet Begonias" · "Jack Straw" · "Loose Lucy" · "Mexicali Blues" · "Sugaree" · "The Race Is On" · "It Must Have Been the Roses" · "Playing in the Band"[A]
Second set: "China Cat Sunflower"[A] · "I Know You Rider"[A] · "Me and My Uncle" · "Ship of Fools" · "El Paso" · "Eyes of the World"[A] · "Wharf Rat"[A] · "Sugar Magnolia"[A]
Encore: "Johnny B. Goode"
[A] Included in Dave's Picks 2020 Bonus Disc
[B] Also on the 1999 album So Many Roads (1965–1995)

Personnel[edit]

Grateful Dead

Additional musicians

  • Ned Lagin – keyboards on "Seastones" and during the second set

Production

  • Produced by Grateful Dead
  • Produced for release by David Lemieux
  • Associate Producers: Ivette Ramos & Doran Tyson
  • Mastering: Jeffrey Norman
  • Recording: Kidd Candelario
  • Art direction, design: Steve Vance
  • Cover art: Dave Kloc
  • Photos: Forensicdoceleven
  • Liner notes essay: David Lemieux

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Dave's Picks Volume 34
Chart (2020) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[8] 22
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[9] 1

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bernstein, Scott (January 2, 2020). "Grateful Dead Dave's Picks Volume 34 Features June 1974 Show". JamBase. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Shackleford, Tom (April 22, 2020). "Grateful Dead Announces Dave's Picks Vol. 34 From Miami's Jai Aliai Fronton, June 1974". Live for Live Music. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  3. ^ "Dave's Picks Volume to feature Grateful Dead at Miami's Jai-Alai Fronton". Grateful Web. December 30, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dave's Picks Volume 34: Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, FL 6/23/74". dead.net. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Scott, John W.; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu (1999). DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists. Cornish, New Hampshire: DeadBase. p. 33. ISBN 1-877657-22-0.
  6. ^ Mark A. Rodriguez (2022). After All Is Said And Done: Taping The Grateful Dead 1965-1995. Anthology Editions. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-944860-50-9.
  7. ^ Monger, Timothy. "Dave's Picks, Vol. 34: Jai-Alai Fronton, Miami, FL 6/23/74". AllMusic. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  8. ^ "Grateful Dead Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "Grateful Dead Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2020.