Weekly downloads from the new DeadNet

David Lemieux is posting a weekly essay with audio in the “Taper’s Section” of the new Dead Net. It’s a “This week in Dead history” format.

Here’s an excerpt from the December 4-10 edition:

One of the most intriguing short tours in Grateful Dead history took place in the first two weeks of December, 1971, and featured the return of Pigpen, who had been resting himself the previous couple of months, allowing Keith to work his way into the band’s sound on the October, 1971 tour. The short December run included many shows Dead Heads can merely refer to by name and be greeted with a smile: Felt Forum; Ann Arbor; Boston Music Hall; Fox Theatre. Unfortunately, the vault doesn’t contain all of the shows from this tour, but what is there includes some of the best material, including the terrific “Run Run Rudolph” (MP3 5.17 MB), heard here from 12/4/71 in New York. There were also a few surprises on this little tour, including the return of “Smokestack Lightning” and the only performance of “Muddy Water,” (MP3 6.55 MB), heard here from the 12/5/71 show also at the Felt Forum in New York from the 10” reel-to-reel master.

And he closes with an invitation to get in touch:

Feel free to get in touch with questions or comments, or if there is any particular show about which you’re curious about the vault source (if any), don’t hesitate to ask. We’ll try to address your curiosity in future entries, date-appropriate, of course.

David Lemieux
vault [at] dead.net

This is a wonderful development. The old DeadNet was static, stale, and hard to navigate. I am thrilled to see this new feature, and I look forward to more cool stuff in the future.