Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol. 7—Alexandra Palace, London, England 9/9-9/11/74 (3-CD Set) With the Ballyhooed Reunion of the Grateful Dead Approaching, Real Gone Music Continues Its Long Strange Trip Through the 36 Volumes in the Dick’s Picks Series Dick’s Picks Vol. 7 Captures Highlights from Some of the Very Last Concerts on the Legendary Wall of Sound Tour, a Three-Night Stand in London That Was a Mere Month Away from the Band’s 20-Month Hiatus from Live Performances Features Favorites from Their Latest Release, From the Mars Hotel, Including “Scarlet Begonias” and “U.S. Blues” Highlighted by a 23-Minute “Playing in the Band,” an 18-Minute “Weather Report Suite,” a 24-Minute “Dark Star” and a Moving Version of “Morning Dew” Has Been Out of Print for Years Culled from a three-night London stand that was part of a rarely bootlegged European mini-tour, Dick’s Picks Vol. 7—Alexandra Palace, London, England 9/9-9/11/74, like so many of the other volumes in the series, captures the Grateful Dead at a unique point in their evolution and on the brink of yet another major transition. These are some of the very last Wall of Sound shows, a mere month before the group took a 20-month hiatus from live performing; and yet the Dead show no sign of the physical, emotional and financial exhaustion that the marathon touring with the mammoth sound system had, by all accounts, caused the band and crew. The 3-CD set is bookended by strong performances of two favorites, “Scarlet Begonias” and “U.S. Blues,” from their latest album release, From the Mars Hotel, but it’s the three long jams that anchor the release: a 23-minute “Playing in the Band,” an 18-minute “Weather Report Suite” and especially the 24-minute “Dark Star” that’s immediately followed by the whimsically entitled “Spam Jam” (a nod to British favorite sons Monty Python?) and perhaps the most moving version of “Morning Dew” the band ever played in concert. Songs: Disc One 1. Scarlet Begonias 2. Mexicali Blues 3. Row Jimmy 4. Black-Throated Wind 5. Mississippi Half-Step 6. Uptown Toodeloo 7. Beat It On Down the Line 8. Tennessee Jed 9. Playing in the Band Disc Two 1. Weather Report Suite 2. Stella Blue 3. Jack Straw 4. Brown Eyed Woman 5. Big River 6. Truckin’ 7. Wood Green Jam 8. Wharf Rat Disc Three 1. Me and My Uncle 2. Not Fade Away 3. Dark Star 4. Spam Jam 5. Morning Dew 6. U.S. Blues
