GRATEFUL DEAD: Dick’s Picks Vol. 15—Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ 9/3/77 (3-CD Set) 1977 was a great year of touring for the Dead, and it’s been the source of some of the most acclaimed live recordings the band has released (the complete set of June Winterland shows comes to mind, as do Dick’s Picks Vols. 34 & 29). This Pick keeps the streak going, despite the fact that this was the first concert the band had played in almost three months, and that it took place in front of a crowd estimated at over 100,000! It was also the first show after the release of Terrapin Station, and several numbers (the title track, “Samson and Delilah” and “Estimated Prophet,” which segues into a really unusual and stellar “Eyes of the World”) surface from the album. “The Music Never Stopped,” “Peggy-O,” “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” and “He’s Gone” are all given what could be characterized as definitive renditions as well, and the band closes the night by playing “Truckin’” for the first time in two years before the “Terrapin Station” encore. One more miraculous night from the Grateful Dead. SONGS Disc One Set One Introduction Promised Land They Love Each Other Me and My Uncle Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo Looks Like Rain Peggy-O New Minglewood Blues Friend of the Devil The Music Never Stopped Disc Two Set Two Bertha Good Lovin’ Loser Estimated Prophet Eyes of the World Samson and Delilah Disc Three Set Two (cont.) He’s Gone Not Fade Away Truckin’ Terrapin Station
