By request, I’m continuing my series of Grateful Dead show lists into 1968:
http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2018/06/1967-show-list.html
http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2019/11/1969-show-list.html
http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2019/11/1969-show-list.html
There is currently no single, accurate page where all the Grateful Dead shows and tapes from 1968 are listed. Setlist sources like deadlists and deadbase are out of date in places, and recent show discoveries are scattered across several sites, so I’ve provided a simple complete show list for the year.
There are fewer updates or new discoveries here than in 1966 or 1967. As with those years, there are some shows that have circulated with the wrong dates or no known dates, and a few dates that weren’t actually played. The chronology here is as accurate as possible, though revisions may continue as more lost clues and shows are found. Cancellations and old dating errors are listed.
Most song cuts are not noted. This isn’t meant to be a guide to tape sources – deadlists does that pretty well – just a basic list of shows and songs.
When available, there are links to newspaper reviews, Lost Live Dead pages, film clips, or other resources.
All the known songs played are listed (if not from tape, then from Deadbase or eyewitness accounts), though we only have partial information for many shows. The links provide more info on what’s known about the lost shows.
Hartbeats shows are included, as well as a few known Garcia jam sessions.
To streamline these show lists, other bands that played with the Dead are listed on their own page:
TAPE STATISTICS
123 Dead shows are known from 1968, though there were certainly more forgotten shows played. We have recordings from 37 shows, many of them incomplete (along with a handful of jam sessions) – about 30% of the shows played.
This is the monthly breakdown:
JAN - 6 shows, 4 tapes + a fragment
FEB - 9 shows, 6 tapes
MAR - 15 shows, 6 tapes
APR - 11 shows, 0 tapes
MAY - 17 shows, 1 tape
JUN - 12 shows, 4 tapes
JUL - 4 shows, 0 tapes
AUG - 10 shows, 5 tapes
SEP - 5 shows, 2 tapes
OCT - 7 shows, 3 tapes
NOV - 17 shows, 2 tapes
DEC - 10 shows, 4 tapes
(Hartbeats shows not included.)
Winter ’68 is pretty well-represented, since the Dead were taping shows for Anthem. Once they stopped, spring and early summer ’68 became a black hole for Dead tapes, other than a little flurry in June (courtesy of Bear). The Dead tried recording a few shows for an album again in August; after that, with Bear taping shows again, there is a trickle of random survivals for the rest of the fall. The burst of touring at the end of the year is mostly lost.
The tape record is strongly biased towards "hometown" shows. Of the Dead's 15 shows at the Carousel in early '68, we have tapes from all but five of them, and it's pretty certain most of those were taped but lost. On the other hand, once they started playing at Bill Graham's Fillmore West again in the summer, they played 10 shows there in '68, but soundboard tapes exist for only two. In contrast, we have tapes from two out of three of the Dead's Avalon shows in October '68, along with both their shows in Berkeley, and all four of their Los Angeles shows in August & December. (Meanwhile, shows from elsewhere in California have a very poor survival rate.)
The Dead's eastern tours in '68 have all but vanished. No one was taping in April & May; Owsley was present at the Fillmore East shows in June, but only a fragment of one show survives; Owsley must also have gone on their midwest tour in Nov/Dec, but only one soundboard tape survives. I suspect that Owsley was recording every show as usual, so along with the early-’68 Anthem-show reels that were discarded, a lot of tapes from the year must have disappeared.
A few audience tapes help fill in some gaps, but there were very few tapers in 1968 interested in the Dead, so there are only five audience tapes from the year. Tellingly, only one comes from the San Francisco ballrooms, where people rarely bothered taping the Dead - the other tapes come from a street fair, an outdoor festival, and two shows out East. (I salute the anonymous taper in Columbus, Ohio, who captured a complete show - I wonder if it was the same guy who taped the Dead at the Club Agora there in 1970.)
1968
1/17/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Wed.)
TAPE:
I
Turn On Your Lovelight
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed >
Spanish Jam
II
Beat It On Down The Line
Morning Dew
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
1/20/68 Municipal Auditorium, Eureka, CA (Sat.)
TAPE:
//Clementine >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed >
Spanish Jam >
Caution Jam >
Dark Star//
Viola Lee Blues
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl*
Released on Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 2. (*-bonus disc.)
OTHER SONGS:
The Other One (part used on Anthem of the Sun)
1/26/68 Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, WA (Fri.)
TAPE:
Alligator
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed >
Feedback >
Spanish Jam >
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Caution >
Feedback
https://archive.org/details/gd68-01-22.sbd.weiner.8583.sbeok.shnf (has the actual end of the show – the Miller copy patches on 3/31/68 at the end)
Circulates as 1/22/68.
“The Dead's first set, though very good, was cut short when one of the two drummers put his foot (I think) through his bass drum.”
1/27/68 Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, WA (Sat.)
TAPE:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
Clementine >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed >
Spanish Jam
Turn On Your Lovelight*
Dark Star* >
China Cat Sunflower* >
The Eleven*
Viola Lee Blues*
Beat It On Down The Line
It Hurts Me Too
Released on Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 2. (*-bonus disc)
Circulates as 1/23/68.
1/29/68 College Center Ballroom, Portland State College, Portland, OR (Mon.)
1/30/68 Erb Memorial Union Ballroom, U of Oregon, Eugene, OR (Tue.)
TAPE:
New Potato Caboose
Released on Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 2 bonus disc.
OTHER SONGS:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Gloria
2/2/68 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR (Fri.)
TAPE:
Viola Lee Blues
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
Clementine* >
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl//
Dark Star
Released on Road Trips Vol. 2 No. 2.
* - Released on So Many Roads.
2/3/68 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR (Sat.)
TAPE:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
It Hurts Me Too
Born Cross-Eyed
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Feedback
2/4/68 Britt Ballroom, Southern Oregon College, Ashland, OR (Sun.)
2/14/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Wed.)
TAPE:
I
Morning Dew
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Turn On Your Lovelight
II
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed >
Spanish Jam
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback
E:
In The Midnight Hour
Broadcast live on KMPX-FM. Released on Road Trips Vol. 2, No.2
2/15/68 San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA (Thu.)
Free show for a prison strike. Not a Dead show per se: Phil didn’t show up, and members of the Dead jammed with other musicians, with Weir on bass.
2/16/68 Stanislaus County Fairgrounds, Turlock, CA (Fri.)
2/17/68 Selland Arena, Fresno, CA (Sat.)
SONGS:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Turn On Your Lovelight
(These two songs were the Dead’s entire set.)
2/22/68 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA (Thu.)
TAPE:
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Caution
http://www.dead.net/features/tapers-section/february-12-february-18-2007 (Lemieux: “the end of the show” – vocals not recorded)
OTHER SONGS:
Morning Dew
Beat It On Down The Line
It Hurts Me Too
(possibly Alligator, New Minglewood Blues?)
2/23/68 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA (Fri.)
TAPE:
Viola Lee Blues
It Hurts Me Too
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Turn On Your Lovelight
Born Cross-Eyed >
Spanish Jam
Released on Dick’s Picks 22.
May be from 2/24/68.
2/24/68 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA (Sat.)
TAPE:
Morning Dew
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
Alligator >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback
OTHER SONGS:
Cold Rain and Snow
Born Cross-Eyed
Released on Dick’s Picks 22.
May be from 2/23/68.
3/1/68 Clifford’s Catering, Walnut, CA (Fri.)
3/2/68 Clifford’s Catering, Walnut, CA (Sat.)
SONGS:
SONGS:
Cold Rain and Snow
Turn On Your Lovelight
3/3/68 Haight Street, San Francisco (Sun.) – free show
TAPE:
Viola Lee Blues
Smokestack Lightning
Turn On Your Lovelight
It Hurts Me Too
Cryptical Envelopment//
OTHER SONGS:
The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Dancing in the Street
FILM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmP7oiwYImo or https://www.oddballfilms.com/clip/13172_10345_summer_love1 (Viola Lee, brief)
(The old Deadbase listing of 3/7/68 San Quentin Prison was misdated from 2/15/68.)
3/8/68 Melodyland Theater, Anaheim, CA (Fri.)
3/9/68 Melodyland Theater, Anaheim, CA (Sat.) – Early and late shows.
SONGS:
China Cat Sunflower
And We Bid You Goodnight
(probably Dark Star, The Eleven)
(probably Dark Star, The Eleven)
“[The Dead] played just two very long, mostly instrumental songs in its allotted 30 minutes, not bothering to identify either number by name.”
3/11/68 Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA (Mon.)
SONGS:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed >
Caution
With Tom Constanten. (Information per Deadbase, but their source is unknown.)
“The two drummers came up with a counter play that developed into an Afro-Cuban rhythm. The songs they played remained unnamed.”
3/15/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Fri.)
This show was taped for Anthem, but it’s unknown how much (if any) of it survives in the Vault.
Carousel Ballroom articles: http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2018/08/1968-carousel-ballroom-san-francisco.html
3/16/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Sat.)
TAPE:
I
Dark Star* >
China Cat Sunflower* >
The Eleven* >
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
II
Morning Dew
It Hurts Me Too
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback
And We Bid You Goodnight
* - Released on So Many Roads.
“On one song, McKernan… launched into a kind of formless Joycean chant… The set ended with fireworks and smoke-bombs.”
3/17/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Sun.)
TAPE:
I
Turn On Your Lovelight
II
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Caution >
Feedback
Released on Download Series Vol.6.
OTHER SONGS:
Dark Star >
Born Cross-Eyed
(The first set was recorded, but the release notes state: “The majority of the songs from set 1 could not be salvaged due to technical problems that were partly due to "sound experiments" conducted on the master tapes during the production of Anthem Of The Sun.”)
3/18/68 50 Green Street, San Francisco, CA (Mon.)
The Dead set up to play a free show for KMPX strikers, but were soon stopped by the police.
3/20/68 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco (Wed.)
KMPX strike benefit.
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Dark Star
Turn On Your Lovelight
3/22/68 State Fair Coliseum, Detroit, MI (Fri.)
3/23/68 Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI (Sat.)
3/24/68 Fountain Church, Grand Rapids, MI (Sun.)
The Dead didn’t play these shows and went home early.
A planned spring tour of the eastern US, the Bahamas, and Europe was dropped:
3/24/68 Parking Lot near 50 Green Street, San Francisco (Sun.)
Garcia played with Traffic in a free show for the KMPX strike.
Weekend of March 23-24, 1968, Limekiln Creek, Big Sur, CA (Sat/Sun.)
Garcia jammed with drummer Jim Stern and others at a Vernal Equinox festival, which was held as a wake for Neal Cassady, many San Francisco musicians attending. Specific day & lineup uncertain.
(The old Deadbase listing of 3/26/68 Melodyland Theatre, Anaheim, was misdated from 3/8-9/68.)
3/29/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Fri.)
TAPE:
I
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Sitting on Top of the World
Dark Star
Morning Dew
II
Turn On Your Lovelight
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed//
3/30/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Sat.)
TAPE:
I
Morning Dew
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
Dark Star >
China Cat Sunflower >
The Eleven >
Turn On Your Lovelight
II
Born Cross-Eyed >
Feedback >
Spanish Jam >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy//
“Set 2” (there’s no setbreak on the tape) may be from a different date, perhaps 3/31.
3/31/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Sun.)
TAPE:
Turn On Your Lovelight
Beat It On Down The Line
Dancing in the Street
//Caution >
Feedback >
And We Bid You Goodnight
The date attribution is uncertain; the first three songs were previously ascribed to 3/30/68.
4/3/68 Winterland Arena, San Francisco (Wed.)
KMPX First Birthday Benefit.
SONGS:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Born Cross-Eyed
Alligator >
Caution
(This song list may be spurious, from a misdated tape.)
4/12/68 Thee Image, Miami, FL (Fri.)
4/13/68 Thee Image, Miami, FL (Sat.)
4/14/68a Greynolds Park, North Miami Beach, FL (Sun.)
Free Love-In show.
4/14/68b Thee Image, Miami, FL (Sun.)
4/19/68 Thee Image, Miami, FL (Fri.)
4/20/68 Thee Image, Miami, FL (Sat.)
4/21/68 Thee Image, Miami, FL (Sun.)
SONGS:
Dark Star
Alligator
http://archive.org/post/935528/anthem-of-the-sun-tour-east-coast
"In general the first set was a lot of the first album and the second set was Anthem of the Sun."
http://archive.org/post/935528/anthem-of-the-sun-tour-east-coast
"In general the first set was a lot of the first album and the second set was Anthem of the Sun."
4/26/68 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA (Fri.)
4/27/68 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA (Sat.)
4/28/68 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA (Sun.)
5/3/68 Ferris Booth Hall terrace, Columbia University, New York City, NY (Fri.)
Free show for the Columbia student strike.
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
(The Deadbase listings of Cold Rain & Top of the World were due to an overdubbed film clip.)
FILM: (silent footage; several different edits)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq8sp6WF3bQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_3kAdz5AdY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnU2gZeLpxk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rrw6uYHTA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_3kAdz5AdY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnU2gZeLpxk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_rrw6uYHTA
5/4/68 Pritchard Gym, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY (Sat.)
SONG:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
“In a set without a break that lasted over two hours, they played one epic number that lasted over an hour.”
“They played three songs in total. The first song was Good Morning Little School Girl, at about 15 minutes. Two other songs followed, one was about 35 minutes long, and the last one went on for about an hour and fifteen minutes. I wish I could say what the other songs were but I didn't know them at the time... I was amazed at how long the songs were so I checked... I remember thinking that the third song was ending after 45 minutes or so - but it sputtered back to life.”
5/5/68 Central Park, New York City, NY (Sun.) – free show
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
Alligator
Turn On Your Lovelight
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/02/may-4-9-1968-new-york.html
"In their finale, one of the drummers appears to run amok and savagely attacks his cymbals, while another member of the band sets off a small explosion."
"In their finale, one of the drummers appears to run amok and savagely attacks his cymbals, while another member of the band sets off a small explosion."
5/7/68 Electric Circus, New York City, NY (Tue.) – Early & late shows.
SONGS:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Turn On Your Lovelight
Beat It On Down the Line
Morning Dew
He Was a Friend of Mine
Alligator>
Caution
5/8/68 Electric Circus, New York City, NY (Wed.) – Early & late shows.
SONG: Viola Lee Blues
5/9/68 Electric Circus, New York City, NY (Thu.) – Early & late shows.
SONG: He Was a Friend of Mine
"After opening with a solid, rock-oriented first set [they came] on at midnight with a virtuoso rock-jazz improvisation that must have lasted an hour or more."
5/12/68 The Dome, Virginia Beach, VA (Sun.) – Early & late shows.
5/17/68 Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Fri.)
SONGS:
Morning Dew
(possibly Good Morning Little Schoolgirl)
5/18/68a Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose, CA (Sat.)
Northern California Folk-Rock Festival.
TAPE:
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback
This was the Dead’s complete set: “Jerry Garcia said they'd do Alligator and they did, for about forty minutes. That was their set and it blew the place wide open.”
5/18/68b Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Sat.)
5/21/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Tue.)
“Tuesday Night Jam” with Garcia, Hart, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, and Elvin Bishop; then in a second set, Steve Miller’s group & Will Scarlett.
5/22/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Wed.)
“Jerry Garcia and others” in jam session, a benefit for the Jazz Action Movement. No recording exists.
5/24/68 National Guard Armory, St. Louis, MO (Fri.)
5/25/68 National Guard Armory, St. Louis, MO (Sat.)
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Probably Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
(The old Deadbase songlist for 5/24/68 was spurious, from 2/5/69.)
5/31/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (Fri.)
6/1/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (Sat.)
6/2/68a Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (Sun.) – free show
6/2/68b Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (Sun.)
The poster listed inaccurate dates of 5/30-6/1.
6/4/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Tue.)
“Benefit Tuesday Jam” with Garcia, Elvin Bishop, Barry Melton, Steve Miller, and others. (Ralph Gleason wrote that “there was a long jam session going on with all kinds of guitar players and saxophones and rhythm men.”) No recording exists. It’s unknown how many Tuesday night jams were actually held at the Carousel.
6/7/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (Fri.)
SONGS:
St. Stephen >
Dark Star
6/8/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (Sat.)
6/9/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (Sun.)
The 1968 Mystery Reels include three show fragments from this time period that most likely come from these Carousel runs. (I don’t believe they’re from the Fillmore East shows in June.)
TAPE:
//St. Stephen >
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Alligator >
Caution//
(Previously circulated under various dates such as 4/3/68 & 5/24/68.)
TAPE:
St. Stephen >
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
Turn On Your Lovelight
TAPE:
Morning Dew
It Hurts Me Too
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
Turn On Your Lovelight
6/9/68 Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (Sun.)
The Dead were to play a free show with Jefferson Airplane, but were stopped by the police.
6/12 + 6/13/68 Paradise Theater, Staten Island, NY
Canceled.
6/14/68a Fillmore East, New York City, NY (Fri.) – early show
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
(possibly Good Morning Little Schoolgirl)
6/14/68b Fillmore East, New York City, NY (Fri.) – late show
TAPE:
Feedback >
The Eleven >
St. Stephen
Alligator >
Turn On Your Lovelight >
Caution* >
Feedback*
* - Released on the Fillmore West 1969 bonus disc.
OTHER SONGS:
Possibly Dark Star?
6/15/68a Fillmore East, New York City, NY (Sat.) – early show
6/15/68b Fillmore East, New York City, NY (Sat.) – late show
SONGS:
Dark Star (dedicated to Wes Montgomery)
Possibly the Other One?
6/16/68 Daytop Village, Staten Island, NY (Sun.)
The Dead were scheduled to play a Daytop Village benefit, but didn’t show and were replaced by the Jeff Beck Group.
6/19/68 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco (Wed.)
Black Man’s Free Store benefit.
SONGS:
St. Stephen
Dancing in the Street
SONGS:
St. Stephen
Dancing in the Street
(The tape with this date is actually from 2/19/69.)
6/21/68 Civic Auditorium, San Jose, CA (Fri.)
This show with the Mothers of Invention was canceled.
6/22/68 Travelodge Theater, Phoenix, AZ (Sat.)
7/11/68 Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Thu.)
This show was not played; the poster is most likely a fake.
7/12/68 Kings Beach Bowl, Lake Tahoe, CA (Fri.)
7/13/68 Kings Beach Bowl, Lake Tahoe, CA (Sat.)
7/14/68 Marina Green, St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco (Sun.)
Jazz Action Movement benefit. The Dead apparently didn't show.
7/27/68 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, HI (Sat.)
7/28/68 Rancho Olompali, Novato, CA? (Sun.)
Garcia jams with Mickey Hart & Jack Casady.
Whether this jam actually comes from the same date as the Olompali photos of Garcia & Casady is unknown, but doubtful – in the photos, the stage is set up for the full Dead to play, so there was evidently a lost Dead show there as well.
8/2/68 Hippodrome, San Diego, CA (Fri.)
8/3/68 Hippodrome, San Diego, CA (Sat.)
8/4/68 Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, CA (Sun.)
Newport Pop Festival.
SONGS:
Alligator
Alligator
Feedback (probably following Caution)
FILM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJcMUMh5IA8 (silent footage)
8/13/68 Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo, CA
STUDIO TAPE:
Clementine Jam
“Nobody’s Spoonful” Jam
Eleven Jam
Released on the Aoxomoxoa CD bonus tracks.
8/20/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Tue.)
SONGS:
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
(Setlist from Deadbase, source unknown.)
8/21/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Wed.)
TAPE:
I
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Alligator >
Feedback
II
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Turn On Your Lovelight
E:
In the Midnight Hour
8/22/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Thu.)
TAPE:
I
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
II
Dark Star
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback >
And We Bid You Goodnight
8/23/68 Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Fri.)
TAPE:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Alligator* >
Caution* >
Feedback*
* - Released on CD reissues of Anthem of the Sun and Two from the Vault.
8/24/68 Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Sat.)
TAPE:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Turn On Your Lovelight
Morning Dew (plug pulled)
Released on Two from the Vault.
(8/28/68 Avalon Ballroom – There was no such show.)
8/30/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Fri.)
8/31/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Sat.)
9/1/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Sun.)
TAPE:
I
Dark Star >
St. Stephen>
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Turn On Your Lovelight
II
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
This tape was misdated as 8/28/68, but most likely comes from one of the Fillmore West shows. (Some copies also included the Other One suite from 4/6/69.)
9/1/68a? Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco (Sun.)
Haight-Ashbury Medical Clinic benefit. The Dead were originally scheduled to play on the 2nd, but went to play a festival in Washington instead. Deadbase asserts they played this date, but it’s uncertain whether they played at all.
9/1/68 probably Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo, CA
STUDIO TAPE:
Jam
https://www.dead.net/30daysofdead/nov-29-2019
With Tom Constanten, I think. Date uncertain.
9/1/68 probably Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo, CA
STUDIO TAPE:
Jam
https://www.dead.net/30daysofdead/nov-29-2019
With Tom Constanten, I think. Date uncertain.
9/2/68 Betty Nelson’s Farm, Sultan, WA (Mon.)
Sky River Rock Festival.
TAPE:
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy//
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback
The Dead weren’t scheduled to play, but showed up anyway. After their set, Pigpen played organ in a blues set with Big Mama Thornton & James Cotton.
9/12/68 probably Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo, CA
STUDIO TAPE:
Clementine (many takes)
Space Jam
Clementine rehearsal with Phil on vocal, Tom Constanten on organ. Date not certain.
9/20/68 Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA (Fri.)
Ali Akbar College of Music benefit.
TAPE:
//Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Drums
Drums with guests Shankar Ghosh & Vince Delgado.
9/21/68 Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo, CA (Sat.)
STUDIO TAPE:
Clementine Jam
From a studio jam session with Garcia, Lesh, Hart, David Crosby & Vic Briggs.
9/22/68 Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, CA
Autumn Equinox festival.
SONGS:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
New Potato Caboose
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback
In the Midnight Hour
(Setlist from Deadbase, source unknown, perhaps unreliable. Old tape copies of 8/21/68 used to circulate with this date, so this setlist may partly come from that tape.)
“When the Dead came on at about dusk, they played Anthem of the Sun.”
9/27 + 9/28/68 Shrine Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Fri/Sat.)
10/5/68 Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, CA (Sat.)
10/8/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Tue.) – Hartbeats
TAPE:
Clementine Jam >
The Eleven Jam >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
The Seven
Dark Star Jam >
Cosmic Charlie
Blues Jam
Jam
The Other One Jam > Jam
Elvin Bishop blues set w/ Hart & Jack Casady.
10/9/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Wed.) – Hartbeats
10/10/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Thu.) – Hartbeats
TAPE:
Jam
It’s A Sin
Blues Jam 1*
Blues Jam 2*
Look Over Yonder Wall*
Jam
Turn On Your Lovelight Jam >
Drums >
Jam >
The Other One Jam >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Dark Star Jam >
The Eleven Jam >
The Seven
*-with guest harmonica player Marvin
There's also a stray mystery fragment, a 13-minute Hartbeats jam in atrocious, muffled sound quality, date unknown:
https://themidnightcafe.org/2018/05/26/lossless-bootleg-bonanza-mickey-the-hartbeats-san-francisco-ca-xx-xx-68/
There's also a stray mystery fragment, a 13-minute Hartbeats jam in atrocious, muffled sound quality, date unknown:
https://themidnightcafe.org/2018/05/26/lossless-bootleg-bonanza-mickey-the-hartbeats-san-francisco-ca-xx-xx-68/
For a guide to the Hartbeats shows and setlists, see:
An October/November tour of the UK and Europe was canceled. Prospective dates included:
“The Revolution, London (October 10th);
Mother's, Birmingham (11th);
Middle Earth at the Round House, London (11th and 12th);
Granby Hall, Leicester (18th);
Liverpool University (19th);
Continental tour of Belgium, Holland, Sweden and Denmark (22nd-31st);
Country Club, Hampstead (November 3rd).
Other dates are to follow.”
Mother's, Birmingham (11th);
Middle Earth at the Round House, London (11th and 12th);
Granby Hall, Leicester (18th);
Liverpool University (19th);
Continental tour of Belgium, Holland, Sweden and Denmark (22nd-31st);
Country Club, Hampstead (November 3rd).
Other dates are to follow.”
The tour would have ended with a free show in London on Nov. 15, and the International Experimental Pop Festival in Utrecht, Nov. 23.
10/11/68 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco (Fri.)
SONG: Morning Dew
Pigpen was absent on this date and the next two.
10/12/68 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco (Sat.)
TAPE:
I
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
II
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Drums >
Jam >
Feedback
Morning Dew (date uncertain)
(This is the same Morning Dew found on copies of 1/14/67.)
10/13/68 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco (Sun.)
TAPE:
I
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
II
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose >
Drums >
Jam >
Feedback
10/18/68 The Bank, Torrance, CA (Fri.)
10/19/68 Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV (Sat.)
With Tom Constanten.
10/20/68 Greek Theater, U of C, Berkeley, CA (Sun.)
TAPE:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Turn On Your Lovelight
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Caution >
Feedback
Released on 30 Trips.
(The old Deadbase listing of 10/21/68 “Jefferson Airplane House” is a false date, attributed to various Dec. ’68 Hartbeats shows or the 10/28/69 Airplane house tape. However, a few jams on cassette under this date with Garcia, Kaukonen, Casady, Dryden & Hart appear to have never circulated online.)
10/28/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Mon.) - Hartbeats
Confirmed by a newspaper report.
Latvala said a tape of this date is in the Vault.
10/29/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Tue.) – Hartbeats
TAPE:
/Clementine Jam
Dark Star Jam
St. Stephen fragment
https://archive.org/details/gd68-10-30.sbd.sacks.1205.sbeok.shnf
Parts of this show were taped over on 10/30; these are the bits that survive on the 10/30 reels. Date uncertain; more discussion in this comment.
Confirmed by a newspaper report.
Latvala said a tape of this date is in the Vault.
10/29/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Tue.) – Hartbeats
TAPE:
/Clementine Jam
Dark Star Jam
St. Stephen fragment
https://archive.org/details/gd68-10-30.sbd.sacks.1205.sbeok.shnf
Parts of this show were taped over on 10/30; these are the bits that survive on the 10/30 reels. Date uncertain; more discussion in this comment.
10/30/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Wed.) – Hartbeats
TAPE:
Dark Star Jam >
Death Letter Blues
The Other One Jam >
Turn On Your Lovelight Jam
Clementine Jam >
The Eleven Jam >
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Instrumental*
Blues Jam*
Prisoner of Love*
* - with Elvin Bishop.
10/31/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Thu.) - Hartbeats
11/1/68 Armory, Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, Chico, CA (Fri.)
TAPE:
II
Dark Star >
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose//
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback >
And We Bid You Goodnight
SONG:
Viola Lee Blues
11/4/68 Longshoreman’s Hall, San Francisco (Mon.)
11/6/68 probably Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo, CA (Wed.)
STUDIO TAPE:
Turn On Your Lovelight
Dark Star
St. Stephen >
The Eleven (multiple takes)
Rehearsal with Tom Constanten.
11/7/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Thu.)
11/8/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Fri.)
11/9/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Sat.)
11/10/68 Fillmore West, San Francisco (Sun.)
SONG: Morning Dew
11/13/68 EMU Ballroom, U of O, Eugene, OR (Wed.)
11/15/68 Gill Coliseum, OSU, Corvallis, OR (Fri.)
SONGS:
Turn On Your Lovelight
Morning Dew
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2024/01/november-15-1968-gill-coliseum-osu.html
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/09/november-15-1968-coliseum-oregon-state.html
http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/09/november-15-1968-coliseum-oregon-state.html
11/16/68 Erb Memorial Union Ballroom, U of O, Eugene, OR (Sat.)
The show was cut short by a false bomb threat.
11/16/68 PNE Coliseum, Vancouver, BC (Sat.)
Canceled.
11/17/68 Eagles Auditorium, Seattle, WA (Sun.) – Early & late shows?
Indian Rights benefit.
SONGS:
The Eleven
Feedback
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2019/02/november-17-1968-eagles-auditorium.html
SONGS:
The Eleven
Feedback
http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2019/02/november-17-1968-eagles-auditorium.html
11/22/68 Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, OH (Fri.)
TAPE:
Morning Dew
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Turn On Your Lovelight
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
And We Bid You Goodnight
Per Deadbase, Kreutzmann was absent, but I’m not sure the tape bears this out.
11/24/68 Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI (Sun.) – Jefferson Airplane show.
Members of the Dead jam with the Airplane: “Jerry and Phil and Bob showed up about 12:30 and jammed with the Airplane til about 4:00 in the morning.”
(The old Deadbase listing of 11/24/68 Hyde Park Teen Center, Cincinnati, was misdated from 11/29-30/68.)
11/25/68 Memorial Auditorium, Ohio U, Athens, OH (Mon.) – free show
SONG: And We Bid You Goodnight
(One recalled setlist may come from 11/22/68.)
Previously thought to be 11/23/68. Tom Constanten joined the tour here.
"30-minute "songs" which have no melodies, which start nowhere and end nowhere with nothing happening in between..."
11/27/68 Kinetic Playground, Chicago, IL (Wed.)
SONGS:
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
Alligator
(possibly Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight)
11/28/68 Kinetic Playground, Chicago, IL (Thu.)
11/29/68 Hyde Park Teen Center, Cincinnati, OH (Fri.)
SONGS:
Good Morning Little School Girl
(possibly Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose)
11/30/68 Hyde Park Teen Center, Cincinnati, OH (Sat.) – Early & late shows.
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Dark Star
St. Stephen
Turn On Your Lovelight
The Dead “played three tremendous songs” in the late show. Pigpen & Tom Constanten both played keyboards at these shows.
12/1/68 Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI (Sun.)
SONG: And We Bid You Goodnight?
12/6/68 Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA (Fri.)
“In the midst of a song that lasted perhaps 20 minutes…a guitarist…wrenched from his instrument a series of high, feedback-augmented chords…”
12/7/68 Knights Hall, Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY (Sat.)
TAPE:
I
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
New Potato Caboose
II
Rosemary
He Was A Friend Of Mine
It Hurts Me Too
Morning Dew
And We Bid You Goodnight
Both drummers are present in the first set, but one drummer (Kreutzmann?) stops playing in the second set. One reviewer claims that Lovelight was also played.
12/13/68 The Bank, Torrance, CA (Fri.)
SONG: Turn On Your Lovelight
12/14/68 The Bank, Torrance, CA (Sat.)
12/16/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Mon.)
Garcia & Hart jam with Jack Casady, Spencer Dryden, David Getz.
Although there was no newspaper listing, there was a jam session at the Matrix on this day (per a JGMF source). This tape may be from a different date. One list of non-circulating Matrix reels (per JGMF) has Garcia with Casady, Elvin Bishop, and Johnny Winter on this date.
12/17/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Tue.)
A jam session with Garcia and Harvey Mandel (per JGMF) - Mandel was scheduled at the Matrix from the 17th-19th. No recording circulates.
12/20/68 Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Fri.)
TAPE:
//The Eleven
Mountains of the Moon
Turn On Your Lovelight
OTHER SONGS:
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Morning Dew
(probably Dark Star > St. Stephen)
REVIEW:
12/21/68 Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA (Sat.)
TAPE:
Turn On Your Lovelight
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment >
It Hurts Me Too
Alligator >
Caution >
Feedback >
And We Bid You Goodnight
12/23/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Mon.)
Open jam session with Jerry Garcia, Jack Casady, and others. The tape dated 12/16/68 might come from this night. But one list of non-circulating Matrix reels (per JGMF) has Garcia with Santana & Elvin Bishop on this date.
12/24/68 The Matrix, San Francisco (Tue.)
Garcia jams with Harvey Mandel, Elvin Bishop & co.
12/28/68 The Catacombs, Houston, TX (Sat.)
SONGS:
Morning Dew
Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment
An alternate setlist:
Beat It On Down The Line
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Anthem of the Sun (the entire album)
Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Dark Star
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
A show was also scheduled at the Catacombs on 12/27, but whether it was played is unknown.
12/29/68 Gulfstream Park Racetrack, Hallandale, FL (Sun.)
Miami Pop Festival.
TAPE:
Turn On Your Lovelight
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Drums >
The Other One >
Cryptical Envelopment >
Feedback >
And We Bid You Goodnight
12/31/68 Winterland, San Francisco (Tue.)
SONGS:
In the Midnight Hour (with guests)*
Dark Star >
St. Stephen >
The Eleven >
Turn On Your Lovelight
The Dead’s first live 16-track recording. * survives on a distorted tape in the Vault.
Lemieux: “The reels of 12/31/68 were erased to record the January '69 Avalon shows…with one lonely Midnight Hour left on tape, featuring all of the musicians who performed that night in an all-star jam. The sound on this 16-track recording is very poor, filled with distortion.”
STUDIO
Some studio sessions with known dates are listed above, but other mysteries remain.
No specific studio dates are known for the Anthem mixing sessions in early 1968, nor are any outtakes available, unless you count the scraps of unused live tapes the Dead discarded. My guess is that the studio recordings on Anthem were done in 1967, and the 1968 sessions were entirely devoted to sorting, combining, and mixing the live tapes; but some of Tom Constanten’s contributions may have been recorded in March ’68.
No specific studio dates are known for the Anthem mixing sessions in early 1968, nor are any outtakes available, unless you count the scraps of unused live tapes the Dead discarded. My guess is that the studio recordings on Anthem were done in 1967, and the 1968 sessions were entirely devoted to sorting, combining, and mixing the live tapes; but some of Tom Constanten’s contributions may have been recorded in March ’68.
The Dead had already gone through a series of studios in late ’67, making enemies among the engineers wherever they went. In winter/spring 1968, mixing was mostly done at Columbus Recorders in San Francisco, but the Dead also tried mixing at Criteria Studios in Miami (April ’68) and at Apostolic Studios in New York City (early May ’68).
Unknown ’68, Unknown Studio
STUDIO TAPE:
Caution Jam
http://www.dead.net/features/tapers-section/january-22-january-28-2007
Lemieux: “a studio jam recorded sometime in 1968, likely the summer.”
http://www.dead.net/features/tapers-section/january-22-january-28-2007
Lemieux: “a studio jam recorded sometime in 1968, likely the summer.”
October 1968 – Early 1969 Pacific Recording Studio, San Mateo
STUDIO OUTTAKES:
St. Stephen >
The Eleven
Barbed Wire Whipping Party
Doin’ That Rag
Dupree’s Diamond Blues
Instrumental (Garcia & drums)
China Cat Sunflower
Cosmic Charlie
Doin’ That Rag #2
Mountains of the Moon
What’s Become of the Baby
Rosemary
Mountains of the Moon #2
http://archive.org/details/gd69-xx-xx.sbd.dodd.16760.sbeok.shnf
The Eleven
Barbed Wire Whipping Party
Doin’ That Rag
Dupree’s Diamond Blues
Instrumental (Garcia & drums)
China Cat Sunflower
Cosmic Charlie
Doin’ That Rag #2
Mountains of the Moon
What’s Become of the Baby
Rosemary
Mountains of the Moon #2
http://archive.org/details/gd69-xx-xx.sbd.dodd.16760.sbeok.shnf
Barbed Wire Whipping Party (alternate mix)
Many of these are early takes or basic tracks without overdubs, thought to be from the 8-track recording sessions in late 1968, but some tracks are likely from early 1969.
Deadbase included an incomplete listing of Aoxomoxoa studio dates in late 1968-early 1969; I don’t know their source, but the dates and tracks seem plausible enough, possibly taken from tape logs.
All dates at Pacific Recording, San Mateo:
9/5/68 (Thu.) – St. Stephen
9/6/68 (Fri.) – St. Stephen (x2), What’s Become of the Baby
9/10/68 (Tue.) – St. Stephen
9/11/68 (Wed.) - St. Stephen, What’s Become of the Baby
9/13/68 (Fri.) – St. Stephen
9/21/68 (Sat.) - see above.
9/26/68 (Thu.)
9/29/68 (Sun.) – St. Stephen
10/2/68 (Wed.) - What’s Become of the Baby
10/3/68 (Thu.) – Barbed Wire Whipping Party (x2), What’s Become of the Baby
10/4/68 (Fri.) – Clementine, Barbed Wire Whipping Party (chorus)
10/7/68 (Mon.) – Clementine, Barbed Wire Whipping Party
11/5/68 (Tue.) – Clementine
1969
1/6/69 (Mon.) – Mountains of the Moon
1/15/69 (Wed.) – Doin’ That Rag, Mountains of the Moon
1/20/69 (Mon.) – Dupree’s Diamond Blues, China Cat Sunflower
3/11/69 (Tue.) – Cosmic Charlie, Mountains of the Moon
(8/13 and 9/12/68 weren’t listed by Deadbase's source, and the 11/6/68 rehearsal was instead listed as “12/??/68 Alembic Studios.”)
WEB SOURCES
