Some
recent dating inquiries made me realize that a few of the re-dated 1970 tapes
are not as commonly known as I’d thought. So I’ve put together a short list of
the currently circulating misdated 1970 tapes, along with some notes on the
actual dates (when known). There isn’t really any “new” information here – all
of these have been noted elsewhere on this site – but it may be convenient to
have them all listed in one place.
1. 2/12/70 Ungano’s is
actually the 2/13/70 Fillmore East early show.
Whether
the Dead actually played at Ungano’s on the 12th has been much
discussed, but either way there’s no tape:
2. 3/24/70 is actually from
3/23/70.
Pete
Lavezzoli writes:
"The
advert lists TWO dates, 3/22 and 3/23. These two dates both DID happen. I have
spoken with people in Florida who clearly remember that the Dead played both
nights, Sunday and Monday, and they went to both. Another person remembers
having to choose between one show or the other and they ended up going the
second night. This person remembers Morning Dew, Dark Star, and Lovelight, and
so it would appear that the tape we have is from the second night of the two,
3/23/70.
I
have also done library research and looked at microfilm of the local Ft
Lauderdale News from March 1970, and the Dead were also listed in the paper for
both nights, and the Youngbloods were listed to play Pirate's World the next
two nights, 3/24 and 3/25. On the actual week of the shows, the paper again
lists these dates all the same, with no changes or cancellations. So, between
the newspaper and the people I have spoken with who were there, the Dead DID
play two nights on the dates that are shown on the advert: 3/22 and 3/23...
In
conclusion, Deadlists and DeadBase both need to list two dates for Pirate's
World: 3/22 and 3/23/70. And according to one person who attended 3/23, this is
the show that we have on tape. There was NO Dead show on 3/24/70. The
Youngbloods played that day and there were no changes or cancellations. The
tape we have in circulation is 3/23/70. And there was the night before, 3/22,
for which we do not have a tape or a setlist, but the date was played."
3. 4/24/70 is actually from
4/25/70.
Newspaper
reviews of the Mammoth Garden shows on April 24 & April 25 reveal that the
audience tape comes from the second show, while the 24th is lost.
4. 5/9/70 is actually from
5/3/70.
The
audience tape attributed to Worcester turned out to match a video of the
Wesleyan show. Redated copies have since come out. Worcester
remains lost.
5. 7/3/70 is actually
7/4/70.
This
is somewhat academic since no tape circulates, but Deadbase, Deadlists and the
Taper’s Section all attribute the Dead’s Calgary show to July 3. It was
actually the following day. To confuse matters more, Taper’s Section selections
from the July 4 show have been dated July 1 and July 3. In short, aside from
two songs from 7/1 Winnipeg (Easy Wind & Candyman), all the available Dead
performances we have are from the July 4 show. The complete tape is evidently in
the Vault.
6. 7/10/70 is actually from
7/9/70.
One
Archive reviewer of the tape recalled, "This is not 7/10/70. I was at
7/10/70. Dead at Midnight! The electric set opened with Morning Dew. They also
played Dark Star into St Stephen into NFA into Lovelight." Blair Jackson
also attended on the 10th, and remembered Lovelight closing the show
at 5 am.
The
deadlists witness and the newspaper review of the lost Dark Star show were
thought to refer to July 9, but given these memories of the 10th, it
looks like the audience tape actually comes from the previous night, and the 10th
is lost.
7. 7/11/70 and 7/12/70 have
been switched.
The
first audience tapes for these shows had the dates reversed, and Deadlists and
Deadbase preferred to keep the old labels, but evidence for the true dates has
mounted. For instance, on our “7/12/70” tape, Marty Weinberg states before the
Dead’s set that it’s “Saturday night, July 11.” Taper Jim Cooper has also
verified that he taped the “7/11/70” show on the 12th. A couple Archive
reviewers also comment: "I was unequivocally there on 7/11, and the opener
was, memorably, Easy Wind." "This is the show from 7/12/70, not
7/11/70, having attended both... The Electric set of 7/11 opened with Easy
Wind, and featured a medley of Dancing-Cryptical-Other One-Cryptical-Lovelight."
A
couple accurately dated copies of 7/12 are now on the Archive (the Darst AUD composite is the best), but all the copies of 7/11 are still dated “7/12” (the Cloverman/Smith source is the best).
https://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-9-12-1970-fillmore-east.html (no help on dates)
8. 7/30/70 is a mystery.
Much
has been written about this unsolved case, but basically: the Dead played a
short acoustic set to accompany a New Riders show in a small club. (The set’s
even shorter since part of the show is missing.) A number of 1970 New Riders tapes are said to come from Matrix shows, including July 29-30, however there’s
no other evidence they actually played the Matrix that week in July. The Matrix
schedule that week seems to have been in flux, with conflicting listings in
different papers. The Hartbeats (in some unknown configuration) played there on
July 27 & perhaps the 28th. But NRPS and the acoustic Dead are
known to have played at the Lion’s Share from July 30-August 1, which looks at
first to be an inviting match for this tape.
So
the question is: was anybody taping at the Lion’s Share? If so, this tape may
well come from 7/30 at the Lion’s Share. But with Owsley gone, no one in the
Dead organization was taping NRPS shows that we know of. I feel that the Matrix
is a much more likely tape source, partly due to the known taper (Peter Abram),
the sound of the mix, the small subdued audience, and the existence of multiple
NRPS tapes from that club. This leaves the date uncertain.
http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2011/03/hartbeats-july-1970.html
(discussion of scheduling possibilities)
http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/04/nrps-matrix-1970-05-of-7-ln19700730.html
(review of NRPS tape)
http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-riders-of-purple-sage-and-acoustic.html
(7/30 Lion’s Share show discovered)
9. 8/5/70 San Diego – there
was no such show.
There’s
no evidence the Dead played any show in San Diego that month, let alone a
casual acoustic show. So this tape is even more of a mystery than 7/30: the
mislabeling could be deliberate, there’s no accompanying NRPS set, and the show
has been edited down to a 60-minute tape, cutting out any possible identifying
announcements. Since it’s evidently in a small club, the best candidates are
the Matrix and Lion’s Share. (The enthusiastic audience is consistent with
later Lion’s Share recordings, but it could just be a more crowded night at the
Matrix. The recording mix is quite different from 7/30 though, which may
indicate a different taper or stage setup.) It’s in roughly the same time
period, late July/early August, with several songs repeated – the only new
song, To Lay Me Down, is on both tapes, but other American Beauty songs don’t
appear yet. Pigpen isn’t present in either show, but Dawson & Nelson
participate (with Nelson on mandolin).
This
tape appeared as early as 1971 in tape collectors’ circles, so it’s from a
different source than the NRPS Matrix tapes which only surfaced (in limited
fashion) later on. I believe the two halves of the tape are out of order: the
show wasn’t two sets, but ‘Deep Elem’ comes first and the gospel numbers end
the show as usual.
10. The 8/17/70 fragment is
actually from 6/24/70.
Just
a mislabeled piece of filler from Ken Lee’s tape of the 6/24 early acoustic
set. 8/17 remains lost. (For two reports on 8/17, see: http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/07/august-17-1970-fillmore-west.html)
"11/9/70"
comes from several other dates:
Attics
of My Life, Mama Tried - 9/20/70 (from a no-longer-circulating audience tape)
Morning
Dew, Deep Elem Blues - 12/28/70 AUD
New
Minglewood Blues and Walkin' the Dog - from a lost show (or shows), date
unknown, but probably not the Action House.
“11/10/70”
comes from a Marty Weinberg compilation reel - the Not Fade Away is from his
9/20/70 AUD, and the Other One is from 2/23/71. (Both of those tapes are on the
Archive.)
The
real Action House shows are lost. One undated Marty Weinberg AUD fragment which
may be from one of the 46th Street Rock Palace shows has survived,
randomly attributed to 11/12:
12. 11/21/70 is actually from
4/3/70.
Long
thought to be a fragment from the Boston University show in which Ned Lagin
played, this tape turned out to be a poor copy of the Cincinnati show. No
wonder Ned couldn’t be heard!
A
couple accounts of the Boston show:
13. 11/23/70 is actually
from 11/16/70.
The
real date was determined long ago – what was thought to be a tape from the
Hell’s Angels party at the Anderson Theater turned out to be from a surprise Fillmore
East show with several guests the previous week. The 11/16 SBD tape has many
comments on the correct dating:
The
circulating tape is incomplete, but a Good Lovin’ with Papa John Creach was
captured in an AUD tape fragment:
A
review of the show:
The
11/23 Anderson Theater show is lost, but there is a review:
14. 12/17/70 is actually a
compilation from the October 4-5 Winterland shows.
Cold
Rain & Snow, Uncle John’s Band – from 10/4/70.
Hard
to Handle, Candyman, Me & My Uncle, Dancing in the Streets – from 10/5/70.
Part
of this also circulated as “12/23/70” and even in the
Vault several of these songs are also dated “12/23,” but these December dates
are when the studio mixdowns of the multitrack tapes took place.
On
12/17/70 David & the Dorks were playing at the Matrix. The genuine 12/23/70, a short benefit show, is here: https://archive.org/details/gd1970-12-23.132343.sbd.miller.flac16
***
APPENDIX
While
I’m on the subject of 1970 tapes, I’ll mention a few significant upgrades and
new sources that have come out in the last couple years – all audience tapes:
4/9/70
partial AUD upgrade:
(This
new audience source was a big improvement in the AUD portion of the show from
Katie Mae through Cryptical. But for the end of the show, NFA>Lovelight,
turn to SIRMick's remaster of Harry Ely’s old AUD.)
5/7/70
electric set upgrade:
(A
new audience source – the acoustic set sounds better on the old AUD, but the
electric set is much improved on this recording.)
6/24/70
complete late acoustic set:
(Complete
at last!)
9/17/70
upgrade of Marty Weinberg’s electric-set tape:
(Only
part of the set, but the Dark Star is complete and at the right speed.)
9/19/70
complete acoustic set:
(The
quality’s rough, but the full set only recently emerged online.)
10/10/70
upgrade:
(A
lower-gen tape, clearer and longer than the previous copy.)
Even after fifty years,
some tapes are still emerging!
