Grateful Dead - Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO (12/10/71) 3CD/5LP BOX SET
From the first show the Grateful Dead played in St. Louis in 1968 - when “St. Stephen” made its debut - local fans knew the Gateway City’s rich musical heritage had a unique way of coaxing the best out of the band.
One of the shortest-lived iterations of the Grateful Dead was the band that existed December 1971 through March 1972. Jerry, Bob, Phil, Bill, Pigpen, and Keith formed a formidable version of the Dead that only played a few shows together before Donna Jean joined as vocalist, and before Pigpen would depart the stage for good in June 1972. What this sextet lacked in quantity of shows it made up for with creativeness, power, and inspiration. When Pigpen re-joined the Dead on December 1, 1971, after a few months off during which Keith had joined as piano player, the band was now an unstoppably powerful live juggernaut it hadn't been since the height of the Primal Dead-era in late 1968-1969.
Widely considered one of the best shows from the Pigpen-Keith era of the Grateful Dead, December 10, 1971 in St. Louis has it all: Pigpen singing lead on four songs including an 18-minute version of Good Lovin' and a very rare performance of Run Rudolph Run; a deep dive into the Dead's psychedelic recent past with a monster version of The Other One; plus plenty of the new material from earlier in 1971 like Bertha, Loser, Sugaree and Playing In The Band. They also hit upon much of the music that would appear the following year on Europe '72, such as Jack Straw, Tennessee Jed, Mr. Charlie, and One More Saturday Night. And no Dead show of this vintage would be complete without the "hits": Truckin', Sugar Magnolia and Casey Jones all make appearances.
This is truly one of the deepest, most dynamic, exciting, and accessible live shows in the entire Grateful Dead canon.
Tracklist:
1. Bertha
2. Me and My Uncle
3. Mr. Charlie
4. Beat It on Down the Line
5. Sugaree
6. Jack Straw
7. Next Time You See Me
8. Tennessee Jed
9. El Paso
10. Big Railroad Blues
11. Casey Jones
12. Good Lovin'
13. Brokedown Palace
14. Playing in the Band
15. Run Rudolph Run
16. Deal
17. Sugar Magnolia
18. Comes a Time
19. Truckin'
20. Drums
21. The Other One
22. Sitting on Top of the World
23. The Other One
24. Not Fade Away
25. Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad
26. Not Fade Away
27. One More Saturday Night
About this product: this is available on 3CD and 5LP BOX SET formats.
The 5LP BOX SET is pressed on black vinyl.