- Grateful Dead Barton Hall Youtube
- Grateful Dead Barton Hall
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- Grateful Dead Barton Hall 5/8/77
- Grateful Dead Barton Hall 77
Celebrate the legendary Grateful Dead show at Barton Hall, performed 43 years ago today. It was 43 years ago today that one of the most notable Grateful Dead shows ever was performed at Cornell University on May 8, 1977. One of the most revered and traded shows in the band’s history, the Barton Hall show is a thing of legend, a perfect way to. Barton Hall Worked Super Trooper #1 (Jerry's spotlight) at the Barton Hall, 5/8/77 show. Was a freshman at Cornell and on the lighting committee. I was located on top of the ROTC building, in a bank of, well. Grateful Dead Barton Hall, Cornell University May 8, 1977. The one other FUNNY thing I remember was standing outside Barton hall in that cold rain and watching the. Cornell 5/8/77 is a live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. It was released as a three-disc CD and as a five-disc LP on May 5, 2017. Grateful Dead, “Grateful Dead Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University on 1977-05-08,” Grateful Dead Archive Online, accessed April 22, 2021, https.
Grateful Dead Barton Hall Youtube
Of more than 2,300 concerts over the Grateful Dead’s 30-year touring career, there is one performance more famous than others, widely considered their best: May 8, 1977, in Cornell’s Barton Hall.
The subject of a new Cornell University Press book by Peter Conners, “Cornell ’77: The Music, the Myth and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead Show at Barton Hall,” the concert began to achieve its legendary status 10 years after the fact. High-quality audio recordings (by the band’s audio engineer, Betty Cantor-Jackson) began to circulate on cassette tapes among fans, just as the band gained a mass audience in 1987 with the hit song “Touch of Grey.”
Cornell, Ithaca and Tompkins County will celebrate the concert’s 40th anniversary Monday, May 8, with events including a 6 p.m. Cornell Chimes concert in McGraw Tower.
Conners and Cornell University Press will be part of a 40th anniversary celebration at the State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. The event – with a 1977 ticket price of $6.50 – will feature an acoustic set by local band Terrapin Station and a listening party for the remastered concert recording’s official release by Rhino Entertainment (as “Cornell 5/8/77”).
The half-hour chimes concert will feature five Grateful Dead songs and three other selections from the 1960s. The setlist and other updates will be posted Monday to the event’s Facebook page.
Liz Field, a communication specialist with Cornell Information Technologies, contacted head chimesmaster Serim An ’17 in December with the idea to play a Grateful Dead song on the anniversary.
To An’s knowledge, the Dead had never been in the Chimes repertoire, and “almost all of the students this year didn’t know any Grateful Dead songs. Some of the older chimesmasters who’d been playing for over 20 years, they were great fans of the Grateful Dead” and volunteered to help, she said.
“It’s always pretty challenging to arrange any songs because we only have 21 bells … there’s a big limitation there,” An said. “It was really challenging to make it work on the chimes, and also to re-create some of the same sentiments you get from their music.”
An, along with Jennifer Lory-Moran ’96, MAT ’97; Gretchen Ryan ’97, Scott Silverstein ’08 and Julia King, Ph.D. ’17, arranged the songs. They will be performed solo and in duos by An, Lory-Moran, Ryan, Joshua Chan ’18, John Lee ’18 and Billie Sun ’19. McGraw Tower will be closed during the concert and listeners are welcome to gather on the Arts Quad, Ho Plaza and Libe Slope.
Dan Klein, vice chair of the Tompkins County Legislature, will read a proclamation declaring May 8 “Grateful Dead Day” at 5:45 p.m. at McGraw Tower. Signifying the concert’s legendary status, the proclamation says, in part, “the cultural identity and perceptions of Tompkins County as a community have been informed and bolstered by the widespread acknowledgement of the magic of May 8, 1977.”
Conners will sign copies of his book at The Cornell Store at 4:30 p.m. and at the State Theatre.
Cornell University Press Director Dean J. Smith, an avowed Deadhead and veteran of 60 shows from 1982 to 1995, proposed a book about the famed concert at his interview for the job in December 2014.
“The 400 songs that they wrote are part of the American songbook,” he said. “When you saw them on tour, you never thought about how history’s going to regard them.”
Conners signed on as author in 2015, and conducted 30 interviews for the book, which Rhino has now included in “May 1977: Get Shown the Light,” a deluxe box set of four Terrapin Station Tour shows including Barton Hall. The limited-edition 11-CD set sold out all 15,000 copies in pre-orders by early February. (The hardcover book, released April 11, had a first pressing of 22,000. The book and the definitive Cornell recording are available separately).
The book’s cover features silver embossing, with a special Grateful Dead skull version of the Cornell Press colophon on the dust jacket. The text includes a chapter on the song “Dark Star” and Conners’ listener’s guide to the Dead.
“As far as media coverage, it looked like a tough crowd would be reviewing it,” Smith said. “The response from the current Grateful Dead intelligentsia and from everyone has been fantastic. [The fans] can debate what the perfect show is, what the best show is … To me, the book is like any show I ever went to. It does not close the chapter on the Dead for me, it opens it up to more inquiry.”
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Rebecca Valli
Conrad Doucette is a writer and percussionist (Takka Takka, the National, Bob Weir) who co-curated and performed on last year’s massive Grateful Dead compDay Of The Dead.
The Grateful Dead played their first show on 5/5/65 at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park, CA.
The Grateful Dead played their BEST show 12 years and three days later, on 5/8/77 at Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Or so many would have you believe.
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There can be no doubting the historicity of that first show — it’s objectively accurate that the Dead (or really, the Warlocks, their original name) played their first show on 5/5/65.
But 5/8/77? Their best show? That’s up for debate. A deeply enjoyable and deeply dank debate! But before we go any further, here’s the question you want answered: If I’m not a Deadhead should I listen to this show? The short answer is YES, POSITIVELY.
Whether you’re a very casual fan or a complete newbie, 5/8/77 is absolutely worth a peek, especially “Scarlet Begonias“>”Fire On The Mountain,” “Morning Dew,” and “Dancin’ In The Streets.” Put those on and keep reading.
So why is this seemingly random show in the spring of 1977 so revered? And where were the Dead at that point in their 35-year existence? Answers to the first question below, but first, here’s some context.
By the fall of 1974, the Grateful Dead — lead guitarist and vocalist Jerry Garcia, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Bob Weir, bassist Phil Lesh, pianist Keith Godchaux, vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann — were frazzled to the point of exhaustion. Years of surging popularity were forcing them out of the theater-sized venues they felt were optimal for their songs, sound, and vibe. They’d spent ’74 lugging around the Wall Of Sound, Owsley “Bear” Stanley’s ahead-of-its-time sound system that threatened to bankrupt the band. And they were pushed to their physical limits by life on the road, the concomitant party lifestyle, and a scene of friends and hangers-on who were threatening to drown the band in desperately good vibes.
So, they took a break.
After a string of four “farewell” shows (documented in The Grateful Dead Movie) at Winterland, Bill Graham’s San Francisco uber-ballroom/mini-arena, the Dead went on their now-famous hiatus. The band members spent 1975 jamming, writing, and recording a new album (Blues For Allah), and playing the odd show (four in total).
By mid-1976, the Grateful Dead were emotionally and physically ready to return to the road. But this was a noticeably different Grateful Dead from the one which had said fare thee well in 1974. A preference for mid-tempo grooves was pronounced. Mickey Hart made a full-time return to the band, reinstating a double-drum attack. And the entire sheen of the sound seemed … slick.
And very ’70s.
By the time the 1977 spring tour came around, the post-hiatus Dead were in fine, fighting form. They were confident. The performances were strong. Unlike the Dead’s more flub-laden eras (much of 1994 and 1995, say), the band was TIGHT in May 1977. Shows were sharp and swagger-filled.
Not to say that the band was perfect, though. And 5/8/77 is by no means a perfect show. Weir and Godchaux aren’t in sync as “Dancin’” rolls into verse one — Weir comes in early, or perhaps Godchaux is late. A similar event occurs during the “lady finger” segment of “St. Stephen.” And there are some noticeable wrong notes from Garcia in “Morning Dew (and still, this version is generally considered the ‘best’ ever).
Not perfect, then, but perhaps “just exactly perfect,” an oft-used Weir-ism that nicely captures the particular grail the Dead were perpetually after.
And the new songs arrived fully formed. “Estimated Prophet,” debuted less than three months before, is wonderfully tense and soaring. “Fire On The Mountain,” even newer, is a monster of a groover, dripping with percussive dynamics, and punctuated by Garcia’s searing leads. Here, as ever, it’s tethered to “Scarlet Begonias” (“Scarlet”>”Fire” to the faithful).
That “Scarlet”>”Fire” is not only one of the highlights of 5/8/77, it’s one of the highlights of the Grateful Dead’s decades-long body of work. And yet it is one of only several jaw-dropping moments in 5/8/77. Looking for a reason to give this show a listen? Here are some.
Phil Lesh
Lesh’s bass is very much a star of this show. Throughout the Dead’s career, the bass guitar, in his avant garde-reared hands, was very much a second lead instrument. And throughout 5/8/77 especially, Lesh’s bass demands attention. Perhaps its most visible moment is in the opening seconds of “Scarlet Begonias,” as he lets loose glissando after gooey glissando, bursting with warmth and bounce. Listen especially between 0:08 and 0:34:
And it’s not just the sliding between notes that are ear-catching, but also the register — Phil Lesh isn’t afraid to hit those high notes, often in staccato pulses.
Lesh exhibits similar behavior in “Dancing,” with the nimble and dexterous runs resulting in funked up, elastic ecstasy. It’s the caliber of playing that won Lesh his diehard supporters, forever seeking seats in the “Phil Zone” at shows, and sporting fan-made “Lesh Is More” shirts in the lot. And speaking of “Dancin’”…
Grateful Dead Barton Hall
“Dancin’ In The Streets”
The epitome of “disco Dead” (see also: “Shakedown Street“). Fat, effected Garcia guitar in full effect. High and heavenly riffing from Weir. A wonderful, head-bobbing, straight-ahead beat from the Rhythm Devils (Kreutzmann and Hart). And over 16 minutes of all of this sun-drenched beauty. An exercise in brevity it’s not, though with the Dead, less is generally not more (though, as previously stated, Lesh IS). #BassGreatLeshPhilling
“Morning Dew“
“Morning Dew,” a perennially relevant Bonnie Dobson original set in the aftermath of a nuclear event, is one of the totems of the Grateful Dead performing song base. From the ‘60s through to the Dead’s end in ’95, “Morning Dew” was a steady feature of the group’s repertoire. As performed by the Dead, “Morning Dew” presents foreboding progressions, gorgeously morose vocals by Garcia, and, most notably, a closing solo/instrumental passage that builds to perhaps the most cathartic crescendo in the Grateful Dead canon, a final line (“Guess it doesn’t matter anyway”) from Garcia, before the whole foundation comes crumbling down. Here, “Morning Dew” ends the set — and really, what could follow it?
The sound
This is one of the best-sounding eras of the Dead. Everything pops. And sonically, each instrument comes through cleanly and distinctly — little is muddied. Go to Spotify or Tidal or what have you and listen to the beginnings of “Scarlet Begonias” or “Dancin’ In The Streets” — you’ll want to take a running leap and cannonball into the sonics.
In fact, the Dead’s aural aesthetic in 1977 is so honey-slicked and sweet that even the dead air (heh) is righteous. Have you heard this? It’s a seamless edit of all of the Dead’s between-song “tuning”/noodling in ’77. Not only is it listenable, but it’s enjoyable in its own swaying and mesmerizing way. White noise, ’77 style.
So yeah, 5/8/77 is amazing, a must-have tape, as we tape collectors used to (and still) say. But isn’t it unusual that one particular show in the late ’70s has occupied such an exalted place in Dead lore? Ultimately there are two reasons responsible for the lofty status of 5/8/77: ubiquity and sound quality.
In the late ’80s, the so-called Betty Boards began to circulate. Betty was Betty Cantor-Jackson, a sound engineer who recorded hundreds of Dead shows in the ’70s. For financial reasons, Cantor-Jackson’s storage space was put up for auction, and many of her pristine recordings began to circulate. Because of the quality of both the sound and performance, 5/8/77 spread far and wide. Everyone had 5/8/77. (I had it on two Maxell XL II 90s.) And it was generally the best-sounding tape in any given collection. Whether trading tapes through the mail, or talking with fellow heads in the parking lot at a show, 5/8/77 was a common touchstone.
And as a result of those Betty boards being auctioned off into the public sphere, and not falling into the ownership of the Dead, 5/8/77, the long-established “best show ever,” was never officially released. The band didn’t own the recordings. Last year, however, the Dead managed to secure ownership, barely making today’s 40th anniversary deadline.
And so here we are. A show long known (thanks to the ’80s circulation of those Betty board tapes). A show long revered (thanks to the quality of performance). And a show repeatedly listened to (thanks to the pristine quality of the original tapes).
And we haven’t even gone into the intangibles: the odd but beloved-by-heads “Take A Step Back” ditty/crowd-admonition that opens the second set (placed at the beginning of “Scarlet Begonias” on the new release) — widely held to be the best “Take A Step Back” ever (yes, Deadheads rank these things). The stunning run of songs in the first set, including “Row Jimmy” (one of Garcia’s favorites of his own songs), the mildly rare and beloved “They Love Each Other,” and a mid-set “Jack Straw” before the Weir/Barlow original would settle into its usual show-opening slot. Not to mention the chuckle-inducing fact that the Grateful Dead’s “best show ever” opens with “Minglewood Blues,” a stalwart of Weir’s first-set blues slot, loved just fine but never considered to be worthy of, say, opening the Dead’s best show ever (or any Dead show).
And finally, there’s the Prankster-ish presence of “One More Saturday Night,” a fab but simple party song, here existing in the encore slot (on a Sunday night). I guess the band didn’t even want to try topping that second set-closing “Morning Dew.”
Grateful Dead Barton Hall 1981
So is 5/8/77 the best Grateful Dead show ever? Probably not. Personally, I’m partial to a few ’74 shows, or 9/19/90, or something from late 1968, or the 1990 spring tour (my first show!) or 6/17/91 (I was at that, too — yes, I’m biased, and personal biases alway figure into these things). And if you’ve read more than one article on May ’77, you might have read that some consider the previous night, or the following night, to be even better. I wouldn’t disagree.
In fact, I listened to my 5/9/77 (Buffalo) tape far more than I did my 5/8/77. And I’m happy to celebrate that show, too.
Cornell 5/8/77 is out now via Rhino as a 3CD and 5LP set, and digitally.
Amir Bar-Lev’s Long Strange Trip documentary (executive produced by Martin Scorsese) hits theaters 5/26 and Amazon Prime Video on 6/2.
Grateful Dead Barton Hall 5/8/77
Watch a mini-documentary on 5/8/77 below.