Set Lists

Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 2: Oct. '77 

Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 2: October ' 77 is a two disc release (a bonus disc with early orders) of their venture through the Mid-West and Southern United States. The recordings were expertly remastered from the original reel-to-reel tapes. The first disc randomly gathers some of their key songs that really shined in 1977 while the second disc focuses on two concert performances.

Disc one contains some of my favorite 1977 Grateful Dead songs. The selections switch from a Bobby to a Jerry song throughout, but the tracks are not replicating how they would appear live. It is more like a greatest hits of live 1977 first set material. All of the versions sizzle. If I had to select the top highlight, I'd go with "Sugaree." This rendition is powerful, relentless, and satisfying. A few superb transitions are captured. One of my favorite Jerry songs is "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo." This version includes a smooth transition into "El Paso," which I've never heard. The segue from "Slipknot" to "Franklin's" is a thing of beauty, as part of a predictably stunning "Help on the Way" > "Slipknot" > "Franklin's Tower." All in all, superb music. 

The second disc is smartly selected. I'm sure purists will not be pleased, but taken into account space limitations here is what we have.  First, Houston, TX on 10/14/77, had an excellent "Playing in the Band" within its second set leading up to "Drums" and it begins disc one. 

Next, from the 10/16/77, in Baton Rouge, LA we are treated to some totally essential material. The five songs appeared after drums. The track selection is a bit unique in that rather than the normal tradition of alternating vocalists, Bobby sings two, which includes a version of "The Other One" that packs a lot into its 8:24. Then Jerry sings two, "Terrapin Station" > "Black Peter." That is not a typo! I believe that this is the only time they played these tracks in this order. More, the long jam out of "Black Peter" seamlessly transitions into "Around and Around"; some fine rock 'n roll to close the set.

Lastly, we go back to 10/14/77, for the double encore. First is the last performance of "Brokedown Palace" until December 26, 1979, released as Dick's Picks Vol. 5. It sequences into > "Playing in the Band (Reprise)" to pick up where the disc begins. The transition isn't seamless, but it only takes half a moment to gather. Then after some noodling they bring the disc to its conclusion. 

From my point of view this disc captures two must have moments from the tour; 100% great music, a seamless flow, all on one disc. To date there have been a number of releases from 1977. While Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 2: October ' 77 wouldn't top my list it is surely good. Two discs filled to capacity of excellent music, no filler here.
by Barry Small
Grade A -

Order: GDM

Bonus Disc
For a limited time, a bonus disc was included. It includes two key chunks of set two material with a few carefully selected songs separating them.

It begins with the first three songs from the second set from October 16 in Baton Rouge, LA. The post drums portion was featured on disc two. Combined, the whole second set is included. 
1. Scarlet Begonias
2. Fire On the Mountain
3. Estimated Prophet

Separating the two key chunks of music and filling the disc to its capacity a first set treats to enjoy. 
4. Loser - 10/14/77
5. Sunrise - 10/11/77

The final 30 plus minutes of the bonus disc is the complete post drums portion of the performance from October 7  in Albuquerque, NM.  
6. Iko Iko
7. The Wheel
8. Wharf Rat
9. Sugar Magnolia

DISC 2:
1. Playing In the Band (17:12) (10/14/77)
2. Drums (3:09) (10/16/77)
3. The Other One (8:24) (10/16/77)
4. Good Lovin' (5:53) (10/16/77)
5. Terrapin Station (11;29) (10/16/77)
6. Black Peter (13:17) (10/16/77)
7. Around and Around (9:08) (10/16/77)
8. Brokedown Palace (5:51) (10/14/77)
9. Playing In the Band reprise (5:23) (10/14/77)

Released - Feb. 2008
Producer - Grateful Dead
Compilation producer - David Lemieux, Blair Jackson
Recorded by - Betty Cantor-Jackson
Editing, mastering - Jeffrey Norman
Cover art - Scott McDougall
Photos - Bob Minkin, Ed Perlstein
Package design - Steve Vance
Booklet essay - Steve Silberman

The second release in a new series, Road Trips.

Upon the release of Road Trips Vol. 1 No. 2: October ' 77, they offered a listening party, which is for a limited amount of time the ability to stream the first disc.

From the back cover
The compact discs herein have been digitally remastered directly from original analog reel-to-reel tapes. They are historical snapshots not modern professional recordings and may therefore exhibit occasional technical anomalies and unavoidable ravages of time.

From GD website
Ah yes, the glorious year of 1977, a favorite of discerning Dead Heads for three decades now! For the second volume in our new Road Trips series, we’ve chosen another tour that was not tapped previously through Dick’s Picks—a blazing swing through the Southwest, Colorado and down to Louisiana during the first weeks of October 1977.

This was a great time for the band: Both the years in the making Grateful Dead Movie and the new Terrapin Station album had come out a few months earlier and the group was riding high on momentum from both of those projects. There was exciting new material that had debuted at the beginning of the year, including “Estimated Prophet,” “Terrapin” and “Fire on the Mountain,” and steady touring through the spring allowed the band to really explore the nuances of the new repertoire, while they also continued to hone the material that had come in following the band’s return to the stage in mid-1976 after their hiatus. What you’ll find on these great-sounding discs is a mixture of old favorites played with that fabled ’77 energy, and more recent material that was hitting new peaks nightly. There’s a “Let It Grow” that will knock your tie-dyed socks off, one of the great versions of “Sugaree” of that or any year, the famous “Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin’s Tower” from Norman, Oklahoma, epic workouts on “Playing in the Band” and “The Other One” and a jammed-out “Black Peter” for the ages. Hot stuff!

As always with Road Trips, if you order NOW (as they say on late-night TV), we will also include a 12-piece set of steak knives…no, wait a second, that’s not right. We’ll also include a special limited edition Bonus Disc with a dazzling plethora of other tunes from the same tour, including a wicked “Scarlet> Fire” (from Baton Rouge) and the group’s second-ever version of “Iko-Iko” (from “Al-be-ker-kay,” as Bugs Bunny called it).

One again, the discs have been lovingly compiled and painstakingly mastered (in HDCD) from the original master tapes (in this case reels) by Jeffrey Norman. The booklet that accompanies the CDs boasts scads of great photos from the era and a very cool historical essay by the ever-hip and erudite scribe Steve Silberman.