Grateful Dead: “Dave’s Picks Bonus Disc 2023” (2023) CD Review

If you get a subscription to the Dave’s Picks series of Grateful Dead concert recordings, once a year a bonus disc is sent your way. This year’s bonus disc arrived with Dave’s Picks Volume 46. That three-disc set contains the complete show the Grateful Dead performed on September 9, 1972, and the bonus disc contains music from two other shows from that same tour. I am, of course, always happy to receive more live Dead, but the bonus disc also makes me a bit sad, only because it signals that the two shows likely won’t get their own complete releases. Anyway, the disc contains five songs from the September 19th show performed in Jersey City, and six songs from the September 3rd show in Boulder. As you might recall, a few songs from the latter show were included as filler on Dick’s Picks Volume 36, which was released in 2005 (so that show wasn’t likely to get a full release on its own anyway).

The disc begins with the first three songs from the September 19th show. Before they start, we are told “Believe it or not, it’s all working, it’s all working.” And it seems to be, as the band launches into “Bertha,” always a nice choice to kick off a show. And just listen to Jerry Garcia as he delivers the line, “I was all night running.” You can’t help but believe that he in fact was running all night. And you know when Jerry shows that much energy and enthusiasm on the first song, it’s going to be a good night. They follow that with “Greatest Story Ever Told,” Bob Weir showing that he too is ready to deliver. There is a delicious power to his vocal performance. But the jam carries even more electricity, particularly the guitars. This is a seriously good version. The band is clearly in high spirits, telling the crowd, “Well, thanks for dropping by this evening.” They then go into “Bird Song,” and this song too has more energy than usual, particularly in Jerry’s guitar work. I’m curious how the rest of that first set turned out. The bonus disc then jumps to the first song of the second set, “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo,” which was pretty new at the time, having had its debut only two months earlier. But the band had played it several times in the intervening weeks, and delivers a solid version here. The disc skips “Mexicali Blues,” and gives us “Brokedown Palace.” This song never fails to move me, and in the later days when I was seeing the Dead, it was one of my favorite choices of encores. This is a sweet rendition. “Fare you well, fare you well/I love you more than words can tell.”

The tracks from the Boulder show begin in the middle of the second set, with a good version of “China Cat Sunflower,” featuring a jam that is moving swiftly along, leading, of course, into “I Know You Rider.” Just listen to Jerry sing that “headlight” line. So good! The music has a great flow to it, a force that no one should attempt to interfere with. Interestingly, the disc then goes back to “Brown-Eyed Women,” which was played a couple of songs before “China Cat” (skipping “Mexicali” again, but this time in reverse). There is a bit of an awkward start, but no worries, for the band delivers here. However, going backward for “Brown-Eyed Women” seems an even odder choice when the next song on the disc is “Truckin’,” which was played directly after “I Know You Rider.” Go figure. Before they start, Bob jokes about “Truckin’” being a regional hit for the band. It’s crazy that the band didn’t have a national top ten hit until “Touch Of Grey.” One of those things I’ll never understand. These guys are rockin’ the song here, the jam bursting forward with delight. The disc then jumps to the third set (yup, that’s right, they did three sets that night). Bob jokes about watching out for Frisbees and using them as protection from the rain, and the band launches into an energetic rendition of “Cold Rain And Snow.” The disc skips ahead again to the middle of the third set for “Ramble On Rose,” with the energy remaining high. And that’s how it concludes. Great stuff.

CD Track List

1. Bertha
2. Greatest Story Ever Told
3. Bird Song
4. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
5. Brokedown Palace
6. China Cat Sunflower >
7. I Know You Rider
8. Brown-Eyed Women
9. Truckin’
10. Cold Rain And Snow
11. Ramble On Rose

Dave’s Picks Bonus Disc 2023 was released with Dave’s Picks Volume 46 in early May, 2023.