Grateful Dead Dick's Picks Vol. 3 - Pembroke Pines, Florida 5/22/77 (2CD)

Grateful Dead archivist Dick Latvala considered this show to be the finest outing on the entire Spring 1977 tour, and, as any Dead Head knows, that is high praise indeed! At the time, the Dead weren't sure a market existed (ha!) for three and four-CD packages, so this two-CD set leaves off eight songs from the show, but consider what songs are here: a phenomenal "Help on the Way"/"Slipknot!"/"Franklin's Tower" concludes disc one after one of the definitive renditions of "Sugaree" and a terrific "The Music Never Stopped," with Phil Lesh's slithering bass leading the way in recording engineer's Betty Cantor-Jackson's mix. But disc two offers one of those sublime, seamless (and, in this case, never to be repeated) sequences of songs that only the Dead could pull off in concert; after the rarely-performed "Sunrise," a medley of "Estimated Prophet"/"Eyes of the World"/"Wharf Rat"/"Terrapin Station" (a truncated version two months before its official release)/"Morning Dew" brings the show home, as Jerry Garcia's soloing on "Morning Dew" reaches heights seldom attained even by him. A knockout release, long out of print.

Release date 06.03.22