''Sunshine Daydream'' is a music

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, starring the rock band the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

. It was shot at their August 27, 1972 concert at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in

Veneta, Oregon Veneta is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,561. History Veneta was established in 1912 by Edmund Eugene Hunter, who named the settlement after his five-year-old daughter. Veneta pos ...

. Unreleased for many years, the film was sometimes shown at small film festivals, and

bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

s of it circulated on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, and as digital downloads. A digitally remastered and reedited official version of the film was released on August 1, 2013, showing only one time in selected theaters as that year's edition of the

Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies is an annual event that began in 2011. At the Meet-Up, concert videos and films of the rock band the Grateful Dead are shown in movie theaters at multiple locations. Each yearly screening occurs only once. The ...

. It was screened with ''Grateful Days'', a new documentary short that includes interviews with some of the concert attendees. ''Sunshine Daydream'' was released on

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on September 17, 2013. Actor

Al Strobel Albert Michael Strobel (January 28, 1940– December 2, 2022) was an American actor best known for his recurring role on David Lynch and Mark Frost's ''Twin Peaks'' as Phillip Michael Gerard, also known as Mike. Early life Strobel was born i ...

, well known for playing The One-Armed Man in ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

'', shot footage that ended up in the film. ''Sunshine Daydream'' is also a live album containing the complete August 27, 1972 Grateful Dead concert. Produced as a 3-disc CD and as a 4-disc LP, it was released by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

on September 17, 2013. The name ''Sunshine Daydream'' is taken from the coda section of the Dead song " Sugar Magnolia".

Concert

The lineup of the Grateful Dead for this concert—and for all their concerts from July 1972 to October 1974—was

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

on guitar and vocals,

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of ...

on bass and vocals,

Keith Godchaux Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948 – July 23, 1980) was a pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979. Biography Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Concord, California ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Donna Jean Godchaux Donna Jean Thatcher Godchaux-MacKay (born August 22, 1947) is an American singer who was a member of the Grateful Dead from 1972 until 1979. Biography Donna Jean Thatcher was born in Florence, Alabama. Prior to 1970, she had worked as a ses ...

on vocals, and

Bill Kreutzmann William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. The show was a benefit for the Springfield Creamery in nearby

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...

Merry Pranksters The Merry Pranksters were comrades and followers of American author Ken Kesey in 1964. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters lived communally at Kesey's homes in California and Oregon, and are noted for the sociological significance of a lengthy roa ...

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born in ...

and

Ken Babbs Ken Babbs (born January 14, 1936) is a famous Merry Prankster who became one of the psychedelic leaders of the 1960s. He along with best friend and Prankster leader, Ken Kesey wrote the book '' Last Go Round''. Babbs is best known for his par ...

emceed the concert. The Dead played all afternoon and into the dark after an opening set by the

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...

. In 2004, the New Riders' performance was released as an album called ''

Veneta, Oregon, 8/27/72 ''Veneta, Oregon, 8/27/72'' is an album by the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. It was recorded live on August 27, 1972, at the Springfield Creamery Benefit concert, at Temple Meadow, near Veneta, Oregon. It was released on ...

''.

Film

Production

The concert was filmed using four

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

cameras, in the woods of the Oregon Coast Range foothills, on the grounds of the

Oregon Country Fair The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is a nonprofit organization and an annual three-day art and music fair held outside the city limits of Veneta, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, the site is about west of Eugene along the ...

. The four 16mm cameras were synced to the sound, and remained focused on the stage, along with two additional roaming cameras for crowd shots. Originally even more cameras had been planned, under an ambitious scheme: "The plot was to develop a signature visual style of representing the band: a camera for each of the 16 channels (at least!) emphasizing the visual kinetics of the music making itself as well as the enormous open communication within the band." After initial takes were shown to the band, reception was lukewarm and took a backseat to another film project which would become

The Grateful Dead Movie ''The Grateful Dead Movie'', released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures live performances from rock band the Grateful Dead during an October 1974 five-night run at Winterland Ballroom, Winterland in San Francisco, Cali ...

. However, the footage for Sunshine Daydream remained sought after by fans and was eventually released after discussions between producer Sam Field and distributor

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...

Songs in the film

* Excerpts from "

Playing in the Band "Playing in the Band" is a Grateful Dead song. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir composed the music, with some assistance from percussionist Mickey Hart. The song first emerged in embryonic form on the s ...

" *"

Promised Land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

" *"

China Cat Sunflower "China Cat Sunflower" is a song performed by the Grateful Dead which was first recorded for their third studio album ''Aoxomoxoa''. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and the music composed by Jerry Garcia. The song was typically sung by J ...

" *"

I Know You Rider "I Know You Rider" (also "Woman Blues" and "I Know My Rider") is a traditional blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists. Modern versions can be traced back to Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Deceitful Brownskin Blues", which was released as ...

" *"

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

" *"Bird Song" *" Dark Star" *"

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

" *"

Sing Me Back Home ''Sing Me Back Home'' is the fifth studio album by American country singer and songwriter Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1968 on Capitol Records. Background The album's title track was inspired by an inmate Haggard knew while he w ...

" *"Greatest Story Ever Told"

Album

''Sunshine Daydream'' is a live album by the rock band the

. It contains the complete concert recorded on August 27, 1972 at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in

. Produced as a three-disc CD and as a four-disc LP, it was released by

on September 17, 2013. The album was mastered from the 16-track concert soundboard tapes. The album debuted at #19 on the ''Billboard'' 200 on October 5, 2013. It was the Grateful Dead's second top 20 album, after '' In the Dark'', which reached #6 in 1987.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Fred Thomas said, "The three sets here have everything that made this one of the most colorful and captivating eras of the Dead's live playing. Somewhere between the caveman

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

of their beginnings and the bluegrass-steeped folk-rock of their most popular studio albums '' American Beauty'' and ''

Workingman's Dead ''Workingman's Dead'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was recorded in February 1970 and originally released on June 14, 1970. The album and its studio follow-up, '' American Beauty'', were recorded back-to-back ...

'', Garcia and company refined their live jamming skills into something that seemed almost like a mental synchronization at its best. ... A long-traded fan favorite, ''Sunshine Daydream'' finally sees a properly mixed presentation of the 16-track master tapes of nearly three hours of one of the Grateful Dead's finest concert moments. It's essential listening for Deadheads and possibly the best place for the curious to jump in."

Track listing

Disc 1 :''First set:'' #Introduction – 4:01 #"

" (

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

) – 3:24 #"

Sugaree "Sugaree" is a song written by long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter (lyricist), Robert Hunter and composed by guitarist Jerry Garcia. It was written for Jerry Garcia's first solo album ''Garcia (album), Garcia'', which was released in J ...

" (

, Robert Hunter) – 7:30 #"

Me and My Uncle "Me and My Uncle", often also written as "Me & My Uncle," is a song composed by John Phillips (musician), John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, and popularized in versions by Judy Collins and the Grateful Dead. It relates the journey of a narr ...

" ( John Phillips) – 3:16 #"Deal" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:55 #"

Black-Throated Wind "Black-Throated Wind" is the second song from Grateful Dead member Bob Weir's solo debut, ''Ace''. The song was written by Weir and lyricist John Perry Barlow about the experiences Barlow had on a road trip from New York City to San Francisco in 19 ...

" (

John Perry Barlow John Perry Barlow (October 3, 1947February 7, 2018) was an American poet, essayist, cattle rancher, and cyberlibertarian political activist who had been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He was also a lyricist for the ...

) – 7:01 #"

" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:58 → #"

" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 7:03 #" Mexicali Blues" (Weir, Barlow) – 3:49 #"Bertha" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:59 Disc 2 :''Second set:'' #"

" (Weir,

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

, Hunter) – 19:57 #"He's Gone" (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:32 #"

" (Weir, Hunter) – 5:06 #"Bird Song" (Garcia, Hunter) – 13:17 #"Greatest Story Ever Told" (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 5:36 Disc 3 :''Third set:'' #" Dark Star" (Garcia, Hart,

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan Ronald Charles McKernan (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973), known as Pigpen, was an American musician. He was a founding member of the San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972. McKernan grew up he ...

, Weir, Hunter) – 31:28 → #"

" (

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...

) – 5:04 #"

" (

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

) – 10:51 #" Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter) – 8:45 #"

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...

" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:25 #" One More Saturday Night" (Weir) – 5:03 Notes

Personnel

;Grateful Dead *

–

– vocals *

–

– bass, vocals *

– guitar, vocals ;Production *Produced by Grateful Dead *Produced for release by David Lemieux *Executive producer: Mark Pinkus *Associate producers: Doran Tyson, Ryan Wilson *Mixing, mastering: Jeffrey Norman *Second engineer: Rick Vargas *Recording: Bob Matthews,

Betty Cantor-Jackson Betty Cantor-Jackson (born 1948) is an American audio engineer and producer. She is best known for her work recording live concerts for the Grateful Dead from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, including the '' Cornell 5/8/77'' album. She is not ...

, Wiz, Janet Furman, Ron Wickersham *Tape transfer, time-base correction, restoration: John K. Chester, Jamie Howarth *Archival research: Nicholas Meriwether *Tape research: Michael Wesley Johnson *Art direction, illustration: Steve Vance *Additional design: Lisa Glines *Tie-dye art: Courtenay Pollock *Special edition liner notes: David Lemieux, Sam Field, Johnny Dwork, Ken Babbs, Nicholas Meriwether

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1972 documentary films 1972 films 2013 live albums 2013 soundtrack albums Films set in Oregon Films shot in Oregon Grateful Dead live albums Grateful Dead soundtracks Lane County, Oregon Rhino Entertainment live albums Rhino Entertainment soundtracks Rockumentaries 1970s English-language films

Concert

Film

Production

Songs in the film

Album

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

See also

References

External links