''Dave's Picks Volume 31'' is a three-CD live album by the rock band the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
. It contains the complete concert recorded on December 3, 1979 at the
Uptown Theatre in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. It was released on July 26, 2019, in a limited edition of 20,000 numbered copies.
[
''Dave's Picks Volume 31'' also includes three songs performed at the same venue the following night. Additional tracks from the December 4 Uptown Theatre show can be found on '' Dave's Picks Volume 47''.
]
Uptown Theatre
The Uptown Theatre is a large, very ornate theater that was built in 1925 and was originally used for showing silent movies
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
. It seats about 4,400 people. From January 1978 to February 1981 the Grateful Dead played there 17 times.[ Still standing, the theater has been closed since 1981.][
]
Critical reception
On AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, Timothy Monger said, "Plucked from a Chicago run at the end of 1979, ''Dave's Picks, Vol. 31'' features a jaunty trio of sets from the Grateful Dead, who were at the point still in the honeymoon phase with their newest recruit, keyboardist Brent Mydland."[
In ''Glide Magazine'', Doug Collette wrote, "In front of close to forty-five hundred attendees, the Grateful Dead were opening a three-night run... and proceeded to blend together tried-and-true material like "Brown-Eyed Women" and "Wharf Rat" with fairly new compositions such as "Alabama Getaway", " Althea" and "Fire On The Mountain"."][
]
Track listing
Disc 1
:''First set:''
#"Alabama Getaway" > (Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...
, Robert Hunter) – 7:05
#"Promised Land
In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...
" (Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
) – 4:35
#"Brown-Eyed Women" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:48
#"El Paso
El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
" (Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...
) – 4:26
#"Ramble On Rose" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:44
#"It's All Over Now
"It's All Over Now" is a song written by Bobby Womack and his sister-in-law Shirley Womack. It was first released by The Valentinos, featuring Bobby Womack, in 1964. The Rolling Stones heard it on its release and quickly recorded a cover ver ...
" (Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne Womack ( ; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's ...
, Shirley Womack) – 8:58
#" Jack-a-Roe" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 5:39
#"Lazy Lightning" > (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 ...
, 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 th ...
) – 3:16
#"Supplication" (Weir, Barlow) – 5:25
#" Althea" (Garcia, Hunter) – 11:33
#"The Music Never Stopped" (Weir, Barlow) – 8:17
Disc 2
:''Second set:''
#"Scarlet Begonias
"Scarlet Begonias" is a song by the Grateful Dead. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and the music by Jerry Garcia.
Background
The song begins in Grosvenor Square in London and also references " Tea for Two" from ''No, No, Nanette'' by ...
" > (Garcia, Hunter) – 11:42
#" Fire on the Mountain" (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) – 15:28
#" Samson and Delilah" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 7:45
#"Terrapin Station" > (Garcia, Hunter) – 14:11
#"Playing in the Band
"Playing in the Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead. 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 th ...
" > (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 11:20
#"Drums" (Hart, 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 to ...
) – 10:02
Disc 3
#"Space" > (Garcia, Phil Lesh
Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30 ...
, Weir) – 2:27
#"Lost Sailor" > (Weir, Barlow) – 7:06
#"Saint of Circumstance" > (Weir, Barlow) – 6:11
#"Wharf Rat" > (Garcia, Hunter) – 11:05
#"Truckin'
"Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album '' American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' . Jake W ...
" (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter) – 9:33
:''Encore:''
#"Johnny B. Goode
"Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a Single (music), single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre ...
" (Berry) – 4:49
:''Uptown Theatre – December 4, 1979:''
#"Estimated Prophet" > (Weir, Barlow) – 12:01
#"Franklin's Tower" > (Garcia, Kreutzmann, Hunter) – 10:12
#"Jam" (Grateful Dead) – 10:27
Personnel
Grateful Dead
*Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...
– guitar, vocals
*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 ...
– drums
*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 to ...
– drums
*Phil Lesh
Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30 ...
– bass
*Brent Mydland
Brent Mydland (October 21, 1952 – July 26, 1990) was an American keyboardist, songwriter and singer. He was a member of the rock band The Grateful Dead from 1979 until his death in 1990, a longer tenure than any other keyboardist in the ...
– keyboards, vocals
*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 ...
– guitar, vocals
Production
*Produced by Grateful Dead
*Produced for release by David Lemieux
*Associate Producers: Ivette Ramos & Doran Tyson
*Recording: Dan Healy
*Mastering: David Glasser
*Art direction, design: Steve Vance
*Cover art: Tyler Crook
*Photos: Jay Blakesberg
Jay Blakesberg (born December 1, 1961) is an American, San Francisco-based, photographer and film maker.
Biography
His suburban youth was spent mostly in Clark, New Jersey, where he first discovered a passion for taking pictures. As a teenager, ...
, Kirk West
*Liner notes essay "A Little Bolt of Inspiration": David Lemieux
References
{{Authority control
31
Rhino Entertainment live albums
2019 live albums