Grateful Dead: May 1977

CD4101 - 14 CD box set
Rhino records, 2013

Go to the Shop

Home

Grateful Dead: May 1977Box Set
5 shows, 14 CDs

Five Complete Shows:
5/11/77 St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN
5/12/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
5/13/77 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
5/15/77 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO
5/17/77 University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

14 Discs, 111 tracks. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman
Artwork by Grammy Award-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike
Period Photos by James R Anderson
Historical Essay by Steve Silberman
Individual show liner notes
Individually Numbered, Limited Edition of 15,000

MAGICAL, MYTHICAL MAY 1977!
If you're a Dead Head, chances are you've spent many an hour expounding upon the distinction of May 8, 1977, Cornell University, Barton Hall. Well, at the risk of preaching to the choir, we'd like to reintroduce you to a series of shows that matches said greatness from that same gloriously fertile season. While Barton Hall is well known, the astounding tour that surrounded it has occasionally flown under the radar due to the uneven quality of tapes in circulation. May 1977 is set to change all of that with a boxed set that zeroes in on this high-water mark in the Grateful Dead's long strange trip.

For a band resurrecting itself after a 20-month hiatus, there was a great frenzy of expectancy that surrounded the Spring of 1977. We anticipate a grand reoccurrence of this fervor with the release of May 1977, a 14-disc boxed set featuring five complete shows from consecutive stops on that magical tour. Mastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, the "psychoacoustic phenomena" as Jerry once put it, of St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11) Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15) and Coliseum at the University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17) can now finally be appreciated. Each of these shows finds the Dead delivering punchier, more focused sets, tightening up the framework; each night turning out first-ever renditions ("Passenger,""Iko Iko,""Jack-A-Roe"), unloading potent new pairings ("Scarlet Begonias">"Fire On The Mountain", "Estimated Prophet">"Eyes Of The World"), classic covers ("Dancing In The Street") and soon-to-be staples ("Estimated Prophet," "Samson and Delilah"), and ultimately rising up to paradise.

And now for the nitty-gritty...

Due June 11, May 1977 is limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies. Presented in a psychedelic box that boasts an intricate die-cut design created by Grammy®-winning graphic artist Masaki Koike, the set also includes a book filled with stories about each show, as well as an in-depth essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman, who delves deep into the history behind the tour and the band's return from its extended hiatus.

Once these 15,000 boxes are gone, May 1977 and its shows will never be available again on CD. However, the 111 tracks are also available as FLAC and Apple lossless full-set-only downloads, at www.dead.net.

Show #1 St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN (5/11/77)
Disc 1
1. Promised Land [4:54]
2. They Love Each Other [7:38]
3. Big River [6:25]
4. Loser [7:39]
5. Looks Like Rain [9:18]
6. Ramble On Rose [7:48]
7. Jack Straw [5:54]
8. Peggy-O [8:43]
9. El Paso [4:44]
10. Deal [5:49]
Disc 2
1. Lazy Lightning> [3:32]
2. Supplication [5:20]
3. Sugaree [13:49]
4. Samson and Delilah [7:08]
5. Brown-Eyed Women [5:28]
6. Estimated Prophet [8:38]
Disc 3
1. Scarlet Begonias> [9:47]
2. Fire On The Mountain> [11:02]
3. Good Lovin' [6:29]
4. Uncle John's Band> [9:11]
5. Space> [5:48]
6. Wharf Rat> [9:51]
7. Around and Around [8:48]
8. Brokedown Palace [5:34]

Show #2 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/12/77)
Disc 1
1. Bertha [7:16]
2. Me and My Uncle [3:04]
3. Tennessee Jed [9:32]
4. Cassidy [5:05]
5. Peggy-O [7:52]
6. Jack Straw [5:45]
7. They Love Each Other [7:47]
8. New Minglewood Blues [5:20]
Disc 2
1. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo> [9:54]
2. Dancing In The Street [14:19]
3. Samson and Delilah [7:07]
4. Brown-Eyed Women [5:28]
5. Estimated Prophet [9:25]
6. Sunrise [3:46]
Disc 3
1. Terrapin Station> [10:13]
2. Playing In The Band> [8:36]
3. Drums> [4:06]
4. Not Fade Away> [14:15]
5. Comes A Time> [10:20]
6. Playing In The Band [7:00]
7. Johnny B. Goode [4:18]

Show #3 Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL (5/13/77)
Disc 1
1. The Music Never Stopped [8:37]
2. Ramble On Rose [7:33]
3. Cassidy [4:46]
4. Brown-Eyed Women [5:35]
5. New Minglewood Blues [5:06]
6. Friend Of The Devil [8:38]
7. El Paso [4:55]
8. Jack-A-Roe [5:56]
9. Looks Like Rain [8:17]
10. Scarlet Begonias> [7:05]
11. Fire On The Mountain [13:19]
Disc 2
1. Samson and Delilah> [7:24]
2. Bertha [6:52]
3. Estimated Prophet> [9:51]
4. Drums> [5:47]
5. The Other One> [16:28]
6. Stella Blue> [11:51]
7. Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad> [8:05]
8. One More Saturday Night [5:21]
9. U.S. Blues [5:57]

Show #4 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis MO (5/15/77)
Disc 1
1. Bertha> [6:34]
2. Good Lovin' [6:07]
3. Row Jimmy [10:51]
4. New Minglewood Blues [5:33]
5. Tennessee Jed [9:35]
6. Lazy Lightning> [3:34]
7. Supplication [4:42]
8. Jack-A-Roe [6:24] >
9. Passenger [4:31]
10. Brown-Eyed Women [5:16]
Disc 2
1. Dancing In The Street [18:49]
2. Estimated Prophet> [11:32]
3. Eyes Of The World> [12:48]
4. Drums> [3:13]
5. Samson and Delilah [7:28]
6. Ship Of Fools [7:41]
Disc 3
1. St. Stephen> [5:28]
2. Iko Iko> [3:54]
3. Not Fade Away> [9:38]
4. Sugar Magnolia [9:58]
5. Uncle John's Band [9:06]

Show #5 Coliseum, University Of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (5/17/77)
Disc 1
1. New Minglewood Blues [5:46]
2. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo> [10:28]
3. El Paso [4:48]
4. They Love Each Other [7:42]
5. Jack Straw [5:37]
6. Jack-A-Roe [5:59]
7. Looks Like Rain [8:10]
8. Tennessee Jed [8:46]
9. Passenger [3:36]
10. High Time [8:32]
11. Big River [6:39]
Disc 2
1. Sunrise [4:35]
2. Scarlet Begonias> [13:02]
3. Fire On The Mountain [13:14]
4. Samson and Delilah> [6:43]
5. Bertha> [6:16]
6. Good Lovin' [6:02]
7. Brown-Eyed Women [5:34]
Disc 3
1. Estimated Prophet [8:55]
2. Terrapin Station> [11:23]
3. Playing In The Band> [12:20]
4. Drums> [4:49]
5. Wharf Rat> [12:53]
6. Playing In The Band [6:06]
7. Sugar Magnolia [9:15]