Dave's Picks Vol. 5: 11/17/73 at UCLA

"Hey now. For those of you who prefer print to video or who are just tired of seeing me babble away beside the water (likely the latter...), we figured we'd write a few words about Dave's Picks 5, and what's ahead. The long and short of it is that if you're inclined to pick up Dave's Picks 5 and/or the 2013 subscription, you're in a for a huge treat. The first show, 11/17/73 at UCLA, is a major, heavyweight Grateful Dead show, one of the best of any year, and being top-of-the-heap from the 1973, that's saying a lot. It's one of these shows that every time I've heard it in the past decade+, I've wondered why it's not been released. I almost feel a need to apologize for taking so long -- 40 years! This is really prime Dead. First set material worth noting is one of the hottest, most inspired versions of "Here Comes Sunshine" ever, and a "China>Rider" that's up there with the best of 1973-1974, and that's saying something. The second set features the best of the three "Playing>UJB>Dew>UJB>Playing" musical palindromes, with every second of it exciting and interesting. And they top that off with a late-show "Eyes Of The World" that is remarkably hot and energetic. I say this without hyperbole, but to my ears and many others, this is a top-40 Grateful Dead show of all time. And the sound quality of this one is perfect, full, clear, great bottom end, and overall terrific.

We don't have much planned beyond DP 5, but I've previously hinted about a major batch of 1969 and 1970 tapes that were recently returned, and we hope/expect to get some of that out in 2013. I'm not trying to be coy or cryptic on the contents and possibilities, but we're in the midst of backing these tapes up and sorting through them. Once this is complete, we'll know what we have. What we've heard so far has shocked us in its excellence in terms of performance quality, song list, and sound quality. So, if you like peak-era Grateful Dead, with huge versions of major songs that you (and we!) have never heard before, this lost-batch of tapes is for you. Expect news on that within a few months.

- David Lemieux"