6 Previously Uncirculated Grateful Dead Recordings From 1966 Surface

What a week it has been for hardcore Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia fans as a bevy of previously uncirculated recordings have been shared. On Monday, we told you about a batch of Grateful Dead and Garcia/Saunders soundboards that popped up on a torrent site and yesterday we reported on seven additional GD and Merl/Jerry recordings that surfaced. Last night the flood of rare recordings continued with the release of six incredibly rare Grateful Dead recordings from 1966.

The six recordings in question feature a mix of recording and rehearsal sessions with live performances. Included within is a previously unheard Grateful Dead song titled “Wandering Man” written by Garcia and Phil Lesh as per Jesse Jarnow. Here’s more details and a few streams from the six “new” recordings:

Our first recording comes from a Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia practice session. It features just two tracks and was taped at an unknown location on an unknown date in 1966. After 50 years a new Dead song has been found as the tape includes a version of a song titled “Wandering Man.”

• Phil Lesh & Jerry Garcia – Unknown Date, 1966

Next up is the contents of a reel labeled “1966 Acid Test #3” that includes pieces of jams and banter.

• Grateful Dead – 1966 Acid Test #3

Here we have a recording of the Grateful Dead’s studio rehearsal at The Questing Beast in Berkeley, California from February 5, 1966. This recording includes banter and takes on both “Viola Lee Blues” and “Cardboard Cowboy”:

• Grateful Dead – February 5, 1966 – Berkeley

Another previously unknown song comes as part of a reel labeled “L.A. Practice” from March 9, 1966. The first track features Pigpen on vocals and as of press time Grateful Dead scholars are trying to figure out its origins. There’s also a few takes on “Who Do You Love” and some jams.

• Grateful Dead – March 9, 1966 – Practice Session

We continue on with a practice session thought to take place the next day from the recording above – March 10, 1966. In addition to banter, we get to hear the Dead working up “Sitting On Top Of The World.”

• Grateful Dead – March 10, 1966 – Practice Session

Finally, there’s a new version of a set that did circulate in the past: the Grateful Dead’s opening set at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom from May 19, 1966. This recording was captured by Owsley “Bear” Stanley and according to the Grateful Dead guide, “There was a dramatic shift in Bear’s production technique by the 3/12/66 show. He mentioned a synesthetic experience of seeing music circulating: ‘My knowledge of the true nature of sound dates back to…one of the rehearsals we had in the house in Watts, when I actually saw sound coming out of the speakers. It was total synesthesia… It was just a unique experience. And it so completely blew my mind…I went around and inspected it very carefully… And that became the foundation for all the sound work that I’ve done.'” Check out the “Viola Lee Blues”:

• Grateful Dead – May 19, 1966 – Set One – San Francisco