Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley’s Final Live Recording Featuring Members Of Grateful Dead Set For Release
Bear’s Sonic Journals: Sing Out! features the final notable live concert recorded by the Grateful Dead’s first soundman.
By Andy Kahn Jan 4, 2024 • 8:11 am PST
The Owsley Stanley Foundation announced the 10th installment in the Bear’s Sonic Journals series, Bear’s Sonic Journals: Sing Out!, which will be available on February 23. The upcoming release was recorded by Owsley “Bear” Stanley and is the last known live recording by the Grateful Dead’s first soundman of any members of the legendary band.
Bear’s Sonic Journals: Sing Out! was recorded by Bear on April 25, 1981, at the Berkeley Community Theater. Called a “mini-Woodstock” by Wavy Gravy, the concert featured performances by Grateful Dead guitarists Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, as well as a Rhythm Devils set performed by the Dead’s drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. Others on the lineup included fellow notable Bay Area musicians Country Joe McDonald, Kate Wolf and Rosalie Sorrels.
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The event was not only Bear’s final time recording any member of the Grateful Dead, it was the late legendary sound engineer’s last time recording a notable live concert. The Owsley Stanley Foundation further detailed Bear’s Sonic Journals: Sing Out!:
The 36-song, 3-CD set also contains a 50-page booklet with essays penned by Grateful Dead scholars, Nicholas G. Meriwether and Jesse Jarnow, original artwork by 3x-Grammy Award-winner Susan Archie, and previously unpublished photography from the night of this incredible show.
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Bear, who was also a prominent manufacturer of LSD, was an innovator in live sound engineering and spearheaded the Grateful Dead’s acclaimed Wall Of Sound PA system. Bear’s archive contains over 1,300 live recordings he made of over 80 acts including the Dead, Miles Davis, Jefferson Airplane, Fleetwood Mac and more than 80 others. Among the prior installments in the Bear’s Sonic Journals series were concerts recorded by Bear featuring The Allman Brothers Band, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash and Tim Buckley.
Pre-sale and additional release information will be available soon. Preview the release with the below clip of “Friend Of The Devil” performed by Garcia, Weir, Kreutzmann, Hart and bassist John Kahn:
