The ‘Here Comes Sunshine’ That Launched Grateful Dead’s ‘Dick’s Picks’ Series

On December 19, 1973, the Grateful Dead played the second show of a two-night stand at Curtis Hixon Convention Hall in Tampa, Florida. At the time, the band’s lineup was a five-man configuration of guitarists Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, drummer Bill Kreutzmann, bassist Phil Lesh and keyboardist Keith Godchaux.

Vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux was on maternity leave following the birth of her and Keith’s son Zion Godchaux. Drummer Mickey Hart was on a sabbatical from the band that spanned 1971 to 1974 and co-founding keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan had died in March 1973 after playing his last show with the band the year prior.

The lean, short-lived quintet period of late-1973 came after the release of the Dead’s studio album, Wake Of The Flood, which arrived in the fall of that year. One of the songs on that album, “Here Comes Sunshine,” was performed by the band at the concert played 50 years ago today and it would later prove pivotal in launching the Grateful Dead’s beloved live archival series Dick’s Picks.

Named after late Grateful Dead archivist Dick Latvala, the Dick’s Picks series premiered in 1993 with the release of the first volume. Kicking off Dick’s Picks Volume One was “Here Comes Sunshine” from the December 19, 1973 concert in Tampa.

The 14-minute “Here Comes Sunshine” opened the first Dick’s Picks release but it did not open the concert played fifty years ago today, it instead came in the middle of the first set. Latvala wanted his namesake series to be introduced with the outstanding “Here Comes Sunshine,”

Radio host/author/musician David Gans asked Latvala about what led to choosing the first show for the Dick’s Picks series, to which Dick explained:

“Well, that’s hard to say, because I could have easily, you know, say five other shows right from that late ’73 period that were great. But December 19 had this version of ‘Here Comes Sunshine’ that just kills me. So I was really swayed for that show just to have that in there because when you folks hear it, I’m telling you, it will raise the hair on your arms. And then throughout the show, I mean everything was really well-played.”

Latvala was also asked about launching the Dick’s Picks series in an interview with Dupree’s Diamond News. Here’s the backstory according to Dick:

“When I started collecting tapes I began realizing that some shows aren’t as good as others. I started comparing them. That’s all I did for about 10 or 12 years in Hawaii … Bill Candelario (aka Kidd], one of the roadies and a major player at Grateful Dead Merchandising, told me he had an idea that he was going to try to float by the band at the board meeting. The idea was to let me pick the three best two-track tapes, and we’d call it ‘Dick’s Picks.’ They all said, ‘Okay, go with it, but we want them by Friday, when we leave!’

“I went crazy, because, like any tape collector, I have my favorite shows. At first, I thought it shouldn’t be too difficult, right? But then you start relistening and realize, ‘god, I can’t use that. I can’t hear Weir’s voice very well.’ And so it was a little bit of a scramble. I learned a lot because whatever you think it’s going to be, it ain’t. You’ve got to work at it, and listen, and see what the right one’s going to be each time.

“So, I came up with three ideas, and the one that stuck was December 19, 1973, for a couple of reasons. One, because the other two were February 13, 1970, at the Fillmore East and then there was a show most people don’t know: October 11, 1977, [in] Norman, Oklahoma. But the quality wasn’t as good on the ’77 show, and I didn’t like the idea of 2/13 because the whole show wasn’t that good, and there were a lot of problems with the tapes.

“Also, at the time, I was just discovering and listening to a lot of great ’73 shows. It’s part of my job. I was hired to go through the tapes and write down in books what was on the boxes, and if nothing was written on the boxes, I had to listen to the tapes and find out what was on them. I really was finding a whole bunch of great shows in ’73 that I sort of knew about, but hadn’t really listened to for 10-15 years.

“There were at least five I had in mind and the only reason 12/19 was the choice, was because of ‘Here Comes Sunshine.’ When I first heard it, it was such a kick. Jesus, what a monster! So I thought, ‘I have to go with this show.’

“I wanted something that people generally don’t know about. A lot of people do know, but they don’t have good tapes of it, so this would be a treat, and people who know would relish it. So that’s how it happened.

While the “Here Comes Sunshine” from December 19, 1973 helped bumped the show to the top of Latvala’s list, the Grateful Dead’s February 13, 1970 concert was part of Dick’s Picks Volume 4 and a portion of the October 11, 1977 show was included as filler on Dick’s Picks Volume 29.

Latvala remained the Grateful Dead’s archivist through his death in 1999. The Dick’s Picks series continued posthumously under the direction of current Dead archivist by David Lemieux. After 36 volumes, the final installment was issued in 2005. The Lemieux-curated Dave’s Picks live archival series began in 2012 and its 50th volume will be released in 2024.

Later Dick’s Picks volumes included full shows, but the first few installments truly lived up to the series name by presenting only Latvala’s favorite moments of a given performance. “Big River,” “Big Railroad Blues” and a 21-minute “Playing In The Band” were the other songs, along with “Here Comes Sunshine,” that Latvala chose from the December 19, 1973 first set.

Latvala’s selections from the second set included the opener, “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo,” and Weir’s expansive companions, “Weather Report Suite” and “Let It Grow,” which were sequenced with the songs from the first set. Dick also picked the seamless string of “He’s Gone,” “Truckin’,” “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” “The Other One,” “Stella Blue” and Chuck Berry’s “Around And Around” that drew an end to set two.

Listen to the Grateful Dead’s Dick’s Picks Volume and the remarkable “Here Comes Sunshine” that started it all below:

Curious what did not get picked by Dick? Want to hear the bass solo Lesh specifically asked to be removed? Scroll on to listen to the full December 19, 1973 concert and don’t miss the pre-show banter between Lesh and Weir warning the audience about smoking during the show and Garcia reminding them to use their “hippie training”: