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Grateful DeadGrateful Dead Live at Carousel Ballroom on 1968-03-30 (March 30, 1968)

Collection: : GratefulDead
Band/Artist: Grateful Dead
Date: March 30, 1968 (check for other copies)
Venue: Carousel Ballroom
Location: San Francisco, CA

Source: Audience
Lineage: AUD > MR > D > PCM > D > CD > EAC > SHN
Transferred by: Andy Lemieux and J Cotsman
Keywords: Live concert

Description

Morning Dew, Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Cryptical Envelopment > Dark Star > China Cat Sunflower > The Eleven > Turn On Your Lovelight Born Cross-Eyed > Feedback > Spanish Jam > Death Don't Have No Mercy, Turn On Your Lovelight, Beat It On Down The Line, Dancing In The Street

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Reviewer: THEMOCKMAN - - November 7, 2009
Subject: I know I shouldn't do that
I opened 3 windows at the same time and played 26 March Dark Star, 30 March Dark Star and 31 March Feedback simultaneously. I allowed each track to end until 31 March Dark Star finished. It felt like an Apollo mission, losing a stage every few minutes until I landed.

Reviewer: L. Rosley - - February 9, 2009
Subject: The last China Cat for a year; penultimate Cross-Eyed
An average early ’68, which like saying an average ’74 or ’77 show -- very good!

The Other One pleases, and there’s craft in the Dark Star. This was the last time they played China Cat as the filler in the Dark Star-Eleven sandwich. They didn’t play China Cat again until ’69. The transition between China Cat and Eleven not smooth as in previous shows, but the jamming is hot. The Eleven is sweet. Fast and electric, it doesn’t get stuck. The first Lovelight is driving and exciting for most of it, but gets old (runs out of steam) about two-thirds into it.

This is the next to the last time they played Born Cross-Eyed—the next night was the final. It was performed live only a little over a dozen times, so enjoy! The Born Cross-Eyed>Spanish Jam combo is even rarer. Here, not the smoothest feedback transition to Spanish Jam. An okay Spanish Jam. Unfortunately, we only get a fragment of Death Don’t Have No Mercy. Too bad,

The rest of this tape may not be from this show. (See the other version of this tape here:
http://www.archive.org/details/gd1968-03-30.aud.unknown.9375.sbeok.shnf )

Dancing may or may not be part of this show, but it’s great! Dancin’ would have been a rarity in 1968 and much of 1967. But this is definitely not a ’66 recording, as Jerry has very different soloing style here than 1966 versions. Beat It on Down the Line is also common in the 1966 set list, but rare in ’68. (They picked it up agin in ’69.)

My complaint about this audience recording is that Pigpen’s keyboard is muted, which is a big part of the ’68 sound.

(Try 1/20 and 2/14 for truly outstanding 1968 shows here at Archive. Check out also Dick’s Picks Vol. 22 for another great Anthem-of-the-Sun era show.)

Reviewer: mishap13 - - October 24, 2008
Subject: A corker!
Definitely an AUD or, if it comes from two different dates, two -- listen for example to the first minute or so of Dark Star and the banter before the encore (which Jerry gets everybody to shout out suggestions for simultaneously). It does sound intimate....

Reviewer: gphishmon - - February 7, 2008
Subject: Classic 68
This is pretty run-of-the-mill for 68, meaning it's awesome. The Spanish Jam really stands out. There's a bit of weirdness - Lovelight is listed as if it was split in two, but the first track is an entire Lovelight. The second is a partial and may have been from a different performance. I haven't done a note-for-note comparison on them. The sound quality is very good for a 68 Aud.

Not the best of 68 though - get the Shrine 8/23 if you can find it.

Reviewer: jglynn1.2 - - July 28, 2007
Subject: Sounds good to me . . .
Just came across this the other day and listened to a few tracks. I agree sound quality is REALLY good for 1968. Like the song selection too.

Reviewer: Stevie L - - December 15, 2006
Subject: Beautiful
The imprtant thing is the music MAN no the quality, if you want quality you have the official record, this is a concert MAN, a recorded concert, so don't complain about the quality

Reviewer: hittinthenote - - September 19, 2006
Subject: floored
Smokin.

I don't understand people complaining about the low quality from the AUD source, or feeling obligated to excuse its low quality, when this archived version sounds 10x better than any copy you'll find circulating in the community. Maybe a younger generation has been spoiled by digital media??

This really does sound fantastic compared to my "A-" copy I've had for ten years, the best I'd come across until this morning. If you must find a reason to disagree then put on a pair of headphones and compare your old copy and you'll see what I mean, but it should be irrelevant given the quality of this AUD.

And how can you disregard a show like this from '68, especially with the rare Born Cross-eyed? The material from '68-'69 was special, lots of jams, lots of music. They never quite got back to there, although I think they incorporated some of it in 1970. I'm lapping it up all over again.

Reviewer: laptaper - - February 25, 2006
Subject: '60s AUDs
Don't discount '60's AUDs just because of their age - if anything, it weighs in favor of them. Earlier shows = smaller venues = better acoustics. Even though taping equipment and mikes have come a long way, an '80s or '90s AUD of a stadium show is going to sound like - well, a stadium (with certain notable exceptions, of course). :-)

Reviewer: skwimite - - February 10, 2006
Subject: Great aud.
I'd always ignored these dates in the past because of their aud. sources, but give this stuff a listen. I'd assumed an aud. from 1968 would be pretty rough going, but if you like this vintage, you won't be disappointed. What a treat. A new little China Cat into an Eleven that really catches fire, but ends way too soon for my money. Nothing against Lovelight, but they're really screaming. 4 stars. Collect 'em all.

Reviewer: familiarfan - - January 31, 2006
Subject: What?
Bolo? I get this feeling that you accidentally hit two stars when you wanted like 4 or 5.

The sounds great man for 68.

Nice hits I guess?

89' gets a 5 over this show; you must be tripping?

Reviewer: capn doubledose - - October 5, 2005
Subject: great audience
hot show

Reviewer: phleshy - - June 14, 2005
Subject: Essential '68.
Don't think about the sound quality, even though it's an AUD. The sound is amazingly clear for a '68 AUD tape. Be happy about what you have. I always loved the shows when the Cryptical reprise segued into Dark Star (2/28/69, for example), and this is no exception. Like the guy below says, light up and enjoy this piece of history.

BTW, am I the only one to notice that the Dancin' switches sources? The source undoubtedly is a SBD from 2:34 or so until the end. I'm surprised the txt. file didn't mention this.

Reviewer: spleenboy - - January 16, 2005
Subject: Height of the Dead
Anthem's components (studio, and live stuff from dates like this, 3/30/68) are in my opinion the Dead
at their peak, ever. So if the sound is a little
murky, who gives a hoot. Use winamp's EQ to make it
as good as you can, light up, and enjoy.
I mean, look at the set list, and weep.
The live dates for Anthem are supreme.

Reviewer: bolo the supreme hypnocrat - - January 13, 2005
Subject: very small diamond in a great big rough
Remember when you had only nine or twelve hours of tape? And there was always one tape that was umpteen generations away from anything remotely resembling decent sound quality? But the magic that happened that night was as palpable as if you'd been there? Well, this is it.
Deadlists has everything after the first Lovelight being from an unknown date. Is it worth the DL? Hard to say...The Other One really swings and Dark Star gets a good stretch on its way to the nefarious land of übertine ice petals...

Notes

The late March '68 recordings are often listed as sbds, and the topic of aud vs. sbd remains uncertain for these shows, though they sound as if they were recorded with micophones on stage. The material for disc 2 is likely from a different show, though it circulates with the rest of what is dated as 3-30-68. It is possible that two Lovelights could be played in a single show, and it is conceivable that these songs may have preceded those on disc 1.


Notes:
--splice at 4:07 in The Eleven
--the first couple seconds of Born Cross Eyed are missing.
--minor clip at beginning of 2nd Lovelight
--splice at 0:26 in 2nd Lovelight
--glitch at 3:26 in Dancin'
--Sound Forge was used to patch a number of dropouts from an alternate source