you can't help but imagine the only band capable of playing this jam would be the Grateful Dead. it is imaginative, transient and evokes many of their songs within twenty minutes of beautiful interplay. Charlie Miller has given us another of his many gifts...clear as day! Enjoy...

Forty-five years ago my girlfriend and I drove her grandfather’s VW bus from LA to Vancouver, British Columbia, across the newly completed TransCanada Highway to St Johns, Newfoundland, down the Eastern Seaboard and home through the south. Her grandfather was a retired Greyhound bus mechanic, and he had been teaching me mechanics and woodworking. To prepare for the trip, we rebuilt his bus and made a sleeping platform with storage bins. We had to order all the maps from the American Automobile Association to plan the routes.
After two days of driving around the Great Lakes in the hardest rain we had ever seen, we arrived at Watkins Glen Racetrack in NY to see the Dead. Coming from the north wwe were able to drive right to the racetrack. We heard the Friday soundcheck and then left just before the rain started. We weren't going to relive the Woodstock experience. Today is the first time I'm ;istening to the recording and it's just how I (barely) remember that day. Rough, perfunctory song versions with a couple nice jams.
I am often reminded of that summer these days; it was the summer Watergate became a word describing unthinkable levels of political corruption.

A little slice of heaven.

This concert occurred a full four years before Fire on the Mountain debut live (3/18/77), yet there it is in the jam from approx 16:00-17:38 in the Jam! A wonderful show primarily because of the gem of the Jam...

Brilliant jam, and everything else superbly played too.

It's years before Happiness is Drumming was recorded and Mickey wasn't even on the scene, but during the "Jam" (at 16:00 on SHN ID 27779) there's more than a hint of Fire on the Mountain.

3 buddies and I drove to Watkins Glen Friday afternoon in a 1963 Econoline van to beat the crowd for the Saturday jam! We spent hours driving the last 3 miles. Camped out that Friday night, we suddenly heard The Dead playing unexpectedly! The soundcheck turned into an impromptu concert that night! Fantastic recording, it spans 37 years for me since the Summer Jam. I was 19 and immortal then. My how time flies!

Great sound as always from Mr. Miller. Amazing quality. What I wouldn't give to have been there to see Jam>Wharf Rat. One of the finest Dead Jams I've ever heard, up there with 6/28/74. Phil is absolutely insane! This jam definitely prepared the boys for Mountain Jam the next night. The Dead may have been alot looser jamming-wise than the Allmans (a good thing), but this proves they could be every bit as tight when they felt like it, and at the same time blow your freaking mind. Get this now!

the jam is so fun -- around the 13 minute mark Keith taps into his electric and they jam the next four minutes or so as if riding upon the back of a flying fire-breathing dragon.

Much better sounding than the previous sources. Same cut in Half-Step but thats O.K. Like the other reviewers said previously Bird Song and the Jam > Wharf Rat are the highlights.
Despite this being only a sound check, this still remains a short glimpse into what the Dead were capable of when they were in their prime...

Nice upgrade here on the legendary Soundcheck.
Give it a listen and compare for yourself.