Dick's Picks Vol. 4 – Fillmore East 2/13–14/70

Thanks to our friends at Warner Music/Rhino, we at Real Gone Music have been selling the Grateful Dead Dick’s Picks series since the inception of our company almost 15 years ago. So, we are intimately familiar with every one of its 36 volumes, and we can say without reservation that Dick’s Picks Vol. 4—Fillmore East 2/13-14/70 is our favorite. And we’re not the only ones. This volume presents one of the most famous stands of shows in the band’s long history of touring, the 2/13/70-2/14/70 stand at the Fillmore East in New York featuring the Dead and the Allman Brothers Band. Just how good were the three sets that comprised each show? Well, when LSD chemist and band benefactor Owsley Stanley produced the official release History of the Grateful Dead, Vol. 1 (Bear’s Choice), he lifted portions of each night’s first set and acoustic second set in assembling that record, yet there was enough (very) strong material left over to make Dick’s Picks Vol. 4 one of the greatest live albums in the Grateful Dead catalog. The biggest gem of the entire set—and some might say the crown jewel of the entire series—is the now legendary rendition of “Dark Star,” but there really isn’t a weak song on the album, and a rare live rendition of “Mason’s Children” even gives this one a collector kick. When Bob Weir says as he steps up to the mike at the beginning of the set, “This ain’t a show, it’s a party,” he ain’t kidding—if you’re not on the bus yet, this one will save a seat for you.