Grateful Dead Announce Dave’s Picks Vol. 3 – October 22, 1971 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago

When keyboardist Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead for the band’s Fall ’71 tour, he changed the group’s sound significantly with his barrel-house performance style that gave new life to their tunes. Godchaux hit the ground running as many of the shows from that first tour were outstanding. Yet, over the past 20 years only two performances from that fabled tour have been officially released by the band. With the release of Dave’s Picks Volume 3, featuring the complete October 22, 1971 concert from Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre on two discs, with a third disc containing highlights from the previous night, we’ll soon get to hear a fully remastered recording from Fall ’71.

While much of this collection shows off the beautiful tunes the Dead had just written for Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, the heart of Dave’s Picks Volume 3 is a beast of a That’s It For The Other One that runs 29 minutes as well as a fantastic Dark Star. There’s also a rare pre-hiatus take on St. Stephen with Godchaux on keys, one of only three performed with Keith before the tune got shelved.

The Dead are only pressing 12,000 copies of this new release, so if you want in, head over to Dead.net and place an order ASAP. Listen to samples here.

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5 Responses

  1. Wow – lot of negative chatter about this choice on dead.net. Unfortunate as I like this choice and its an interesting, bar-band sounding GD phase that really rages. The other releases from this period are great – always want to hear Keith futhur (!) up in the mix and hopefully this release will provide louder keys. I am onboard with DL2, Rhino, etc. I think they are doing a great job all around. Seems like cover art is improving, too…

  2. An important transitional period for the band….Mickey departs in February, Pigpen does not perform on the Fall tour, and new guy Keith Godchaux stepped up to fill the role behind the keys wonderfully. Keith played both organ and piano on the 10/19 show, but I think he sticks to piano only for the 10/21 and 22 shows. He is very audible here (unlike 10/31, Set II, Dick’s Pick #2), and the bond between him and Garcia is immediate. There are a number of locked in moments from these first few shows – the Other One suite is huge, and Keith can’t even be faked out as the band sharply moves from Dark Star to Sittin’ On Top Of The World – the guy is right on top of it. It’s all amazing stuff for someone who had only one show under his belt as they set up in Chicago for these two nights.
    Armed with only about two dozen songs for the brief October tour (not including the stock jam segments each night), everything here is competently played. Although my favorite unreleased jam segment from October ’71 is probably the Other One suite from 10/29, this Pick serves as a poignant snapshot of a newly configured band quickly blossoming into the monster that is so well respected during the ’72 to ’74 time frame. Oh, and Phil is diabolical throughout, too – love that Alembic tone! Nice work, DL2.

  3. Great description. Just listened to the Rider from DP35 (8/7/71). Easily one of the best in the series – super-crisp and clear recording. Any news on SCO#10? Last few were excellent…

  4. So is the Dave’s Picks not a front-to-back soundboard recording? The streaming version available on archive has a much different and what I would describe as more fluid show. Same tracks(as were most shows fall 71), different order.

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