Dick's Picks, Vol. 16: Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, Ca 11/8/69

DICK'S PICKS VOLUME SIXTEEN is the sixteenth in a series of archival live Dead CDs that were overseen by the late Dick Latvala. It differs from the band's "From The Vault" series in that the "Dick's Picks" releases do not feature entire concerts and are mastered from two- and four-track recordings, rather than eight- and sixteen-track recordings. Latvala was the official keeper of the Dead's tape archives; the Grateful Dead organization describes him as "one of the original Dead tapers."
Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir (vocals, guitar); Ron McKernan (vocals, harmonica, percussion); Phil Lesh (vocals, bass); Tom Constanten (keyboards); Bill Kreutzmann (drums).
Recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, California on November 8, 1969.
All tracks have been digitally remastered using HDCD technology.
Personnel: Jerry Garcia (vocals, guitar); Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (vocals, harmonica); Bob Weir (vocals); David Lemieux, Tom Constanten (keyboards); Phil Lesh (electric bass); Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann (drums).
Recording information: The Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA (11/08/1969).
Editor: Jim Wise.
Photographer: Rosie McGee.
It's often been said that 1969 was a peak year for the Grateful Dead's early incarnation, and this opinion has been borne out by previous live recordings, including the esteemed LIVE DEAD. This November 1969 Fillmore show fits right in among that storied company. The first of the three discs foreshadows the move to the concise acoustic/roots style that the group would soon make with WORKINGMAN'S DEAD, as nearly every track from that 1970 release is performed here. From the Alabama-via-Haight St. guitar licks to the endearingly off-key bluegrass-style harmony vocals, this is proto-country-rock at its finest.
Most of the other two discs are taken up with the band's free-wheeling, improvisatory side, as their linchpin jamfest "Dark Star" weaves in and out of the mind-expanding sonic journeys from the Dead's second album, "Anthem of the Sun." Between Jerry Garcia's guitar spitting liquid fire, Phil Lesh's bass murmuring alchemical secrets to the band's two drummers, and keyboard player Pigpen occasionally dropping in some soulful, bluesy banter, these tracks offer a snapshot of the contradictory but complementary elements that make the Grateful Dead's music such beautiful chaos.