The debate over the greatest year of live Grateful Dead music, will just never end. Some folks believe 1969, will never be bested, others are crazy about those ultra-long jammed out years: 1972, 1973 & 1974. Modern Dead Heads, will toss in 1985 & 1989-90 as peak years, of a band travelin' down a long, long road. My favorite year of live Grateful Dead music is: 1977.

The spring tour of 1977, began on: 04-22-77 at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pa. and ended at Civic Center in Hartford, Ct. on 05-28-77. Twenty six shows: Boston, Springfield, Passaic, New York City, Buffalo, St. Paul, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Richmond, Baltimore, New Haven and even some place called: Barton Hall at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY on May 8th.

Tapes of all the shows have circulated for many years now, and they have become keystones to a proper GD tape collection. The third installment in the: "Dick's Picks" CD series, was lifted from this tour at Pembroke Pines, Florida on: 05/22/77. Atlanta, also made the cut for a big "Dick's Picks" set from the great Fox Theater shows of: May 18th & 19th.

So here, we arrive at the last stop to Terrapin; Hartford, Ct. And these three CD's, are the reason that those turtles can't stop dancing! With the killer one-two punch of: Bertha>Good Lovin' we begin the journey into this big night of music. "Sugaree" is a: dance/trance epic of over 19 minutes of controled fury, as it builds & builds, teases & expands, slides & snakes, all tied to the beat that is relentless. The: "Row Jimmy" featured here, is my personal favorite, of zillions of live versions I have heard, it is so unique and fresh sounding here, that it is now like a brand new tune.