Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA (7/3/66) (Live) [CD], Grateful Dead, CD

"One of the earliest live recordings by the Grateful Dead, July 3, 1966, at the Fillmore Auditorium shows a band with a bright, long, exciting future ahead. A year into their performing career, Jerry, Bobby, Phil, Billy, and Pigpen performed live nearly a year before their first record came out. Playing Grateful Dead classics that would stick around their repertoire for decades such as "I Know You Rider," "Cold Rain and Snow," "New, New Minglewood Blues," and "Beat It On Down The Line," along with shorter-lived tracks including the covers "Gangster Of Love," "Viola Lee Blues," and "Don't Mess Up A Good Thing." Early originals including "Tastebud," "You Don't Have To Ask," and "Cream Puff War" also appear in rare live performances, demonstrating that the Grateful Dead were terrific songwriters right from the start. This live recording, produced by Owsley "Bear" Stanley, is some of the peppiest, most inspired live Grateful Dead put to tape." - Archivist David Lemieux

While the Dead’s archive is legendary for its depth, complete high-fidelity documents of the band’s first year are rare. The July 3rd recording — which debuted in 2015 as part of the 50th-anniversary boxed set 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN — stands as a primary exception. It captures the group in the midst of a radical mutation, a charged R&B dance band already moving toward new musical terrain in the star-spangled ether of the Independence Ball.

The performance includes the earliest known live recordings of several songs, including rare originals like “Tastebud,” “You Don’t Have To Ask,” and “Cardboard Cowboy.” These tracks, along with a cover of Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Gangster Of Love,” would largely vanish from the band’s repertoire by the end of the summer.

Due July 3rd, FILLMORE AUDITORIUM, SAN FRANCISCO, CA (7/3/66) was recorded by Owsley “Bear” Stanley and produced by Grateful Dead Legacy Manager and Archivist Dave Lemieux. The release has been mastered by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering with speed correction and tape restoration by Plangent Processes.