The Grateful Dead – The 1981 Tapes On The Internet Archive

The Grateful Dead Concert Tapes On The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive’s Grateful Dead is a great collection of concert tapes. There are over 2,000 unique concerts. There are multiple recordings of most concerts. This series attempts to provide a simple interface to this collection by selecting one recording for each concert on a given date. Preference is given to tapes processed by the great Charlie Miller and sound board tapes. Not all shows are well recorded but the there are great moments here. Dig in and enjoy! You didn’t have to be there. Good Luck.

The Grateful Dead Version 2.0  ( 1979 – 1990 )

With the departure of the Godchaux’s in 1979, Brent Mydland joined the Grateful Dead on keyboards starting on  April 16, 1979.  Brent continued with the band throughout the eight’s and played his last show with the Grateful Dead  was on 23 July 1990.  The Grateful Dead, although dominated by the (non-leader) Jerry Garcia, are always defined by the keyboard player and how he interacts musically (on keyboards and on backing vocals) with Jerry. With the addition of Brent the band moved from the bluesy, slow, highly controlled style of the 1970 to a more open, faster and ultimately funk / R&B approach.  Just listen to the transformation of Scarlet Begonia / Fire On The Mountain from its classic form in the late 1970s with a version played later in the 1980s.  The crowds and arenas were bigger with 10s of thousands packing in to show.  The sound system and the sound board recordings improve dynamically, especially with the introduction of digital recording technology (DAT).  Jerry was hospitalized in 1986 in a diabetic coma induced by bad life style choices (to say the least) and with the help of Merl Saunders had to learn to re learn how to play the guitar.

In This Series:

____	1970	1980	1990
____	1971	1981	1991
____	1972	1982	1992
____	1973	1983	1993
____	1974	1984	1994
____	1975	1985	1995
1966	1976	1986	____
1967	1977	1987	____
1968	1978	1988	____
1969	1979	1989	____

Additional details of the Internet Archive Collection and how these lists were generated can be found here.

My blogs on individual Grateful Dead show can be found here.

A list of all soundboard tapes of Dark Star performances on the Internet Archive can be found here.

A list of all soundboard tapes of Scarlet Begonia -> Fire On The Mountain performances on the Internet Archive can be found here.

1981

1981-00-00 – Unknown Listen

1981-02-26 – Uptown Theater Listen

1981-02-27 – Uptown Theater Listen

1981-02-28 – Uptown Theater Listen

1981-03-02 – Cleveland Music Hall Listen

1981-03-03 – Cleveland Music Hall Listen

1981-03-05 – Stanley Theater Listen

1981-03-06 – Stanley Theater Listen

1981-03-07 – Cole Field House Listen

1981-03-09 – Madison Square Garden Listen

1981-03-10 – Madison Square Garden Listen

1981-03-12 – Boston Garden Listen

1981-03-13 – The Utica Memorial Auditorium Listen

1981-03-14 – Hartford Civic Center Listen

1981-03-20 – Rainbow Theater Listen

1981-03-21 – Rainbow Theater Listen

1981-03-23 – Rainbow Theatre Listen

1981-03-24 – Rainbow Theater Listen

1981-03-28 – Grugahalle Listen

1981-04-25 – The Stone Listen

1981-04-30 – Greensboro Coliseum Listen

1981-05-01 – Hampton Coliseum Listen

1981-05-02 – The Spectrum Listen

1981-05-04 – The Spectrum Listen

1981-05-05 – Glens Falls Civic Center Listen

1981-05-06 – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Listen

1981-05-08 – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Listen

1981-05-09 – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Listen

1981-05-11 – Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum Listen

1981-05-12 – New Haven Coliseum Listen

1981-05-13 – Providence Civic Center Listen

1981-05-15 – Athletic Center – Rutgers University Listen

1981-05-16 – Barton Hall, Cornell University Listen

1981-05-17 – Onondaga County War Memorial Listen

1981-05-22 – Warfield Theatre Listen

1981-07-02 – The Summit Listen

1981-07-04 – Manor Downs Listen

1981-07-05 – Zoo Amphitheater Listen

1981-07-07 – Kansas City Municipal Auditorium Arena Listen

1981-07-08 – Kiel Auditorium Listen

1981-07-10 – St Paul Civic Center Listen

1981-07-11 – Alpine Valley Music Theatre Listen

1981-07-13 – McNichols Sports Arena Listen

1981-07-14 – McNichols Sports Arena Listen

1981-08-12 – Salt Palace Listen

1981-08-14 – Seattle Center Coliseum Listen

1981-08-15 – Memorial Coliseum Listen

1981-08-16 – MacArthur Court – University of Oregon Listen

1981-08-27 – Long Beach Arena Listen

1981-08-28 – The Long Beach Arena Listen

1981-08-30 – Compton Terrace Amphitheatre Listen

1981-08-31 – Aladdin Theater Listen

1981-09-11 – Greek Theatre – University of California Listen

1981-09-12 – Greek Theatre, U. Of California Listen

1981-09-13 – Greek Theater, UC Berkeley Listen

1981-09-25 – Stabler Arena Listen

1981-09-26 – Buffalo Auditorium Listen

1981-09-27 – Capital Centre Listen

1981-09-30 – Playhouse Theater Listen

1981-10-02 – Rainbow Theatre Listen

1981-10-03 – Rainbow Theater Listen

1981-10-04 – Rainbow Theater Listen

1981-10-06 – Rainbow Theater Listen

1981-10-08 – Forum Theater Listen

1981-10-10 – Stadthalle Listen

1981-10-11 – Club Melk Weg Listen

1981-10-12 – Olympia Halle Listen

1981-10-13 – Walter Koebel Halle Listen

1981-10-15 – Melkweg Listen

1981-10-16 – Club Melk Weg Listen

1981-10-17 – The Hippodrome Listen

1981-10-19 – Sports Palace Listen

1981-11-29 – Civic Arena Listen

1981-11-30 – Hara Arena Listen

1981-12-02 – Assembly Hall Listen

1981-12-03 – Dane County Coliseum Listen

1981-12-05 – Market Square Arena Listen

1981-12-06 – Rosemont Horizon Listen

1981-12-07 – Des Moines Civic Center Listen

1981-12-09 – Events Center, U of Colorado Listen

1981-12-12 – Fiesta Hall – San Mateo County Fairgrounds Listen

1981-12-26 – Oakland Auditorium Listen

1981-12-27 – Oakland Auditorium Listen

1981-12-28 – Oakland Auditorium Listen

1981-12-30 – Oakland Auditorium Listen

1981-12-31 – Oakland Auditorium Listen