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: Dark Star Rising (1966 – 1969)
After leaving the Army in 1960 (the story goes that he lost a tank) Jerry Garcia gravitated towards bluegrass (playing banjo in his band Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions
and LSD (1964). Jerry, Pigpen, Phil, Bill and (the under aged) Bob formed the Warlocks in 1965 playing as the ‘house band’ with Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests in San Francisco. Tom joined in 1968 and
was very important to the massive Dark Stars of yore. Owsley Stanley (The Bear) was both chemist and sound man for the Grateful Dead. Between 1965 and 1967, Stanley produced and help distribute more than 1.25 million doses of LSD.
Owsley helped develp the distinctive ‘Steal You Face’ Skull logo for the Dead. Many of the early live recordings of the Grateful Dead where due to Owsley’s efforts and his unique approach to clairity and simplicity in miking allows us to experence much of the early shows ‘as they were.’
In 1968 The Grateful Dead included these members:
Jerry Garcia
Bob Weir
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan
Phil Lesh
Bill Kreutzmann
Mickey Hart
Tom Constanten
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.

1967-00-00 – Studio Sessions for Anthem of the Sun Listen
1967-01-14 – Polo Field, Golden Gate Park Listen
1967-01-27 – Avalon Ballroom Listen
1967-02-12 – Unknown Listen
1967-03-18 – Winterland Arena Listen
1967-04-01 – KMPX Radio Show Listen
1967-04-08 – KPIX-TV Studios Listen
1967-05-05 – Fillmore Auditorium Listen
1967-06-18 – Monterey Fairgrounds Listen
1967-07-01 – 710 Haight Street House Listen
1967-07-73 – Straight Theater, Haight Street Listen
1967-08-04 – O’Keefe Centre Listen
1967-08-05 – O’Keefe Center Listen
1967-09-03 – Dance Hall Listen
1967-09-04 – Dance Hall Listen
1967-09-15 – Hollywood Bowl Listen
1967-10-20 – American Studios Listen
1967-10-22 – Winterland Arena Listen
1967-10-31 – Winterland Arena Listen
1967-11-10 – Shrine Auditorium Listen
1967-11-11 – Shrine Auditorium Listen
1967-11-14 – American Studios Listen




