Dead returns to life on ‘Dick’s Picks Vol. Four’

Spencer Patterson

Friday, May 30, 2003 | 9:43 a.m.

Editor's note: Debuting this week is Patterson's Picks, in which Sun music writer Spencer Patterson takes a weekly look back at a collection of memorable albums -- some well known, others obscure -- in the annals of recorded music.

Artist: The Grateful Dead.

Title: "Dick's Picks Volume Four."

Year of release: 1996 (Grateful Dead Records) (recorded in 1970).

Song list: Disc 1: Intro by Zacherle, "Casey Jones," "Dancing in the Streets," "China Cat Sunflower"/"I Know You Rider," "High Time," "Dire Wolf," "Dark Star." Disc 2: "That's it for the Other One"/"Turn on Your Lovelight." Disc 3: "Alligator"/Drums/"Me & My Uncle"/"Not Fade Away"/"Mason's Children"/"Caution (Do Not Stand on the Tracks)"/Feedback/"We Bid You Goodnight."

Sorting through the Grateful Dead's live output can be an extremely daunting task.

Though the improvisational band released just 13 studio albums during its 30-year career, the flood of concert CDs continues to this day, with more than 50 such sets already on the market.

It all adds up to a confusing predicament when all but the most diehard of Deadheads go looking for the best place to stop in the band's massive catalog.

Look no further than "Dick's Picks Volume Four," one of the early installments in a series created by now-deceased Dead archivist Dick Latvala in the early 1990s.

Culled from two legendary shows at Bill Graham's Fillmore East in New York City from Feb. 13 to Feb. 14, 1970, the three-disc set was officially released in 1996, but its music was already some of the most cherished of longtime fans, having widely circulated on bootleg tapes for years.

Disc 1 features scorching versions of "Casey Jones," "Dancing in the Streets" and the two-song combo, "China Cat Sunflower"/"I Know You Rider," which would serve as a concert staple for the band until its demise in 1995 following the death of singer/guitarist/songwriter Jerry Garcia.

The real fun begins, however, on the final track of Disc 1, a 30-minute version of psychedelic workout "Dark Star" that finds the band -- led by Garcia and bassist Phil Lesh -- moving from free-form, trippy realms into more melodic territory, including one of the most notable examples of the revered "Feelin' Groovy" jam.

The music continues to stretch out on Disc 2, with two songs -- "That's it for the Other One" and "Turn on Your Lovelight" -- both extending past the 30-minute mark.

Disc 3 then closes the set with a continuous eight-track blitz, including Bob Weir's hillbilly cover, "Me & My Uncle," Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's blues classic, "Caution (Do Not Stand on the Tracks)," and a drum duet between rhythm devils Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.

Equally suited for a road trip or a late night of intense music listening, "Dick's Picks Volume Four" truly showcases the Grateful Dead at the height of its considerable powers of invention.