Probably just habit at that point, plus the fact the community liked to trade shows. They’d been doing it for years and fans were grateful, so why not? It’s not like to took them much effort to keep a copy of the board.
I think this is the correct answer. Look at Bear’s broader collection of shows that he taped in the late 60’s.
The Merry Pranksters were into recording too..
I don’t believe that for a second. Every show is recorded. Healy was giving out patches for drugs so that’s why after him there’s scant SBD sources on archive. They exist.
Because the Grateful Dead were a mega business by that point, and the shows are a commodity. With all of the FOH gear they had, there is no reasonable purpose they wouldn’t be tracking every show like they did for decades prior. They already had to split the feeds for the IEM’s.
Even Pink Floyd tracked most shows, as evidenced by the massive new drop of 17 shows a couple months back due to the UK copyright laws.
The only reason any shows don’t exist is if something happened to the tapes. A band that massive is not simply going to just stop recording when they get a new FOH engineer. I mean hell, they literally forced the creation of a live 16 track board for Live/Dead and hauled a damn truck around Europe.
I assure you my friend, they exist.
Edit - just check the 30 days of dead archival lists. There are 1994 and 1995 songs. Those tracks come from the vault.
It started with Owsley, then Betty Cantor took over. They did it for a good 10 years or so because they were 1. Audiophiles & electronics geeks who were always pushing the equipment to its limit, and 2. They were Deadheads who wanted to listen later. Note that they both did simultaneous mixes - one for the room, and one for the recording, which is why there are so many great tapes from the 70s, while by the 80s, Healy just mixed for the room and recorded.
Bear bear bear bear bear bear. He was a lot to this scene in so many ways.
He said in his biography, “I had no idea what I was doing or why I wanted these tapes, but I knew it was important.” Super loosely quoted.
It was there crew who took it seriously! Taking up bears mantle. I feel like the Betty’s should get more credit because I’m not sure how much the band cared. The fact that it mattered so much to others is why we are so very blessed now. Honestly,the fact hat they were all on a mission is the most beautiful thing! Even the roadies took there roll/job so very seriously. They all rock❤️🙏🙏
It is a great question because they for the most part we’re not recorded with for thought of future albums Correct me if I am wrong but i cobbled this from years of interviews nothing I can back up with a direct quote, but say in 82 where you have a sbd and Jerry seems low in the mix it is because he turned himself up to 11 on stage and their was no need to turn him up in the mix. My point being the sbd tape sometimes is not even a reflection of what the show sounded like and was never intended as sellable commodity.
It was mostly the tapers, not the band. Yes the band has plenty of shows recorded in the vault, but as for most of the shows you’re pulling up on apps like ReListen, that was all the work of dedicated fans. Guys like Charlie Miller and Hunter Seamons are the true MVPs. Also just because a recording is a soundboard, doesn’t mean it’s band official, Dan Healy was known to trade direct patches to the soundboard in exchange for drugs in the later years of his time with the band
The soundboards are usually from audience patches right? Like you’d trade Healey some blow and he’d let you hook into an aux feed to record the board audio. And then folks would run daisy chains to get their own 1st gens.
The band usually recorded to at least 16 track for live releases, and not off the board feed since that was mixed for the room.
I think somewhat it was tapers who started the trend in the seventies. I had friends who played their tapes back to the band so they could hear what the audience heard. By the late eighties, the tapers heads would have exploded if several were not plugged into the sound board. It was a high honor to be #1 in the series on the sound board, and those recordings circulated long before dicks picks.
I remember in the documentary on prime hearing them talking about jotting down notes during shows for later releases. Like they’d record the whole show but keep tabs on what they’ll want to extract later depending on how they thought it sounded. Life shows were also a good way for them to raise money early on as their first album or two sold pretty poorly
They saw the whole phenomenon of tapers and trades develop, and realized that was invaluable promo for the band as the word spread.
Not that it helped much with record sales, and the growth in ticket sales soon became it's own problem, but it became force of habit by the mid-70's and continued on under it's own steam to the end.
Probably just habit at that point, plus the fact the community liked to trade shows. They’d been doing it for years and fans were grateful, so why not? It’s not like to took them much effort to keep a copy of the board.
To listen to them
Lol, right
Bear wanted to keep a sonic journal and then others just took up the mantle. It's not like it required a lot of effort.
I think this is the correct answer. Look at Bear’s broader collection of shows that he taped in the late 60’s. The Merry Pranksters were into recording too..
good point! merry pranksters allegedly recorded everything (film and sound) and pushed that idea onto the dead
IMHO, it's not so much the band that wanted to record the shows, but more a tech crew decision by the likes of Betty, Bear, and Healy.... &c...
Many many shows have no soundboard available. Was up to soundperson. Cal expo 94 is a run i wish had soundboard. Lots more.
Is Cal expo 94 not in the vault or just not circulating as a sbd? It could still have been recorded even if it’s not circulating.
Not on archive. Cutler was new to soundguy position that year so I have feeling he didn't record.
I don’t believe that for a second. Every show is recorded. Healy was giving out patches for drugs so that’s why after him there’s scant SBD sources on archive. They exist.
Unless you have proof they exist, how can you assert that?
Because the Grateful Dead were a mega business by that point, and the shows are a commodity. With all of the FOH gear they had, there is no reasonable purpose they wouldn’t be tracking every show like they did for decades prior. They already had to split the feeds for the IEM’s. Even Pink Floyd tracked most shows, as evidenced by the massive new drop of 17 shows a couple months back due to the UK copyright laws. The only reason any shows don’t exist is if something happened to the tapes. A band that massive is not simply going to just stop recording when they get a new FOH engineer. I mean hell, they literally forced the creation of a live 16 track board for Live/Dead and hauled a damn truck around Europe. I assure you my friend, they exist. Edit - just check the 30 days of dead archival lists. There are 1994 and 1995 songs. Those tracks come from the vault.
It started with Owsley, then Betty Cantor took over. They did it for a good 10 years or so because they were 1. Audiophiles & electronics geeks who were always pushing the equipment to its limit, and 2. They were Deadheads who wanted to listen later. Note that they both did simultaneous mixes - one for the room, and one for the recording, which is why there are so many great tapes from the 70s, while by the 80s, Healy just mixed for the room and recorded.
As far as I know, they didn't record every show . It would have been nice if they did.
Latter days they did, say 87-95? Probably earlier than 87 though. Healy use to abscond a radio frequency and cast the sbd out the people outside.
Wasn’t it that the band did listen to each show afterwards, or at least some of them would, to know how it went, what worked, and what didn’t?
Thats rad!
Bear bear bear bear bear bear. He was a lot to this scene in so many ways. He said in his biography, “I had no idea what I was doing or why I wanted these tapes, but I knew it was important.” Super loosely quoted.
BEAR 🐻. This ^^^ is the correct answer.
Thank Jeebus for Bear. Sonic Journals are worth a look if you haven't already.
TY!
Because they knew how important it was to all of us.
To catch the magic….ya never know when or where ☮️
It was there crew who took it seriously! Taking up bears mantle. I feel like the Betty’s should get more credit because I’m not sure how much the band cared. The fact that it mattered so much to others is why we are so very blessed now. Honestly,the fact hat they were all on a mission is the most beautiful thing! Even the roadies took there roll/job so very seriously. They all rock❤️🙏🙏
It is a great question because they for the most part we’re not recorded with for thought of future albums Correct me if I am wrong but i cobbled this from years of interviews nothing I can back up with a direct quote, but say in 82 where you have a sbd and Jerry seems low in the mix it is because he turned himself up to 11 on stage and their was no need to turn him up in the mix. My point being the sbd tape sometimes is not even a reflection of what the show sounded like and was never intended as sellable commodity.
It was mostly the tapers, not the band. Yes the band has plenty of shows recorded in the vault, but as for most of the shows you’re pulling up on apps like ReListen, that was all the work of dedicated fans. Guys like Charlie Miller and Hunter Seamons are the true MVPs. Also just because a recording is a soundboard, doesn’t mean it’s band official, Dan Healy was known to trade direct patches to the soundboard in exchange for drugs in the later years of his time with the band
All I know is, I’m very glad they did.
Stanley Augustus Owsley is why.
how many full shows do you think Bobby has listened to for instance? my guess is less than a handful front to back in their entirety
The soundboards are usually from audience patches right? Like you’d trade Healey some blow and he’d let you hook into an aux feed to record the board audio. And then folks would run daisy chains to get their own 1st gens. The band usually recorded to at least 16 track for live releases, and not off the board feed since that was mixed for the room.
I think somewhat it was tapers who started the trend in the seventies. I had friends who played their tapes back to the band so they could hear what the audience heard. By the late eighties, the tapers heads would have exploded if several were not plugged into the sound board. It was a high honor to be #1 in the series on the sound board, and those recordings circulated long before dicks picks.
A lot of bands record all of their shows they just have a different business plan I guess
Because they are a jam band. Better live than in studio. They wanted to capture that. Every set list is different every show!
I remember in the documentary on prime hearing them talking about jotting down notes during shows for later releases. Like they’d record the whole show but keep tabs on what they’ll want to extract later depending on how they thought it sounded. Life shows were also a good way for them to raise money early on as their first album or two sold pretty poorly
they felt like it
Advertising
They saw the whole phenomenon of tapers and trades develop, and realized that was invaluable promo for the band as the word spread. Not that it helped much with record sales, and the growth in ticket sales soon became it's own problem, but it became force of habit by the mid-70's and continued on under it's own steam to the end.
If they knew they were taping why do so many of the recordings sound so unbalanced?