Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead Download Series Volume 12
4/17/69 Washington University - St. Louis, MO

• Bonus Tracks are from a 1/13/69 Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

Recorded just seven weeks after the legendary "Fillmore West 1969" shows, Download Vol. 12 presents the entirety of the Grateful Dead's April 17, 1969, performance in St. Louis, MO.

Drawing on much of the material performed at the Fillmore West shows and included on "Live/Dead," the band threw in some major surprises on this evening. Starting with a slide guitar-driven "Hard To Handle" followed by "Morning Dew" and "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," the band then heads into another classic, inspired early-1969 jam. Beginning with a "Dark Star" that rivals the best versions performed at this time, they then head into "St. Stephen." It's here that the show breaks with expectations, and in the middle of the song, Jerry leads the band through a rare "I Know It's A Sin," followed by the final verse and jam of "St. Stephen." Then comes the "William Tell" bridge, but rather than heading into "The Eleven," as was standard after "William Tell," they end their jam with a massive "Lovelight." Returning for an encore, the band performs one of the most powerful "That's It For The Other One" suites ever played, segueing into "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)," which was rudely cut short by The Man. To cap off this stellar release, we have included a couple of songs from the January 23, 1969 rehearsal at the Avalon Ballroom recorded prior to the three night 1/24-26/69 run. Included is a version of "The Eleven" as strong as any live performance of the song, and the earliest recorded version off "Dupree's Diamond Blues."

A minor technical note to Download Vol. 12: because the first 10 minutes of 4/17/69 was not recorded to reel-to-reel tape, we have lovingly restored the first 10 minutes of the cassette master of the show in order to present the entire concert. The rest of the show is drawn from the reel-to-reel master tapes.