Chalupa

Well.... The person posted a list of Mosaic boxes that she was selling on the BNBB and one of them was the AH box which had *just* gone OOP like a week before. I sent her an email, we agreed on a price($150), and I sent her a check that day for that amount. 3 months later and many, MANY emails she finally sent the box. It was pretty bad. First she emailed me to say that she had sent it and she gave me a tracking #, which turned out to be bogus. Then she switched her story saying that she was sick and would send it the next week,"post haste" when she got better. Then she said she was too busy because she was trying to finish her disseration and couldn't spare the time to head down to the post office, blah, blah, blah. Actually, I was getting nowhere(and had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing the box or my money) until one of the other BNBB members*(who is a attorney) sent her a letter threatening legal action. I think he had bought one of the other boxes and had some trouble completing the transaction too. I should have known better because she had just joined the board. But I was DESPERATE. Those AH Mosaics were fetching over $200 at the time on Ebay. Lesson learned. * not sure if he wants his name used.

I just pre-ordered. I'm not taking any chances after what happened to me when I bought the AH box off a BNBB "member" a few years ago.

I'm having the same problem

Thanks.

Has it been in continous operation since it opened??

Just got a phone call from my wife. She says that the 7 Steps box arrived in today's mail. Wahoo!! B-)

R.I.P. Carnac the Magnificent

Just got an email from a friend who joined yourmusic.com the same day I did. He also ordered the Seven Steps box and he too received the Jack Johnson box instead. Somebody in the stockroom better put down the bong....

No, the Dolphy "Illinois Concert" says"Manufactured for BMG....". The Jack Johnson Box was a metal spine from Sony.

I just got this email..... Thank you for contacting us about your yourmusic.com order number xxxxxxxxxx. We are sending a postage-paid label via postal mail to assist you with the return of the original item. Please repackage the selection and send it back to us when you receive the label. To ensure the prompt processing of your return, please be sure to include a note providing a brief description of the problem along with your complete name and address and your original order number (as listed above). We have already processed the replacement for you, and your new order number is xxxxxxxxx. Please allow 4 WEEKS for delivery. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Sincerely, Becky Y. Customer Service yourmusic.com ------------------ Again, it seems that they are on top of the situation. I think I'm going to like these guys

The Jack Johnson box that I received is metal spine.

The Heavyweight box was put out by Rhino.

Well my Seven Steps order came today - 5 days after I ordered it. Pretty good turn around time. One small problem though. Instead of the Seven Steps box they sent the Jack Johnson box. I already have the JJ box or else I would keep it and ask for a refund. Now let's see how long it takes them to remedy the situation.....

I'm still getting $4.99 when I log in. Got a message that the Miles/7 Steps and Dolphy's Illinois Concert shipped on Monday. So far, so good.

Love, LOVE, this album. Get it. Dungen, is actually a one man band - Gustav Ejstes.

http://www.progarchives.com/

And whatever you DON'T GO NEAR THE THREAD ENTITLED, "Before the OJC's Go Away".

Anyone interested in downloading VIDEO of the dead from 4/26-27/77 should check out the following links: 4.26: http://www.easytree.org/torrents-details.php?id=18398 4.27: http://www.easytree.org/torrents-details.php?id=17631

I believe Two from the Vault is 8/24/68. 8/23/68 is great. I also like 10/12-13 shows too. Oh yeah another for the Tahoe Pick.

Seriously though - what's the catch??? The offer looks too good to be true.

I saw that too. Must.... resist.... temptation ....aagh!

Well that sounds like a good idea especially in light of this exchange... B: Would you ever digitize the archive to make it available for download? DL: Yes, and this is something that we've been looking into for a number of years. It seems the technology is just about there, which means it's time we start looking at it seriously. I'd love to see it happen.

Great. I see they have devised yet another way to make it even easier to part w/ my money.

Okay here's what I've ordered (so far ) Hal Singer - Blue Stompin' Don Ellis - New Ideas George Russell - The Stratus Seekers George Russell - Ezz-thetics Jon Eardley - The Jon Eardley Seven Walt Dickerson - To My Queen Gigi Gryce/Art Farmer - When Farmer Met Gryce Gigi Gryce - Rat Race Blues Hal Gaylor/Walter Norris/Bean - The Trio Don Friedman - Metamorphosis Don Sleet - All Members Curtis Counce Group - Vol. 1: Landslide Rene Thomas - Guitar Groove Thanks to everyone for all of the great recommendations.

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=5914 OPENING THE DEAD'S VAULT: DAVID LEMIEUX David Lemieux has one of the greatest jobs on earth. Not only does he get paid to listen to Grateful Dead music that no one else has access to, but he also helps decide what we actually do get to hear. As the Grateful Dead's archivist, David holds the key to the much talked about Vault. Lucky for us, David has decided to open the doors and talk about both the past and what may be in store for the future. Welcome to The Vault. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- JamBase: What was your first Grateful Dead show? Lemieux: March 26, 1987. The opener was "Midnight Hour" into "Cold Rain and Snow," and even then, when I was 16, I thought "Man, that's how they would have opened a show in 1967!" JamBase: How long have you been working as the archivist for the Grateful Dead? What were you doing before this and how did you come about this dream job? Lemieux: I started working with GDP [Grateful Dead Productions] in early 1999, on contract, cataloguing the video collection. Throughout most of 1999 I kept coming down here from Canada, working different contracts for the band, cataloguing different parts of the video and film collection. Then around early-September, 1999, I became the full-time tape archivist. Prior to that I was the audiovisual curator at the British Columbia Archives in Victoria, taking care of the province's film, video and audio collection, amongst other things. JamBase: What percentage of the archive have you listened to? Lemieux: Well, certain years of the collection, such as 1972-1974, about 100%. For others, such as 1984, probably closer to 50%. For instance, if a show has absolutely no release potential due to the tape being poor quality, I generally don't spend too much time critiquing it, unless I'm listening to it for pleasure. JB: It must be a challenge to figure out what shows to put out. What are the criteria for deciding what music to release on CD or DVD? How involved are the band members in this process? DL: Generally, we begin with a year. The recent Dick's Picks Volume 33 is a good example. We wanted to hit 1976 again, so we take a good overview of what we have from that year in the vault. Then we narrow it down to the best five or six shows, and then go through them very critically, taking input from a few good ears. Then, we settle on a Pick after months of listening and comparison. In terms of how that year is selected, we look at what has been released recently, say, the last six Picks, and try to mix things up. With video, we have so little that the selection process is really a matter of going through the 20-25 releasable concerts we have and determining what is the right release for the time. The band members are all very busy on current and future projects, so they are not actively involved in production of the archival Grateful Dead releases. However, whenever one of the band members calls the studio or vault, they are always very curious and encouraging about what we're up to. JB: When you were putting together the new box set, Beyond Description (1973-1989), how did you choose the bonus songs that you included with it? What do you do with the bonus songs that don't make the cut? DL: With each album, we included music that was from its era. Our first choice is usually excellent rare studio outtakes, as those always make great additions to an album (except a live album, of course). For Wake Of The Flood, though, we knew early on that it was essential to include a live "Eyes Of The World," as it was played so well in 1973. In the case of Blues For Allah, we found some excellent studio outtakes, so although there are loads of excellent live versions of the songs on that album, these rare studio jams were too good to pass up. The two live albums in the boxed set, Reckoning and Dead Set, have been expanded to two-CD sets, with live music from those Warfield and Radio City 1980 shows (with a couple of bonus songs from 1978). For those albums, we had somewhat limited choices, as much of the multi-track tapes from those shows have been erased for a number of reasons. However, much of the best stuff in the run was mixed back in 1981, and those tapes were our sources for these albums' bonus songs. We did manage to get more than seven hours of bonus songs onto the box, and about 80 more minutes that did NOT make the cut was released as a bonus CD for those who ordered the box set directly from GDP (including the stunning 3/23/75 "Blues For Allah" jam). JB: What has been the most popular Grateful Dead release in your tenure? Is it your favorite? DL: One of my favorites has been Dick's Picks Vol. 22, from Lake Tahoe in 1968, and it is NOT the most popular. I think the most popular release has been Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead. Ladies and Gentlemen... The Grateful Dead, The Closing Of Winterland, and Dick's Picks 18 and Dick's Picks 29. JB: Have you ever considered putting out a whole tour or is that impractical because of the varying quality of the shows? DL: About the closest we have got is the six-CD Dick's Picks, Volume 29. That is two complete shows on a great tour. I don't think the impediment to doing a whole-tour release is varying show quality, but rather putting out a 20-CD box set. Fall Tour 1972 and Fall Tour 1973 are worthy candidates for whole-tour consideration, certainly. JB: What show has been the most requested (by the fans) for you to release? DL: Hmmm, many of the most-requested shows have been released: 5/2/70, 2/13 and 2/14/70, 12/31/78, 10/16/89. Of course, 8/27/72 (a very good possibility some day, with great multi-track master tapes to mix from) and 5/8/77 (not in the vault) are the other top-of-the-listers. JB: How long were you working on producing The Grateful Dead Movie DVD? What kinds of changes did you make from the original? Was it one of your biggest projects since taking over as the archivist? DL: The production took about a year, with preliminary work being done on-and-off for a couple of years before 2004. Not a single frame of the original movie was altered. We even included the original theatrical 5.1 Surround Sound audio mix, in addition to a new 5.1 mix and a new stereo mix. However, we added A LOT of bonus material on Disc 2, including almost 100 minutes of never-before-seen footage from the original 16mm negative, mixed in 5.1 sound; three new documentaries about the movie and the DVD; and several other cool items. Oh, we also had a great commentary track with the original film editors who worked on the movie with Jerry. This was by far the biggest project I've worked on since coming here. The quantity of material to go through, as well as all of the technical issues 16mm film raises, was quite a challenge, but Jeffrey Norman did a great job making sure the audio was perfect, and we had quite an extensive technical team involved in the overall production. It's a really satisfying project. JB: Do you have any other big projects that you'd like to tackle? DL: A couple come to mind, the biggest of which would be another two-DVD set of the other outtakes from The Grateful Dead Movie. There is still plenty of material, both live musical performances and backstage and interview footage to include. JB: What percentage of shows have video as well? Was there a point when the band decided to record video for every show? DL: There are about 100 shows on video in the vault, of which maybe 20-25 are releasable based on performance, video and audio quality. The bulk of these concerts are the screen-feeds that people would have seen at stadiums or at Shoreline. That's about it. So, no, a decision was never made to tape every show. Luckily, the live directors of these screen feeds (Len Dell-Amico and Bob Hartnett) hit record on a professional-quality video recorder to make these masters. JB: In the late '80s when Dan Healy was doing his ultra-matrix, are there pure soundboard versions or just his mix? DL: Not really. When the ultra-matrix is what was recorded for any given tour, that's all there is. The tapes from 1987-1990 are particularly hit-or-miss in this regard. When the matrix (audience mics and soundboard blend) was dialed in perfectly, these tapes sound outstanding. JB: Which of the Grateful Dead's sound engineer's produced the best mix? DL: I say this not only because I work with him, but I really do think Jeffrey Norman's mixes are outstanding. Very sensitive, democratic and dynamic. In saying that, though, I also think Bob and Betty, Dan Healy and John Cutler were excellent studio mixers, and perfect for this band. They shared an understanding of this music and what it required in the mix. JB: Are there any shows for which soundboards don't exist because of recording problems or any other reason? DL: Plenty. Some shows simply weren't recorded, some have gone missing over the years, and some (some of October, 1972, for example) were recorded as audience tapes only. JB: Would you ever digitize the archive to make it available for download? DL: Yes, and this is something that we've been looking into for a number of years. It seems the technology is just about there, which means it's time we start looking at it seriously. I'd love to see it happen. JB: What era do you feel has the best sounding recordings? DL: I'm quite partial to Betty's tapes, 1976-1977 in particular, but Bear's 1969 recordings and Kidd's 1973-1974 recordings have a special clarity. JB: What does 2005 hold in store for the music of the Grateful Dead? DL: Stay tuned. Likely several great releases in many forms: DVD, vault release, Dick's Picks. Currently, though we're just finalizing what to do for 2005, so nothing is definite.