Dick's Picks Volume 8

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Music Box	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3][4]

Dick's Picks Volume 8 is the eighth live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 2, 1970 at Harpur College (now Binghamton University) in Binghamton, New York. It was released in mid-1997.

The album contains the entire concert, except for one song — "Cold Rain and Snow", which was played between "Good Lovin'" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". The first two verses of "St. Stephen" are also missing. The first set of the concert was acoustic, and was recorded in stereo. The second and third sets were electric, and were recorded in monaural.

In a 1993 poll of Grateful Dead tape traders, the 5/2/70 show was ranked #6 on the list of all-time favorite Dead concert tapes.^[5]

Caveat emptor

Each volume of Dick's Picks has its own "caveat emptor" label, advising the listener of the sound quality of the recording. The label for volume 8 reads:

"These compact discs were mastered directly from the original half track 7½ ips analog tapes recorded at this show. The acoustic set was recorded in stereo. The electric sets are monaural. While the reason for this remains a mystery, spurious electrical activity is suspected."

Track listing

Disc one

First set

1. "Don't Ease Me In" (traditional) – 4:38
2. "I Know You Rider" (traditional) – 7:51
3. "Friend of the Devil" (Garcia, Dawson, Hunter) – 5:57
4. "Dire Wolf" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:56
5. "Beat It on Down the Line" (Fuller) – 3:13 ->
6. "Black Peter" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:02
7. "Candyman" (Garcia, Hunter) – 1:43 ->
8. "Cumberland Blues" (Garcia, Hunter, Lesh) – 5:47
9. "Deep Elem Blues" (traditional) – 7:30
10. "Cold Jordan" (traditional) – 2:35
11. "Uncle John's Band" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:28

Disc two

Second set

1. "St. Stephen" (Garcia, Hunter, Lesh) – 3:23 ->
2. "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia) – 1:54 ->
3. "Drums" (Hart, Kreutzmann) – 3:28 ->
4. "The Other One" (Weir, Kreutzmann) – 13:56 ->
5. "Cryptical Envelopment" (Garcia) – 8:59 ->
6. "Cosmic Charlie" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:23
7. "Casey Jones" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:45
8. "Good Lovin'" (Resnick, Clark) – 15:10

Disc three

Second set, continued

1. "It's a Man's World" (Brown, Jones, Newsome) – 10:04
2. "Dancing in the Streets" (Stevenson, Gaye, I. Hunter) – 15:42

Third Set

3. "Morning Dew" (Dobson, Rose) – 12:40
4. "Viola Lee Blues" (Lewis) – 16:35 ->
5. "We Bid You Goodnight" (traditional) – 4:59

Personnel

Grateful Dead

• Jerry Garcia – acoustic guitar (first set, except "Cumberland Blues"), lead electric guitar ("Cumberland Blues", second & third sets), vocals
• Mickey Hart – drums, percussion
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums, percussion
• Phil Lesh – electric bass, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, harmonica, vocals
• Bob Weir – acoustic guitar (first set), rhythm electric guitar (second & third sets), vocals

Additional musicians

• John "Marmaduke" Dawson – vocals on "Cold Jordan"
• David Nelson – acoustic guitar on "Cumberland Blues", mandolin on "Cold Jordan"

Production

• Bob Matthews – recording
• Dick Latvala – tape archivist
• Jeffrey Norman – CD mastering
• John Cutler – ferromagnetist
• Gecko Graphics – design
• Morris Zwerman – band photo
• Richard Walinsky – CD liner notes

Notes