Live at the Cow Palace: New Years Eve 1976

There are many superb live recordings of the Grateful Dead, and Live at the Cow Palace - New Year's Eve 1976 is definitely one of the best! This was a fascinating era for the Grateful Dead and this show is a great chronicle of those days. As the other reviews have stated, there are many of the classic Grateful Dead jams on this fantastic HDCD: Help On The Way/Slipknot!, Playing In The Band (of course!), and an absolutely legendary Sugar Magnolia > Eyes Of The World > Wharf Rat > Good Lovin' > Samson & Delilah jam! But that being said, I don't want to suggest these are the only great performances! The whole show is excellent! If you don't have this show, and if you have attended many of this great band's live shows, you will definitely want to have this package in your collection! Even though I have heard the FM recording many times, I am totally satisfied with adding this great recording to my collection! As a great man once said many years ago, "There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert!" And this recording from the 1976 New Year's Eve show at the Cow Palace is a testament to that for sure!

It's a B Plus show with excellent sound that bumps up it's "star rating". There is a slow jam into a Samson and Delilah like no other and, later, a Morning Dew so good and long that rivals it's 77 iterations.Jerry plays well overall, and the singing is good, and Phil and Bob are well represented in the mix.Okay, so I WAS there, and it's a nostalgia show for me, sure enough and that probably did cause me to give it an extra star. I'm ambivalent about 1976 just as the reviews show, but after a slow start the band plays very well. The Good Lovin rocks, the Help on the Way is short but jazzy and leads into a deep Allah flavored space jam that's pretty doggone long.If you're a deadhead, like me, and I know you are, you will enjoy this show, because it's nothing like that hard rockin 77 sound, more like a 73-74 show, but with that Jerry bending the Travis Bean guitar sound.So: a B plus show, killer Dew, great sound, Travis Bean era consistently good with A plus nuggets.

Really have a hard time getting into this set. The sound is excellent, but the band seemed to be going thru the motions. After coming back from a hiatus away from group playing, from my perspective, they were unsure of what direction they wanted to go. As many have mentioned, many of the songs are a slower tempo than usual and much safer than most shows. You almost have the feeling that they were at the crossroads and in search of a new identity. Possibly, they recognized this and regrouped before heading out for the great road show that was 1977. Jerry, soon after, found a new toy with the Mu-tron guitar effect that created a whole new stratospheric realm he could tap into, which might have been just what he needed to rediscover his Mojo. Cause he definitely didn't have it on this night.I'm sure I'll listen again, but with over 60 shows in my collection, this will be one that gets limited action. I can honestly say that listening to this whole show, I never had that holy S feeling and smile on my face where I just had to play that great tune again.

I've got a ton of coverage from '68-'74 and '77-'82,so I jumped at picking up a show from '76, though with little expectation...HOWEVER, the amount of play time these disks have received in the last few months is rivaled only by the Winterland Box sets and a handful of my enduring favorites. I love this show! Among alot of standout moments, my top entries are a truly epic Dew, and terrific Eyes, Wharf Rat, A&A, Help, and Slipknot. One other aspect that I haven't seen mentioned is Phil's bass. Much like Barton Hall is one of Jerry's signature shows, Phil's play is so strong, both acoustically and artistically, that you feel it reverberating in your gut - I love to crank this show while driving and let Philbombs shake my 4Runner like a small earthquake!/peace,kate

Wow, what a phenomenal three CD Box set! Since Amazon doesn't tell you what songs are on what discs, below is the breakdown. This is a must buy for any serious Deadhead, and if you like good tunes while driving.Disc 1Promised LandBerthaMama TriedThey Love Each OtherLooks Like RainDealPlaying in the BandDisc 2Sugar MagnoliaEyes of the WorldWharf RatGood Lovin'Samson & DelilahScarlet BegoniasDisc 3Around and AroundHelp on the WaySlipknot!DrumsNot Fade AwayMorning DewOne More Saturday NightUncle John's BandWe Bid You Goodnight

What a great album. It contains 3 discs of some of the best performances by the band I've ever heard. In particular, I like the version of Samson and Delilah on this album better than any I've ever heard. Great album cover and insert which gives history and explanations of the material on the album. The band was still in their prime. Jerry's guitar never sounded better. Note his wonderful playing on Eyes of the World as well as the above-mentioned Samson and Delilah. A must-have for any true fan of the Grateful Dead.

I went to several new year's shows at Winterland. I am sorry I missed this one at the Cow Palace (and I probably listened to the broadcast). I was stunned by the awesome Morning Dew. This is one of the few shows where Donna fit just right. Indeed, this is one show you have to have in your playing set.

I like this 3 CD set. I've been listening to the Dead since 69. I love the new sound quality. Through my studio AKG's this sounds great! The Dead were on this night. For me Jerry was the band, the others joined in from time to time. Keith also plays well here. I'm happy I have this. BTW I do love "Steppin Out". I'm happy I have both of these to add to my listening.

Ich gebe der ersten Rezension recht, es ist eine der wirklich hervorragendsten Greatful Dead Aufnahmen, die ich kenne, dieses Sylvesterkonzert. Ergänzen möchte ich zur erwähnten Rezension meine Freude über selten gespielte Stücke aus der Phase ohne Dark Star (welches jahrelang nicht gespielt wurde): Genannt seien "Help on the way" schön leise, eindringlich, dann das vielschichtige "Slip knot" voller Improvisationen und eigentlich ganz dicht am Jazz, schließlich diese wunderschöne eindringliche Cover-Version von "Morning Dew", das wegen seiner zwingenden Melodie so schwer zu bringen ist. Schade, dass eine der drei CD ausgeblendet wird.

Un buen directo de los Dead con grandes versiones de los clásicos de siempre. A destacar: Samson and Delilah, Scarlet Begonias y una genial Uncle's John Band. Un pero: Donna Godchaux bastante despistada.De todas maneras el triple CD es totalmente recomendable. Ideal para complementar el To Terrapin que grabarían el año siguiente.

great pressing, great show

good pressing and great music

Friday Records is hit and miss but they did a good job on this one.