Grateful Dead: April 17, 1982 – Hartford, CT

I’ve been listening to this set for more than three decades. I rank the “Shakedown Street” as a top 10, and the soundboard quality available today makes it that much better. In addition to clarity, the set has gained some much-needed Phil Lesh. (Thank you, Dalton/Miller/Klugston!)

There’s a different SBD source for the first set, and I like a few tunes, but they don’t belong with this second set. Of the second set, I haven’t omitted very much – a Drums/Space that are nothing special, and the last three songs of the set (Wharf Rat, Around & Around, and Saturday Night). None of them are bad, and the mix is always good, but I just don’t think they’re exemplary in any way. I don’t need to keep them as close as the rest of the set. 

I listened to this tape so much back in the day that I began to expect the yuk-yuk-duck sounds Weir makes in UJB (4:24) in every version of the song.

One-hour mp3 mix zipped up here

  • Shakedown Street
  • Lost Sailor >
  • Saint of Circumstance >
  • Jam > Spanish Jam
  • Uncle John’s Band >
  • Not Fade Away
  • It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
14 responses
as always, thank you - I'm super busy during the week; and suffer from more than a little bit of decision paralysis when it comes to what Dead shows to listen to...you always point me toward a gem. it's also cool, I travel for work a lot to Hartford and stay near what was once the Civic Center...so this will be classic road listening for me...(I think I see my company's corporate hq in the postcard too)...
Jim Martin, thanks for this comment. This whole blog/mixtape adventure is my own attempt to conquer that paralysis and end up with a good jukebox.
Thanks so much for this, John. I went to this show - my first-ever Dead show, and the extended version of "Shakedown" always stayed with me. It sounds fantastic here, and so does the rest! I was a freshman at UMass/Amherst. Going to the show this Saturday at Foxborough...
Rob Ho, it is great to hear your story. That was indeed an epic Shakedown to see live. One of my favorites since I got into the band in later '80s.
Come Hear Uncle John's Band, indeed! The Shakedown - wow! I really like that semi supplication jam that evolves into a Spanish Jam that gallops along and builds - nearly Caution-like! But that quiet jam that becomes NFA is really something - as is that Heartfelt Baby Blue at the end! NICE Recording! Thank you!
Bart, I agree! I debated whether there was much value in simply "shrinking" a second set, but this material was so good (and better than the rest of the set) that I went ahead!
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