Deadheads will relive the Spring of 1973 thanks to a new, limited-release boxset. On Wednesday, the Grateful Dead announced the release of Here Comes Sunshine 1973, a 17-CD boxset featuring five previously unreleased concerts.
The entire box set is five hours long and features audio from the group’s show in Des Moines, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and two shows in Washington D.C., between May 13 and June 10, 1973. The collection will be worth $190 and will be limited to 10,000 numbered copies.
“In my early tape-trading days, I only had a few 1973 shows, but my goodness, did I ever love them. There was a fresh, nimble feel that was entirely different from the 1972 Dead sound taking all of the great elements of the Year of Europe and building upon that excellence,” said legacy manager David Lemieux in a statement. “Even with hundreds of tapes at my fingertips, I returned to these 1973 shows frequently. That old saying, ‘I listened to that show so often, I wore the tape out?’ It was created because of shows like this.”
Among the songs featured on each tracklist are tracks like “Bertha,” “Looks Like Rain,” “Loser,” “Mexicali Blues,” “Tennessee Jed,” “China Cat Sunflower,” and “Wharf Rat.” Also featured in the tracklist are the first performances of tracks from Wake of the Flood, which they would officially record the following summer.
Fans can purchase the boxset on Dead.net and digital versions for $100 or $125 on the website. Also in the collection are tracks like “China Doll,” “Loose Lucy,” and “Wave That Flag” from their 1974 From the Mars Hotel.
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The box itself was designed by Masaki Koike, who used “vibrant graphics and unexpected treasures” to put it together. Ray Robertson penned the liner notes. Each show will be held in individual, custom-designed folios with additional, show-specific notes by Robertson. It will also feature a poster of an illustration by Mary Ann Mayer.
Along with Here Comes Sunshine 1973, the group is dropping a 4-CD, 8-LP set of the group’s performance at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Owsley “Bear” Stanley recorded the show that the press release describes as the group’s “most unique, powerful, and inspired performances.” The group is also dropping “Ramble on Rose” from that show as a digital single.
