Grateful Dead shared a preview of their upcoming Enjoying The Ride/The Music Never Stopped 60th-anniversary box set with a live cut of “Brown-Eyed Women” from San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on March 20th, 1977.
From Jerry Garcia‘s opening fills on what would have been his Travis Bean TB500 guitar, this “Brown-Eyed Women” propels with the energy the Dead brought with them when they came off hiatus the previous summer. The whole band is in sync, with Keith Godchaux adding tasteful grand piano atop Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart‘s driving beat. Phil Lesh‘s bass bobs along the surface and fills the space between, with Bob Weir keeping the rhythmic framework for Jerry’s lean and clean playing before Donna Jean Godchaux comes in for supporting vocals. The playing is tight, the recording is crisp; it’s no wonder 1977 is considered one of the Dead’s (many) career high-points.
“With 10 shows at Winterland in 1977, this was the year in which the Grateful Dead played Winterland most often, and every show there that year was a classic,” Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux wrote in the video’s comment section. “From the final night of a three night run in March, this Brown-Eyed Women is up there with the best of 1977, when every version played was exceptional.”
March 20th, 1977 at Winterland Ballroom is among the 17 complete shows set to appear on the 60CD Enjoying The Ride box set. Available May 30th exclusively from Dead.net, the massive collection will celebrate the Dead’s ongoing 60th anniversary this year. Enjoying The Ride includes more than 450 tracks and over 60 hours of music, with previously unreleased live recordings from 20 venues spanning 25 years (1969–1994). For those looking for something a bit more compact, the Dead are also offering The Music Never Stopped, a truncated version with at least one song from each venue on 3CD, 6LP, and digital formats.
Listen to “Brown-Eyed Women” from Winterland Ballroom on March 20th, 1977, set to appear on the upcoming Grateful Dead collections Enjoying The Ride and The Music Never Stopped, available here for pre-order.
Grateful Dead — “Brown-Eyed Women” — San Francisco, CA — 3/20/1977