Stream 36 Recordings of Legendary Grateful Dead Concerts Free Online (aka Dick’s Picks)

Image via Wiki­me­dia Com­mons

There’s no short­age of Grate­ful Dead con­certs freely avail­able on the web. Indeed, head over to Archive.org and you’ll find hun­dreds of Dead shows, some going as far back as the 1960s. But when you start rum­mag­ing around, you’ll dis­cov­er that some nights were mag­ic, while many oth­ers fell far short. That’s why we can be thank­ful that Dick­’s Picks came along. Named after the band’s tape archivist Dick Lat­vala, Dick­’s Picks (released between 1993 and 2005) fea­tured 36 volumes/albums of Grate­ful Dead con­certs, all sourced from sound­board record­ings cap­tured on two-track mas­ter tapes. The record­ings, as Tony Sclafani notes in The Grate­ful Dead FAQ, gave every­one a chance to “expe­ri­ence what going to a clas­sic Dead show was like” — “to eas­i­ly access record­ings of leg­endary shows.”

Caught up in some Grate­ful Dead nos­tal­gia myself, I quick­ly real­ized that all 36 vol­umes of Dick­’s Picks are avail­able on Spo­ti­fy — at no cost. As much for my own musi­cal edi­fi­ca­tion as for yours, I’ve cre­at­ed a list below. (Some of you might have a beef with Spo­ti­fy, or want to own your own copies, so I’ve includ­ed Ama­zon links too.) You can reg­is­ter for Spo­ti­fy and down­load the free soft­ware here.

Dead fans will sure­ly argue over which Dick­’s Picks are the best. But, from what I’ve seen, Vol. 4 (above), Vol. 8, Vol. 10, and Vol. 12. offer great places to begin.

And although it does­n’t appear in the Dick­’s Picks series, you can find on Archive.org what’s often con­sid­ered one of the Dead­’s finest live record­ings — their May 8, 1977 con­cert in Bar­ton Hall, at Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty.

Also, if you’re look­ing for a good intro­duc­tion to the Dead­’s musi­cal career, lis­ten to this recent episode of the Sound Opin­ions pod­cast, com­ing out of WBEZ in Chica­go.

Enjoy.

• Vol. 1, 1993 : Tam­pa, 12/19/73 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 2, 1995 : Colum­bus, 10/31/71 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 3, 1995 : Pem­broke Pines, 5/22/77 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 4, 1996 : Fill­more East, 2/13–14/70 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 5, 1996 : Oak­land, 12/26/79 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 6, 1996 : Hart­ford, 10/14/83 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 7, 1997 : Lon­don, 9/9–11/74 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 8, 1997 : Bing­ham­ton, 5/2/70 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 9, 1997 : Madi­son Square Gar­dens, 9/16/90 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 10, 1998 : Win­ter­land, 12/29–30/77 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 11, 1998 : Jer­sey City, 9/27/72 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 12, 1998 : Prov­i­dence & Boston, 6/26 & 28/74 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 13, 1999 : Nas­sau Col­i­se­um, 5/6/81 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 14, 1999 : Boston, 11/30/73 & 12/2/73 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 15, 1999 : Eng­lish­town, 9/3/77 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 16, 2000 : Fill­more Aud, 11/8/69 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 17, 2000 : Boston, 9/25/91 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 18, 2000 : Madi­son & Cedar Falls, 2/3 & 5/78 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 19, 2000 : Okla­homa City, 10/19/73 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 20, 2001 : Lan­dover & Syra­cuse, 9/25 & 28/76 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 21, 2001 : Rich­mond, 11/1/85 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 22, 2001 : Lake Tahoe, 2/23 & 24/68 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 23, 2001 : Bal­ti­more, 9/17/72 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 24, 2002 : Cow Palace, 3/23/74 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 25, 2002 : New Haven & Spring­field, 5/10–11/78 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 26, 2002 : Chica­go & Min­neapo­lis, 4/26–27/69 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 27, 2003 : Oak­land, 12/16–17/92 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 28, 2003 : Lin­coln & Salt Lake City, 2/26 & 28/73 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 29, 2003 : Atlanta & Lake­land, 5/19 & 21/77 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 30, 2003 : Acad­e­my of Music, NYC, 3/25 & 28/72 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 31, 2004 : Philadel­phia & Jer­sey City, 8/4–6/74 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 32, 2004 : Alpine Val­ley, East Troy , 8/7/82 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 33, 2004 : Oak­land, 10/9 & 10/76 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 34, 2005 : Rochester, 11/5/77 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 35, 2005 : San Diego, Chica­go and Hol­ly­wood, August 1971 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon
• Vol. 36, 2005 : Philadel­phia 9/21/72 — Spo­ti­fy — Ama­zon

Relat­ed Con­tent:

The Grate­ful Dead’s “Rip­ple” Played by Musi­cians Around the World

Bob Dylan and The Grate­ful Dead Rehearse Togeth­er in Sum­mer 1987. Lis­ten to 74 Tracks.

The Grate­ful Dead Play at the Egypt­ian Pyra­mids, in the Shad­ow of the Sphinx (1978)