Reckoning (200g-edition) - Plak

ENGLISH

In the fall of 1980, the Dead purposefully played a series of shows at two venues - the Warfield Theater in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in New York City - that were considerably smaller than the stadiums and arenas they were by that point regularly selling out. They did so with the express purpose of recording in an intimate space the opening portion of each show - a stripped-down acoustic set of Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir playing acoustic guitars, Brent Mydland playing piano, drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart playing reduced kits and bassist Phil Lesh turning his electric volume down considerably.<br /><br /> The group chose a set list of classic folk and country tunes mixed with their originals. The record is a very obvious ode to the band's early 1960s origins of folk, bluegrass and country. These are the sounds from which this whole long, strange trip was born, and Garcia in particular shines radiantly.<br /><br /> The sound - as with all records that are stripped to their bare essentials and rid of an overcrowded electric set - is right up there with the very best the Dead ever released. This is also the record for those on-the-fence fans that could do without the wandering-away-from-the-pocket sound that characterized much of the Dead's music. The songs here are tight and compact while still mostly delicate.