Dave's Picks Volume 51


Dave's Picks Volume 51 is a three-CD live album by the rock band Grateful Dead. It features the complete concert recorded on April 13, 1971, at the Scranton Catholic Youth Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It also includes bonus tracks comprising the previous night's second set at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as tracks from October 24, 1970, at Kiel Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri. The remaining songs from the St. Louis performance were included as bonus tracks on Dave's Picks Volume 48. Dave's Picks Volume 51 was released on July 26, 2024, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
The cover art, designed by Steve Vance, is a nod to the TV show The Office, which took place in the concert's location of Scranton.

Critical reception

On AllMusic, Timothy Monger wrote: "After a couple volumes devoted to late-'70s and '80s classics, Dave's Picks returns to the source with a spring 1971 show featuring the original Grateful Dead quintet of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan.... Fans of classic era Dead will enjoy hearing Pigpen still in his prime on this nimble and focused volume."
In Glide Magazine, Doug Collette said, "Most songs that would grace the Skull & Roses double LP released that autumn are featured in these setlists.... With their range of choices for Dave's 51, the curators seem to say improvisation took many forms within the oeuvre of the Grateful Dead. There certainly isn’t much extensive jamming on the first set of 4/13, but the second set is perfectly scintillating from start to finish."

Track listing

Disc 1
  1. "Casey Jones" – 5:38
  2. "Mama Tried" – 3:20
  3. "Loser" – 7:06
  4. "Big Boss Man" – 5:46
  5. "Me and Bobby McGee" – 6:18
  6. "Bertha" – 6:25
  7. "Cumberland Blues" – 4:56
  8. "Big Railroad Blues" – 5:08
  9. "Playing in the Band" – 5:09
  10. "Hard to Handle" – 9:10
  11. "Sugar Magnolia" – 6:47
Disc 2
  1. "Truckin'" > – 9:05
  2. "Drums" > – 4:25
  3. "Good Lovin'" – 18:55
  4. "I Second That Emotion" – 5:44
  5. "Greatest Story Ever Told" > – 2:41
  6. "Johnny B. Goode" – 3:56
  7. "Uncle John's Band" – 6:31
  9. "Me and My Uncle" – 4:21
  10. "Friend of the Devil" – 4:06
  11. "Cold Rain and Snow" – 6:51
  12. "Attics of My Life" – 6:28
  13. "Casey Jones" – 4:51
Disc 3
  1. "Truckin'" > – 8:36
  2. "Drums" > – 3:15
  3. "The Other One" > – 10:46
  4. "Wharf Rat" – 9:39
  5. "Me and Bobby McGee" – 6:01
  6. "Casey Jones" – 5:39
  7. "Sugar Magnolia" – 7:01
  8. "Deal" > – 4:46
  9. "Not Fade Away" > – 4:07
  10. "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad" > – 7:09
  11. "Turn On Your Lovelight" – 11:31

Personnel

Grateful Dead
Production