Dick's Picks Volume 14


Dick's Picks Volume 14 is the 14th live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 30 and December 2, 1973, at Boston Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. Volume 14 was the last of the Dick's Picks series to be released during the lifetime of the series's namesake tape archivist, Dick Latvala.
As on Dick's Picks Volume 1, Donna Godchaux does not appear on this set as she had taken a hiatus from touring with the band due to pregnancy.

Enclosure and liner notes

Included with the release is a single sheet folded into thirds, yielding a six-page enclosure. The front duplicates the CD's cover and the back contains a photograph of the venue's marquee that weekend, stating that the band played there three nights and the shows were "sol out ". Inside are three pages of liner notes interspersed with black-and-white photographs of each of the band members and a single page listing the contents of and credits for the release.

Liner notes

The liner notes were written by "Michael J. Sanditen aka Tulsa" and are entitled "Baked in Beantown".
In the notes for the 11/30/73 show, Michael tells of how the band was late and "The curtain opened to an empty stage and a room full of jaws dropping to the floor." After a few hours, once the mic stands were in place, bassist Phil Lesh appeared and apologized to the crowd, saying "You see, we thought we were supposed to be here tomorrow night." Their first song, "Morning Dew", was "more or less a sound check." The author writes that there were "no hard feelings over being late" and it "turned out to be a really cool scene". He finishes this first part of the notes by stating that when the band finished he and his friends left and ventured "out into the snowy rain at 2 am."
In the notes for the 12/02/73 show, Sanditen writes that "the music was seamless" and the "second set had no break in it." He asserts that "from start to finish this was one fine performance with little if any miscues." In the last paragraph, he writes that for the next 23 years he and his friends traveled the country, "from Telluride to Santa Fe and New York to San Francisco," trying to "once more give ourselves the opportunity of reliving our youth".
Tulsa closes his article by writing "We are all linked together by a desire to take a ride like that just one more time."

Track listing

Disc one
  1. "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew" – 14:29
  2. "Mexicali Blues" – 3:46
  3. "Dire Wolf" – 5:09
  4. "Black-Throated Wind" – 7:01
  5. "Don't Ease Me In" – 4:44
  6. "Big River" – 5:30
  7. "They Love Each Other" – 6:01
  8. "Playing in the Band" – 23:18
Disc two
  1. "Here Comes Sunshine" – 11:54
  2. "Weather Report Suite" – 14:44 →
  4. "Dark Star Jam" – 9:18 →
  5. "Eyes of the World" – 19:26 →
  6. "Sugar Magnolia" – 10:16
Disc three
  1. "Cold Rain and Snow" – 7:21
  2. "Beat It on Down the Line" – 3:40
  3. "Brown-Eyed Women" – 7:48
  5. "Jack Straw" – 5:21
  6. "Ramble on Rose" – 8:04
  7. "Weather Report Suite" – 15:54
  9. "Wharf Rat" – 10:38 →
  10. "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo" – 8:03 →
Disc four
  1. "Playing in the Band" – 12:09 →
  2. "Jam" – 15:39 →
  3. "He's Gone" – 10:27 →
  4. "Truckin'" – 13:34 →
  5. "Stella Blue" – 10:15
  7. "Morning Dew" – 14:31

Personnel

Grateful Dead:
Production:
  • Bill Candelario – recording
  • Dick Latvala – tape archivist
  • Jeffrey Norman – CD mastering
  • John Cutler –
  • Gecko Graphics – design
  • Michael J. Sanditen – photography

Recording dates

  • November 30 – Discs 1 & 2
  • December 2 – Discs 3 & 4