Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3


Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Subtitled Denver '73, it contains the complete concert recorded on November 21, 1973, at Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado. It also includes three songs recorded the previous night at the same venue. The 15th of the Road Trips series of archival albums, it was released as a three-disc CD on April 26, 2011.
A bonus disc was included with the album in shipments to customers who had pre-ordered all four 2011 Road Trips albums. The bonus disc was recorded on December 6, 1973, at Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio.

Critical reception

Writing in The Music Box, John Metzger said, "So, why is it that with all of the music that the Grateful Dead has dispensed, it took until 2011 for the band to issue its performance at the Denver Coliseum on November 21, 1973? Beautifully presented along with a handful of selections from the show that was held on the previous night, Road Trips, Vol. 4, No. 3: Denver '73 is, to put it quite bluntly, the best release that the Grateful Dead has issued in a long time.... Good fortune undeniably was smiling upon the audience... Not only did the band deliver a musical performance that was rock-solid, but it also assembled a well-paced show that peaked in all of the right places. Much as the cover art... suggests, the Grateful Dead galloped across the Wild West with guns a-blazin' as it painted images of outlaws on the run from life and love."

Track listing

Disc one

  1. "Me and My Uncle" – 3:29
  2. "Sugaree" – 7:41
  3. "Jack Straw" – 5:13
  4. "Dire Wolf" – 4:26
  5. "Black-Throated Wind" – 6:51
  6. "Big Railroad Blues" – 5:31
  7. "Mexicali Blues" – 3:48
  8. "They Love Each Other" – 5:37
  9. "Looks Like Rain" – 7:35
  10. "Here Comes Sunshine" – 11:08
  11. "Big River" – 5:22
  12. "Brokedown Palace" – 5:53

2011 Bonus Disc

  1. "Greatest Story Ever Told" – 5:42
  2. "China Cat Sunflower" – 9:18 >
  3. "I Know You Rider" – 5:31
  4. "Dark Star" – 43:33 >
  5. "Eyes of the World" – 14:03

Personnel

Grateful Dead

Production

  • Produced by Grateful Dead
  • Produced for release by David Lemieux and Blair Jackson
  • Recorded by Kidd Candelario
  • CD mastering by Jeffrey Norman
  • Cover art by Scott McDougall
  • Photos by Grant Gouldon
  • Package design by Steve Vance
  • Liner notes essay "Rocky Mountain High" by Blair Jackson

Set lists

Following are the full set lists from the November 20 and 21, 1973 concerts at Denver Coliseum.
Tuesday, November 20
Wednesday, November 21
  • First set: "Me and My Uncle"*, "Sugaree"*, "Jack Straw"*, "Dire Wolf"*, "Black-Throated Wind"*, "Big Railroad Blues"*, "Mexicali Blues"*, "They Love Each Other"*, "Looks Like Rain"*, "Here Comes Sunshine"*, "Big River"*, "Brokedown Palace"*, "Weather Report Suite Prelude"* > "Weather Report Suite Part 1"* > "Let It Grow"*
  • Second set: "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo"* > "Playing in the Band"* > "El Paso"* > "Playing in the Band"* > "Wharf Rat"* > "Playing in the Band"* > "Morning Dew"*, "Truckin'"* > "Nobody's Fault but Mine"* > "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad"* > "One More Saturday Night"*
  • Encore: "Uncle John's Band"*
* Included in ''Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3''