Grateful Dead
Uptown Theatre
Chicago, IL
February 27, 1981
Jerry Garcia - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Mickey Hart - Drums
Bill Kreutzmann - Drums
Phil Lesh - Electric Bass, Vocals
Brent Mydland - Keyboards, Vocals
Bob Weir - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
*Matrix*
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SBD (shnid=4598):
Source Info:
SBD > Cassette master > DAT(0)
(Cassette>DAT transfer by Dick)
DAT(1) > ZA2> Soundforge (15db sampled tape hiss noise
reduction filter)> CD Architect > Master CDR (by Jim Wise)
CDR Master > EAC in secure mode
(see below) > Soundforge (minor editing and crossfading) > CDWAV > SHNv3 w/seek tables
appended (by Jamie Lutch)
Known Flaws:
reel flip in Wharf Rat> Sugar Magnolia segue, crossfaded
slightly. All other edits and crossfades were between songs with no music disturbed
[Brief cut in Drums. Missing Don't Ease Me In]
[4/10/01]
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AUD (shnid=128712):
"Mason B. Taylor was a taper from Chicago that recorded concerts by many bands in the
Chicagoland area and on Dead tours. He used a Nakamichi 550 with Nakamichi 300 mics with
shotgun capsules for most of his earlier recordings. In later years he used Sony D-5 and
Sony D-3 cassette recorders with Nakamichi 300 mics.
Mason captured spectacular musical
moments and loved to share them with his closest friends. In honor of Mason and all the
love he put into his recordings we are now able to share these moments with those who can
appreciate them most.
As the shows get uploaded we would love for you to share your stories
about the epic times the music evokes so we can all dial back into that moment when the magic
was happening.
Thanks to Mason'?s family and his Chicago and Cleveland friends for opening up
Mason'?s Jar"
Recorded By Mason Taylor on a Nakamichi 550 Cassette Deck,
on chrome tapes, with
Nakamichi microphones.
Transferred on Mason's restored Nak550 properly.
[Barry Glassberg's AUD (SHNID=20344) patches brief cuts in Estimated and Drums, and the
second half of Sugar Magnolia.]
[5/17/14]
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Thank you to Dick Latvala, Jim Wise, and Jamie Lutch for the SBD transfer,
to Mason B. Taylor and Barry Glassberg for recording the show,
to Joe B. Jones and
Rob Bertrando for help with pitch correction,
and to Jamie Waddell for critical feedback.
Matrix by Hunter Seamons using Final Cut Pro (SHN & FLAC > AIFF > Final Cut w/EQ work >
AIFF CD tracking via Audacity > FLAC16 via xACT w/meta-tagging)
Summer Solstice, 2014
Set I
-----
d1t01 - Alabama Getaway ->
d1t02 - Promised Land
d1t03 - Friend of the Devil
d1t04 - Cassidy
d1t05 - Loser
d1t06 - C.C. Rider
d1t07 - It Must Have Been the Roses
d1t08 - Minglewood Blues
Set II
-----
d2t01 - Scarlet Begonias ->
d2t02 - Fire on the Mountain ->
d2t03 - Estimated Prophet ->
d2t04 - Eyes of the World ->
d3t01 - Drums ->
d3t02 - Space ->
d3t03 - Not Fade Away ->
d3t04 - Wharf Rat ->
d3t05 - Sugar Magnolia
Encore
------
d3t06 - Don't Ease Me
In Notes:
When I first started listening to matrixes in 2006, it was specifically with volume two of
Chris Chappell's masterwork Sick Bits series, which was the entire three-night stand at the
Uptown Theatre in 1981. As a long-time Chicagoan, and because these were incidentally the
first concerts the Dead played after I was born in January, I was naturally drawn to listening
to these recordings. Not surprisingly, I have read different reviews of these shows where
each performance has been lauded as the "best night" of the run, which speaks to the high
praise of this Uptown trifecta as a whole and why Chris decided to include them all in one
volume to begin with, and so early in the series. The Dead were obviously on fire right out
of the gates in 1981, and the very impressive spring '81 tour is where this incendiary new
energy was headed. This was the last time the Dead would play at the Uptown due to it becoming
heavily flooded later that winter from water pipes bursting during a deep freeze, making it
beyond immediate repair. The venue still exists today in a dilapidated state, with hopes of
it one day being restored - after 33 years.
I lived within walking distance from the Uptown.
It has always been a kind of mythical place in the Dead's concert history for me,
particularly because of the consistently amazing shows that were played there and the very
ornate architecture of the theatre, which was built in 1925 as the largest movie palace in
America with "an acre of seats" - 4,381 (imagine seeing the latest Chaplin film with that
many people). Also true among Dead lore is that it was a great sounding venue, and the
audience tapes consistently convey this. The Uptown always seems to exude a sonorous and
intimate sonic energy that pulls the audience in for an especially magical evening.
Of course
I thought it would be awesome to matrix these shows, but I never considered it worthwhile
since Chris's matrixes were already of such fantastic quality. Then, until only recently,
new tapes of this run emerged out of the woodwork by prolific Chicago taper, Mason B. Taylor
(a great photo of him just so happens to appear on page one of "The Official Book of the Dead
Heads"), which provide a new aural landscape of these historic concerts when compared to
Barry Glassberg's tapes that Chris used. While perhaps not as clear and defined as Barry's
recordings, Mason's cassettes more so capture an airy spaciousness and raw, electrified
energy that works well with the crispy yet flat soundboard tapes. Jerry's guitar also
resounds more prominently in Mason's pull, which always seems to makes things sound nicer.
With some excellent new sources in the trading pool, there was no resisting giving at least one of these Uptown shows a shot. This matrix of the 27th is my first foray into this run, seeing that it's the best sounding audience tape of the three nights Mason captured. The 28th is the second best sounding recording, while the 26th is more muffled and boomy sounding due to a different microphone placement. So here is the cream of the crop from the '81 Uptown run, Mason Taylor style (and Dan Healy style, of course). I hope matrix listeners will find this to be a pleasurable new experience of a very fine night in Grateful Dead history, which features a Scarlet Fire of blinding brilliance amidst a non-stop second set. If you've been searching for the sound, you might find some of it here.
Hunter
Set 1 was matrixed in Chicago, Illinois, one mile west of the Uptown Theatre.
Set 2 was
matrixed in Santa Fe, New Mexico.