Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA, 7/3/66

One of the earliest live recordings by the Grateful Dead, July 3, 1966, at the Fillmore Auditorium shows a band with a bright, long, exciting future ahead. A year into their performing career, Jerry, Bobby, Phil, Billy, and Pigpen perform live nearly a year before their first record came out. Playing Grateful Dead classics that would stick around their repertoire for decades such as “I Know You Rider,” “Cold Rain and Snow,” “New, New Minglewood Blues,” and “Beat It On Down The Line,” along with shorter-lived tracks including the covers “Gangster Of Love,” “Viola Lee Blues,” and “Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing.” Early originals including “Tastebud,” “You Don’t Have To Ask,” and “Cream Puff War” also appear in a rare live performances, demonstrating that the Grateful Dead were terrific songwriters right from the start. This live recording, produced by Owsley “Bear” Stanley, is some of the peppiest, most inspired live Grateful Dead put to tape.