He's 69; Have Some 68

A belated Happy Birthday to bass man extraordinaire Mr. Phillip Lesh! 69 years young Thanks Phil!!!

Wow, a show two days in a row. Hmmm... one tomorrow to make it 3 days in a row??? Place your bets, place your bets!

Grateful Dead -- March 16, 1968 Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco

1st Set: Dark Star-» China Cat Sunflower-» The Eleven-» Schoolgirl

Set 2: Morning Dew, It Hurts Me Too, Cryptical-» Other One-» Cryptical,
Alligator-» Caution, Feedback, And We Bid You Goodnight

Well, I haven't got a lot to say about this. Gotta love the Alligator here!!! What a great jam they get into! Feels like Phil and Jerry really start driving each other at the end. Who can play their guitar the hardest? Holy cow! All-around this is a fine Dead show, man. I loved loved listening to it about three times in a row now and a good handful over the past week or so. The recording sounds nice but there are some cuts and fades. It's not the best but hey, it's 1968! If you only want the greatest from this era, grab 2/14/68. If you've got no problem with listening to every show ever played, then here you go!

transcribed from: The Deadhead's Taping Compendium, Volume 1: An In-Depth Guide to the Music of the Grateful Dead on Tape, 1959-1974 by Michael Getz and John Dwork [out of print] The ten-minute "Dark Star" opener is soft, callow, and barely arousing. It's fun listening, though, knowing that in a few months it will begin to develop calluses from repeated usage and will gradually become the band's most beloved transportational tune, peaking timewise with a forty-eight minute performance on May 11, 1972. "China Cat" is up next. The band regains its swing as all the players vigorously pounce on it. "The Eleven" is fully explored before yielding to a jazzy jam at the end that contains a strong "Caution" feel. "Schoolgirl" follows this and showcases the Dead's superb blues improvisations. The second set opens with stage banter, a silly ditty, and then another blues number; "It Hurts Me Too" is efficient but not much else. A rowdy, resolute "The Other One" follows that, bordering on belligerence. The "Cryptical" reprise is quickly cut. "Alligator" is missing the first verse but contains a keenly focused jam that rises ever so carefully before exploding into "Caution"--another must-hear. Pigpen delivers a nice harmonica solo while the band backs him, oh-so raucously, before the tape cuts. A dark, dreadful "Feedback" cuts in for a few minutes before melting into a somber "Bid You Goodnight" show closer. Despite the cuts this is a wonderful-sounding soundboard from an important era in the Dead's history. Get it. by MICHAEL M. GETZ

GD 3/16/68 @ the Internet Archive the soundboard for listening only.

Download The Show Here Audio Quality:♦ Source: shnid=9388 Lineage: SBD -» Master Reel -» Cassette -» DAT -» CDR GD: 3/16/68 - Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco Morning Dew is the 2nd Set opener. Sorry, in the .rar file it wasn't fixed and it's positioned at the end. Hopefully you, the downloader, can fiddle with the file data to arrange it properly.

3-16-68 aka 03-16-68 aka 3/16/68 aka 03/16/68 aka 03-16-68 Carousel Ballroom