Dick's Picks Vol. 15-Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ 9/3/77 (3-CD Set)

1977 was a great year of touring for the Dead, and it s been the source of some of the most acclaimed live recordings the band has released (the complete set of June Winterland shows comes to mind, as do Dick s Picks Vols. 34 & 29). This Pick keeps the streak going, despite the fact that this was the first concert the band had played in almost three months, and that it took place in front of a crowd estimated at over 100,000! It was also the first show after the release of Terrapin Station, and several numbers (the title track, Samson and Delilah and Estimated Prophet, which segues into a really unusual and stellar Eyes of the World ) surface from the album. The Music Never Stopped, Peggy-O, Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo and He s Gone are all given what could be characterized as definitive renditions as well, and the band closes the night by playing Truckin for the first time in two years before the Terrapin Station encore. One more miraculous night from the Grateful Dead.