Sunshine Daydream

Concert

The lineup of the Grateful Dead for this concert—and for all their concerts from July 1972 to October 1974—was Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Bob Weir on guitar and vocals, Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, Keith Godchaux on keyboards, Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals, and Bill Kreutzmann on drums.

The show was a benefit for the Springfield Creamery in nearby Springfield, Oregon. Merry Pranksters Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs emceed the concert. The Dead played all afternoon and into the dark after an opening set by the New Riders of the Purple Sage. In 2004, the New Riders' performance was released as an album called Veneta, Oregon, 8/27/72.

Production

The concert was filmed using four 16 mm cameras, in the woods of the Oregon Coast Range foothills, on the grounds of the Oregon Country Fair. Originally even more cameras had been planned, under an ambitious scheme: "The plot was to develop a signature visual style of representing the band: a camera for each of the 16 channels (at least!) emphasizing the visual kinetics of the music making itself as well as the enormous open communication within the band."

Songs in the film

Album

Sunshine Daydream is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on August 27, 1972 at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Produced as a 3–disc CD and as a 4-disc LP, it was released by Rhino Records on September 17, 2013.

The album debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200 on October 5, 2013. It was the Grateful Dead's second top 20 album, after In the Dark, which reached #6 in 1987.

Critical reception

On AllMusic, Fred Thomas said, "The three sets here have everything that made this one of the most colorful and captivating eras of the Dead's live playing. Somewhere between the caveman psychedelia of their beginnings and the bluegrass-steeped folk-rock of their most popular studio albums American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, Garcia and company refined their live jamming skills into something that seemed almost like a mental synchronization at its best.... A long-traded fan favorite, Sunshine Daydream finally sees a properly mixed presentation of the 16-track master tapes of nearly three hours of one of the Grateful Dead's finest concert moments. It's essential listening for Deadheads and possibly the best place for the curious to jump in."

Track listing

Disc 1

1. Introduction – 4:01
2. "Promised Land" (Chuck Berry) – 3:24
3. "Sugaree" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 7:30
4. "Me and My Uncle" (John Phillips) – 3:16
5. "Deal" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:55
6. "Black-Throated Wind" (Bob Weir, John Perry Barlow)  – 7:01
7. "China Cat Sunflower" (Garcia, Hunter) – 7:58
8. "I Know You Rider" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 7:03
9. "Mexicali Blues" (Weir, Barlow) – 3:49
10. "Bertha" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:59

Disc 2

1. "Playing in the Band" (Weir, Mickey Hart, Hunter) – 19:57
2. "He's Gone" (Garcia, Hunter) – 9:32
3. "Jack Straw" (Weir, Hunter) – 5:06
4. "Bird Song" (Garcia, Hunter) – 13:17
5. "Greatest Story Ever Told" (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 5:36

Disc 3

1. "Dark Star" (Garcia, Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 31:28
2. "El Paso" (Marty Robbins) – 5:04
3. "Sing Me Back Home" (Merle Haggard) – 10:51
4. "Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter) – 8:45
5. "Casey Jones" (Garcia, Hunter) – 6:25
6. "One More Saturday Night" (Weir) – 5:03

Notes

Personnel