The intro alone is worth the price of admission, and I am generally a fan of "And We Bid You GoodNight"

Not sure I can handle the 30 minute Dark Star, but am morbidly curious about the 30 minutes of both That's It for The Other One, and Lovelight.

This should be a Serious Undertaking for mid-week.

I'm on my third try at uploading this behemoth and it's going sludgingly at about 55k/s. They should be up in the morning.

Though this was the third Grateful Dead album to be released since the death of bandleader Jerry Garcia and the group's subsequent decision to disband, it is the first one that wasn't in the pipeline already. Its release offers evidence that the Dead organization, which had begun releasing selected recordings of live shows as a courtesy to fans while raking in most of its revenues through roadwork, has changed its priorities. Dick's Picks, Vol. 4 isn't just another Grateful Dead concert recording, it's the recording: February 13-14, 1970, the Dead's debut at the Fillmore East, and a show consistently ranked by Deadheads as among the five best live tapes ever. This stand, some of which was released in 1973 on the History of the Grateful Dead, Vol. 1 (Bear's Choice) (there is no overlap with this album), finds the Dead gearing up to record Workingman's Dead, and already songs like "Casey Jones" and "Dire Wolf" have crept into the set. But there is so much more: half-hour versions of "That's It for the Other One," "Turn on Your Lovelight" (a showcase for Pigpen), and, in a near-definitive performance, the Dead's signature song, "Dark Star." Much of the then recently released Live/Dead material is heard, not to mention a rare performance of "Mason's Children." But it isn't just the set list that makes this a legendary show, it's the playing: amazing interaction among the players on every song, with Garcia noodling his way to nirvana. While it would be an exaggeration to say that if you own this three-CD, three-hour-and-ten-minute album you have all you need of the Grateful Dead on disc, the overstatement is only slight. As Bob Weir says at the outset, "This ain't a show, it's a party."

On February 11, 13, and 14, 1970, the Grateful Dead — along with the Allman Brothers Band and Love — performed at Bill Graham's Fillmore East auditorium in New York City. The February 13 and February 14 Dead shows were widely regarded as among the band's best concerts, even before the release of Dick's Picks Volume 4. In addition to the evidence offered by Bear's Choice, high quality soundboard bootlegs of the concerts had been in circulation for quite some time. In a 1993 poll of Grateful Dead tape traders, the 2/13/70 show was ranked #2 on the list of all-time favorite Dead tapes, and 2/14/70 was #17. (The May 8, 1977 concert at Cornell University's Barton Hall received the top ranking.) The same poll rated the 2/13/70 versions of "Dark Star", "The Other One", and "Turn On Your Love Light" as the best ever. (The "Dark Star" played on August 27, 1972, in Veneta, Oregon, was ranked #2. The February 27, 1969 version from the Fillmore West, included in Live/Dead, was #9.) Selections from the Allman Brothers Band's performances at this set of concerts were released as the album Fillmore East, February 1970.

Dick's Picks Volume 4 received a rating of five stars out of five from Rolling Stone, The Music Box magazine, and Allmusic.
Greg Kot of Rolling Stone wrote, "But when the early Dead were at their best, few American bands were better in concert. Exhibit A is Volume Four, which culls highlights from two masterly 1970 performances at the Fillmore East. Here the full range of the band's arsenal is represented: the luminous 'Dark Star', a raging 'Not Fade Away', the sheer nastiness of McKernan on his showpiece, 'Turn On Your Love Light'."

In The Music Box, John Metzger said, "I don't think I need to tell anyone about the performance of the Grateful Dead on February 13 – 14, 1970, as these have long been fan favorites.... If you have never heard the February 13 performance of Dark Star / That's It for the Other One / Lovelight, you must be living in a cave or have never seen the Grateful Dead. It's one of the most amazing performances they ever did. Over 90 minutes of pure bliss that is sure to convert the unconverted."

On Jambands.com, Dan Alford wrote, "This performance really needs no introduction; it’s one of the most famous two night stands in the Grateful Dead’s history, and if you don’t think 5/8/77 is the best GD performance, it’s possible you think 2/13/70 is.... Easily one of the best moments of the 30 year trip."

The songs on this release are taken from the following shows.

February 13, 1970;

* Dark Star
* Cryptical Envelopment
* The Other One
* Turn On Your Lovelight

February 14, 1970;

* Casey Jones
* Dancing In The Streets
* China Cat Sunflower
* I Know You Rider
* High Time
* Dire Wolf
* Alligator
* Drums
* Me And My Uncle
* Not Fade Away
* Mason's Children
* Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)
* Feedback
* We Bid You Goodnight

I am fully for free speech, but I think 'Dancing in the Streets' should be banned, and all copies, include the Martha and the Vandellas original should be destroyed.

Possibly the worst song ever.

I am fully for free speech, but I think 'Dancing in the Streets' should be banned, and all copies, include the Martha and the Vandellas original should be destroyed.

Possibly the worst song ever.

while i'd generally agree with this statement, this version is downright listenable compared to the later abominations with donna jean wailing all over it.

I am fully for free speech, but I think 'Dancing in the Streets' should be banned, and all copies, include the Martha and the Vandellas original should be destroyed.

Possibly the worst song ever.

Well into The Other One right now.

AGREED.