Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 4/18/70 is a live album by the rock band the
Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Family Dog concert hall in
San Francisco on April 18, 1970.[1] It was released by
Rhino Records on November 29, 2013. The album was produced as a single-disc
CD, and also as a two-disc
vinyl LP, the latter in a limited audiophile edition of 7,500 copies.[2][3]
The concert was a "stealth" performance by the Grateful Dead, who were billed as "Mickey Hart and His Heartbeats" and "Bobby Ace and His Cards from the Bottom of the Deck", a reference to band members
Mickey Hart and
Bob Weir. The band performed one set of
acoustic music, including some rarely played tunes. They were joined on some songs by
John Dawson and
David Nelson of the
New Riders of the Purple Sage. The last six songs of the concert were performed solo by
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, singing and playing an
acoustic guitar.[4][5][6]
Production
The recording used to create the Family Dog album was not known to the Grateful Dead or their fans until
Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Garcia, ex-wife of
Jerry Garcia, found some of Jerry's old tapes, and gave them to the band's organization. Among the tapes was this performance, which was then digitally remastered using modern techniques.[7]
A notice on the album cover says, "This rare recording was made on a non-professional machine at low level and contains some tape hiss and other undesirable stuff. Several procedures were employed to clarify the sound, but artifacts may still be heard. However, the music shines through, and the performance is too good not to bring to you. Enjoy."
Track listing
"
I Know You Rider" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 4:53
"Don't Ease Me In" (traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead) – 3:26