Sunshine Daydream is a music
documentary film, starring the rock band the
Grateful Dead. It was shot at their August 27, 1972 concert at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in
Veneta, Oregon.[1][2] Unreleased for many years, the film was sometimes shown at small film festivals, and
bootleg recordings of it circulated on
VHS and
DVD, and as
digital downloads. A digitally remastered and reedited official version of the film was released on August 1, 2013, showing only one time in selected theaters as that year's edition of the
Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies.[3][4][5][6] It was screened with Grateful Days, a new documentary short that includes interviews with some of the concert attendees. Sunshine Daydream was released on
DVD and
Blu-ray on September 17, 2013.
Sunshine Daydream is also a live album containing the complete August 27, 1972 Grateful Dead concert. Produced as a 3-disc
CD and as a 4-disc
LP, it was released by
Rhino Records on September 17, 2013.[9]
The name Sunshine Daydream is taken from the coda section of the Dead song "
Sugar Magnolia".
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.[12] The four 16mm cameras were synced to the sound, and remained focused on the stage, along with two additional roaming cameras for crowd shots.[12] 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."[13]
After initial takes were shown to the band, reception was lukewarm and took a backseat to another film project which would become
The Grateful Dead Movie. However, the footage for Sunshine Daydream remained sought after by fans and was eventually released after discussions between producer Sam Field and distributor
Rhino Entertainment.
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 three-disc
CD and as a four-disc
LP, it was released by
Rhino Records on September 17, 2013.[9][14][15] The album was mastered from the
16-track concert
soundboard tapes.
The album debuted at #19 on the
Billboard 200 on October 5, 2013.[16]
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."[17]
^Scott, John W.; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. (1999). DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists. Cornish, NH: DeadBase. p. 565.
ISBN1-877657-22-0.