Dick’s Picks Vol. 2 has always been one of our favorites here at Real Gone, and not just because one of our two partners spent much of his misbegotten youth at the venue where it was recorded, the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, Ohio. Which, if you’ve never been there, is one of those grand movie palaces built in the ‘20s. It’s the kind of place where you can easily imagine spirits roam…say on a Halloween evening featuring a band called the Grateful Dead.

For, on that 1971 night—captured on this, the only single CD release in the entire Dick’s Picks series, here presented on a three-sided double-LP—the group played the most ethereal, dreamy, and, yes, spooky version of “Dark Star” ever recorded; it’s almost as if Jerry Garcia was communing with his ancestors (and maybe John Coltrane) for the frst seven minutes of his beautifully structured, contemplative and yearning solo. Then, after the vocal verse, Garcia, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, and bassist Phil Lesh take turns suggesting a new improvisational theme before the band telepathically picks up on a two-note theme and Garcia launches into some of the most ecstatic guitar playing ever captured on tape anywhere (labeled by some the “Tighten Up” jam after the Archie Bell & the Drells song; others hear an embryonic “Eyes of the World”).

The rest of the show keeps fying high; the whole band is on fre during “Sugar Magnolia,” a rare, early-‘70s performance of “St. Stephen” (the fnal live version until 1976) swaggers like it should, and a great “Not Fade Away”/ “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad”/ “Not Fade Away” medley rounds out the show…a “hallowed” performance indeed.

Now, Dick’s Picks Vol. 2 has seen a very limited vinyl release before, but that release cut its lacquers from CD fles. Well, as the recent saying goes, “Lordy, there are tapes!” Yup, Jefrey Norman of Mockingbird Mastering has gone back to the original Scotch reel-to-reel tapes (pictured in the gatefold inner spread) to bring you a brand, spankin’ new master of this utterly amazing show. The Well Made Music boys Clint Holley and Dave Polster cut the lacquers, and guess what? This baby was pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Gotta Groove Records, which is headquartered in—that’s right—Columbus. Yep, it’s a homecoming all around, and we swear, though we know this Pick like the back of our hand, we heard some new things this time around, and oh, that Garcia guitar tone! That’s where the vinyl advantage kicks in. Limited edition of 3500 hand-numbered copies with a surprise on side 4.