Spring 1990 (album)


Spring 1990 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains six complete concerts, on 18 CDs—one concert from each venue of their spring 1990 tour. It was released on August 31, 2012.
Spring 1990 was produced as a box set, with a limited edition of 9,000 individually numbered copies. The box includes a 60-page hardcover book of essays and photos, along with memorabilia such as reproductions of the tour program, ticket stubs, and backstage passes.
Speaking of the album in a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Bob Weir said, "For my money, this was our hottest era. We couldn't wait to go on tour; we couldn't wait to play because it was really working for us and it was keeping us amused. We had been working together as a unit for a good length of time.... We got comfortable enough in those tunes so that we could do a little exploration, harmonically, rhythmically, whatever. We could go places with them. Everybody has to be way in tune with each other to be able to do that."
Looking back, Bill Kreutzmann said about the tour, "Brent played the best organ I’ve ever heard anybody play. He had the piss and the vinegar in him and he brought it to the table every night. The band, as a whole, had come alive again. Those shows had energy, with thunderbolts of electricity to spare. We didn’t wreck drum sets or smash guitars or dress up in elaborate stage costumes; our shows were always about the music and the music during that period was adventurous. It dared listeners to ride shotgun as we went around hairpin turns, whizzing past ever-changing landscapes. Some nights, I could look out from my perch on the drum riser and see the whole house rocking back and forth in unison, a giant wave of people, and those were the nights you knew it was working."
A companion box set, Spring 1990 , was released two years after Spring 1990.

Concerts

Spring 1990 contains the following complete concerts:
The album also includes excerpts from this concert:
Two tracks from the Copps Coliseum concert were previously released on So Many Roads , and one track from the same concert was previously released on Garcia Plays Dylan. Six tracks from the March 26 Knickerbocker Arena concert were previously released on Dozin' at the Knick. Three tracks from the Nassau Coliseum concert were previously released on Without a Net.
The combination of the tracks from the March 24 concert at the Knickerbocker Arena with those from the same date released on Dozin' at the Knick, Postcards of the Hanging and Without a Net represent that concert in its entirety.
A concert from the day before the Capital Centre date, recorded at the same venue, was previously released as Terrapin Station .
The remaining shows from the Spring 1990 tour were later released as Spring 1990 .

Personnel

Grateful Dead

March 16, 1990 – Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland

Disc 1
  1. "Let the Good Times Roll" > – 4:11
  2. "Touch of Grey" – 6:28
  3. "New Minglewood Blues" – 7:44
  4. "Peggy-O" – 6:34
  5. "Queen Jane Approximately" – 6:15
  6. "Loser" – 7:22
  7. "Black-Throated Wind" – 6:03
  8. "Bird Song" – 14:23
  9. "Blow Away" – 12:02
Disc 2
  1. "Scarlet Begonias" > – 11:21
  2. "Estimated Prophet" > – 11:04
  3. "Ship Of Fools" > – 7:39
  4. "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" > – 6:55
  5. "Jam" > – 5:24
  6. "Drums" – 9:37
Disc 3
  1. "Space" > – 10:42
  2. "The Other One" > – 6:55
  3. "Stella Blue" > – 8:49
  4. "Sugar Magnolia" – 9:16
  6. "The Last Time" – 5:19

    March 19, 1990 – Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut

Disc 1
  1. "Hell in a Bucket" > – 6:43
  2. "Bertha" – 7:10
  3. "We Can Run" – 7:05
  4. "Jack-a-Roe" – 5:13
  5. "Picasso Moon" – 7:41
  6. "Brown-Eyed Women" – 5:59
  7. "It's All Over Now" > – 7:25
  8. "Deal" – 8:41
Disc 2
  1. "Box of Rain" – 5:27
  2. "Foolish Heart" > – 11:35
  3. "Playing in the Band" > – 8:32
  4. "Eyes of the World" > – 14:41
  5. "Drums" – 10:26
Disc 3
  1. "Space" > – 10:52
  2. "China Doll" > – 6:13
  3. "Gimme Some Lovin'" > – 4:31
  4. "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad" > – 6:55
  5. "Around and Around" – 6:36
  7. "Brokedown Palace" – 5:48

    March 22, 1990 – Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario

Disc 1
  1. "Feel Like A Stranger" – 8:12
  2. "West L. A. Fadeaway" – 7:41
  3. "Easy to Love You" – 6:14
  4. "Beat It On Down the Line" – 3:34
  5. "It Must Have Been the Roses" – 6:29
  6. "The Last Time" – 5:40
  7. "Picasso Moon" – 7:07
  8. "Don't Ease Me In" – 3:30
Disc 2
  1. "Scarlet Begonias" > – 8:30
  2. "Fire on the Mountain" – 11:44
  3. "Samson and Delilah" – 6:51
  4. "Believe It or Not" – 6:32
  5. "Truckin'" > – 11:04
  6. "Drums" – 11:36
Disc 3
  1. "Space" > – 8:14
  2. "The Other One" > – 6:42
  3. "Hey Jude" > – 4:53
  4. "Dear Mr. Fantasy" > – 3:58
  5. "Hey Jude" > – 4:31
  6. "Sugar Magnolia" – 8:45
  8. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" – 7:10
Notes

March 26, 1990 – Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York

Disc 1
  1. "Hell in a Bucket" – 6:53
  2. "Dupree's Diamond Blues" – 6:08
  3. "Just a Little Light" – 5:15
  4. "Black-Throated Wind" – 6:32
  5. "Big Railroad Blues" – 4:40
  6. "Picasso Moon" – 7:17
  7. "Row Jimmy" – 10:53
  8. "Blow Away" – 11:31
Disc 2
  1. "Built to Last" – 5:29
  2. "Victim or the Crime" > – 9:56
  3. "China Cat Sunflower" > – 5:45
  4. "I Know You Rider" > – 5:24
  5. "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" > – 6:14
  6. "Drums" – 11:21
Disc 3
  1. "Space" > – 8:29
  2. "I Need a Miracle" > – 4:03
  3. "Dear Mr. Fantasy" > – 5:20
  4. "Gimme Some Lovin'" > – 5:09
  5. "Morning Dew" – 11:57
  7. "Brokedown Palace" – 5:37
  9. "Let the Good Times Roll" > – 4:01
  10. "Help on the Way" > – 4:05
  11. "Slipknot!" > – 3:50
  12. "Franklin's Tower" – 8:04
  13. "Loser" – 7:30
  14. "Tennessee Jed" – 7:53
Notes

March 30, 1990 – Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York

Disc 1
  1. "Help on the Way" > – 4:12
  2. "Slipknot!" > – 5:49
  3. "Franklin's Tower" – 9:39
  4. "Little Red Rooster" – 9:13
  5. "Dire Wolf" – 3:28
  6. "It's All Over Now" – 7:18
  7. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" – 6:12
  8. "Picasso Moon" – 7:56
  9. "Don't Ease Me In" – 3:26
Disc 2
  1. "Iko Iko" – 7:07
  2. "Playing in the Band" > – 9:19
  3. "China Doll" > – 5:41
  4. "Uncle John's Band" > – 8:16
  5. "Terrapin Station" > – 12:59
  6. "Drums" – 9:48
Disc 3
  1. "Space" > – 11:30
  2. "I Need a Miracle" > – 4:02
  3. "Gimme Some Lovin" > – 4:55
  4. "Standing on the Moon" > – 8:56
  5. "Not Fade Away" – 7:40
  7. "Attics of My Life" – 5:12
Notes

April 2, 1990 – The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia

Disc 1
  1. "Feel Like a Stranger" – 8:44
  2. "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo" > – 7:02
  3. "The Weight" – 6:34
  4. "Queen Jane Approximately" – 6:13
  5. "Easy to Love You" – 5:37
  6. "Brown-Eyed Women" – 5:46
  7. "Let It Grow" – 12:21
Disc 2
  1. "Foolish Heart" > –9:20
  2. "Looks Like Rain" > – 8:26
  3. "He's Gone" > – 8:59
  4. "The Last Time" > – 5:43
  5. "Drums" – 10:42
Disc 3
  1. "Space" > – 9:04
  2. "The Other One" > – 6:24
  3. "Death Don't Have No Mercy" > – 7:37
  4. "Around and Around" > – 3:41
  5. "Good Lovin'" – 7:12
  7. "Black Muddy River" – 6:28