30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995

30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995
Live album by Grateful Dead
Released	September 18, 2015
Recorded	1965–1995
Genre	Rock
Length	277:13
Label	Rhino
Producer	Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead chronology
Dave's Picks Volume 15 (2015) 30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995 (2015) 30 Trips Around the Sun (2015)

30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995 is a four-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains 30 songs recorded in concert—one from each of the years 1966 through 1995—plus one song recorded in a 1965 studio session. All of the tracks are selected from the 80-CD box set 30 Trips Around the Sun, which contains 30 previously unreleased complete shows. The album was released on September 18, 2015.^[1][2][3][4] A chronological sampling format was also used for the 5-disc set So Many Roads (1965–1995).

Production

Speaking about the selection of concerts for the box set from which the Definitive Live Story tracks were excerpted, producer and tape archivist David Lemieux said, "Our first criterion was the very best live music to represent any given year in the band's history. We wanted to make sure that there were not only the tent-pole shows that fans have been demanding for decades but also ones that are slightly more under the radar, but equally excellent."^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]

On AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Most of all, 30 Trips illustrates how the Dead kept circling back to their folk and blues beginnings no matter who supplemented the core quintet of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart. While the four or five main keyboardists brought their own signatures (particularly Pigpen, whose rough-hewn growl provided a gritty counterpart to the band's spacy early explorations), come 1971, the year after the twin masterpieces of Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, the Dead maintained a groove more psychedelic in spirit than sound.... If you take all 30 trips, the Dead's journey feels long and sweet and unlike anything else in rock."^[5]

Track listing

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)" (November 3, 1965, studio session[a])	Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan, Bob Weir	3:17
2.	"Cream Puff War" (July 3, 1966, Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, California[b])	Garcia	5:10
3.	"Viola Lee Blues" (November 10, 1967, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California)	Noah Lewis	15:17
4.	"Dark Star" (October 20, 1968, Greek Theatre, Berkeley, California)	Garcia, Mickey Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir, Robert Hunter	10:31
5.	"Doin' That Rag" (February 22, 1969, Dream Bowl, Vallejo, California)	Garcia, Hunter	6:53
6.	"Dancing in the Street" (April 15, 1970, Winterland Arena, San Francisco, California[c])	William Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, Ivy Jo Hunter	11:31
7.	"Ain't It Crazy (The Rub)" (March 18, 1971, Fox Theatre, St. Louis, Missouri)	Lightnin' Hopkins	4:43
8.	"Tomorrow Is Forever" (September 24, 1972, Palace Theatre, Waterbury, Connecticut)	Dolly Parton	5:32
9.	"Here Comes Sunshine" (November 14, 1973, San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California)	Garcia, Hunter	13:00

Notes

1. More from the session was previously released on Birth of the Dead and So Many Roads (1965–1995)
2. More from this concert was previously released on Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
3. Contains a patch from the April 12, 1970, San Francisco performance featured on Fallout from the Phil Zone

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Uncle John's Band" (September 18, 1974, Parc des Expositions, Dijon, France)	Garcia, Hunter	9:28
2.	"Franklin's Tower" (September 28, 1975, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California)	Garcia, Hunter	7:52
3.	"Scarlet Begonias" (October 3, 1976, Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan)	Garcia, Hunter	12:00
4.	"Estimated Prophet" (April 25, 1977, Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey)	Weir, John Barlow	8:00
5.	"Samson and Delilah" (May 14, 1978, Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island)	traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead	10:20
6.	"Lost Sailor" → "Saint of Circumstance" (October 27, 1979, Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts)	Weir, Barlow	12:28
7.	"Deep Elem Blues" (November 28, 1980, Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida)	traditional, arranged by Grateful Dead	4:59

Disc three

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Shakedown Street" (May 16, 1981, Barton Hall, Ithaca, New York)	Garcia, Hunter	16:32
2.	"Bird Song" (July 31, 1982, Manor Downs, Austin, Texas)	Garcia, Hunter	9:42
3.	"My Brother Esau" (October 21, 1983, The Centrum, Worcester, Massachusetts)	Weir, Barlow	5:22
4.	"Feel Like a Stranger" (October 12, 1984, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine)	Weir, Barlow	10:07
5.	"Let It Grow" (June 24, 1985, Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati)	Weir, Barlow	12:38
6.	"Comes a Time" (May 3, 1986, Cal Expo Amphitheatre, Sacramento, California)	Garcia, Hunter	7:52
7.	"Morning Dew" (September 18, 1987, Madison Square Garden, New York City)	Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose	11:21

Disc four

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Not Fade Away" (July 3, 1988, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine)	Norman Petty, Charles Hardin	8:02
2.	"Blow Away" (October 26, 1989, Miami Arena, Miami, Florida)	Brent Mydland, Barlow	7:53
3.	"Ramble On Rose" (October 27, 1990, Zenith, Paris, France)	Garcia, Hunter	7:33
4.	"High Time" (September 10, 1991, Madison Square Garden, New York City)	Garcia, Hunter	7:39
5.	"Althea" (March 20, 1992, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario)	Garcia, Hunter	7:31
6.	"Broken Arrow" (March 27, 1993, Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York)	Robbie Robertson	6:04
7.	"So Many Roads" (October 1, 1994, Boston Garden, Boston)	Garcia, Hunter	7:30
8.	"Visions of Johanna" (February 21, 1995, Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah)	Bob Dylan	10:22

Personnel

Grateful Dead

• Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, harmonica, percussion, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums
• Phil Lesh – bass, vocals
• Mickey Hart – drums
• Tom Constanten – keyboards
• Keith Godchaux – keyboards
• Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
• Brent Mydland – keyboards, vocals
• Vince Welnick – keyboards, vocals

Additional musicians

• Bruce Hornsby – piano, vocals
• Branford Marsalis – saxophone

Production

• Produced by Grateful Dead
• Produced for release by David Lemieux, Doran Tyson, Mark Pinkus
• Associate producer: Ivette Ramos
• Mixing for 1967 and 1989 shows: Jeffrey Norman
• CD mastering: Jeffrey Norman, David Glasser
• Tape to digital transfers, wow and flutter correction: John K. Chester, Jamie Howarth
• Design, artwork: Steve Vance
• Art direction: Doran Tyson, Steve Vance
• Photos: Herb Greene, Mary Anne Mayer, Susana Millman, Bob Minkin, Paul Ryan
• Package supervision: Kate Dear
• Tape research: Michael Wesley Johnson
• Liner notes: Jesse Jarnow

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[6]	35
US Billboard 200[7]	161

References

1. Fricke, David (June 2, 2015). "Grateful Dead Archivist Details Massive, New 80-Disc Box Set", Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
2. Kaye, Ben (June 2, 2015). "Grateful Dead's New Box Set Boasts 73 Hours of Unreleased Audio over 80 Discs", Consequence of Sound. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
3. "Grateful Dead Celebrate 50th Anniversary with 30 Trips Around the Sun Box Set, Featuring 30 Unreleased Shows", Guitar World, June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
4. 30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995, Dead.net, June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. 30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995 at AllMusic. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
6. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 39. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
7. "Grateful Dead Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2015.