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.
