Rolling Stone – Grateful Dead Prep ‘June 1976’ Boxset, Drop Live ‘Friend of the Devil’

15-CD collection traces the band’s return to the road

The Grateful Dead announced a massive box set titled June 1976 on Thursday. They’ve also shared a nine-minute version of “Friend of the Devil,” recorded live at New York’s Beacon Theatre.

Produced by Dead archivist David Lemieux, the 15-CD set contains complete performances from June 1976: Boston Music Hall (June 10th and 11th), the Beacon Theatre (June 14th and 15th) and an evening at New Jersey’s Capitol Theatre (June 19th). Author Jesse Jarnow wrote the liner notes.

June of 1976 marks a pivotal time in Dead history — the band returned to the road after a break in touring, in 1974. The Dead transitioned from arenas to theaters, recording crisp, intimate shows. “Gone was the massive, financially draining, and physically exhausting Wall of Sound PA system,” Lemieux tells Rolling Stone. “The stadiums and hockey arenas were replaced by beautiful, small theaters, Mickey Hart was back in the band after a five-year sabbatical, and the repertoire had changed quite a bit.”

Several songs made their debut on the set list, while some tracks were resurrected from the past: “St. Stephen” and “Cosmic Charlie” from 1969’s Aoxomoxoa and “Friend of the Devil” from American Beauty — an album that turns 50 in November. Lemieux describes this version of “Friend of the Devil” — which features Donna Godchaux on backing vocals — as “a beautifully slowed-down, ballad arrangement, which would be the form of the song for the next 20 years.”

June 1976 is currently available for preorder. It will be limited to 12,000 individually numbered copies; digital download is also available.

Dead & Company — the supergroup comprised of the Dead’s Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann alongside John Mayer — recently announced a North American summer tour. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 14th.

June 1976 Tracklist

Boston Music Hall (6/10/76)

Set One
“Promised Land”
“Sugaree”
“Cassidy”
“They Love Each Other”
“The Music Never Stopped”
“Brown-Eyed Women”
“Lazy Lightning”
“Supplication”
“Row Jimmy”
“Big River”
“Mission in the Rain”
“Looks Like Rain”
“Might as Well”

Set Two
“Samson and Delilah”
“Help on the Way”
“Slipknot!”
“Franklin’s Tower”
“Let it Grow”
“Friend of the Devil”
“Playing in the Band”
“Dancing in the Street”
“U.S. Blues”

Boston Music Hall (6/11/76)

Set One
“Might as Well”
“Mama Tried”
“Tennessee Jed”
“Cassidy”
“Candyman”
“Big River”
“Scarlet Begonias”
“Looks Like Rain”
“It Must Have Been The Roses”
“Lazy Lightning”
“Supplication”
“Brown-Eyed Women”
“Promised Land”

Set Two
“St. Stephen”
“Dancing in the Street”
“The Music Never Stopped”
“Ship of Fools”
“Samson and Delilah”
“Sugaree”
“Sugar Magnolia”
“Eyes of the World”
“Stella Blue”
“Sunshine Daydream”
“Johnny B. Goode”

Beacon Theatre, NY, NY (6/14/76)

Set One
“Cold Rain and Snow”
“Mama Tried”
“Row Jimmy”
“Cassidy”
“Brown-Eyed Women”
“Big River”
“Might As Well”
“Lazy Lightning”
“Supplication”
“Tennessee Jed”
“Playing in the Band”

Set Two
“The Wheel”
“Samson and Delilah”
“High Time”
“The Music Never Stopped”
“Crazy Fingers”
“Dancing in the Street”
“Cosmic Charlie”
“Help on the Way”
“Slipknot!”
“Franklin’s Tower”
“Around and Around”
“U.S. Blues”

Beacon Theatre, NY, NY (6/15/76)

Set One
“Promised Land”
“Sugaree”
“Cassidy”
“Candyman”
“The Music Never Stopped”
“It Must Have Been the Roses”
“Looks Like Rain”
“Tennessee Jed”
“Let It Grow”>
“Might as Well”

Set Two
“St. Stephen”
“Not Fade Away”
“Stella Blue”
“Samson and Delilah”
“Friend of the Devil”
“Dancing in the Street”
“The Wheel”
“Sugar Magnolia”
“Scarlet Begonias”
“Sunshine Daydream”
“Johnny B. Goode”

Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ (6/19/76)

Set One
“Help on the Way”
“Slipknot”!
“Franklin’s Tower”
“The Music Never Stopped”
“Brown-Eyed Women”
“Cassidy”
“They Love Each Other”
“Looks Like Rain”
“Tennessee Jed”
“Playing in the Band”

Set Two
“Might as Well”
“Samson and Delilah”
“High Time”
“Let It Grow”
“Dancing in the Street”
“Cosmic Charlie”
“Around and Around”
“Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad”
“One More Saturday Night”
“Not Fade Away”Volume 0%00:0201:43