Missing Years In Our Grateful Dead Retrospective: 1990s

As noted in our post announcing our July theme, we have concerts this month from every year in Grateful Dead history except the following 7:

• 1965, 1967 & 1968: no July soundboards available
• 1975 & 1977: the band did not play in July those 2 years
• 1991 & 1993: the band did not play in July in those 2 years 

Since we want to make our Grateful Dead retrospective as complete as possible, we’ll bring you key moments in each of those 7 years in a series of 3 posts - one dedicated to the 3 missing years from the 1960s, one dedicated to the 2 missing years in the 1970s and one dedicated to the 2 missing years from the 1990s. So, with the post we cover the 1990s, after 2 posts earlier this month that covered the 1960s and 1970s.

1991 in Grateful Dead History

• The Dead release One From The Vault, a cd featuring the entire August 13, 1975 show from the Great American Music Hall. It’s the first archival, full concert release and will eventually spawn such series as Dick’s Picks and Dave’s Picks.
• On November, 3. The Dead play as part of the tribute concert to Bill Graham, the legendary promoter who died in a helicopter crash a few days earlier. John Fogerty & Neil Young sit in for part of the Dead’s set. 
• The Dead play their final New Year’s Eve concert, dedicating it to Bill Graham who had hosted and participated in what had been an almost annual tradition from 1966 to 1991. 
• Live shows from 1991 that have been officially released include: June 14, June 20 and September 25. 

1993 in Grateful Dead History

• The Grateful Dead are recognized as the highest grossing concert art in the US in 1993 
• On April 12, 1993, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Vince Welnick sing the national anthem before the San Francisco Giants home opener. It is the only time Garcia sings the National Anthem at an event. 
• On November 1, the Dead release Dick’s Picks, Volume 1. Dick Latvala, the band’s archivist, would be the architect of this series, selecting legendary concerts for official release. Dick’s Picks would eventually encompass 36 volumes, though more than ½ of them would be released after his death in 1999. Dave Lemieux took over stewardship of Dick’’s Picks after Latvalas’s passing and guided it to its end in 2005. The series was revived in 2012, as Dave’s Picks, named after Lemieux. 
• The only live shows from 1993 that have been officially released are May 26 & 27.