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Grateful Dead Hour
David Gans, host

Interview with Dick Latvala on "Dick's Picks Volume 4"

David Gans: Hello, vaultmeister Dick Latvala. It is time to talk about
"Dick's Picks" number four,  which is Fillmore East, February 13th and
14th, 1970. Now, that's a *legendary* set of tapes. How did it happen that
these shows are the ones you're puttin' out now?

Dick Latvala: Great question. I've been thinkin' about that for a long
time. I've always wanted to use those shows, and Harpur College, for
example. For *years* I was pushin' 'em, but they never went through. There
are a *lot* of forces at work than just me picking a show. There's a lot of
other factors that come into play to have a show actually come out as a
release. And it seemed like all the forces, or the energies, or the
relevant factors came all together in one time and place so that this was
the appropriate choice at this time.

DG: What were the factors?

DL: Well, there's the fact that I kept wanting it, and others didn't wanna
go back that far in time; other people have viewpoints, have a
decisionmaking capacity on this, or can veto what I decide, of course. So,
you know, it's not like I can just automatically say, "this is gonna be
it!," you know, and furthermore, I need input from a lot of people and have
it be right by everybody involved so that becomes a success on all levels.

["Alligator" from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 3:53]

DG: At some point, about a year ago, it was decided to solicit information
from Deadheads and insert cards in the Dick's Picks 3 orders to list your
favorite ten shows you'd like to see released. And then someone else had
the idea of putting a similar questionnaire on the Internet. And there's
the Well, of course; always is suggesting things. There's many, many, many
conversations that allude to "what are the great shows of the '80s, or the
'90s, or the whatever." That's another aspect of how it's a group effort. I
mean, we take, *I* take in a lot of information that leads me to what
*seems* to be the right choice at the time, and like, for now, it was
2-13-70. Um, if you said, "what's the next pick?," I have no clue. I won't
know until my bell is rung, and I start researching and thinking and
feeling it out. It's sorta like, you know, when we did that show at the
Fillmore ["Grateful Web," Dec. 10, 1995], you know, it's on the fly, you do
what feels, what the room is demanding, or you know, what's called for at
that particular time in the Universe.

["Dancing in the Streets," from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 0:38 (excerpt)]

DG: Now, Bear, AKA Owsley, was the recordist on this stuff, and he
originally put out that album, "Bear's Choice" back in, what '73 or so? And
that was all taken from these same set of performances.

DL: Exactly. But he told me directly -- I said, how come you chose tunes
that were about the most, the *least* of the exciting parts of these two
shows? And he said, I submitted over a hundred different ideas, and every
one was rejected, and this was the one that got through. So, uh, that's we
had the tunes that are on there, none of which particularly grab me.
"Smokestack Lightning" was pretty well done, but, you know, they didn't
*do* the "Dark Star," they didn't *do* "That's It For the Other One," they
didn't *do* the "Alligator" jam, you know, what the fuck, or no, what the
*hell,* I should say. <laugh>

DG: So the name "Bear's Choice" was something of a misnomer.

DL: Well, it *was* Bear's choice, but it meant -- it's just like "Dick's
Picks," it's a misnomer. I'm the front guy, you know, for a lot of other
energies that come into play, and that doesn't mean just people I work
with, by the way. It means people like you, David, people like all the
people that are doing writings on the Well, all my friends I've known
throughout history. I'm a front guy just like "Bear's Choice," as you say,
wasn't really Bear's choice; well, it's not really "Dick's Picks," I'm just
the, it's just *called* that. I don't have the final say. I have some say,
I suggest things, and then we see how far they go. But it takes a lot of
other people's agreements to get things off the ground. And I take
information from many, many different sources, including everyone that
writes on the Well, and everyone I know, and anyone that *tells* me things.
So it's really the Universe's choices, you know -- but there is some of me,
I am the one who makes the decision to edit the three CDs like they were,
and I take the blame for that, but it isn't like I decided, "this is going
to be," and wouldn't take no for an answer. It's a group effort, these are
group efforts. Everyone has to understand this, it is not just as simple,
like one person slapping it down on a CD. It's a lot people are involved.

["The Other One," from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 7:10 (excerpt)]

DL: We had Bear do liner notes, even, and which are very entertaining.
Folks, when you read 'em, you'll get a kick outta that. And we made a
three-CD set, which is somewhat unusual, 'cause we had been stickin' to
just two CDs; and although it is not a whole show, *the* whole show, it is
what I decided was appropriate for three CDs, so I take the blame for
anyone and everyone that doesn't feel great about this because some songs
are missing. But the ones that are missing are basically on "Bear's Choice"
before, and they're all the acoustic numbers, and so this is the meat and
guts of both of those nights.

["The Other One," from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 1:05 (excerpt)]

DL: Those are some of the first tapes all of us got when we first started
collecting tapes, in the 70s. Most of us, the earliest period -- I mean,
not many people were collecting before '74, when they first started
portable cassette decks. I think, you know, these were one, two of the
first tapes that people got that were excellent quality and superb shows,
so they naturally gave an impression, formed an impression that *stuck* as
to what constitutes a powerfully exciting show.

["China Cat Sunflower," from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 3:10 (excerpt)]

DL: The first three "Dick's Picks" were my ego trying to come up with
things that people didn't readily know so well, and that's part of my
motivation in choosing things, is to find things people don't know, or
especially that *I* don't know, and happen to discover. You know, it's like
diving for pearls, usually you come up with mud on your face, and once in a
while you come up with a diamond, like that Halloween '71 one.

["China Cat Sunflower," from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 0:42 (excerpt)]

DL: My style, or thought on it, was always to just present something that
occurred at a particular night. If not the whole show, which I realized
soon was not a possibility, we'd never have released anything if we, if I
stuck to that. But at least present [it as] all the information actually
happened in one night, and that makes it realer, that makes one able to
trust it, and take the ride that's provided, and that's what's great about
it.

["Casey Jones," from "Dick's Picks Volume 4" -- 4:30]

***


 

DG: Well, Dick, it's great to have you here, as always.  Nice to hear
from you, and thank you for your ongoing diligence in getting this
wonderful music out where we can hear it.

DL:  And all I can say is thank you, everybody that ever hears this,
because you guys are the ones that are the beneficiaries and the
creators. Because I take my thoughts from all of you, and we're all
winners on this one.
.

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