Dick's Picks Volume 23

The review on the left side of the middle two pages was written by Gordon Chaplin, is from The Baltimore Sun, and dated September 24, 1972. It is entitled "Grateful Dead: whistling through the fog" and subtitled "It seemed, for a while, like San Francisco."

Having relocated from San Francisco to Baltimore in 1970, Chaplin spends most of his review reminiscing about the time he spent on the west coast in the 1960s. Bemoaning how "the Haight-Ashbury fell apart", he claims the scene ended when "Neal Casady's body was found lifeless on a railroad track in Mexico" because Neal "had been sparking the movement, or whatever it was, ever since the Fifties."

Entitled "Not free or friendly", the third of the three sections comprising Gordon's review observes that "a line of police keeping the crowd in their seats" contributed to the band getting off to a rough start. He goes on to say that once "they moved into one of those expanded renditions of a familiar piece" he finally felt "as if I was back home again." The author ultimately closes his piece on a positive note, stating that eventually "the police moved away from in front of the stage" allowing people to move "up through the fog to get closer to the band."[7]

The review on the right side of the middle two pages was written by Angie Thornton, is from The Afro-American Newspaper Archives and Research Center, and dated September 23, 1972. It is entitled "A review: Baltimore" and subtitled "Rock show."

Thornton's review is much shorter than Chaplin's and lacks his reminiscing about bygone days. She makes it clear she was one of the band's newer fans by misspelling Jerry Garcia's first name as "Gerry" and referring to the songs "Mexicali blues", "Friend of the devil" and "Me and my uncle" as "Mr. Kelly blues", "Friend in the Jungle" and "Men and my uncle".

Despite her being a new fan and making a few mistakes, Angie's review is very perceptive. She notes, for example, that the music "grew and grew as the concert went on. And just as a book has a climax, so did the concert." Near the end of her piece she notes that the band had "left the stage, but the audience was not ready for the music to be stopped." The author is clearly amazed by the fans' "hands clapping and feet stomping" until the band returned for the encore, and she concludes her review by observing that "though their names may be Grateful Dead, this group is very much alive."[8]

• Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Phil Lesh – electric bass, vocals
• Keith Godchaux – piano
• Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums

• Owsley Stanley – recording
• Jeffrey Norman – mastering
• Dick Latvala – tape archivist
• David Lemieux – tape archivist
• Eileen Law – archival research
• Tina Carpenter – cover art, design and photos
• Ed Degginger – cover photos
• David DeNoma – cover photos
• Mary Ann Mayer – band photos
• Robert Minkin – layout design