Without a Net

This article is about the 1990 album. For other uses, see Without a Net (disambiguation).

1990 live album by The Grateful Dead

Without a Net

Live album by

The Grateful Dead

Released| September 1990
Recorded| October 1989 – April 1990
Genre| Jam rock
Length| 131:56
Label| Arista
Producer| John Cutler, Phil Lesh
The Grateful Dead chronology
| Built to Last
(1989)  | Without a Net
(1990)  | One from the Vault
(1991)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [1]

Without a Net is the eighth live album by the Grateful Dead (their twenty-first overall). It compiles performances from October 1989 to April 1990, and was released in September 1990. The album simulates the progression of an actual Grateful Dead concert and was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 1990.[2] It is the final contemporary live album that was released in their career.

## Background

[edit]

The Grateful Dead's albums had frustrated critics and fans alike for neither approaching nor accurately representing the band's live concert sound and experience—to the point that band-approved, fan-made tapes were preferred to official releases. The band's organization had poured profits into sound reinforcement and cutting-edge technology for their concert performances and were likewise frustrated by the seeming shortfall in capturing their sound on album.[3]

With the advent of digital technology, Without a Net was the band's first contemporary live project in nine years, and featured selections from then-recent tours in an attempt to allow the home listener a closer facsimile of the band's engulfing sound system. Touting the advancement in production clarity, the accompanying shrink wrap sticker proclaimed: "The world's grandest, largest, best live recording."

The resulting album achieved gold-status sales within weeks of its release—the first live album by the band to do so. A series of live releases followed, beginning with a complete concert performance in its entirety. The release of archival live performances continued after the 1995 dissolution of the band and is ongoing.

## Content and packaging

[edit]

The album title uses the idiom metaphorically, alluding to the band's disinclination for prepared set lists. They preferred just to play and let the song choice evolve by sense for each performance, pulling from a repertoire of over 100 then-common songs. In keeping with that notion, the packaging used a circus theme, with a "Big Top Limited Edition" also-available, featuring clowns and related artwork. The album's dedication to Clifton Hanger is a reference to keyboardist Brent Mydland, who used the alias for hotel registration. Mydland died before the album's release.[4]

The album is an attempt to compile some of the best performances from then-recent tours and present them as a prototypical Grateful Dead concert, as they sounded at that time. However, Mydland's death and the subsequent addition of Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby had changed the band's live sound by the time the album was available. Seventeen songs were chosen from two of the most recent tours and sequenced to represent typical set placement (though the traditional "Drums" solo and "Space" improvisation are absent, and the final "encore" track is given an early fade out).

## Track listing

[edit]

Disc 1No.| Title| Writer(s)| Recording date and venue| Length

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|
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1.| "Feel Like a Stranger[a]"| Bob Weir, John Barlow| October 9, 1989, at Hampton Coliseum| 7:32
2.| "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo[b]"| Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter| March 21, 1990, at Copps Coliseum| 8:00
3.| "Walkin' Blues[c]"| Robert Johnson, arr. Weir| March 15, 1990, at Capital Centre| 5:44
4.| "Althea[c]"| Garcia, Hunter| March 15, 1990, at Capital Centre| 6:55
5.| "Cassidy"| Weir, Barlow| October 19, 1989, at The Spectrum| 6:36
6.| "Bird Song"| Garcia, Hunter| December 9, 1989, at Great Western Forum| 12:57
7.| "Let It Grow[b]"| Weir, Barlow| March 14, 1990, at Capital Centre| 11:55
Total length:| 59:39

Disc 2No.| Title| Writer(s)| Recording date and venue| Length

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|
|
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1.| "China Cat Sunflower / I Know You Rider[b]"| Garcia, Hunter / traditional, arr. Grateful Dead| April 1, 1990, at The Omni| 10:24
2.| "Looks Like Rain[b]"| Weir, Barlow| March 28, 1990, at Nassau Coliseum| 8:04
3.| "Eyes of the World[b]"| Garcia, Hunter| March 29, 1990, at Nassau Coliseum| 16:14
4.| "Victim or the Crime"| Weir, Gerrit Graham| October 15, 1989, at Brendan Byrne Arena| 8:04
5.| "Help on the Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower[d]"| Garcia, Hunter / Garcia, Keith Godchaux, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Weir / Garcia, Kreutzmann, Hunter| March 30, 1990, at Nassau Coliseum| 19:07
6.| "One More Saturday Night"| Weir| March 24, 1990, at Knickerbocker Arena| 4:51
7.| "Dear Mr. Fantasy[b]"| Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood, Chris Wood| April 1, 1990, at The Omni| 5:44
Total length:| 72:28

Notes

1. ^ Later remixed and released with entire concert on Formerly the Warlocks
2. ^ a b c d e f Later remixed and released with entire concert on Spring 1990 (The Other One)
3. ^ a b Later remixed and released with entire concert on Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
4. ^ Later remixed and released with entire concert on Spring 1990

* The vinyl pressing puts "Bird Song" before "One More Saturday Night" instead of after "Cassidy"

## Personnel

[edit]

* Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
* Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
* Brent Mydland – keyboards, vocals
* Phil Lesh – bass guitar, vocals
* Bill Kreutzmann – drums
* Mickey Hart – drums

Additional musician

* Branford Marsalis – tenor and soprano saxophones on "Eyes of the World"

## Charts

[edit]

Year  | Chart  | Position

|
|

1990  | Billboard 200  | 43[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Planer, Lindsay. "Without a Net". AllMusic. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
2. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum database-Without a Net". Retrieved February 28, 2009.
3. ^ "Tech Pioneers \- Wired Magazine". Retrieved May 14, 2016.
4. ^ "Grateful Dead Family Discography - Without a Net". Retrieved May 14, 2016.
5. ^ "Billboard album chart history-Grateful Dead". Retrieved March 1, 2009.

* v
* t
* e

Grateful Dead

* John Perry Barlow
* Tom Constanten
* Jerry Garcia
* Donna Jean Godchaux
* Keith Godchaux
* Mickey Hart
* Robert Hunter
* Bill Kreutzmann
* Phil Lesh
* Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
* Brent Mydland
* Bob Weir
* Vince Welnick

Studio albums|

* The Grateful Dead
* Anthem of the Sun
* Aoxomoxoa
* Workingman's Dead
* American Beauty
* Wake of the Flood
* From the Mars Hotel
* Blues for Allah
* Terrapin Station
* Shakedown Street
* Go to Heaven
* In the Dark
* Built to Last

Live albums|

| Contemporary|

* Live/Dead
* Vintage Dead
* Historic Dead
* Grateful Dead
* Europe '72
* History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice)
* Steal Your Face
* Reckoning
* Dead Set
* Dylan & the Dead
* Without a Net

|

Retrospective|

| 1990s|

* One from the Vault
* Infrared Roses
* Two from the Vault
* Grayfolded
* Hundred Year Hall
* Dozin' at the Knick
* Fallout from the Phil Zone
* Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
* Live at the Fillmore East 2-11-69
* So Many Roads (1965–1995)

|

2000s|

* Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead
* Nightfall of Diamonds
* Postcards of the Hanging
* Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72
* Go to Nassau
* Birth of the Dead
* The Closing of Winterland
* Rockin' the Rhein with the Grateful Dead
* The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack
* Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
* Truckin' Up to Buffalo
* Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings
* Fillmore West 1969
* Live at the Cow Palace
* Three from the Vault
* Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings
* Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978
* To Terrapin: Hartford '77
* Winterland June 1977: The Complete Recordings

2010s|

* Crimson White & Indigo
* Formerly the Warlocks
* Europe '72: The Complete Recordings
* Europe '72 Volume 2
* Dark Star
* Spring 1990
* Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It
* Winterland: May 30th 1971
* May 1977
* Sunshine Daydream
* Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 4/18/70
* Live at Hampton Coliseum
* Spring 1990 (The Other One)
* Wake Up to Find Out
* Houston, Texas 11-18-1972
* 30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995
* 30 Trips Around the Sun
* Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA 11/10/1967
* Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, 4/25/77
* July 1978: The Complete Recordings
* Red Rocks: 7/8/78
* July 29 1966, P.N.E. Garden Aud., Vancouver Canada
* May 1977: Get Shown the Light
* Cornell 5/8/77
* Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C., July 12 & 13, 1989
* Fillmore West 1969: February 27th
* Pacific Northwest '73–'74: The Complete Recordings
* Pacific Northwest '73–'74: Believe It If You Need It
* Portland Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR, 5/19/74
* Playing in the Band, Seattle, Washington, 5/21/74
* The Warfield, San Francisco, California, October 9 & 10, 1980
* Fillmore West 1969: February 28th
* Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991
* Saint of Circumstance
* Ready or Not

2020s|

* June 1976
* Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO 12-10-71
* Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73
* Lyceum '72: The Complete Recordings
* Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/26/72
* In and Out of the Garden: Madison Square Garden '81, '82, '83
* Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 3/9/81
* Here Comes Sunshine 1973
* RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73
* Friend of the Devils: April 1978
* Duke '78
* Enjoying the Ride
* The Music Never Stopped

View from
the Vault|

* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4

Dick's Picks|

* 1
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* 23
* 24
* 25
* 26
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* 28
* 29
* 30
* 31
* 32
* 33
* 34
* 35
* 36

Road Trips|

* Vol 1 No 1
* Vol 1 No 2
* Vol 1 No 3
* Vol 1 No 4
* Vol 2 No 1
* Vol 2 No 2
* Vol 2 No 3
* Vol 2 No 4
* Vol 3 No 1
* Vol 3 No 2
* Vol 3 No 3
* Vol 3 No 4
* Vol 4 No 1
* Vol 4 No 2
* Vol 4 No 3
* Vol 4 No 4
* Vol 4 No 5

Dave's Picks|

* 1
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* 53

Download Series|

* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* Family Dog at the Great Highway
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* Spectrum 11/5/79
* Spectrum 11/6/79

Compilations|

* Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead
* What a Long Strange Trip It's Been
* The Arista Years
* Selections from the Arista Years
* The Very Best of Grateful Dead
* Flashback with the Grateful Dead
* The Best of the Grateful Dead
* Long Strange Trip
* The Best of the Grateful Dead Live
* Sage & Spirit

Box sets|

* Dead Zone: The Grateful Dead CD Collection (1977–1987)
* The Golden Road (1965–1973)
* Beyond Description (1973–1989)
* The Warner Bros. Studio Albums
* All the Years Combine: The DVD Collection
* Grateful Dead Records Collection
* The Story of the Grateful Dead

Videos|

* The Grateful Dead Movie
* Dead Ahead
* So Far
* Dead Ringers: The Making of Touch of Grey
* Backstage Pass
* Infrared Sightings
* Ticket to New Year's
* Downhill from Here
* Anthem to Beauty
* Sunshine Daydream
* Long Strange Trip

Side projects and
spin-off bands|

* The Other Ones
* The Dead
* Furthur
* Dead & Company
* 2015 tour
* Summer 2016 tour
* Summer 2017 tour
* Fall 2017 tour
* Summer 2018 tour
* Summer 2019 tour
* Fall Fun Run 2019
* Dead Forever: Live at Sphere (2024)
* Jerry Garcia Band
* RatDog
* Phil Lesh and Friends
* Rhythm Devils
* Donna Jean Godchaux Band
* Heart of Gold Band
* Missing Man Formation
* New Riders of the Purple Sage
* Old & In the Way
* Legion of Mary
* Reconstruction
* Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band
* JGB
* Kingfish
* Bobby and the Midnites
* SerialPod
* BK3
* 7 Walkers
* Billy & the Kids

Related topics|

* Acid Tests
* Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd.
* Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead 1987 Tour
* Dark Star Orchestra
* Day of the Dead
* Deadhead
* Deadheads for Obama
* Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead
* Fare Thee Well (album)
* Fare Thee Well (concert tour)
* Grateful dead
* Grateful Dead Archive
* The Grateful Dead Channel
* Grateful Dead Comix
* Grateful Dead discography
* The Grateful Dead Family Album
* Grateful Dead Meet-Up at the Movies
* Grateful Dead Origins
* Grateful Dead Records
* Jazz Is Dead
* List of Grateful Dead members
* Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions
* The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead
* The Music Never Stopped (film)
* Pickin' on the Grateful Dead: A Tribute
* The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra
* Relix
* Reunions of the Grateful Dead
* Rex Foundation
* Shakedown Street (vending area)
* Summer Jam at Watkins Glen
* Unfinished Grateful Dead album
* Wall of Sound
* Wharf Rats

Related people|

* Eric Andersen
* Bob Bralove
* Jerilyn Lee Brandelius
* Candace Brightman
* Betty Cantor-Jackson
* Bob Dylan
* Carolyn Garcia
* Bill Graham
* Gerrit Graham
* Rick Griffin
* David Grisman
* Lenny Hart
* Dan Healy
* Bruce Hornsby
* Alton Kelley
* Steve Kimock
* Ned Lagin
* Dick Latvala
* David Lemieux
* Branford Marsalis
* Stanley Mouse
* Ronald Leon Rakow
* Merl Saunders
* Rock Scully
* Bob Seidemann
* Laurence Shurtliff
* Owsley Stanley
* Howard Wales

* Category

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* MusicBrainz release group

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