I can't believe they limited the full box to fewer than 2000 copies! I knew as soon as I saw the Rhino link in John's review what I was going to see: SOLD OUT.
The producers have created something truly historic with this set. The whole f#$%ing festival. The most iconic festival in the history of festivals. In one box. Unbelievable. Given that the Dead can easily sell 10K copies of various non-historic tour boxes for $150-$200 on a regular basis I'm surprised they didn't shoot for that number. I bet I'd still be seeing SOLD OUT!
Good question! But, of course, the 50th Anniversary series can't answer that question, given its audio-only
Thanks for investing even just some of your time to scan the review...I do hope, if you're so inclined, that you'll return to it at a more suitable time and read it in its entirety. That said, it absolutely is a bear, so understand completely if you don't!!
Cheers!
John
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
Half a million people went, but many more wished they had.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Want to start a PE pool about what the 38 CD box is going to sell for on Ebay six months from now if they don't print any more of them? Prize could be my old beat up and scratched up 3 LP Woodstock set.
My guess is $5K.
I admit at $898 in all likelihood I wasn't going to end up buying the big one either. But damn when I clicked on the link I had a serious case of box set fever. Absent the SOLD OUT it just might have happened before I could stop myself.
I'd love to have it, but I know in reality I'd spend a three-day weekend listening to the whole thing front to back and then probably never listen to it again. Plus I need to stop buying jumbo box sets because I simply don't have room. I was very close to pulling the trigger on the 10-CD set, until I compared it with the 6-CD and 4-CD sets that I already have, and found that there wasn't all that much stuff on it that wasn't already on those.
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
Thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to read it!
I'd have loved the big box, too...but I couldn't afford the 38-disc version and there weren't any promos available (though this was my first time working with a Rhino publicist, and they seem pretty over the moon about the coverage, so maybe next time they'll be more willing to provide it...even if only a digital copy, which I'd be totally happy with as long as CD quality or better).
Indeed and in fact, the 10CD box is a much more affordable but still very enthralling, "you are there" experience. Couple that with the full shows slowly being released digitally, so in a way better in that you can pick and choose and skip those that aren't of any interest, and the 10CD box plus selected full shows may we'll be a good option too.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
I wonder how many of the box sets actually sold to the public, and how many were "held back" by the label in order to sell them anonymously at a much higher price and thus recoup their costs? I mean, if they expected a lot of interest they would have printed ten thousand copies and recouped their costs that way.
Actually, there's 90 tracks never before released commercially, making it plenty worthwhile, at least IMO. Add significantly upgraded mixes and masters, and then really our older releases to shame, and in a 12"x12" hardcover book (with only 64 pages so not too thick) and its also relatively good when it comes to space. Alternatively, the high res digital version is reasonably priced at ProStudioMasters and it takes up no space at all..other than you hard drive (!).
Nit trying to be a shill, but comparing this new box to past releases is really not a good one, based on my experience (they provided me the 10CD set digitally, along with the 38-disc book in PDF format, but I ended up buying it in high res. So the only place I'm ahead is wrt the book. But beyond that, it was well worth buying in high res. And since they are selling each day separately, you might skip, say, the first day as, st least for me, the only set that's really a keeper for me is Tim Hardin's (and with Ralph Towner & Glen Moore in the band, how could I not?), so I bought the entire set, again digitally and in high res.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
They seemingly sold more copies than actually printed, as there are already people reporting their pre-orders got cancelled... albeit without any refund in sight! Moreover, many customers outside the US (like me) have been informed about a shipment delay of unspecified length...
They apparently underestimated the interest and the logistics. And I am pretty sure that a lower price and less elaborate package would sell much higher number of copies worldwide.
It's a one giant mess.
Something's not right here. Could this be a legit poster? I ask, because David Edward Byrd's (who did the original) story doesn't quite align with this. The town of Woodstock voted against the show and they had to call in a new artist who did the iconic one.
In the spring of 1969, Woodstock Ventures asked me to do a poster for the large outdoor concert they were planning for the village of Woodstock, NY. in August of that year. I based the poster on Ingre’s La Source and surrounded that image with cupids, flowers and hearts in jewel-tone colors. After I delivered the art to the printer in late June, I left for a month in the Caribbean to a town with 30 people and no telephone. During this time, the town of Woodstock forbade the show and it had to be moved to Max Yasgur's farm. As I was not available to do a new poster, it was done by another artist, and appropriately became very famous, while this version is mostly forgotten.
Black ink, transparent dyes, tempera. Central drawing on buff paper in colored pencil.
So, how could the new design have the old location?
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Bookmarks