"For Dave's Picks Vol. 26, we're heading back to the Fall of 1971, when Pigpen was home resting, and Keith was a month into his tenure with the Grateful Dead, for the complete show on 11/17/71 in Albuquerque. This was the Dead's first show in New Mexico, and they welcomed the welcoming New Mexican crowd with some of the best music they played in all of 1971. The 15-song first set is only outdone by the spectacular second set, featuring one of the most powerful and intense versions of "The Other One" you'll ever hear, as well as a "Not Fade Away" that rivals the one played two nights earlier on 11/15/71 in Austin. Add to this that CD 3 is rounded out with half of the 12/14/71 show in Ann Arbor (with Pigpen back on stage!), and the 2018 Dave's Picks Subscribers' Bonus Disc features the other half of 12/14/71, and you have a release featuring two of the best shows of the second half of 1971." - David Lemieux

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