New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Lyceum '72 (2022)

“The last night of the Grateful Dead’s 1972 European tour was memorable for a host of reasons, and prime amongst them, was the fun fact that the whole extended musical “family” of the Grateful Dead was reunited at the London gig in the Lyceum Ballroom just off the Strand.”

So begins Grateful Dead Tour Manager Sam Cutler’s liners to this piece of exceptional music history. New Riders of the Purple Sage emerged as a band showcasing the songwriting of John Dawson and pedal steel guitar musings of Jerry Garcia, and their original line-up included Garcia and the Dead’s Mickey Hart on drums.

While the Dead’s material from that tour has been issued on their recent Europe ’72 and Lyceum ’72 releases, the New Riders Of The Purple Sage Lyceum ’72 documents the last night of the New Riders appearances with them on those classic dates.

Recorded on a 16-track machine by noted Dead engineers Betty Cantor, Janet Furman, Bob Matthews, Rosie (McGee), and Wizard (the team which also recorded the Dead’s classic Europe ’72 performances), these tapes were mixed by current Grateful Dead engineer Jeffrey Norman and mastered by Grammy®-winner David Glasser to present the ultimate document of this iconic date.

Produced for Release by Rob Bleetstein (NRPS archivist and Sirius/XM producer and host on their Grateful Dead Channel), Lyceum ’72 is available on CD and Digital with packaging containing photos and a thoughtful reminiscence from Sam Cutler, tour manager for The Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, and—of course, New Riders of the Purple Sage.

Take a trip back five decades to the end of a tour that lives on, all these years later.