Volume 5 was the first of theDick's Picks to contain a complete concert. It was also the first release of a full concert to featurekeyboardistBrent Mydland.
Another Grateful Dead album that was recorded at the December 1979 run of concerts at the Oakland Auditorium isRoad Trips Volume 3 Number 1.
Included with the release is a single sheet folded in half, yielding a four-page enclosure. The front duplicates the cover of the CD and the back contains a black-and-white photograph showing the entire scene: two skeletons on top of the stage, the sound system and lights above the band, the band on stage, and finally, at the bottom of the image, a portion of the crowd watching them. The two pages inside feature a black-and-white photograph of the band on stage along with lists of the contents of and credits for the release.[5]
Each volume ofDick's Picks has its own "caveat emptor" label, advising the listener of the sound quality of the recording. The label forVolume 5 reads:
"This compact disc has been digitally remastered directly from the original half track stereo analog tape. It is a snapshot of history, not a modern professional recording, and may therefore exhibit some technical anomalies and the unavoidable effects of the ravages of time."
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