The largest boxed set in rock ’n’ roll history has direct ties to Victoria, all thanks to the official archivist for San Francisco rock legends the Grateful Dead.
David Lemieux, who lives in Fairfield, has spent the past 16 years with the group overseeing its vast back catalogue of music, much of which remains unreleased.
The Grateful Dead encouraged the bootlegging of its concerts up until its end in 1995, and now has a massive vault full of archived recordings from the studio and in concert. Lemieux is one of the few who have access.
Lemieux, 44, spent three years plundering the temperature-controlled Los Angeles warehouse where the group’s vault is kept under high security.
He emerged with 30 Trips Around the Sun, an 80-disc, 73-hour set of unreleased material dating from 1965 to 1995.
The boxed set arrives Sept. 18 on the Rhino Entertainment label, with Lemieux serving as producer. It is one of the biggest projects of its kind in rock history, he said.
Online orders were being taken last week, well ahead of the collection’s Sept. 18 release. Sales have been reportedly brisk, Lemieux said. He expects the majority of the 6,500 copies and 1,000 USB editions to be sold in weeks.
“In terms of popular rock ’n’ roll music, there is nothing like it,” Lemieux said of the set.
In 2011, Lemieux produced a 73-disc compendium of the Grateful Dead’s 1972 tour of Europe. The collection sold out its run of 7,200 copies in a matter of days.
The new boxed set is more inclusive, featuring an unreleased live show from each year the group was together.
“In this case, there certainly is a narrative,” Lemieux said. “There is something to talk about. It’s the linear history of the Grateful Dead, from 1965 to 1995. It does tell a story. But first and foremost, it’s great music. For me, that’s my marketing.”
Lemieux, who purchased a copy of the $699.50 US set the first week pre-orders were available, has access to the largest back catalogue of unreleased music in existence. And if he has his way, much of it will see the light of day during his lifetime.
“The Dead played 2,300 shows,” Lemieux said.
“And we’ve probably got 1,700 or 1,800 of them to release. Our vault is quite comprehensive.”
