Got a Deadhead sticker on your Cadillac? High-end audio outfit ERC has livened up its catalog with a retelling of the Grateful Dead’s “Europe ’72.”
The triple-LP set comes “cut directly from the original analog master tapes, through our unique all valve 1965 Ortofon / Lyrec vinyl cutting system in stereo,” ERC said. “No equalization, compression or any other processing was added during the cutting process.”
All this care comes with an eye-watering price, as usual for the super high-end ERC: roughly $825 US.
London-based ERC has limited the release to 450 copies with no repressing, ever. ERC releases almost always sell out and quickly become collectors items and flipper fodder.
The live “Europe ’72” was recorded and overdubbed with care, and the original release is considered an audio gem, along with various rereleases over the years.
The album caught the Dead between their psychedelic period and their Americana run of “American Beauty” and “Workingman’s Dead.” It was the first to feature pianist Keith Godchaux and vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, and the last to include founding member Ron “Pigpen” McKernan.
The ERC rerelease of “Europe ’72” ships in early April.
Previous psychedelic releases on the Electric Recording Company label include “The Doors” and Love’s “Forever Changes.” The catalog includes jazz gems such as Sonny Rollins’ “Way Out West” and Thelonious Monk’s “Brilliant Corners.” There are blues (John Lee Hooker) and of of course lots of classical (the Beethoven Nine, Debussy, Chopin Noctures).
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In other new release news, Steven Wilson mixes of “Pink Floyd At Pompeii: MCMLXXII” are set for a May 2 bow. Available on Blu-ray spatial audio or double-LPs. The Blu-ray audio is remixed in stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos. The LPs come digitally remastered and remixed. Key tracks include two parts of “Echoes” and “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.”
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