“ Fans of the Grateful Dead will never completely agree about which one of their over 2,300 concerts was the best, but there is some consensus about the tape of their Barton Hall performance at Cornell University on May 8, 1977. Fueled by bootleg recordings circulated among ardent fans, the Grateful Dead’s May 8, 1977, show at Cornell University’s Barton Hall has achieved legendary status in the ensuing decades. Cornell 5/8/77 is a live album by the Grateful Dead that was recorded on May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. On the anniversary of this legendary show, we've put together a list of things you'll never understand unless you've turned on and tuned in to this classic show. “ Fans of the Grateful Dead will never completely agree about which one of their over 2,300 concerts was the best, but there is some consensus about the tape of their Barton Hall performance at Cornell University on May 8, 1977. The soundboard recording of this show has achieved almost mythic status among “Deadhead” tape traders because.

Of more than 2,300 concerts over the Grateful Dead’s 30-year touring career, there is one performance more famous than others, widely considered their best: May 8, 1977, in Cornell’s Barton Hall.

The subject of a new Cornell University Press book by Peter Conners, “Cornell ’77: The Music, the Myth and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead Show at Barton Hall,” the concert began to achieve its legendary status 10 years after the fact. High-quality audio recordings (by the band’s audio engineer, Betty Cantor-Jackson) began to circulate on cassette tapes among fans, just as the band gained a mass audience in 1987 with the hit song “Touch of Grey.”

Cornell, Ithaca and Tompkins County will celebrate the concert’s 40th anniversary Monday, May 8, with events including a 6 p.m. Cornell Chimes concert in McGraw Tower.

Conners and Cornell University Press will be part of a 40th anniversary celebration at the State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. The event – with a 1977 ticket price of $6.50 – will feature an acoustic set by local band Terrapin Station and a listening party for the remastered concert recording’s official release by Rhino Entertainment (as “Cornell 5/8/77”).

The half-hour chimes concert will feature five Grateful Dead songs and three other selections from the 1960s. The setlist and other updates will be posted Monday to the event’s Facebook page.

Liz Field, a communication specialist with Cornell Information Technologies, contacted head chimesmaster Serim An ’17 in December with the idea to play a Grateful Dead song on the anniversary.

To An’s knowledge, the Dead had never been in the Chimes repertoire, and “almost all of the students this year didn’t know any Grateful Dead songs. Some of the older chimesmasters who’d been playing for over 20 years, they were great fans of the Grateful Dead” and volunteered to help, she said.

“It’s always pretty challenging to arrange any songs because we only have 21 bells … there’s a big limitation there,” An said. “It was really challenging to make it work on the chimes, and also to re-create some of the same sentiments you get from their music.”

An, along with Jennifer Lory-Moran ’96, MAT ’97; Gretchen Ryan ’97, Scott Silverstein ’08 and Julia King, Ph.D. ’17, arranged the songs. They will be performed solo and in duos by An, Lory-Moran, Ryan, Joshua Chan ’18, John Lee ’18 and Billie Sun ’19. McGraw Tower will be closed during the concert and listeners are welcome to gather on the Arts Quad, Ho Plaza and Libe Slope.

Dan Klein, vice chair of the Tompkins County Legislature, will read a proclamation declaring May 8 “Grateful Dead Day” at 5:45 p.m. at McGraw Tower. Signifying the concert’s legendary status, the proclamation says, in part, “the cultural identity and perceptions of Tompkins County as a community have been informed and bolstered by the widespread acknowledgement of the magic of May 8, 1977.”

Conners will sign copies of his book at The Cornell Store at 4:30 p.m. and at the State Theatre.

Cornell University Press Director Dean J. Smith, an avowed Deadhead and veteran of 60 shows from 1982 to 1995, proposed a book about the famed concert at his interview for the job in December 2014.

“The 400 songs that they wrote are part of the American songbook,” he said. “When you saw them on tour, you never thought about how history’s going to regard them.”

Conners signed on as author in 2015, and conducted 30 interviews for the book, which Rhino has now included in “May 1977: Get Shown the Light,” a deluxe box set of four Terrapin Station Tour shows including Barton Hall. The limited-edition 11-CD set sold out all 15,000 copies in pre-orders by early February. (The hardcover book, released April 11, had a first pressing of 22,000. The book and the definitive Cornell recording are available separately).

The book’s cover features silver embossing, with a special Grateful Dead skull version of the Cornell Press colophon on the dust jacket. The text includes a chapter on the song “Dark Star” and Conners’ listener’s guide to the Dead.

“As far as media coverage, it looked like a tough crowd would be reviewing it,” Smith said. “The response from the current Grateful Dead intelligentsia and from everyone has been fantastic. [The fans] can debate what the perfect show is, what the best show is … To me, the book is like any show I ever went to. It does not close the chapter on the Dead for me, it opens it up to more inquiry.”

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Grateful Dead Barton Hall Setlist

I know it's kind of like choosing your favorite child, but when asked the question, 'What is the greatest Dead show of all-time?', there are a large contingent of Dead Heads that believe it to be the May 8, 1977 show at Cornell University (Barton Hall). The soundboard recording of this show is legendary, and has taken on a life of its own over the years (it is one of 25 sounds that has been inducted into the National Recording Registry).

Grateful Dead Barton Hall Never Happened

Offered here is the original poster used to promote the 1977 Cornell show. It's classic Grateful Dead/Steal Your Face imagery (the birdman character lower center was a logo for the Cornell Concert Commission), and is the handiwork of Jay Mabrey. Jay was a senior at Cornell at the time, and had designed promotional material for concerts there over his four year stay. The poster measures 17 1/4' x 23 1/2', and is in excellent condition. It has received LIGHT restoration work to the corner areas outside of the image (light pinhole damage), and to the image area in a couple of spots (touch-up to some of the black ink, which historically has had a tendency to chip). I do not know who did the work on this poster, but it is outstanding...the poster could not be more visually appealing (yes, it looks every bit as nice as the photo).

Grateful Dead Barton Hall 1977

Given the current condition of the poster, had it not been restored it would command $10,000+, IF you could find one (and, remember, the work here is light,touch-up type stuff). According to the artist, the print run was small, and most were given away to local Dead Heads. It's a highly sought after piece, so if you have been trying to track one down please don't let this one get past you. Please call Jim at 1-800-575-1967 with any specific questions.