This Friday, filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev’s critically-acclaimed Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story Of The Grateful Dead will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray for the first time. Deluxe editions include a bevy of previously unreleased bonus footage. JamBase is pleased to premiere behind the scenes footage featuring a portion of the Grateful Dead’s performance of “Good Lovin’” from May 24, 1970 at England’s Hollywood Festival. “Good Lovin’” is one of six songs from the Hollywood Festival set featured in the deluxe versions of Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story Of The Grateful Dead.
Long Strange Trip was first screened at the Sundance film festival in 2017 and has been available for viewing exclusively on Amazon Prime since mid-2017. The official documentary mixes never-before-seen performance footage, old interviews and candid moments from the Dead’s vault with new interviews. Surviving members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir each sat for new interviews included in the film as did many figures from the band’s orbit.
The DVD and Blu-Ray versions of Long Strange Trip include the original documentary in stereo as well as a new 5.1 surround mix. A new track features commentary from Bar-Lev and editor John Walter. Long Strange Trip’s Deluxe Edition contains footage of six previously unreleased songs from the Grateful Dead’s May 24, 1970 performance at the Hollywood Festival. The band’s set at the festival in England was their first show overseas. Backstage film from the Dead’s 1970 trip to the U.K. and live performances of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” from 1989 are additional previously unreleased bonuses found on the Deluxe Edition.
“Around 2003, while winding through the 16mm film outtakes for The Grateful Dead Movie in preparation for its DVD release, I came across a couple of unlabeled cans of 16mm film. I loaded the first reel onto the Steenbeck film viewing/editing table and was amazed by what I saw,” band archivist David Lemieux said in a statement. “Not only rare, exceptional quality material from the performance at the Hollywood Festival, but loads of other terrific footage, showing the band at a Warner Bros. Records party in London (Pigpen surrounded by suits!), at a photo shoot (‘that’s one uncooperative bunch of musicians!’), at a rehearsal hall performing ‘Candyman’ vocal harmonies and, most exciting of all, backstage at the festival. This is truly some of the most remarkable, candid, and interesting footage in existence of the Grateful Dead and we’re thrilled to be releasing the entirety of this wonderful historical document.”
One of the scenes of the documentary shows Jerry Garcia interacting with the film crew at the Hollywood Festival. One-time Grateful Dead manager Sam Cutler claims the band dosed the filmmakers which helps explain some of the shots in the resulting footage. Watch a portion of the Grateful Dead’s performance of “Good Lovin’” from May 24, 1970:
Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story Of The Grateful Dead is available for pre-order here.
