http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c83j3kfz No online items Guide to the Dick Latvala papers MS.333 Nicholas G. Meriwether. Processing assisted by Mathew Simpson, Robert Barrett, and Pauline Disch. University of California, Santa Cruz 2014 1156 High Street Santa Cruz 95064 [email protected] URL: http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll Note Finding aid revised in 2018 Guide to the Dick Latvala papers MS.333 1 MS.333 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz Title: Dick Latvala Papers creator: Latvala, Dick, 1943-1999 Identifier/Call Number: MS.333 Physical Description: 47 Linear Feet67 boxes Date (inclusive): 1966-1999 Date (bulk): 1990-1999 Abstract: This collection documents the tape collecting and archival release work of Dick Latvala. Collection stored, in part, off-site at NRLF: Advance notice is required for access. Access Collection is open for research. Conditions Governing Use Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication. Preferred Citation Dick Latvala papers, MS 333. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz Biography Dick Latvala (1943 – 1999) was the first Vault Archivist for the Grateful Dead. He graduated from San Francisco State University and attended shows at the Fillmore Auditorium, the Avalon Ballroom, and other San Francisco venues in the 1960s, including famous events such as the Trips Festival in January 1966 and the Great Human Be-In in January 1967. He began taping shows in 1971 from radio broadcasts and began collecting and trading concert tapes in 1974, amassing an impressive collection that he thoroughly documented in notebooks and correspondence. He became a friend of the band and the crew, and was hired by the band in 1985 to organize their tape collection. As the first Vault Archivist, he was instrumental in the archival recordings released by the band; the series Dick's Picks is named in his honor, and was continued by his successor David Lemieux for a total of 36 releases. Scope and Contents This collection documents the tape collecting and archival release work of Dick Latvala, the Grateful Dead's first Vault Archivist. The papers comprise his notebook entires, documenting his impressions of live performance tapes, and his later research on what shows would be good cadidates for commercial release. His personal collection of reel-to-reel tapes, a series in the collection, is an indication of the range of recordings that the first generation of Deadhead tape collectors could amass. Subjects and Indexing Terms Latvala, Dick, 1943-1999 Grateful Dead (Musical group) Notebooks Note Latvala kept these entries in four binders and seems to have ceased actively making records circa 1983. Early entries are well documented, often with succeeding impressions entered when a tape was replaced with a better quality one. By 1982, entries are often limited to song lists only, with little to no annotation, although the entries for 1983 are somewhat more frequent, and most with greater detail. box 1, folder 1 1968-1969 Entries box 1, folder 2 1970 Entries box 1, folder 3 1971 Entries box 1, folder 4 1972 Entries Guide to the Dick Latvala papers MS.333 2 MS.333 Notebooks box 1, folder 5 1973 Entries box 1, folder 6 1974 Entries box 1, folder 7 1975 Entries box 1, folder 8 1976 Entries box 1, folder 9 1977, February - June Entries box 1, folder 10 1977, September - December Entries box 1, folder 11 1978, January - May Entries box 1, folder 12 1978, June - December Entries box 1, folder 13 1979, April - September Entries box 1, folder 12 1979, October - December Entries box 1, folder 13 1980, January - June Entries box 1, folder 14 1980, August - December Entries box 1, folder 15 1981, February - May Entries box 1, folder 16 1981, July - December Entries box 1, folder 17 1982, February - July box 1, folder 18 1982, August - December box 1, folder 19 1983 Entries Papers box 2-14 Dead.Net, Dead.Net Central box 15 Dead.Net, Dead.Net Central: shelf lists, notebooks 1978-1979, Dick's Picks files box 16 Dick's Picks binders box 17 Vox Pop box 18-21 Dead Net Central & other topics binders box 65 Miscellaneous files Recordings box 22-59 7-inch reels 10.5-inch reels box 60 Winterland, 10/22/1967 (2); Unknown, 1968 (2); Carousel Ballroom, 2/14/1968; Avalon Ballroom, 10/12/1968, 1/26/1969 (2) box 61 Avalon Ballroom, 1/26/1969, 4/5/1969 (2), 4/6/1969, Winterland 1/1/1979 (2) box 62 Fillmore East 4/29/1971 (2); Jackson, MI 12/19/1978; Frost 5/11/1986; HJK 2/11/1986; Telluride, CO 8/15-16/1987; Red Rocks, CO 8/13/1987 box 64 Providence, RI 9/9/1987; Madison Square Garden 9/11/1987, 9/17-18/1987; Philadelphia Spetrum 9/22-24/1987, 9/11/1988 Realia box 66-67 Reel-to-reel tape recorder and accessories Guide to the Dick Latvala papers MS.333 3 MS.333.