What a long, strange trip it was for The Grateful Dead in the spring of 1977. The band had taken an unheard-of 20-month hiatus to focus on solo works, but would come back later that year with a new contract (signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis) and an exciting new album, the complex, prog-influenced Terrapin Station. Their 26-date tour in the spring of 1977 is not only notable for its musicality - the band were tightening up their sound and revving up anticipation for the new material on Terrapin - but also for its place in Deadhead tape trading history; the band's now-legendary May 8 show at Cornell University was one of the first highest-quality soundboard recordings to enjoy a wide berth among traders, making it a crucial waypoint for developing fans.

Now, more than 35 years later, the latest Dead box set is a 14-disc compilation releasing five complete shows from that tour in full for the first time anywhere. The aptly-named May 1977 features the Dead's sets from St. Paul, Minnesota's Civic Center Arena on May 11, two shows from Chicago's Auditorium Theatre on May 12 and 13, a May 15 engagement at the St. Louis Arena in Missouri and a show at the University of Tuscaloosa, Alabama on May 17. Newly remastered in HDCD by Jeffrey Norman at Mockingbird Mastering, this deluxe package will feature a custom die-cut box and copious photos and liner notes, including individual notes for each show and an essay by Dead historian Steve Silberman.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyikM4FgNjU]

Like previous live boxes exhaustively chronicling Dead tours, May 1977 will be limited to 15,000 copies available through the band's website. They will be available on or about June 11, after which lossless digital downloads of the sets will be available.

Rolling Stone has some exclusive audio for your enjoyment, and the full track lists and pre-order links are after the jump.

May 1977 (Grateful Dead/Rhino, 2013)

Discs 1-3: St. Paul Civic Center Arena, St. Paul, MN - 5/11/1977

1. Promised Land
2. They Love Each Other
3. Big River
4. Loser
5. Looks Like Rain
6. Ramble On Rose
7. Jack Straw
8. Peggy-O
9. El Paso
10. Deal

1. Lazy Lightning>
2. Supplication
3. Sugaree
4. Samson and Delilah
5. Brown-Eyed Women
6. Estimated Prophet

1. Scarlet Begonias>
2. Fire on the Mountain>
3. Good Lovin'
4. Uncle John's Band>
5. Space>
6. Wharf Rat>
7. Around and Around
8. Brokedown Palace

Discs 4-6: Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL - 5/12/1977

1. Bertha
2. Me and My Uncle
3. Tennessee Jed
4. Cassidy
5. Peggy-O
6. Jack Straw
7. They Love Each Other
8. New Minglewood Blues

1. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo>
2. Dancing in the Street
3. Samson and Delilah
4. Brown-Eyed Women
5. Estimated Prophet
6. Sunrise

1. Terrapin Station>
2. Playing in the Band>
3. Drums>
4. Not Fade Away>
5. Comes a Time>
6. Playing in the Band
7. Johnny B. Goode

Discs 7-8:  Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL - 5/13/1977

1. The Music Never Stopped
2. Ramble On Rose
3. Cassidy
4. Brown-Eyed Women
5. New Minglewood Blues
6. Friend of the Devil
7. El Paso
8. Jack-A-Roe
9. Looks Like Rain
10. Scarlet Begonias>
11. Fire on the Mountain

1. Samson and Delilah>
2. Bertha
3. Estimated Prophet>
4. Drums>
5. The Other One>
6. Stella Blue>
7. Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad>
8. One More Saturday Night
9. U.S. Blues

Discs 9-11: St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, MO - 5/15/1977

1. Bertha>
2. Good Lovin'
3. Row Jimmy
4. New Minglewood Blues
5. Tennessee Jed
6. Lazy Lightning>
7. Supplication
8. Jack-A-Roe>
9. Passenger
10. Brown-Eyed Women

1. Dancing in the Street
2. Estimated Prophet>
3. Eyes of the World>
4. Drums>
5. Samson and Delilah
6. Ship of Fools

1. St. Stephen>
2. Iko Iko>
3. Not Fade Away>
4. Sugar Magnolia
5. Uncle John's Band

Discs 12-14: Coliseum, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL - 5/17/1977

1. New Minglewood Blues
2. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo>
3. El Paso
4. They Love Each Other
5. Jack Straw
6. Jack-A-Roe
7. Looks Like Rain
8. Tennessee Jed
9. Passenger
10. High Time
11. Big River

1. Sunrise
2. Scarlet Begonias>
3. Fire on the Mountain
4. Samson and Delilah>
5. Bertha>
6. Good Lovin'
7. Brown-Eyed Women

1. Estimated Prophet
2. Terrapin Station>
3. Playing in the Band>
4. Drums>
5. Wharf Rat>
6. Playing in the Band
7. Sugar Magnolia