The Grateful Dead look back on their earlier years on their next archival release, Dave’s Picks Vol. 6. The release will capture the band’s February 2, 1970 performance at St. Louis, MO’s Fox Theater as well as their December 20, 1969 show at San Francisco, CA’s Fillmore Auditorium.

A note on Dead.net reads:

We’re really bad at keeping secrets around here so just imagine how hard it’s been for us to contain our excitement about the 2 now complete shows, once missing reels for more than 40 years, that have been selected to make up Dave’s Picks Volume 6. The first major return of material to the vault since 2005’s Houseboat Tapes, Dave’s Picks Volume 6 will feature 2 complete shows with never-before-heard material from 2/2/70 Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO and 12/20/69 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA. Long a mystery, the riddle of the 2/2/70 set list has now been solved and the music restored to its proper – and spectacular – sequence. 2/2/70 is also notable as the first show without Tom Constanten. Tom, however, makes his return to give his first-hand perspective on 12/20/69 in this volume’s liner notes. Pigpen fiends, ask and you shall receive. Both shows feature loads of Pigpen including a major 35+ minute “Lovelight” from 12/20/69. Recorded by Bear with an excellent mix and sound quality, this very special release feels like a return to the classics.

If you’ve been curious about the subscribers-only bonus disc, this one is the stuff of lore as well. Like Dave’s Picks Volume 6, the last-ever Grateful Dead show at the Fillmore Auditorium – 12/21/69, was once missing reels, but we’ve acquired the elusive first reel to go with the end of the show that we’ve always had. This jam-packed CD, featuring 75 minutes of music (almost 40 minutes of never-before-heard), includes one of only three versions of “Smokestack Lightning” from 1969. You most certainly won’t want to miss out on this highly collectible Dead!

The album will ship on May 1.