Grateful Dead [50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]

by Grateful Dead

Overview

The Grateful Dead's eponymously titled debut long-player was issued in mid-March of 1967. This gave rise to one immediate impediment -- the difficulty in attempting to encapsulate/recreate the Dead's often improvised musical magic onto a single LP. Unfortunately, the sterile environs of the recording studio disregards the subtle and often not-so-subtle ebbs and zeniths that are so evident within a live experience. So, while this studio recording ultimately fails in accurately exhibiting the Grateful Dead's tremendous range, it's a valiant attempt to corral the group's hydra-headed psychedelic jug-band music on vinyl. Under the technical direction of Dave Hassinger -- who had produced the Rolling Stones as well as the Jefferson Airplane -- the Dead recorded the album in Los Angeles during a Ritalin-fuelled "long weekend" in early 1967. Rather than prepare all new material for the recording sessions, a vast majority of the disc is comprised of titles that the band had worked into their concurrent performance repertoire. This accounts for the unusually high ratio (seven:two) of folk and blues standards to original compositions. The entire group took credit for the slightly saccharine "Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)," while Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) is credited for the noir garage-flavored raver "Cream Puff War." Interestingly, both tracks were featured as the respective A- and B-sides of the only 45 rpm single derived from this album. The curious aggregate of cover tunes featured on the Dead's initial outing also demonstrates the band's wide-ranging musical roots and influences. These include Pigpen's greasy harp-fuelled take on Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl" and the minstrel one-man-band folk of Jessie "the Lone Cat" Fuller's "Beat It On Down the Line." The apocalyptic Cold War folk anthem "Morning Dew" (aka "[Walk Me Out in The] Morning Dew") is likewise given a full-bodied electric workout as is the obscure jug-band stomper "Viola Lee Blues." Fittingly, the Dead would continue to play well over half of these tracks in concert for the next 27 years. ~ Lindsay Planer

Product Details

Release Date:	01/20/2017
Label:	Grateful Dead
UPC:	0081227941802
Rank:	120317

Tracks

1. The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
2. Beat It on Down the Line
3. Good Mornin' Little School Girl
4. Cold Rain and Snow
5. Sittin' on Top of the World
6. Cream Puff War
7. Morning Dew
8. New, New Minglewood Blues
9. Viola Lee Blues

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Grateful Dead   Primary Artist
Bill Kreutzmann   Drums,Percussion
Bob Weir   Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Electric)
Jerry Garcia   Guitar,Vocals,Guitar (Electric)
Keith Godchaux   Piano
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan   Drums,Organ,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Keyboards,Vox Organ,Percussion
Phil Lesh   Bass,Vocals,Guitar (Bass)
Mickey Hart   Drums,Percussion
Tom Constanten   Keyboards
Donna Jean Godchaux   Vocals
Pigpen   Organ,Congas,Vocals

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
Sonny Boy Williamson II   Composer
Betty Cantor   Engineer
Betty Cantor-Jackson   Engineer
Bill Kreutzmann   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Bob Dylan   Composer,Lyricist
Bonnie Dobson   Composer
Bill Harvey   Composer
Bob Weir   Arranger,Composer,Producer
David Lemieux   Producer
Barry De Vorzon   Composer
Joe Gastwirt   Mastering Engineer,Production Consultant
Joe Bihari   Composer
Earl Forest   Composer
Elliott Smith   Composer
Dorsey Burnette   Composer
Walter Jacobs   Composer
Jeffrey Norman   Mixing Engineer
Jerry Garcia   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Jesse Fuller   Composer
Noah Lewis   Composer
Richard Delvy   Remix Engineer,Editing Engineer
Marshall Sehorn   Composer
Jessie Fuller   Composer
Obray Ramsey   Composer
Rev. Gary Davis   Composer
Tim Rose   Composer
Owsley Stanley   Engineer,Producer
Al DeLory   Arranger
Al Smith   Composer
Brent Mydland   Composer
Charles Et Les Lulus   Arranger
David Hassinger   Producer
Will Shade   Composer
Bob Matthews   Engineer
James Austin   Producer
Luther Dixon   Composer
Walter Vinson   Composer
Dick Bogert   Engineer,Recording,Mixing Engineer
Lightnin' Hopkins   Composer
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Robert Hunter   Composer
Jules Bihari   Composer
Phil Lesh   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Mickey Hart   Composer,Producer
Willie Dixon   Composer
Donna Jean Godchaux   Composer
Grateful Dead   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Sonny Boy Williamson I   Composer
Dobson   Composer
Bob & Betty   Engineer
Lonnie Chatmon   Composer
Jab Jones   Composer
Lonnie Carter   Composer
Gus Cannon   Composer
Michael Wesley Johnson   Producer
McGannahan Skjellyfetti   Composer
Anthony Hopkins   Composer
Peter McQuaid   Producer
John Lee Williamson   Composer
Kevin Gray   Mastering Engineer
Bob Cassidy   Engineer
William G. Harvey   Composer
Robert Cohen   Engineer,Producer