Reckoning is a 1981 live double album by the
Grateful Dead. The band's sixth live album and 17th album overall, it consists of acoustic material recorded live in September and October 1980. Some of the tracks are shortened versions of the live performances. The material recorded in 1980 was originally intended for release on one double-LP set, but the format of the music subsequently steered the
Grateful Dead towards the release of two double albums,
Reckoning and
Dead Set.
Grateful Dead guitarist
Jerry Garcia commented that the band "ended with so much good material that it was a struggle. The idea of just one acoustic and one electric record was sort of pathetic, since our electric tunes are seldom less than eight minutes long. And that meant our fat electric album would have two songs on a side. It was kind of silly."