Anybody have thoughts on Grateful Dead-History of the Grateful Dead Vol 1?
For many years I considered it one of my favorite Dead releases. I love all the acoustic cuts. “Katie Mae” and “Wake Up Little Susie” are pretty rare as far as Dead cuts go. “Dark Hollow” is near perfect—“You can lose a finger trying to use one.”
And the “Hard to Handle” is one of those perfect Dead jams. Lots of great Jerry licks in that one. Between that cut and the “Smokestack Lightning,” I like to tell people that’s where I really learned how to play guitar.
Any who, get it. It’s a bunch of cuts personally selected by Bear, Owsley Stanley, their sound engineer and also one of the best LSD chemists to ever grace this planet. It’s perfect for that. It’s also the first appearance of the Grateful Dead dancing bears (back cover), which is said to have been conceptualized from the way Bear or Owsley Stanley would dance at their shows.
Of all the Dead records, this is one I have an incredibly personal connection too, so I AM biased. You won’t see it recommend or talked about much but it’s fantastic.
If you can find the remastered digital version with the added songs, download it. There are some cool cuts there too.
Worth it just for the Smokestack Lightnin'. That was a great vehicle for Pigpen.
Oh yes, I absolutely love this version.
The “Hard to Handle” is fantastic as well, with a nice concise Dead jam sandwiched in between.
Trying to get into the Dead here. Any opinions on the American Beauty 50th anniversary reissue? Im eyeing the standard black pressing (not the splatter or picture disk) on Amazon, but would like to know if it's any good.
Url:
Grateful Dead* - American Beauty
Like wmeugene stared, the current reissue is a Bellman cut and should sound pretty good.
American Beauty is not your typical Dead sound that you’d get from the live experience, that being said it’s arguably their greatest studio album. And an essential in every collection, imo. (Probably the one Dead album that could be most universally loved.)
Jerry also takes a back seat with the soloing and it really helps the songs shine in their simplistic organic beauty. You also get some pedal steal from him, which is always a win as he only played it for a very short time, maybe two years?
But it has a handful of Dead standards at their concerts—“Friend of the Devil,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Candyman,” “Ripple,” “Brokedown Palace,” and “Truckin.” The rest of the songs are great.
I’d also say this is a great starting point, I’d recommend
Europe ‘72 next to get a nice glimpse into their live sound with arguably their greatest year—1972.
Anywho, I hope you enjoy the album.
I hope it speaks to you and calms your soul like it has my own so many times over the years.
Hope you enjoy what you find with this band.
There is so much to explore if you’ve the time.