The Best of the Grateful Dead
The Best of the Grateful Dead is an album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It is a two-CD compilation of songs recorded in the studio from throughout their career. It includes at least one track from each of their studio albums, recorded from 1967 to 1989 and arranged in chronological order. It was released by Rhino Records on March 31, 2015.[1][2][3][4]
| The Best of the Grateful Dead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | March 31, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | 1967–1989 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Rhino | |||
| Producer | Grateful Dead | |||
| Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Best of the Grateful Dead includes songs from all the studio albums in the band's discography,[5] along with one non-album single "Dark Star" (recorded in 1968 as part of the Anthem of the Sun studio sessions).[5]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
On AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "[The album] follows a strict chronological sequence, so it takes a little while for the psychedelic haze to lift and the Dead to settle into the rangy, rootsy groove that characterized so much of their existence... From there, many—but by no means all—of the group's warhorses are marched out, all in their studio incarnations.... By celebrating the warts and providing space for that unexpected late–'80s commercial comeback, The Best of the Grateful Dead is a good capsule history of a band that usually defies such straightforward narratives."[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" | Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan, Bob Weir | The Grateful Dead (1967) | 2:11 |
| 2. | "Cream Puff War" | Garcia | The Grateful Dead | 2:29 |
| 3. | "Born Cross-Eyed" | Weir | Anthem of the Sun (1968) | 2:24 |
| 4. | "Dark Star" | Garcia, Mickey Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir, Robert Hunter | Non-album single (1968) | 2:42 |
| 5. | "St. Stephen" | Garcia, Lesh, Hunter | Aoxomoxoa (1969) | 4:27 |
| 6. | "China Cat Sunflower" | Garcia, Hunter | Aoxomoxoa | 3:41 |
| 7. | "Uncle John's Band" | Garcia, Hunter | Workingman's Dead (1970) | 4:44 |
| 8. | "Easy Wind" | Hunter | Workingman's Dead | 4:58 |
| 9. | "Casey Jones" | Garcia, Hunter | Workingman's Dead | 4:25 |
| 10. | "Truckin'" | Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter | American Beauty (1970) | 5:07 |
| 11. | "Box of Rain" | Lesh, Hunter | American Beauty | 5:19 |
| 12. | "Sugar Magnolia" | Weir, Hunter | American Beauty | 3:17 |
| 13. | "Friend of the Devil" | Garcia, John Dawson, Hunter | American Beauty | 3:24 |
| 14. | "Ripple" | Garcia, Hunter | American Beauty | 4:11 |
| 15. | "Eyes of the World" | Garcia, Hunter | Wake of the Flood (1973) | 5:18 |
| 16. | "Unbroken Chain" | Lesh, Robert Petersen | From the Mars Hotel (1974) | 6:45 |
| 17. | "Scarlet Begonias" | Garcia, Hunter | From the Mars Hotel | 4:19 |
| 18. | "The Music Never Stopped" | Weir, John Barlow | Blues for Allah (1975) | 4:35 |
| 19. | "Estimated Prophet" | Weir, Barlow | Terrapin Station (1977) | 5:36 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Terrapin Station" | Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Hunter | Terrapin Station | 16:22 |
| 2. | "Shakedown Street" | Garcia, Hunter | Shakedown Street (1978) | 5:00 |
| 3. | "I Need a Miracle" | Weir, Barlow | Shakedown Street | 3:35 |
| 4. | "Fire on the Mountain" | Hart, Hunter | Shakedown Street | 3:49 |
| 5. | "Feel Like a Stranger" | Weir, Barlow | Go to Heaven (1980) | 5:08 |
| 6. | "Far from Me" | Brent Mydland | Go to Heaven | 3:41 |
| 7. | "Touch of Grey" | Garcia, Hunter | In the Dark (1987) | 5:50 |
| 8. | "Hell in a Bucket" | Weir, Barlow, Mydland | In the Dark | 5:38 |
| 9. | "Throwing Stones" | Weir, Barlow | In the Dark | 7:21 |
| 10. | "Black Muddy River" | Garcia, Hunter | In the Dark | 6:00 |
| 11. | "Blow Away" | Mydland, Barlow | Built to Last (1989) | 6:11 |
| 12. | "Foolish Heart" | Garcia, Hunter | Built to Last | 5:12 |
| 13. | "Standing on the Moon" | Garcia, Hunter | Built to Last | 5:21 |
Personnel
- Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
- Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
- Phil Lesh – bass, vocals
- Bill Kreutzmann – drums, percussion
- Mickey Hart – drums, percussion
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, harmonica, percussion, vocals
- Tom Constanten – keyboards
- Keith Godchaux – keyboards
- Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
- Brent Mydland – keyboards, vocals
References
- Giles, Jeff (January 21, 2015). "Grateful Dead Announce 50th Anniversary Compilation and New Archival Live Set", Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- "Grateful Dead to Release Best of Compilation to Kick Off 50th Anniversary", jambands.com, January 31, 2015.
- Lynn, Laura (January 26, 2015). "The Best of the Grateful Dead Arrives March 31", Dubuque's Super Hits 106. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- The Best of the Grateful Dead, dead.net, January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- The Best of the Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. The Best of the Grateful Dead at AllMusic. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
