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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. ''The Best of the Grateful Dead'' includes songs from all the studio albums in the band's discography, along with one non-album single " Dark Star" (recorded in 1968 as part of the ''Anthem of the Sun'' studio sessions). Critical reception On AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "he albumfollows 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel music, gospel, reggae, world music, and psychedelic music, psychedelia; for Concert, live performances of lengthy jam session, instrumental jams that typically incorporated mode (music), modal and tonality, tonal musical improvisation, improvisation; and for its devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". "Their music", writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world". The band was ranked 57th by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in its "Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, The Greatest Artists of All Time" issue. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aoxomoxoa
''Aoxomoxoa'' is the third studio album by the Grateful Dead. One of the first rock albums to be recorded using 16-track technology, fans and critics alike consider this era to be the band's experimental apex. The title is a meaningless palindrome, usually pronounced . ''Rolling Stone'', upon reviewing the album, mentioned that "no other music sustains a lifestyle so delicate and loving and lifelike".''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 99. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on May 13, 1997. In 1991 ''Rolling Stone'' selected ''Aoxomoxoa'' as having the eighth best album cover of all time. It was voted number 674 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2000). Background and development The album was a series of firsts for the band. It is the first album the band recorded entirely in or near their original hometown of San Francisco (at Pacific Recording Studio in nearby San Mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
From The Mars Hotel
''From the Mars Hotel'' is the seventh studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. It was mainly recorded in April 1974, and originally released June 27, 1974. It was the second album by the band on their own Grateful Dead Records label. ''From the Mars Hotel'' came less than one year after their previous album, ''Wake of the Flood'', and was the last before the band's then-indefinite hiatus from live touring, begun in October 1974. Recording The Grateful Dead returned to the studio at the end of March 1974, having readied another batch of songs. The majority were again composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter and featured Garcia's lead vocals. However, "Pride of Cucamonga" and "Unbroken Chain" were both written and sung by bassist Phil Lesh with the assistance of poet Bobby Petersen. This was the only time he would sing two songs on a Dead studio album, and they would be his final lead vocal work for the band until 1985. Rhythm guitarist Bob Weir c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wake Of The Flood
''Wake of the Flood'' is the sixth studio album (tenth overall) by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released October 15, 1973, it was the first album on the band's own Grateful Dead Records label. Their first studio album in nearly three years, it was also the first without founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, who had recently died. His absence and keyboardist Keith Godchaux's penchants for bebop and modal jazz (rather than McKernan's tendencies toward the blues and rhythm and blues) contributed to the band's musical evolution. Godchaux's wife, backing vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, also joined the group and appears on the album. The release fared better on the pop charts than their previous studio album (1970's '' American Beauty''), reaching 18. An expanded version was released in 2004. Recording After three (official) live albums in a row, the Grateful Dead wanted to record studio versions of songs written since Keith Godchaux had joined the band. At the time of recordin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ripple (song)
"Ripple" is the sixth song on the Grateful Dead album '' American Beauty''. It was released as the B-side to the single "Truckin'". Background Robert Hunter wrote this song in 1970 in London on the same afternoon he wrote "Brokedown Palace" and "To Lay Me Down" (reputedly drinking half a bottle of retsina in the process ). The song debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco. Jerry Garcia wrote the music to this song. "Ripple" has a similar melody to the gospel hymn "Because He Lives," which was published a year later. Both songs are similar to " Any Dream Will Do" from the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. However, in his book ''The Grateful Dead FAQ'', writer Tony Sclafani points out that even though "Any Dream Will Do" was written in 1968, Garcia is unlikely to have heard it, because no recording was released until 1970. In popular culture A number of essays have been written analyzing and annotating this so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dawson (musician)
John Collins Dawson IV (June 16, 1945 – July 21, 2009), nicknamed "Marmaduke", was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the leader and co-founder of the country rock band the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He sang lead vocals on most of the band’s songs. Musical career John Dawson was born in Chicago. His family moved to California in 1952. The son of a Los Altos Hills, California filmmaker, he took guitar lessons from a teacher and friend from the Peninsula School in Menlo Park, California. For high school he attended the Millbrook School near Millbrook, New York. While at Millbrook, he took courses in music theory & history and sang in the glee club. Dawson's musical career began in the mid-1960s folk music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. There he met fellow guitarist David Nelson, and was part of the rotating lineup of Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, a jug band that included Jerry Garcia and several other future members of the Gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friend Of The Devil
"Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album '' American Beauty''. The song is largely acoustic, like most of ''American Beauty''. It is known for the guitar riff Garcia plays in the bass register, which is a descending G major scale (G F# E D C B A G). The song is among the most covered songs written by the Grateful Dead; Hunter later stated, "that was the closest we've come to what may be a classic song." The song was introduced in concert on March 20, 1970 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. Following the group's October 1974-June 1976 touring hiatus, the song was performed in a significantly slower arrangement with extended guitar and keyboard solos. Loggins and Messina, whose version of the song was slowed down, might have inspired the Dead to do the same. In more recent history, Phil Lesh and Friends ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugar Magnolia
"Sugar Magnolia" is a song by the Grateful Dead. Written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir, it is one of the most well-known songs by the band, alongside such hits as "Truckin'", "Casey Jones", "Uncle John's Band", "Touch of Grey", and fellow sugar-adjacent tune "Sugaree". First released on the 1970 album '' American Beauty'', "Sugar Magnolia" made its live debut on June 7, 1970 at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. When performed live, the song was often divided into two different entities: "Sugar Magnolia" proper and the "Sunshine Daydream" coda. The break between the two could be a few beats, a set, or even a few concerts. On one memorable occasion, the week of long-time friend of the band Bill Graham's death, the coda was held off for an entire week. A single edit of the live performance included on ''Europe '72'' (1972) was the group's third ''Billboard'' Top 100 hit, peaking at #91 in 1973. According to ''Deadbase X'', "Sugar Magnolia" was the Dead's second-most played in co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Box Of Rain
"Box of Rain" is a song by the Grateful Dead, from their 1970 album '' American Beauty''. The song was composed by bassist Phil Lesh and lyricist Robert Hunter, and sung by Lesh. In later years, the song was a favorite and the crowd would shout "Let Phil sing!" to hear the song.Kindersley, Dorling et al (2003). ''Grateful Dead, the Illustrated Trip''. p. 124. . The song * Key: G * Time signature: 4/4 (with an occasional 2/4 measure) * Chords used: A, Bm7/A, A4, D, Am, Em, C, G, Bm "Box of Rain" is a song that is drawn from American folk and country musical roots. This is true of many Grateful Dead tunes, and most of the songs on '' American Beauty'' and their other 1970 release ''Workingman's Dead''. As the first song on ''American Beauty'', it was also the first Grateful Dead song released on record to feature Phil Lesh as the lead vocalist.Kindersley, Dorling et al (2003). ''Grateful Dead, the Illustrated Trip''. p. 121. . The song also featured two musicians who are not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Beauty (album)
''American Beauty'' is the fifth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released November 1, 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album ''Workingman's Dead'', issued earlier in the year. Upon release, ''American Beauty'' entered the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, ultimately peaking at number 30 during a nineteen-week stay in January 1971. On July 11, 1974, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and it later reached Platinum and Double Platinum certification in 1986 and 2001, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 258 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, 261 in a 2012 revised list, and 215 in a 2020 revised list. Recording ''American Beauty'' was the result of a prolific period of the songwriting partnership of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter – one that yielded two studio albums in one year for the Grateful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Truckin'
"Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album ''American Beauty (album), American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' . Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 112. Lyrics Written by band members Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and lyricist Robert Hunter (lyricist), Robert Hunter, "Truckin molds classic Grateful Dead rhythms and instrumentation. The lyrics refer to a drug raid of the band's hotel lodgings in New Orleans during a concert tour earlier in 1970: The song's climactic refrain, "What a long, strange trip it's been", has achieved widespread cultural use in the years since the song's release. Composition "Truckin is associated with the blues and other early 20th-century forms of folk music. "Truckin was considered a "catchy shuffle" by the band members. Garcia commented that "the early stuff we wrote tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casey Jones (song)
"Casey Jones" is a song by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. Theme "Casey Jones" is about a railroad engineer who is on the verge of a train wreck due to his train going too fast, a sleeping switch man, and another train being on the same track and headed for him. Jones is described as being "high on cocaine" (the song even makes a double entendre of advising Jones to "watch his speed"). It was inspired by the story of an actual engineer named Casey Jones. The engineer's exploits were also sung of in an earlier folk song called "The Ballad of Casey Jones", which the Grateful Dead played live several times. The Grateful Dead's song bears no resemblance whatsoever to the actual train wreck, nor do most versions of the traditional song. Despite numerous songs mentioning Casey Jones, there has never been a song that tells the story accurately (although Johnny Cash's version of the traditional song comes closer than most). Conception The music was written by Jerry Gar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
