RhinoA new compilation gathering gems from The Grateful Dead‘s expansive vault of concert recordings will be released March 23. The Best of The Grateful Dead Live features a career-spanning selection of performances culled from the band’s official concert albums and archival live releases.
The Best of The Grateful Dead Live will be available as a two-CD set, digital download and streaming collection featuring 19 tracks. A two-disc, 180-gram vinyl LP titled The Best of The Grateful Dead Live, Volume 1 featuring the first part of the CD compilation, will be released at the same time, while Volume 2 will be issued at a later date.
The album kicks off with a rendition of “St. Stephen” from a February 1969 concert at San Francisco’s Fillmore West that first appeared on Live/Dead, and ends with rendition of “So Many Roads” from a July 1995 show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, previously released on the 1999 So Many Roads box set.
Other compilation highlights include a performance of “Bertha” from the group’s 1971 self-titled live effort, a.k.a. Skull & Roses; renditions of “Sugar Magnolia,” “Jack Straw” and “Truckin'” from 1972’s Europe ’72; versions of “Friend of the Devil” and “Fire on the Mountain” from 1980’s Dead Set; and a performance of “Ripple” from 1981’s Reckoning.
“We wanted to follow up the 2015 The Best of The Grateful Dead studio set with a live counterpart,” says Grateful Dead archivist and producer David Lemieux. “[I]t’s no secret that as good as the Dead’s studio recordings were, they excelled in front of an audience, and this set provides an overview of just how great the Dead were live in concert.”
Here’s the two-CD compilation’s track list:
Disc One
“St. Stephen” — Fillmore West (2/27/69) from Live/Dead
“Bertha” — Fillmore East (4/27/71) from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
“Wharf Rat” — Fillmore East (4/26/71) from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
“Sugar Magnolia” — Olympia Theatre (5/4/72) from Europe ’72
“Jack Straw” — Olympia Theatre (5/3/72) from Europe ’72
“Truckin'” — Lyceum Theatre (5/26/72) from Europe ’72
“Morning Dew” — Lyceum Theatre (5/26/72) from Europe ’72
“Brown Eyed Women” — Tivoli Concert Hall (4/14/72) from Europe ’72
“The Music Never Stopped” — Great American Music Hall (8/13/75) from One from the Vault
“Estimated Prophet” — Barton Hall (5/8/77) from Cornell 5/8/77
Disc Two
“Friend of the Devil” — Radio City Music Hall (10/27/80) from Dead Set
“Feel Like a Stranger” — Warfield Theatre (10/4/80) from Dead Set
“Fire on the Mountain” — Radio City Music Hall (10/31/80) from Dead Set
“Bird Song” — Warfield Theatre (10/14/80) from Reckoning
“Ripple” — Warfield Theatre (10/4/80) from Reckoning
“Eyes of the World” — Nassau Coliseum (3/29/90) from Wake Up to Find Out
“Touch of Grey” — Rich Stadium (7/4/89) from Truckin’ Up to Buffalo
“Blow Away” — JFK Stadium (7/7/89) from Crimson, White & Indigo
“So Many Roads” — Soldier Field (7/9/95) from So Many Roads
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