The Grateful Dead

Rothko

They're a band that I've been meaning to get into for a while now. So, I'm just wondering if there are any deadheads on boards that can help me.

Anyway, which of their albums should I check out? Also, it would be great if you could post your favourite song or two of theirs, thanks.

GoldenTickets

Funnily enough I'm listening to Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead, England '72 right now and I just saw your post. I'd highly recommend you start with this album! It's a 4 disc set from their 1972 tour of England (a great period for the band) and because it's a compilation from a few different shows it doesn't suffer from the sketchy first set syndrome of some of the full-concert albums they've released. And it's pretty cheap for such a long set - over 5 hours. Amazon have it for £16 sterling at the moment.

I've only started to get into the band in the last year so I'm no deadhead yet, but they're well worth exploring in my experience. I would say you should start with some '70s recordings, whether studio or live albums. Personally I think if you start with material from the 80s or 90s you could well be put off the band for ever (although that stuff could grow on you over time!).

Song-wise, I personally love Truckin', Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, Ramble on Rose and Playing in the Band - to name but a few. Frankly, the Grateful Dead were an awesome band. It's hard not to like them!

BobbyPropane

GoldenTickets wrote: »

Funnily enough I'm listening to Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead, England '72 right now and I just saw your post. I'd highly recommend you start with this album! It's a 4 disc set from their 1972 tour of England (a great period for the band) and because it's a compilation from a few different shows it doesn't suffer from the sketchy first set syndrome of some of the full-concert albums they've released. And it's pretty cheap for such a long set - over 5 hours. Amazon have it for £16 sterling at the moment.

I've only started to get into the band in the last year so I'm no deadhead yet, but they're well worth exploring in my experience. I would say you should start with some '70s recordings, whether studio or live albums. Personally I think if you start with material from the 80s or 90s you could well be put off the band for ever (although that stuff could grow on you over time!).

Song-wise, I personally love Truckin', Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, Ramble on Rose and Playing in the Band - to name but a few. Frankly, the Grateful Dead were an awesome band. It's hard not to like them!

I listen to em. Check out the songs St Stephen (live) and ship of fools. Ramble on rose is amazing too

Kold

American Beauty is excellent.

blastman

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This. Excellent place to start. Truckin' is on it, but some of the other tracks are great too, particularly Friend Of The Devil and Box Of Rain

Amerika

Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia, Truckin’, and Touch of Grey are my favorites. "American Beauty" is the must have album. Enjoy their music, but stay away from the lifestyle! It only leads to pain, misery, dependence and death. Oh the sad sad stories I could tell from what has happened to some of the Grateful Dead crew and the poor unfortunate, sad and troubled lives of their children (one of whom I coach).

Irish Guitarist

American Beauty is great. So are Grateful Dead (their first album), Anthem Of The Sun, Aoxomoxoa and Workingman's Dead. Of their later seventies albums From The Mars Hotel and Terrapin Station are among the best.

One of my favourite tracks is Mountains Of The Moon from Aoxomoxoa. Here's an interview with Jerry Garcia (by Hugh Hefner strangely enough) followed by the song at about 2.00.

Rented Mule

If you want to find a nice 'primer' for the Dead, there was an amazing tribute album that was released back in '91 called Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadicated:_A_Tribute_to_the_Grateful_Dead