Rhino Records is releasing The Best of the Grateful Dead Live, a two-disc set with recordings selected from the band’s official live albums on Warner Bros. and Arista, plus a few tracks from their many archival live releases, beginning with “St. Stephen”—from the group’s first official live album, 1969’s Live/Dead—and ending with “So Many Roads,” taken from the band’s final concert at Chicago’s Soldier Field in July 1995.
The Best of the Grateful Dead Live will be available as a 2-CD set on March 23. The music will be available through digital and streaming services as well. On the same date, volume one of the collection will also be available on 180-gram vinyl as a 2-LP set, covering the first half of the album. Volume two on vinyl will be released at a later date.
“We wanted to follow up the 2015 The Best of the Grateful Dead studio set with a live counterpart, and have focused our efforts on the band’s primary live albums as well as some key tracks from archival concert releases,” says band archivist and producer David Lemieux in a press release. “Just as there was nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, there is also nothing like a live Grateful Dead recording; it’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.”
Related: Our review of the Dead’s Long Strange Trip documentary
The Grateful Dead circa 1970: (top, l. to r.): Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. (bottom): Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart
The live albums the band released during its 30-year career are the primary source for the collection, including tracks like “Bertha” from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) (1971), “Fire On The Mountain” from Dead Set (1981), and “The Music Never Stopped” from One From the Vault (1991). The double-album Europe ’72 (1972), is represented by five tracks, including “Sugar Magnolia,” “Jack Straw” and “Morning Dew.”
Other performances on the set were selected from the growing number of live releases that have emerged since the death of founding member Jerry Garcia in 1995. Some of those recordings include “Touch of Grey” from Truckin’ Up To Buffalo (2005), a 1990 version of “Eyes of the World” with saxophonist Branford Marsalis featured on Wake Up to Find Out (2014), and “Estimated Prophet,” which debuted earlier this year as part of Cornell 5/8/77, a recording of the Grateful Dead’s show at Cornell University in 1977.
CD Track Listing
Disc One
1. “St. Stephen” – Fillmore West (2/27/69) from Live/Dead
2. “Bertha” – Fillmore East (4/27/71) from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
3. “Wharf Rat” – Fillmore East (4/26/71) from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
4. “Sugar Magnolia” – Olympia Theatre (5/4/72) from Europe ’72
5. “Jack Straw” – Olympia Theatre (5/3/72) from Europe ’72
6. “Truckin’“ – Lyceum Theatre (5/26/72) from Europe ’72
7. “Morning Dew” – Lyceum Theatre (5/26/72) from Europe ’72
8. “Brown Eyed Women” – Tivoli Concert Hall (4/14/72) from Europe ’72
9. “The Music Never Stopped” – Great American Music Hall (8/13/75), One From the Vault
10. “Estimated Prophet” – Barton Hall (5/8/77) from Cornell 5/8/77
Disc Two
1. “Friend Of The Devil” – Radio City Music Hall (10/27/80) from Dead Set
2. “Feel Like A Stranger” – Warfield Theatre (10/4/80) from Dead Set
3. “Fire On The Mountain” – Radio City Music Hall (10/31/80) from Dead Set
4. “Bird Song” – Warfield Theatre (10/14/80) from Reckoning
5. “Ripple” – Warfield Theatre (10/4/80) from Reckoning
6. “Eyes Of The World” – Nassau Coliseum (3/29/90) from Wake Up to Find Out
7. “Touch Of Grey” – Rich Stadium (7/4/89) from Truckin’ Up to Buffalo
8. “Blow Away” – JFK Stadium (7/7/89) from Crimson, White & Indigo
9. “So Many Roads” – Soldier Field (7/9/95) from So Many Roads
Listen to “St. Stephen from Live/Dead
LP Track Listing
Side A
1. “St. Stephen” – Fillmore West (2/27/69) from Live/Dead
2. “Bertha” – Fillmore East (4/27/71) from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
3. “Wharf Rat” – Fillmore East (4/26/71) from Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
Side B
1. “Jack Straw” – Olympia Theatre (5/3/72) from Europe ’72
2. “Truckin’“ – Lyceum Theatre (5/26/72) from Europe ’72
Side C
1. “Sugar Magnolia” – Olympia Theatre (5/4/72) from Europe ’72
2. “Morning Dew” – Lyceum Theatre (5/26/72) from Europe ’72
Side D
1. “Brown-Eyed Women” – Tivoli Concert Hall (4/14/72) from Europe ’72
2. “The Music Never Stopped” – Great American Music Hall (8/13/75), One From the Vault
3. “Estimated Prophet” – Barton Hall (5/8/77) from Cornell 5/8/77
Listen to “Morning Dew” from Europe ’72
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