Grateful Dead - S/T on CD.

I'm wondering if original MONO mix of first Dead album available on CD? Does rhino 2003 stereo remaster is good?

I'm new to this band and also wondering if 1966 rehearsal/live tapes could be considered as garage rock artifacts?

 

It is not unfortunately. The 2003 stereo remaster is pretty good, but if you are a purist it does have some extended tracks vs. the original release and might also be a different mix. The original CD is also pretty good as well as the HDTracks download.

 

I have the mono vinyl and it doesn't sound noticeably different than the stereo to me.

 

I'm looking more for sound punch rather than mix differences. This stereo mixing is horrible when you have drums on one channel and vocal with guitar on the second.

 

That's why the gods created the mono button

 

Ha! If it were only that easy.

 

Just throw my Beatles mono box out of the window..

 

My Integra DTR 50.1 has a Mono button setting - never actual used it before or even looked into it

 

Dedicated mono mixes from the 60's are much better than Mono knob on any amplifier - i though it was audiophile forum, right?

 

Speaking of early pre-first LP recordings.. any fans of them? Does it's worth to picking up Birth Of The Dead rhino release?

 

I would say that the 1966 tapes/albums do qualify as garage rock, and if you like garage rock you will probably enjoy them. There are some songs that are pretty jammed out, but there are also a lot of shorter songs, and more to the point, the songs are much simpler than later Grateful Dead music is, and the real focus is on the punch and energy in the music, rather than on intellectual lyrics or far-ranging space jams or any of that kind of thing. So, yes, if you like garage rock, you will probably like early Grateful Dead quite a bit.

 

"Cream Puff War" sounds like a Love tune!

 

I would love to know how many mixes of this album there actually are and which ones are currently available. As far as I know, there were the original mono and stereo mixes, a remix done in the early '70s, and the HDCD remaster with the extended versions. What are some of the mix differences among them? Was the latter remaster a full remix or were unedited original mixes used? Does the original Warner CD 1689-2 with the edited tracks use the original mix, the '70s remix, or something else? What about the 2013 high-res remaster that also has the edited tracks? Same or different mix to the original CD? Original mix, remix? I know the mono mix was re-released on vinyl for Record Store Day a few years ago. I wonder if it will ever see a digital release?

 

YES & YES

 

Anthem and Aoxomoxoa were remixed in the early '70's, but not the first album (afaik).

 

The Wikipedia article for the album states "the entire LP was remixed in the early 1970s by the Grateful Dead themselves—the original mix is found on LPs bearing the gold (1967 stereo/mono) Warner Brothers label or W7/WB green Warner Brothers label (1968-1971). The remix (palm trees Burbank label) differs significantly from the original 1967 release." However, no source is cited. So, it could be wrong, but that's where I read it. If anyone here can confirm or refute it, please do!