Critique the tracklist of the new 2-disc Grateful Dead comp

To kick off the 50th anniversary, this ...

Disc One
“The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)”
“Cream Puff War”
“Born Cross-Eyed”
“Dark Star” (Single Version)
“St. Stephen”
“China Cat Sunflower”
“Uncle John’s Band”
“Easy Wind”
“Casey Jones”
“Truckin’”
“Box Of Rain”
“Sugar Magnolia”
“Friend Of The Devil”
“Ripple”
“Eyes Of The World”
“Unbroken Chain”
“Scarlet Begonias”
“The Music Never Stopped”
“Estimated Prophet”

Disc Two
“Terrapin Station”
“Shakedown Street”
“I Need A Miracle”
“Fire On The Mountain”
“Feel Like A Stranger”
“Far From Me”
“Touch Of Grey”
“Hell In A Bucket”
“Throwing Stones”
“Black Muddy River”
“Blow Away”
“Foolish Heart”
“Standing On The Moon”

http://www.uncut.co.uk/node/21265#VahXXMzYz0jpjvkb.99

My comments:

Cream Puff War is unique insofar as it's the only Dead song Garcia composed without Hunter, but it was never in the set after 66/7 and it's a minor tune to say the least.

The studio Dark Star is little more than a curio that's still in print.

I know they wanted a good Pigpen tune, but to bump Dire Wolf and Cumberland Blues is, er, dire.

Althea is a huge omission.

Just a Little Light is far better than the turgid Blow Away, among the most un Dead-like tunes in their catalog.

Otherwise, not bad I guess.

 

I like it. But then I'm not the most knowledgeable Dead listener.

 

Pretty redundant. Nothing unreleased or interesting for the real fans.

 

It's obviuosly not aimed at fans, but at casual listeners who might develop an interest in the band.

 

Any substitutions you'd make on the track list?

 

I would have included "Playing In The Band" and "Help On The Way"/"Slipknot"/"Franklin's Tower" and probably no Brent songs (and certainly not two).

 

I need much more than 2 CD's to include every Dead song I like, but I'm sure I wouldn't include “I Need A Miracle”, “Feel Like A Stranger”, “Far From Me”, “Hell In A Bucket”, “Throwing Stones”,“Blow Away” or “Foolish Heart”. As you can see, I'm not a fan of 80's Grateful Dead, so I wouldn't be the right one to put together a whole-career retrospective anthology like this. I wish they had included some of the last Garcia/Hunter compositions ("So Many Roads", or "Days Between"), but it's logical since there are not studio versions available, and this release is studio-based (that's why it features the single version of "Dark Star").

 

They certainly didn't want to include live material, so that's why there's no "Playin'". The Skull and Roses version, though doctored, is live, and the studio version comes from a Bob Weir solo album (played by the Dead, anyway).

 

I think this release serves little purpose, if any. That said, I bet it'll sell very well. If the Dead wanted dedhedz to purchase something like this, it needed to be a hybrid SACD. Personally, I don't see any value in this... BUT, it'll sell to lots of curious folks who were born too late.

 

An all studio compilation will always fall short.

Any compilation... especially for a band like the Dead... will fall short.

It is what it is.

 

Considering the early group I'd say at least one more pigpen song should have been included.

 

I second that.

 

The only Dead "compilation" I can really stomach is "What A Long Strange Trip It's Been".

But missing songs like "Brown-Eyed Women" is a problem here...

 

I would remove "Far From Me", "Blow Away", "Foolish Heart" and "Unbroken Chain" to make room for "Morning Dew" and "Help On The Way>Slipknot>Franklin's Tower". Would that fit?

This really needs a companion 2 CD set of live material to introduce first time listeners to "Playing In The Band", "Bird Song", "Loser" and "Cassidy". And of course to let them hear what "Dark Star", "Scarlet Begonias>Fire On The Mountain" and "Eyes Of The World" could really sound like when performed live.

 

Take away that large (but still too small) bulge where Workingman's Dead and American Beauty protrude, and you've got a demo of all the weird discontinuities and discomfiture of their half-hearted stabs at being the Grateful Dead in a recording studio.

The epic story unfolded elsewhere.

 

For a band whose studio work cannot meaningfully be considered in isolation from its live work, the two volumes of The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson (four CDs per volume) provide an excellent template that could - and, I believe, should - have been used here. In each, the first and third CDs comprise studio recordings; the second and fourth CDs are live. I'd like to see what the compilers of this set could have done with that.

 

"U.S. Blues" should be on there. It was one of their more recognizable songs in FM radio.

"Alabama Getaway" too.

 

These comps never include the studio "Morning Dew" which imho is the standout track from the debut album. Also, "Mountains of the Moon" from AOXOMOXOA would be nice.

 

I'm surprised a few Europe '72 tracks aren't on there.

 

This would be my 2 disc comp for beginners (using mostly studio tracks). I'm doing this from memory - not sure each disc will fit on 80 minutes:

I.

The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
Dark Star (studio)
St. Stephen (Aoxo)
Hard to Handle (Bear’s Choice)
Uncle John’s Band
Casey Jones
Box of Rain
Sugar Magnolia
Friend of the Devil
Ripple
Truckin’
Bertha (Skull and Roses)
Playing In The Band (Ace)
Cassidy
Sugaree (Garcia)
Bird Song
Jack Straw (Europe 72)
China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider (Europe 72)
One More Saturday Night

II.

Eyes of the World
Stella Blue
U.S. Blues
Scarlet Begonias
Help on the Way
Slipknot!
Franklin’s Tower
The Music Never Stopped
Estimated Prophet
Shakedown Street
Fire on the Mountain
Feel Like A Stranger
Althea
Touch of Grey
Throwing Stones
Foolish Heart
Standing on The Moon

 

I'd leave out everything on CD2.

 

Good out of the box thinking.

 

Wait, where is "Money Money"?

Seriously though, this is pretty good for a non-hardcore audience. I'd personally ditch "Unbroken Chain" in favor of another Pigpen tune, and I'd replace "Far From Me" with, oh, just about anything. But otherwise, this is an acceptable intro to the band's studio output.

 

It looks fine to me; how could a 2 disc studio anthology ever meet anyone's expectations??

 

In the vinyl days What A Long Strange Trip It's Been did have one studio LP and one live LP (although the live LP was primarily short, non-jammed songs most of which had studio overdubs anyway). If I didn't know the band I'd be more interested in an improv centered set but perhaps this one will work for some people.