Okay, Deadheads...I've ripped you for decades, but

Any of the Europe 72' shows should be next IMO...dip into the live material.

 

Studio:
American Beauty
In The Dark

Live:
Fillmore West 1969
Europe 72
Nightfall Of Diamonds

There are many other excellent live albums, but these are the easiest to get into for first time listeners.

 

I was a Dead denier until this past Spring when the light finally went on. Since then I have spent WAY too much money trying to play catch-up. But my first purchase was the 3-CD set To Terrapin: Hartford '77. It's one of those really great Spring 1977 shows. A wonderful introduction to live Grateful Dead, which is where it's at, really. The studio albums are nice, but...

 

Grateful Dead: Melts In Your Mind, Not In Your Hands.

Dave's Pick #9: 14 May 1974, Missoula, Montana. Psychedelic, telepathic improvisation at it's finest.

 

As another somewhat new GD fan I would strongly suggest finding the era of the band that you enjoy and starting there. I only say that as I see some recommendations that span various decades. For now you should probably stick to late 60's / early 70's material.

 

Thats over a thousand bucks in coin right there. A little rich for a newbie

 

Agreed. The 3 disc Fillmore set and Europe 72 (v 1 and 2) would be a tad more reasonable. That's the route I went a couple years back and have since added four individual E72 sets.

 

The Dave's Picks #9 is a great recommendation, but also out-of-print and pricey to buy on the used market.

The Ladies and Gentlemen... set was one of my first purchases, and it was a great introduction to their earlier music. Much better, I think, than the 1969 Fillmore sets.

 

Let me just add this, too - if you have the $250 to spend, you might consider getting the Spring 1990 (the Other One) box set that's still available at dead.net. It will sell out and a year from now it's going to be super expensive on eBay if you decide you want it. That's where I'm at with the first Spring 1990 box and a few other things.

 

The Complete Fillmore 69 can be found for 300-400 nowadays. Prices have come down quite a bit. Got mine at a Half Price Books for 350 and have seen many near mint copies go for 400 on ebay.

 

The 1967 self-titled debut is an excellent album for psychedelic fans.

 

Garcia's first solo album. Core "Dead" in its first incarnation.



Eventually you'll get into the flow of live concerts. Fortunately, there's resources for that sort of thing:
https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead



Have to say, it's cool being married to a woman who saw the Dead regularly in 1969 at the Fillmore and who can correctly pronounce "Aoxomoxoa."

 

No question, one of the best. Previously issued on absurdly fine bootleg LPs as "Make Believe Ballroom."

 

You don't find the Grateful Dead. They find you.

 

I second archive.org. Once you find an era you like, look for Charlie Miller mastering or Betty Boards.

Enjoy

 

Next steps after Anthem of the Sun and Workingman's Dead?

Studio:
American Beauty
Wake of the Flood
Blues for Allah
Terrapin Station
In the Dark
(then the rest)

Live:
Live/Dead
Skulls & Roses (or Ladies & Gentlemen the Grateful Dead)
Europe '72 + vol. 2
One from the Vault
Dick's Picks vol. 29 (or download 5/8/77 from archive.org)
Without a Net

That'll give you a pretty good cross-section of their different major eras, so you can figure out what you like and go from there.

-Simon (bluej's son)

 

100 Year Hall, best version of Bertha ever.

 

I once again humbly submit my personal listening guide suggestions.

I always say that the Dead were actually a very good studio band. Just because THEY didn't always like what they did didn't man it was garbage. One of the perils of severe self criticism.

For studio stuff American Beauty is a no brainer. Next I would push for Blues For Allah.

The Golden Road and Beyond Description boxes are good, IMO, because they present the original catalog and for many of the studio records they include bonus tracks, many of which are live versions of songs from the release so you can get an idea of where the songs went live. (If you just want the bonus material that is available for download in various places. See link below)

http://www.deadforayear.com/grateful_dead_listening_guide/

 

I'm being an optimistic Dead Head fan. I own both and love 'em

 

Wait until you hear "In the dark" and "Built to last" - a much less "dated" sound, and two of their best, IMO. "Built to Last" was certainly their most commercially successful album.

 

Live Dead, side 1, Dark Star
The europe 72 complete shows. All are available. The ones with long Playin' and Dark Stars,

I am not a fan of post 78 Dead, however, the GD released this week a spectacular show fro March 29, 1990, with Branford Marsalis sits in. Branford fits in perfectly, and the gD rise to the occassion.

Best studio albums-working man, american beauty, mars hotel, wake of the flood, blues for allah...skip,the rest.

The Dead are best live, and they have issued many, many great shows on cd,

 

Wake of the Flood, AB, and good run through of Blues for Allah. All amazing albums. AB is obviously the zenith of pretty much anything in that time period imo. A near perfect record.

Get the HD version if you can. Lovely.

Built to Last and the other are.... not where I'd start with the dead lol. Those are clearly the lower tier records IMHO. No dead record is hideous really, just annoying.

 

I'm so bad, I sold my wife's couple GD CDs and refuse to load any of their music on her ipod. Hey, if she liked them enough, she'd figure out how to do it herself.

 

How can you honestly not like American Beauty lol? Seems like ignorance or a gigantic bias more than anything else to me if you cannot at least see the work and skill that went into it.

 

That was one of the CDs she had.

It's been 10 or so years, so just to make sure I haven't undergone a major change I was unaware of, I payed a couple AB samples in itunes. Nope, I'm still me.