Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) [2021 Remaster] [Live]

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Show Notes

For the Grateful Dead's second live album, released two years after its predecessor LIVE/DEAD, the band delivered an equally magnificent, but entirely different, Grateful Dead sound. Whereas LIVE/DEAD was a perfect sonic encapsulation of the band at the peak of their Primal Dead era, SKULL & ROSES captures the quintessential quintet, the original five piece band, playing some of their hardest hitting rock 'n' roll (‘Johnny B. Goode,’ ‘Not Fade Away’), showing off their authentic Bakersfield bona fides (‘Me & My Uncle,’ ‘Mama Tried,’ ‘Me & Bobby McGee’), and some originals that would be important parts of the Dead's live repertoire for the next 24 years (‘Bertha,’ ‘Playing In The Band,’ ‘Wharf Rat’). Of course, the Dead were never defined by one specific ‘sound’ and amongst the aforementioned genres and styles the band brought to this album, they also delved deeply into their psychedelic, primal playbook with an entire side dedicated to their 1968 masterpiece ‘The Other One.’ This is one of the most deeply rich and satisfying tracks preserved on an official Grateful Dead album, up there with LIVE/DEAD's ‘Dark Star’ and EUROPE '72's ‘Morning Dew.’ SKULL & ROSES sounds as fresh today as the first time I heard it in 1985, and as fresh as it was upon its spectacularly well-received release in 1971.” - David Lemieux

Not only did SKULL & ROSES serve up supremely fine tunes, it was also the one that scored the Grateful Dead their very first Gold record, introduced the world to the iconic skeleton babe Bertha, and asked the questions - Who are you? Where are you? How are you? - giving birth to the first official generation of Dead Heads.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary, this release features the album’s original 11 tracks, newly remastered from the stereo analog master tapes by Grammy® Award winning engineer David Glasser using Plangent Process Speed Correction.

Reviews

Products

Bertha 343

531019-TRACK

Mama Tried 163

531020-TRACK

Big Railroad Blues 215

531021-TRACK

Playing In The Band 282

531022-TRACK

The Other One 1086

531023-TRACK

Me & My Uncle 184

531024-TRACK

Big Boss Man 313

531025-TRACK

Me & Bobby McGee 341

531026-TRACK

Johnny B. Goode 229

531027-TRACK

Wharf Rat 510

531028-TRACK

Not Fade Away 550

531029-TRACK

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