The Grateful Dead (album)
Encyclopedia
The Grateful Dead is the debut album of the Grateful Dead
. It was recorded by Warner Bros. Records
, and was released in March 1967. According to bassist Phil Lesh
in his autobiography Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead, the album was released as San Francisco's Grateful Dead.
in Los Angeles
in only four days. The band had wanted to record the album in their hometown of San Francisco
, but no good recording studios existed in the area at the time. The group picked David Hassinger
to produce because he had worked as an engineer on the Rolling Stones
' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" and Jefferson Airplane
's Surrealistic Pillow
album (the latter of which Jerry Garcia
had guested on as a session musician as well as donated the album title to). Demands by Warner Bros. resulted in four of the tracks, originally longer, being cut short. Phil Lesh comments in his autobiography that "to my ear, the only track that sounds at all like we did at the time is Viola Lee Blues. ... None of us had any experience with performing for recording ... although the whole process felt a bit rushed."
The album was seen as "a big deal in San Francisco." Even though this was true, it did not see much air play on AM radio stations outside San Francisco. It would be a couple of months before free-form FM radio stations began to take shape. Warner Bros. threw the band a release party at the Fugazi Hall in North Beach. Joe Smith is noted for saying he is "proud that Warner Bros. is introducing the Grateful Dead to the world."
A remaster
ed version with the full versions of five album tracks, plus six bonus tracks, was released by Rhino
in as part of the box set The Golden Road (1965-1973)
in 2001, and as a separate album in 2003.
In the original design for the album cover, the cryptic writing at the top read, "In the land of the dark, the ship of the sun is driven by the Grateful Dead", with the phrase "Grateful Dead" in large letters. At the band's request, the writing, except for "Grateful Dead", was changed by artist Stanley Mouse
to be unreadable. According to fan legend, the saying is from Egyptian Book of the Dead
.
The band used the collected pseudonym McGannahan Skjellyfetti for their group-written originals and arrangements. The name derived from a corruption of a character name in the Kenneth Patchen
work The Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer.
The album was reissued for Record Store Day 2011 on 180g vinyl cut from the original analog/mono masters from 1967. This is the first time in 40+ years it has been released in this form.
RIAA certification
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. It was recorded by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, and was released in March 1967. According to bassist Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
in his autobiography Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead, the album was released as San Francisco's Grateful Dead.
History
The album was recorded primarily at Studio ARCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in only four days. The band had wanted to record the album in their hometown of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, but no good recording studios existed in the area at the time. The group picked David Hassinger
David Hassinger
David Hassinger was a sound engineer at RCA Studios in Los Angeles.From November 1964 until August 1966 he was the engineer for the Rolling Stones, working on all of their albums recorded in that period....
to produce because he had worked as an engineer on the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
" and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
's Surrealistic Pillow
Surrealistic Pillow
Surrealistic Pillow is the second album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in February 1967.Original drummer Alexander 'Skip' Spence had left the band in mid-1966, replaced by a jazz drummer from Los Angeles, Spencer Dryden, a nephew of Charlie Chaplin. New lead vocalist...
album (the latter of which Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
had guested on as a session musician as well as donated the album title to). Demands by Warner Bros. resulted in four of the tracks, originally longer, being cut short. Phil Lesh comments in his autobiography that "to my ear, the only track that sounds at all like we did at the time is Viola Lee Blues. ... None of us had any experience with performing for recording ... although the whole process felt a bit rushed."
The album was seen as "a big deal in San Francisco." Even though this was true, it did not see much air play on AM radio stations outside San Francisco. It would be a couple of months before free-form FM radio stations began to take shape. Warner Bros. threw the band a release party at the Fugazi Hall in North Beach. Joe Smith is noted for saying he is "proud that Warner Bros. is introducing the Grateful Dead to the world."
A remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed version with the full versions of five album tracks, plus six bonus tracks, was released by Rhino
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
in as part of the box set The Golden Road (1965-1973)
The Golden Road (1965-1973)
The Golden Road is a twelve-CD boxed set retrospect of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Warner Bros. Records from 1965 to 1973. After 1973, the band went on to create its own label, Grateful Dead Records....
in 2001, and as a separate album in 2003.
In the original design for the album cover, the cryptic writing at the top read, "In the land of the dark, the ship of the sun is driven by the Grateful Dead", with the phrase "Grateful Dead" in large letters. At the band's request, the writing, except for "Grateful Dead", was changed by artist Stanley Mouse
Stanley Mouse
Stanley George Miller , better known as Mouse and Stanley Mouse, is an American artist, notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and Grateful Dead album cover art.-Early life:...
to be unreadable. According to fan legend, the saying is from Egyptian Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead is the modern name of an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom to around 50 BC. The original Egyptian name for the text, transliterated rw nw prt m hrw is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day". Another translation would be "Book of...
.
The band used the collected pseudonym McGannahan Skjellyfetti for their group-written originals and arrangements. The name derived from a corruption of a character name in the Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen
Kenneth Patchen was an American poet and novelist. Though he denied any direct connection, Patchen's work and ideas regarding the role of artists paralleled those of the Dadaists, the Beats, and Surrealists...
work The Memoirs of a Shy Pornographer.
The album was reissued for Record Store Day 2011 on 180g vinyl cut from the original analog/mono masters from 1967. This is the first time in 40+ years it has been released in this form.
Side one
- "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" (Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
) – 2:13 - "Beat It on Down the Line" (FullerJesse FullerJesse Fuller was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues".-Early life:...
) – 2:33 - "Good Morning Little School GirlGood Morning, School Girl"Good Morning, School Girl" or "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" is a blues standard that has been "covered countless times across the decades"...
" (WilliamsonSonny Boy Williamson ISonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
) – 5:45 - "Cold Rain and Snow" (Obray Ramsey) – 2:31
- "Sitting on Top of the WorldSitting on Top of the World"Sitting on Top of the World" is a folk-blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon, core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, a popular country blues band of the 1930s...
" (Jacobs, Carter) – 2:07 - "Cream Puff War" (GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
) – 2:28
Side two
- "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning DewMorning Dew"Morning Dew", also known as " Morning Dew", is a post-apocalyptic folk-rock song written by Canadian singer Bonnie Dobson in 1962.According to Dobson in a 1993 interview, "Morning Dew" was inspired by the film On the Beach....
" (DobsonBonnie DobsonBonnie Dobson is a Canadian folk music songwriter, singer, and guitarist, most known in the 1960s for composing the songs "I'm Your Woman" and "Morning Dew"...
, RoseTim RoseTimothy Alan Patrick Rose , best known professionally as Tim Rose, was an American singer-songwriter, who spent much of his life in London, England and had more success in Europe than in his native country...
) – 5:08 - "New, New Minglewood Blues" (LewisNoah LewisNoah Lewis was an American jug band and country blues musician, generally known for playing the harmonica.-Life and career:...
) – 2:37 - "Viola Lee Blues" (Lewis) – 10:13
2003 reissue
- "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" (Grateful Dead) – 2:11
- "Beat It on Down the Line" (Fuller) – 2:30
- "Good Morning Little School Girl" (Williamson) – 6:35
- "Cold Rain and Snow" (Obray Ramsey) – 2:29
- "Sitting on Top of the World" (Jacobs, Carter) – 2:46
- "Cream Puff War" (Garcia) – 3:20
- "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew" (Dobson, Rose) – 5:19
- "New, New Minglewood Blues" (Lewis) – 2:44
- "Viola Lee Blues" (Lewis) – 10:23
- "Alice D. Millionaire" (Grateful Dead) – 2:24
- Inspired by an autumn 1966 newspaper headlineHeadlineThe headline is the text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a...
("LSD Millionaire") about the Dead's benefactor and soundman Owsley StanleyOwsley StanleyOwsley Stanley also known as Bear, was an essential and transitional personality in the development of the San Francisco Bay counter-culture. Spanning the Beat-era years of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters scenes, he was equally pivotal to the explosion of 1960's Psychedelia culture...
.
- Inspired by an autumn 1966 newspaper headline
- "Overseas Stomp (The Lindy)" (Jones, ShadeWill ShadeWill Shade was an African American Memphis blues musician, best known for his membership in the Memphis Jug Band. Shade was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimmer, because "son" is short for "grandson"...
) – 2:27 - "Tastebud" (McKernan) – 4:21
- "Death Don't Have No Mercy" (instrumental version)(DavisReverend Gary DavisReverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
) – 5:23 - "Viola Lee Blues" (edited version) (Lewis) – 3:05
- "Viola Lee Blues"* (live at DANCE HALL - Rio Nido, CA 9/3/67) (Lewis) – 23:13
- The master analog reels of "Viola Lee Blues" are said to exclude the beginning of the song.
Musical personnel
- Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
- lead guitar, vocals - Bob WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
- guitar, vocals - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals
- Phil LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
- bass, vocals - Bill KreutzmannBill KreutzmannBill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
- drums
Production personnel
- David HassingerDavid HassingerDavid Hassinger was a sound engineer at RCA Studios in Los Angeles.From November 1964 until August 1966 he was the engineer for the Rolling Stones, working on all of their albums recorded in that period....
- producer - Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
- arrangers - Dick Bogert - engineer
- Bob Cassidy - engineer
- Betty Cantor-Jackson - engineer
Bonus tracks production details
- Tracks 10-13 recorded at RCA Victor Studio A, Hollywood, CA on February 2, 1967
- Track 14 is an edited version of track 9.
- Track 15 recorded live at Dance Hall, Rio Nido, CA on September 3, 1967
Reissue production credits
- James Austin and David LemieuxDavid LemieuxDavid Hardy Lemieux is an audio and film archivist. He has been working as the Grateful Dead's audiovisual archivist and CD/DVD producer since September, 1999. He was put in charge of the Grateful Dead's vault after the August, 1999 passing of original Grateful Dead tape archivist Dick Latvala...
- reissue producers - Peter McQuaid - executive producerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, Grateful Dead Productions - Michael Wesley Johnson - associate producer, research coordination
- Eileen Law - archival research, Grateful Dead Archives
- Cassidy Law - project coordination, Grateful Dead Archives
- Jeffrey Norman - additional mixing on bonus tracks
- Joe Gastwirt - mastering, production consultant
Charts/Certification
Billboard chart| Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Pop Albums | 37 |
RIAA certification
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
| Certification | Date |
|---|---|
| Gold | November 15, 1971 |