THE BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD
ARRIVES TO KICK OFF 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
The Dead Launch Their Golden Anniversary Year With
A Definitive, Career-Spanning Collection Of Their Classic Studio Recordings
Two-Disc Set Will Be Available March 31
The Grateful Dead’s long strange trip reaches an important mile marker this year with the celebration of the band’s 50th anniversary. 2015 is already shaping up to be an epic year thanks to news of the original members reuniting for three final shows at Chicago’s Soldier Field this July dubbed “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead." A documentary about the Grateful Dead from award-winning filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev and executive producer Martin Scorsese has also been announced.
The Dead will get the yearlong festivities underway with the release of THE BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD. This career-spanning, two-disc collection is filled with nearly three hours of the legendary group’s best studio work. The music will be available March 31 on CD for $19.98. The set will also be available digitally.
The collection’s 32 tracks feature music from every Grateful Dead studio album and cover the key waypoints on the band’s mystical musical journey. Arranged chronologically, the tracks reflect the evolution of the group’s sound – and its membership – across more than two decades – from 1967’s “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” to 1989’s “Standing on the Moon.” In between, listeners will find the essential tracks that made the band such a cultural phenomenon, including such fan favorites as “St. Stephen,” “Casey Jones,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Friend of the Devil,” “Scarlet Begonias,” and “Hell In a Bucket.”
THE BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD also highlights the original versions of songs that would later become staples of the band’s transcendent concerts, such as “Truckin’,” “China Cat Sunflower,” “Uncle John’s Band,” and “Fire On the Mountain.” Perhaps the best example is “Dark Star.” The rare single version included here is only two-and-a-half minutes long. On stage, the Dead transformed the song into an improvisational showcase that often stretched out for 30 minutes. The longest song found on the collection is the 16-minute “Terrapin Station.” Released in 1977, this suite of songs (an entire album side) is widely considered to be the Dead’s magnum opus. Of course the set wouldn’t be complete without “Touch of Grey,” the band’s only hit single, which cracked the Top Ten in 1987.
THE BEST OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD
Track Listing
Disc One
1. “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)”
2. “Cream Puff War”
3. “Born Cross-Eyed”
4. “Dark Star” (Single Version)
5. “St. Stephen”
6. “China Cat Sunflower”
7. “Uncle John’s Band”
8. “Easy Wind”
9. “Casey Jones”
10. “Truckin’”
11. “Box Of Rain”
12. “Sugar Magnolia”
13. “Friend Of The Devil”
14. “Ripple”
15. “Eyes Of The World”
16. “Unbroken Chain”
17. “Scarlet Begonias”
18. “The Music Never Stopped”
19. “Estimated Prophet”
Disc Two
1. “Terrapin Station”
2. “Shakedown Street”
3. “I Need A Miracle”
4. “Fire On The Mountain”
5. “Feel Like A Stranger”
6. “Far From Me”
7. “Touch Of Grey”
8. “Hell In A Bucket”
9. “Throwing Stones”
10. “Black Muddy River”
11. “Blow Away”
12. “Foolish Heart”
13. “Standing On The Moon”
# # #