“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’).
The Grateful Dead's second live release was an eponymously titled double LP whose cover bears the striking skull-and-roses visual motif that would become instantly recognizable and an indelibly linked trademark of the band. As opposed to their debut concert recording, Live/Dead (1969), this hour and ten minutes concentrates on newer material, which consisted of shorter self-contained originals and covers. Coming off of the quantum-leap success of the studio country-rock efforts Workingman's Dead (1969) and American Beauty, Grateful Dead offers up a pair of new Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter compositions – "Bertha" and "Wharf Rat" – both of which garnered a permanent place within the band's live catalog.
The Grateful Dead's second live release was an eponymously titled double LP whose cover bears the striking skull-and-roses visual motif that would become instantly recognizable and an indelibly linked trademark of the band. As opposed to their debut concert recording, Live/Dead (1969), this hour and ten minutes concentrates on newer material, which consisted of shorter self-contained originals and covers. Coming off of the quantum-leap success of the studio country-rock efforts Workingman's Dead (1969) and American Beauty, Grateful Dead offers up a pair of new Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter compositions – "Bertha" and "Wharf Rat" – both of which garnered a permanent place within the band's live catalog.
"What fans heard in these four {Lyceum} shows was both a history of the Dead and a survey of their unique vision of American music, from folk to rock, with blues and R&B and country-and-western and Bakersfield all included, all melded together by the improvisational spirit of American jazz in a small-group format that owed much to European classical music."
“Welcome to the unique, enduring phenomenon of the Grateful Dead in New York City, a mutual devotion, forged in concert, that ran for nearly as long as the band itself—from June 1, 1967, a free show in Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side (ahead of the band’s official, local bow at the Cafe Au Go Go), to the Dead’s last Garden run, six nights in October 1994… the Dead’s affinity for New York City… was instant and arguably their most profound with any city aside from San Francisco.” - David Fricke
5 Show, 12CD Limited Edition/1000 only. The '76 sound in all its glory, bridging the gap between the early post-hiatus shows and the tightly spun symphonies of '77. Five shows across twelve cd s remastered from the original broadcasts. Also includes booklet with essay. June 12th, Boston Music hall, Boston, MA - WBCN Broadcast June 19th, Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ - WNEW Broadcast June 24th, Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA - WMMR Broadcast June 29th, Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL - WXRT Broadcast July 18th, Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco, CA - KSAN Broadcast.
"Basketball and music have always been alike for me, the celebration of life and all other good things. These two art forms represent the best of teamwork, constant motion, creativity, leadership, communication, focus, execution, friendship, loyalty, cooperation, hope, opportunity, purpose, sacrifice, discipline, honor, and fun. Fun to play. Fun to practice. UCLA and the Grateful Dead embody the highest levels of this celebratory joy. At UCLA, it was endless fun, every day, in every way. We couldn’t wait to get there, to get going — though it was never as much fun as when the Grateful Dead came to play with and for us." - Bill Walton