Live/Dead

Infobox Album | Name = Live/Dead
Type = Live album
Artist = Grateful Dead


Released = November 10, 1969
Recorded = January 26 – March 2, 1969
Genre = Rock and roll, psychedelic rock, folk rock
Length = 75:07
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Producer = Grateful Dead
Bob Matthews
Betty Cantor
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2m6uak4k5m3z link]
*"Rolling Stone" (very favorable) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thegratefuldead/albums/album/169851/review/6068270/live_dead link]
*Robert Christgau (A+) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1445&name=Grateful+Dead link]
Last album = "Aoxomoxoa"
(1969)
This album = "Live/Dead"
(1969) | Next album = "Workingman's Dead"
(1970) |

"Live/Dead" is the first official live album released by the San Francisco-based band Grateful Dead. It was recorded over a series of live concerts in early 1969 and released later in the year on November 10. At the time of its release, Robert Christgau wrote that parts of the album contained "the finest rock improvisation ever recorded." A landmark live album that captured the Grateful Dead's improvisations at their best – Allmusic would write that "Few recordings have ever represented the essence of an artist in performance as faithfully as "Live/Dead" – it is also the final album with keyboardist Tom Constanten.

History

The songs were recorded with a mobile 16-track studio."Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip" . Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 104.] Owsley "Bear" Stanley also asked Ron Wickersham to invent a mic splitter that fed both into the PA and the record inputs with no loss in quality."Phil Lesh: Searching for the Sound" by Phil Lesh, Little, Brown and Company, 2005, pg. 142.] "Dark Star" and "St. Stephen" pairing was taken from the February 27, 1969 show at the Fillmore West; "The Eleven" and "Turn On Your Lovelight" were from the January 26, 1969 show at the Avalon Ballroom; "Death Don't Have No Mercy," "Feedback," and "And We Bid You Goodnight" were from the March 2, 1969 show at the Fillmore West.

Unlike in later years, in early 1969 the contents of the Dead's set lists varied little. They improvised the medley of "Dark Star"/"St. Stephen"/"The Eleven" several times a week, which enabled them to explore widely within the songs' simple frameworks. The album was a financial success for the band in the eyes of their label, Warner Bros. Constanten had commented that "Warner Bros. had pointed out that they had sunk $100,000-plus into "Aoxomoxoa" ... so someone had the idea that if we sent them a double live album, three discs for the price of one wouldn't be such a bad deal."

Track listing

ide one

# "Dark Star" (Grateful Dead, Hunter) – 23:18

ide two

# "St. Stephen" (Hunter, Garcia, Lesh) – 6:31
# "The Eleven" (Hunter, Lesh) – 9:18

ide three

# "Turn On Your Love Light" (Scott, Malone) – 15:05

ide four

# "Death Don't Have No Mercy" (Davis) – 10:28
# "Feedback" (McGannahan Skjellyfetti) – 7:49
# "And We Bid You Goodnight" (traditional arrangement) – 3:13

2003 Reissue

#"Dark Star"
#"St. Stephen"
#"The Eleven"
#"Turn On Your Lovelight"
#"Death Don't Have No Mercy"
#"Feedback"
#"And We Bid You Goodnight"
#"Dark Star"
#*"Bonus track, Radio edit/single version".
#"Live/Dead" Radio promo"
#*"Bonus track".

Musical Personnel

Grateful Dead:
*Jerry Garcia - guitars, vocals
*Bob Weir - guitars, vocals
*Tom Constanten - organ
*Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - vocals, percussion
*Phil Lesh - basses, vocals
*Bill Kreutzmann - percussion
*Mickey Hart - percussion

Personnel:
*Robert Hunter - songwriter
*Bob Matthews - engineer, producer
*Betty Cantor - producer, engineer
*R.D. Thomas - cover art

Charts/Certification

Billboard chartRIAA certification

Miscellanea

*The first 1:34 of "Dark Star" can be found on the previous track, "Mountains of the Moon" on The Complete Fillmore West 1969.

ee also

*The Complete Fillmore West 1969
*Grateful Dead
*Grateful Dead discography

References