Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Golden Road 1965-1973 (Rhino) "The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began...." Literally speaking, that vehicle was the Day-Glo school bus used by Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters on their crazed cross-country treks, but metaphorically, this line from the Dead anthem "That's It for the Other One," represented a distinct lifestyle choice. If you chose to get on the bus and partake in the whole electric kool-aid phantasmagoria that was the San Francisco counterculture of the late Sixties, then the soundtrack that exuded the prevailing spirit of infinite possibilities and chemical excesses was provided, kaleidoscopically, by the Grateful Dead. They were the purest musical embodiment of that entire scene. Yet when Jerry Garcia died in 1995 and brought the Dead's "long, strange trip" to a screeching halt, the overwhelming majority of the band's idolatrous fans hadn't been privy to those tumultuously exciting times, and to this day remain unfamiliar with their formative psychedelicized American roots music. Alas, this mammoth and lovingly rendered 12-CD box set gives hard-core fans and intrepid curiosity seekers an opportunity to discover and/or revisit the Dead's first nine LPs on Warner Bros. Quite frankly, much of it holds up pretty well after all these years. Of particular interest to the faithful is that nearly half the box is filled with unreleased bonus tracks including rarified, nascent studio sessions and deliciously obscure live material. From the beginning, it was the Dead's transcendent live performances that earned them such a dedicated following; studio recordings were considered a necessary evil of the music business. Indeed, how could you possibly translate to vinyl the mind-altering, life-affirming, musically orgasmic experience of seeing the Grateful Dead live while tripping your brains out!? For starters, check out '68's Anthem of the Sun, a bold and wily alchemy of cutting-edge studio technology and terrific live jams. At the time, it was heralded as "the perfect companion for an acid trip" and is simply redolent with some of Jerry Garcia's most lyrically sweet playing to be found anywhere. Most successful in capturing the band's essence is Live Dead, which stands unmatched as the pinnacle and culmination of the Warner years. The Dead returned to their country, folk, and blues roots with Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, both from 1970. Still held in high esteem, they crystallized the prolific songwriting team of Garcia and Robert Hunter; to this day, 30 years hence, many of the songs from these two albums remain staples of radio airplay. Conspicuous in its absence, however, is Bob Weir's 1972 solo album Ace, arguably the most beloved Grateful Dead studio album of them all. Nevertheless, for some old-timers, the box stands as an homage of sorts to founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, who died in '72, but whose presence permeates this music. His greasy harp-blowing, soulful organ riffing, and R&B hoodoo man persona brought the blues to the Dead's repertoire. More fortuitously, it was upon his insistence that these renegade folkies plugged in, went electric, and never looked back. For those either already on the bus or waiting at the bus stop, this trip down the Golden Road is a sweet one indeed.