The Grateful Dead:
The Grateful Dead

CD132 - Warner Bros. 1971

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The Grateful Dead ("Skull & Roses")

1 BERTHA
2 MAMA TRIED
3 BIG RAILROAD BLUES
4 PLAYING IN THE BAND
5 THE OTHER ONE
6 ME & MY UNCLE
7 BIG BOSS MAN
8 ME & BOBBY McGEE
9 JOHNNY B. GOODE
10 WHARF RAT
11 NOT FADE AWAY/GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD

Bonus Material
12 OH, BOY!
13 I'M A HOG FOR YOU

A double-LP when it came out, it's now a single CD that has some of the contour of a real Dead show from that era, with the short songs up front and longer pieces toward the end. The second half, with "The Other One," "Wharf Rat" and "Not Fade Away" > "Goin' Down the Road," captures the lean, post-Mickey, pre-Keith band at a peak. Some of the shorter pieces are less impressive, and the long drum solo has never done much for me. When it came out I played it constantly, in part because it contained the only versions of "Bertha" and "Playing in the Band" up to that point, but it's been eclipsed by better discs since. Sonically it's very impressive, capturing Phil's bass especially well.