Grateful Dead - Long Strange Trip (Soundtrack) [2017] (3 x CDs)

 

GRATEFUL DEAD

Grateful Dead - Long Strange Trip (Soundtrack) [2017] (3 x CDs)

Stunning. Great recording of mostly live Dead tracks throughout their history.  I am totally captivated by this recording, or rather obsessed, in a way that only a handful of records have impacted me throughout my life. Now that I have been exposed, I am racing through the rest of their back catalog, to find what else I may have been missing. I have found plenty else that I love there, for sure, but I keep coming back to this three CD set, so many of these songs and these versions seem to be unsurpassed, and I am in bliss listening to it.  (Amazon)

 Amir Bar-Lev's winding, thorough Grateful Dead documentary is naturally titled Long Strange Trip, really, what else could it have been called?  - and it's only appropriate that its accompanying soundtrack also follows a twisting road. The album tells a familiar tale, sometimes with familiar material, but it doesn't quite proceed in a predictable fashion. Like the film, the Long Strange Trip soundtrack skips entire portions of the Dead's history because it focuses on the bigger picture. Some eras are soft-peddled and some classic songs are missing but by threading in studio cuts with the live tracks, this gives a good idea of everything the Grateful Dead did and why they matter. Which isn't to say that Long Strange Trip is definitive -- any collection lacking "Truckin'," "Sugar Magnolia," and "Casey Jones" can't be called definitive -- but it does wind up as an excellent introduction to the Dead's eccentric charms, illustrating not just their instinct for exploration (with its heavy dose of '70s live material, the first disc offers ample proof of this) but also how they could groove on-stage (the cuts from the legendary Cornell concert from 1977). Then, it also proves that beyond those improvisations, the Dead have a strong song catalog that withstands all their revisions -- and the sometimes-indifferent studio productions, none of which can be heard here and the fact that this soundtrack shows both sides of the Grateful Dead makes it valuable indeed. (AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

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Track list

CD1

01 Grateful Dead - Death Don't have No Mercy (Live at The Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA 2/27/69) 10:31

02 Grateful Dead - St. Stephen (Live at The Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA 2/27/69) 6:41

03 Grateful Dead - Uncle John's Band 4:46

04 Grateful Dead - Dark Star (Live at The Fillmore East, New York, NY 2/14/70) 23:51

05 Grateful Dead - Easy Wind 5:01

06 Grateful Dead - Candyman 6:16

07 Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower (Live at Chateau D' Herouvile, Herovuville, France 6/21/71) 5:09

08 Grateful Dead - I Know You Rider (Live at Chateau D' Herouville, Herovuville, France 6/21/71) 5:54

09 Grateful Dead - Morning Dew (Live at The Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5/26/72) 11:43

CD2

01 Grateful Dead - He's Gone (Live in Veneta, OR, 8/27/72) 8:52

02 Grateful Dead - The Music Never Stopped (Live at The Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA 8/13/75) 5:32

03 Grateful Dead - Scarlet Begonias (Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 5/8/77) 9:53

04 Grateful Dead - Fire on The Mountain (Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 5/8/77) 15:09

05 Grateful Dead - Althea (Live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 5/16/80) 8:32

06 Grateful Dead - Touch of Grey (Live at Marin Veterans Auditorium, San Rafael, CA 1/6-13/87) 5:51

07 Grateful Dead - Dear Mr. Fantasy (Live at Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, MA 7/2/89) 7:06

08 Grateful Dead - Hey Jude (Live at Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, MA 7/2/89) 3:59

09 Grateful Dead - Ripple 4:09

10 Grateful Dead - Brokedown Palace 4:06

CD3

01 Grateful Dead - Playing in the Band 9:48

02 Grateful Dead - Eyes of The World 18:35

03 Grateful Dead - St.Stephen> 4:47

04 Grateful Dead - Not Fade Away> 16:20

05 Grateful Dead - St.Stephen 2:04

06 Grateful Dead - Dark Hollow 4:04

07 Grateful Dead - Stella Blue 10:14

08 Grateful Dead - Days Between 13:56

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