Grateful Dead - Long Strange Trip (Soundtrack) [2017] (2 x CD's)

 

GRATEFUL DEAD

Grateful Dead - Long Strange Trip (Soundtrack) [2017] (2 x CD's)

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)

This is the 2 CD Version

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Track list

CD1

01 Death Don't Have No Mercy (Live at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, Ca 2-27-69) 10:31

02 St. Stephen (Live at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, Ca 2-27-69) 6:41

03 Uncle John's Band 4:46

04 Dark Star (Live at the Fillmore East, New York, Ny 2-14-70) 23:51

05 Easy Wind 5:01

06 Candyman 6:16

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

08 I Know You Rider (Live at Chateau D' Herouville, Herovuville, France 6-2-171) 5:54

09 Morning Dew (Live at the Lyceum Theatre, London, England 5-26-72) 11:43

CD2

10 He's Gone (Live in Veneta, Or, 8-27-72) 8:52

11 The Music Never Stopped (Live at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, Ca 8-13-75) 5:32

12 Scarlet Begonias (Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, Ny 5-8-77) 9:53

13 Fire on the Mountain (Live at Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, Ny 5-8-77) 15:09

14 Althea (Live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, Ny 5-16-80) 8:32

15 Touch of Grey (Live at Marin Veterans Auditorium, San Rafael, Ca 16-13-87) 5:51

16 Dear Mr. Fantasy (Live at Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Ma 7-2-89) 7:06

17 Hey Jude (Live at Sullivan Stadium, Foxboro, Ma 7-2-89) 3:59

18 Ripple 4:09

19 Brokedown Palace 4:06

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