Grateful Dead - 1974 - Skeletons From The Closet (The Best of Grateful Dead) [EAC FLAC]

Ripped from original CD with Exact Audio Copy.
Art, cue sheet & Rip log included. All tracks are Properly tagged with art embedded in tag.


Wikipedia

The Grateful Dead is an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long musical improvisation. "Their music," writes Lenny Kaye, "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead "the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world". They were ranked 57th in the issue The Greatest Artists of all Time by Rolling Stone magazine. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and their Barton Hall Concert at Cornell University (May 8, 1977) was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. The Grateful Dead have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide.

The Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of counterculture of the 1960s. The founding members were Jerry Garcia (guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (guitar, vocals), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums). Members of the Grateful Dead had played together in various San Francisco bands, including Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and the Warlocks. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they became the Grateful Dead; he replaced Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. With the exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history. Other longtime members of the band include Mickey Hart (drums 1967–1971, 1974–1995, 2015), Keith Godchaux (keyboards 1971–1979), Donna Godchaux (vocals 1972–1979), Brent Mydland (keyboards, vocals 1979–1990), and Vince Welnick (keyboards 1990–1995). Pianist Bruce Hornsby was a touring member from 1990 to 1992, as well as guesting with the band on occasion before and after.

The fans of the Grateful Dead, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as "Deadheads" and are known for their dedication to the band's music. The band and its following (Deadheads) are closely associated with the hippie movement and were seen as a form of institution in the culture of America for many years. Former members of the Grateful Dead, along with other musicians, toured as the Dead in 2003, 2004, and 2009 after touring as the Other Ones in 1998, 2000, and 2002. There are many contemporary incarnations of the Dead, with the most prominent touring acts being Furthur, Phil Lesh & Friends, RatDog, and the Rhythm Devils with drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. The group is slated to officially perform together again for their fiftieth anniversary, with Trey Anastasio of Phish taking the role of Jerry Garcia.

Skeletons From The Closet (The Best of Grateful Dead)

Released February 1974
Recorded 1967–1972
Genre Acid rock, jam, psychedelic rock, blues rock, country rock, folk rock
Length 44:53
Label Warner Bros.
WS 2764
Producers Stephen Barncard, Betty Cantor, David Hassinger, the Grateful Dead, and Bob Matthews

Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead was the first compilation album from the Grateful Dead. It was first released on LP in February 1974. The release was a ploy for Warner Bros. Records to cash in on the escalating popularity of the band (based on the sales of Workingman's Dead and American Beauty).

Four of the tracks were not original Dead album studio recordings. This "Turn On Your Lovelight" first appeared on the album The Big Ball, which was a loss leader sampler distributed by Warner Bros.; it had also appeared in longer form on Live/Dead. "One More Saturday Night" was taken from the band's live release Europe '72. And "Mexicali Blues" was actually a track from guitarist Bob Weir's solo release (but essentially Dead album) Ace. The version of St Stephen on the European release of Skeletons from the Closet is the identical recording from the Live/Dead LP with the long jam in the middle edited out.

Warner Bros. released the album on CD and cassette in 1988 before re-releasing the LP in 1990. The album would be later re-released on by Rhino Records on May 24, 2004 as part of a greatest hits series by various bands. It contains the complete "Lovelight" from Live/Dead.

Skeletons from the Closet is the Dead's best-selling album, going triple platinum in the United States.

Tracklist:
1 The Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion) 2:12
2 Truckin' 5:07
3 Rosemary 2:00
4 Sugar Magnolia 3:21
5 St. Stephen 4:30
6 Uncle John's Band 4:47
7 Casey Jones 4:29
8 Mexicali Blues 3:32
9 Turn On Your Love Light 6:41
10 One More Saturday Night 4:51
11 Friend of the Devil 3:22

Personnel:

Grateful Dead

Tom Constanten – keyboards, production, arrangements on "Rosemary", "St. Stephen", "Turn On Your Love Light"
Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals, production; arrangement on "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)", pedal steel guitar on "Sugar Magnolia"
Donna Jean Godchaux – backing vocals, production
Keith Godchaux – piano, production
Mickey Hart – drums, percussion, production on "Casey Jones", "Turn On Your Love Light", "Uncle John's Band"
Robert Hunter – lyrics on "Casey Jones", "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", "Truckin'", and "Uncle John's Band"
Bill Kreutzmann – drums, production
Phil Lesh – bass guitar, vocals, production; backup vocals on "Mexicali Blues"
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, harmonica, vocals, production; conga on "Turn On Your Love Light"
Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals, production; lead vocals on "Sugar Magnolia" and "Truckin'"

Additional performers

John "Marmaduke" Dawson on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
Debbie on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
Snooky Flowers – horns on "Mexicali Blues"
Luis Gasca – horns on "Mexicali Blues"
Peter Grant on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
David Grisman – mandolin on "Friend of the Devil"
Mouse on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
David Nelson on "Casey Jones", "Rosemary", "St. Stephen", and "Uncle John's Band"
The Space Rangers – horns on "Mexicali Blues"
Dave Torbert – bass guitar
Howard Wales – organ on "Truckin'"
Wendy on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"


Enjoy!