Grateful Dead - Skull & Roses (50th Anniversary Edition 2LP Gatefold Sleeve)

“For the Grateful Dead's second live album, released two years after its predecessor LIVE/DEAD, the band delivered an equally magnificent, but entirely different, Grateful Dead sound. Whereas LIVE/DEAD was a perfect sonic encapsulation of the band at the peak of their Primal Dead era, SKULL & ROSES captures the quintessential quintet, the original five piece band, playing some of their hardest hitting rock 'n' roll (‘Johnny B. Goode,’ ‘Not Fade Away’), showing off their authentic Bakersfield bona fides (‘Me & My Uncle,’ ‘Mama Tried,’ ‘Me & Bobby McGee’), and some originals that would be important parts of the Dead's live repertoire for the next 24 years (‘Bertha,’ ‘Playing In The Band,’ ‘Wharf Rat’). Of course, the Dead were never defined by one specific ‘sound’ and amongst the aforementioned genres and styles the band brought to this album, they also delved deeply into their psychedelic, primal playbook with an entire side dedicated to their 1968 masterpiece ‘The Other One.’ This is one of the most deeply rich and satisfying tracks preserved on an official Grateful Dead album, up there with LIVE/DEAD's ‘Dark Star’ and EUROPE '72's ‘Morning Dew.’ SKULL & ROSES sounds as fresh today as the first time I heard it in 1985, and as fresh as it was upon its spectacularly well-received release in 1971.” - David Lemieux

LP1:

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 

LP2:

Fillmore West, San Francisco, CA (7/2/71)

1. GOOD LOVIN' 

2. SING ME BACK HOME 

3. MAMA TRIED 

4. CRYPTICAL ENVELOPMENT

5. DRUMS

6. THE OTHER ONE 

7. BIG BOSS MAN 

8. NOT FADE AWAY

9. GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD 

10. NOT FADE AWAY