GRATEFUL DEAD

Rockin' The Rhein With The Grateful Dead

$31.98 CD

Recorded April 24, 1972 in Duesseldorf, this release is the first-ever complete live release from the Dead's celebrated Europe '72 tour. Highlights include a 44-minute "Dark Star," featuring a short "Me And My Uncle" in the middle; the second-ever live version of "He's Gone;" and a prime rendition of "Good Lovin'," showcasing one of Pigpen's most compelling raps. Bonus tracks include two London performances, including the Pigpen-sung "Turn On Your Lovelight." All recordings have been remixed and remastered in HDCD.  

In 1965, a Palo Alto, California cover band called The Warlocks -- Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann -- became known as the Grateful Dead. They soon situated in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and built a spirited following through a series of free concerts, becoming one of the top draws around town. In 1967 the Dead added a second drummer, Mickey Hart, and began committing their free-form musical vision to tape.   

The Grateful Dead was a studio effort. Anthem Of The Sun took live tracks further via the studio, and Aoxomoxoa reached for the live experience in the studio. The Dead then gave the fans what they wanted in the form of Live/Dead, and subsequently stripped down their approach to focus on tight, melodic songs. What emerged were two of the band's definitive statements, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. After hitting the road again for the shows that would grace the multi-disc Europe '72, the band embarked on a quest to run its own kind of record label -- fulfilling its Warner contract with the archival collection known as Bear's Choice. Though it would continue to wind through many towns and touch many lives, the trip was well underway, the road already paved with gold.  

In 2001 Rhino released the 12-disc boxed set The Golden Road (1965-1973). Now Rhino reissues the entire Warner Bros. Grateful Dead catalog as individual albums, most of them with additional bonus tracks.  

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Selection # 78921

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