For many Deadheads, Live/Dead holds a special place in their musical hearts because it was the band's first live album. A somewhat obligatory release, admittedly, as the band was deep in debt to Warner Brothers because of the recording of Aoxomoxoa, and they hoped to make up for it this way. A good move, in any case, because the album became enormously popular and remains one of the band's best-selling releases to this day. However, in 1969, I wasn't even around yet; my parents weren't even teenagers yet, and I've always found this a less interesting release. Why? Well, I've always been more of a fan of releasing full-fledged concerts (as they later started doing with the Dave's Picks) than this copy-and-paste of various shows. It's certainly interesting to see how the Dead pioneered their 16-track recording system back then, even though that's completely outdated these days.
It certainly gives a good overview of what the band is all about, and it's a great move to open with Dark Star, even though the first minute and a half is supposedly from the end of Mountains of the Moon. Dark Star is perhaps the band's most iconic song, and this is simply one of the best versions I know. I think I'd only choose the amazing version from 1972/08/27 (found on the Sunshine Daydream release) as a better one. Turn on Your Lovelight showcases Pigpen at its finest, and it took me a long time to hear such a beautiful version of Death Don't Have No Mercy as the one played here. I only prefer the version from 1989/09/29 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre (about time they officially release it!) over this one. It's just a real shame they decided to end with Feedback and And We Bid You Goodnight. These are things that would come into their own in a full-fledged concert, but now feel like wasted space for other things. It's also curious that the CD remix version of And We Bid You Goodnight is a whopping 10 times longer than the original LP release.
It simply cuts to a minute-long silence after 34 seconds, and I suspect this was done to create the two hidden bonus tracks: Dark Star (single version) and Live/Dead radio promo. Nice extras, but nothing particularly noteworthy. Incidentally, it seems to me that it's the same single from Dark Star that was also released on The Best of the Grateful Dead, which would mean it's a performance recorded during the Anthem of the Sun studio session. Moreover, the bonus track release was initially included in the Golden Road box set (a 12-CD box set reissue of all the Warner Brothers Grateful Dead albums) but was later released separately. Just like all the Warner Brothers albums, by the way.
For those interested in the full shows where the songs are from:
- February 27, 1969 Dark Star
- February 27, 1969 Saint Stephen
- January 26, 1969 The Eleven
- January 26, 1969 Turn on Your Love Light
- March 2, 1969 Death Don't Have No Mercy
- March 2, 1969 Feedback
- March 2, 1969 And We Bid You Goodnight
The complete shows from February 27 and March 2 (both from Fillmore West) have since been released on the Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings box set. As far as I know, the January 26 (Avalon Ballroom) show has never been (officially) released in its entirety, but Clementine and Death Don't Have No Mercy (a different Death than on this album) from the same show were released on Aoxomoxoa's 50th Anniversary. Luckily, you can (almost) always go to archive.org to listen to the full show.
Tracklist:
- Dark Star
- Saint Stephen
- The Eleven
- Turn on Your Love Light
- Death Don't Have No Mercy
- Feedback
- And We Bid You Goodnight
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