There was a period in the Grateful Dead's live years when they divided their concerts into an acoustic set and an electric set. A bit like Bob Dylan did years earlier (and for which he was denounced, although it did Dylan no harm with that legendary "Judas!" concert) and in 1980 Dead Set was released. A collection of songs from the electric set and of course an acoustic counterpart could not be missing. So that release became Reckoning and the interesting thing is that the Dead have made a rather atypical choice in terms of track list. A number of songs that Jerry Garcia also regularly performed solo (Jack-A-Roe! I have always had a huge soft spot for it), but also many songs that you do not immediately associate with the group. In any case, I'm happy with performances like The Race Is On and Rosalie McFall since I already have Dire Wolf and Bird Song in plenty of other versions. For my taste, it's just a bit too slow to really keep me interested for the entire playing time, and it doesn't help that a number of my favorites such as Monkey and the Engineer are already at the beginning/halfway point. By the way, the artwork is a bit of a missed opportunity. Dead Set and Dead Ahead (the concert video that was also released in 1981 and covers the same period as Dead Set and Reckoning) are quite close in style and Reckoning really stands out in a bad way. Strange since it really seems like the intention is for these three to form a whole.
Tracklist:
- Dire Wolf
- The Race Is On
- It Must Have Been the Roses
- Dark Hollow
- China Doll
- Been All Around This World
- Monkey and the Engineer
- Jack-A-Roe
- Deep Elem Blues
- Cassidy
- To Lay Me Down
- Rosalie McFall
- On the Road Again
- Bird Song
- Ripple
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