From Amazon.com
A strong and exciting debut
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: From the opening of The Golden Road, you are thrust into an energetic album which marked the beginning of the long trip that was The Grateful Dead. This album doesn't capture what the Dead were like in concert at the time, or much of what they would become, but it is an eclectic mix of songs which showcase the wide range of material they were playing at the time, as mainly a cover band. We get things like old prison songs, blues, and folk songs (played with a signature psychedelic rock edge) mixed with a couple originals like The Golden Road and Cream Puff War. Viola Lee Blues expanded the boundaries of length for a rock song of the time, features fiery guitar soloing by Jerry Garcia, and offers a glimpses of the band's future improvisational nature. Basically it's all good, even if some of the songs sound a bit rushed.
On the CD reissue, we also get 5 great unreleased tracks from the recording sessions, both an edited and a live version of Viola Lee Blues, not to mention a number of the songs from the album have been extended past their original fade-outs. It's a great package, if you don't expect to hear the Dead like they sounded later, I promise you won't be disappointed.
An Album Full Of Youthful Energy And Hippie Spirit
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: The first Dead album is sometimes criticized for being too speedy. But this is part of what I love about it. The music is from a young, energetic band just emerging from the Haight-Ashbury scene and ready to mix their folk, blues and country roots with psychedelic rock experimentation.
The title track captures that youthful hippie spirit at it's best and Pigpen's confident vocals and playing on "Good Morning Little School Girl" show just how important he was to the early Dead's sound. "Cream Puff War" is one of Jerry Garcia's few efforts as a lyricist before bringing in brillant wordsmith Robert Hunter. It's a decent song but I still think Garcia's later partnership with Hunter was a wise move and helped take the Dead to the next level in terms of songwriting. Among the covers I especially love is "Viola Lee Blues" which I consider among the very best songs on the album
In addition there is the excellent bonus material and much improved sound quality achieved by remastering. I'm subtracting a star only because the Dead would record even better albums in the future. But this truly is both an important historical document of an extremely influential period in American music and culture along with a fine collection of songs that stand on their own. Highly recommended.
Wakin' up with the Dead
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: I bought this CD because I don't want to completely wear out my vinyl copy purchased in 1967. I first heard these guys while passing through Boulder, CO, on my way to CA in April '67. At that moment I was an innocent lil' country bumpkin from the plains of NE, and had no idear music could transport one to such other places. They were my first intro to psychedelic mania, and wow their sound struck a chord within my psyche. Later that summer as fate would have it I was transfered to San Francisco for training; what a hoot. The closest I ever came to attending a Dead concert was one afternoon that fall when they played a set in old Keesar Stadium in Golden Gate Park. I wandered around the park listening to them, the Airplane, Quicksilver, Sopwith Camel, and I don't remember who else. What a summer to wake up, and what a fantastic city to be in when it happened. After this Dead baptism, the world just weren't the same as what it had been preached to be before. Thank my lucky stars and folks like these scruffy dudes for that. Wherever ol' Jerry is now, I'll bet he's one of the lead boogeymen there.
A great start
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: Speedy, punky, joyful, occasionally dissonant and very bluesy - this is one of the very best Dead albums. Check out the storm of ecstatic noise at the end of Viola Lee Blues. Sonic Youth would be proud. And this version is packed with blistering live bonus tracks.
Grateful and alive
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: In the fall of 1967, I was a college freshman (I know I'm dating myself, but, given it was also the autumn of my first heartbreak, I actually really did date myself!) I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to my meager record collection --- The Blues Project's Projections, J.A.'s Surrealistic Pillow, Moby Grape's intro album, Cream's Fresh Cream, The Amboy Dukes, and this album---Grateful Dead's freshman offering. While all of this wonderful music has a special place in my heart, I've come to be especially attached to The Grateful Dead. From the first Pigpenny organ trill of The Golden Road to the climax of Viola Lee Blues, this album was the one I could count on to always cheer me up. For the record (or C.D.), American Beauty is my favorite Dead studio album, this first one is a very close second. As another reviewer notes, the quality of the vocal performances (as with the Dead's live shows) leaves a great deal to be desired, I can't imagine any song being any different than it is. My favorites: Morning Dew (yes, I know they later slowed down the song's tempo, but I like the upbeat version just fine, The Golden Road, and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl). And, at Amazon's price---you can't
buy music this good at twice that anymore! My son has also taking a liking to the CD and Jerry Garcia's rolling guitar licks...
Purchases
1 The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
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