Grateful Dead (album)

The informal titles for this album, "Skull and Roses" and "Skull Fuck", redirect here.
Grateful Dead
Live album by The Grateful Dead
Released October 24, 1971
Recorded March–April 1971
Genre Psychedelic rock, Country rock, Folk rock, Rock and roll
Length 70:12
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Grateful Dead with Bob & Betty
The Grateful Dead chronology
Historic Dead
(1971)		 Grateful Dead
(1971)		 Europe '72
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau (B+) [2]

Grateful Dead is the seventh album by the Grateful Dead, released in October 1971 on Warner Bros. Records, catalogue 2WS-1935. It is their second live double album, and also known generally by the names Skull and Roses (due to its iconic cover art) and Skull Fuck (the name the band originally wanted to give to the album, which was rejected by the record company).[3]

Contents

Content

While mainly a live album, there were a few overdubs including the doctoring of lead and background vocals. For the three new band originals "Bertha", "Playing in the Band", and "Wharf Rat", the band invited Jerry Garcia associate Merl Saunders to overdub an organ part. This made the organ playing of Saunders more prominent than that of Pigpen, whose organ contributions tend to be buried in the mix.

"Playing in the Band" received a good amount of airplay, and became one of the Dead's most played songs in concerts.[4] The closing segue of "Not Fade Away" into "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad" also received airplay and became a fan favorite.

The album's cover art, composed by Alton Kelly and Stanley Mouse, is based on an illustration by Edmund Joseph Sullivan for an old edition of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.[3] In its original issue on vinyl, this album also has the first acknowledgment by the band for its legion of fans, referred to as "Dead freaks" within an invitation to contact the band.

Track listing

Original album

Side one

  1. "Bertha" (Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter) – 5:27
  2. "Mama Tried" (Merle Haggard) – 2:42
  3. "Big Railroad Blues" (Noah Lewis) – 3:34
  4. "Playing in the Band" (Bob Weir, Hunter) – 4:39

Side two

  1. "The Other One" (Bill Kreutzmann, Weir) – 18:05

Side three

  1. "Me and My Uncle" (John Phillips) – 3:06
  2. "Big Boss Man" (Al Smith, Luther Dixon) – 5:12
  3. "Me and Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) – 5:43
  4. "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry) – 3:42

Side four

  1. "Wharf Rat" (Garcia, Hunter) – 8:31
  2. "Not Fade Away" (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty) / "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad" (traditional) – 9:14

2003 reissue

  1. "Bertha" (Garcia, Hunter) – 5:40
  2. "Mama Tried" (Haggard) – 2:42
  3. "Big Railroad Blues" (Lewis) – 3:33
  4. "Playing in the Band" (Weir, Hunter) – 4:30
  5. "The Other One" (Kreutzmann, Weir) – 18:03
  6. "Me and My Uncle" (Phillips) – 3:03
  7. "Big Boss Man" (Smith, Dixon) – 5:11
  8. "Me and Bobby McGee" (Kristofferson, Foster) – 5:43
  9. "Johnny B. Goode" (Berry) – 3:41
  10. "Wharf Rat" (Garcia, Hunter) – 8:31
  11. "Not Fade Away" (Holly, Petty) / "Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad" (traditional) – 9:12

Bonus material

  1. "Oh, Boy!" (Sonny West, Bill Tilghman, Petty) – 2:50
  2. "I'm a Hog for You" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 4:08
  3. Grateful Dead radio spot – 1:00

Personnel

Grateful Dead
Additional musicians
Production

Recording dates

Charts

Album - Billboard

Year Chart Position
1971 Pop Albums 25

Notes

  1. ^ Planer, Lindsay. Grateful Dead (Skull and Roses) at Allmusic
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. Grateful Dead album review summary at robertchristgau.com
  3. ^ a b Grateful Dead (Skull and Roses) at the Grateful Dead Family Discography
  4. ^ Scott, John W.; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. (1999). DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists. Cornish, NH: DeadBase. ISBN 1877657220.