how do i into grateful dead

absolute essentials are american beauty and europe 72, listen to those before anything else.

from there if you like the jammier, weirder shit on europe 72, check out live/dead, skull & roses, and dick's picks 4. if you like american beauty but not the live jamming thing, then overall they may not be for you, but their studio albums, particularly those from '67 to '77 are all worth checking out. dick's picks 8 and dick's picks 33 are also more "direct" and less jam-fueled than most of their official shit, so maybe look into those.

but overall you're just gonna have to listen and figure out what you like. it's hard to give people a guide to the dead because there's just so much fucking material. but, thankfully, their music can be pretty nicely cut into different "eras" or sounds over time so i'll try to give a rough guide

65 through early 67 is basically proto-dead, they were still a stereotypical 60s garage band and there's barely any decent material, official or bootlegged, stuff out there.
https://youtu.be/rPXUrD9fj9w

67 through 69 were the freaky psych years, all the guys were still young and pigpin was going strong. probably my favorite era.
https://youtu.be/7AtVtx6H738

69 through 72 is quintessential dead. all the most famous shit was recorded during this time, including europe 72. beauty, workingmans, and skullfuck. if you don't like this stuff then you won't like the band at all, period.
https://youtu.be/xCgZxrf8nrU

72 through 74, super weird and jazzy dead. "wall of sound" shit is also going down, hugely influential in terms of how modern shows are conducted. my second fav era.
https://youtu.be/xgPLFYNEL1A

75 was a hiatus for the band, blues for allah was recorded and a few smaller shows here and there. lots of people love blues for allah, def check that album out.
https://youtu.be/yn4nQCPYN_A

(cont in next post)

Deadheads are the most annoying people on Earth. They'll spend literal hours debating which shit-quality bootleg of Mexicali Blues is better.

>>74572099
76 through 78 the guys are at the top of their game. basically the whole massive arena rock sound had been perfected, and 77 is a lot of guys' favorite year, for good reason. terrapin was recorded and the songs from that album make for some of the most famous dead jams ever. famous cornell show in 77 too, listen to that. there's even a conspiracy among older dead freaks that the cornell show was too good to have actually happened. weird shit.
https://youtu.be/luAqu8VX5wo

79 through 82, jerry's health starts to fall off due to drugs. stupid fuck could never shake it. BUT, still some great funky shows from this era, and it produced "shakedown street," one of my favorite tracks.
https://youtu.be/DvfTlKesxQ4

82 through 85, creative low for the band. energy is super low, hardly anyone listens to these shows. jerry was a fucking zombie. though 85 is often considered a comeback year
https://youtu.be/9Lm1OHJsNJ8

86 through 90, slow improvement for the band. younger kids start catching on, shows are getting better. jerry's health is improving a bit, and their late era "trippy trucker" sound is fully defined.
https://youtu.be/P3pTIAed1sA

91 through 95, end of the dead. jerry's health starts to fall through again and good shows become fewer and far between after the comeback of the late 80s and 1990. there's still good stuff here though, even if much of it is for sentimental value.
https://youtu.be/6sFyRQPraJ8

>>74571113
u like dadrock? if yes you'll get into them easily, cuz dats wat they r, dadrock

>>74572099
>>74572331
also, pretty much every dead show ever is available for streaming and download here :^)

https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead

enjoy your journey anon

>>74572189
>>74572375
fuck off pretentious indie faggots, go back to your mumford and sons please

so live shows are more highly regarded than studio albums? why is that?

>>74573871
for one, they were really fucking good live, and it's hard not to appreciate their technical skill and devotion to their music, even if you don't personally enjoy it. they toured for 30 years straight with an ever evolving and spontaneous set. no song ever sounded the same twice. every show had a different vibe and was a pure experience on its own.

but i also think it's largely cultural. the dead actively encouraged audience taping of their shows since like 67. they always set aside a section of the venue specifically for tapers. this, of course, led to a culture of tape trading and in-depth analysis of individual shows that really added to the certain "mystique" of deadheads and dead shows. shows were a massive social event too, and by the nineties the dead were having unbelievable ticket sales and new kids hopping onto the dead caravan every day. they were the ultimate american band, man. it's a cultural thing.

File: christgau1med.jpg (18KB, 400x266px) Image search: [Google]

18KB, 400x266px

Blues for Allah [Grateful Dead, 1975]

I've been hypersensitive to this band's virtues for years. This time I find the arch aimlessness of their musical approach neurasthenic and their general muddleheadedness worthy of Yes or the Strawbs. C-

Steal Your Face [Grateful Dead, 1976]

Their fifth live double (or triple) of the decade is the first with the sorry earmarks of the genre--namely, lots of stretched-out remakes. And believe me, the Dead can rilly stretch 'em out. C-

>>74571113
they got john mayer in for their live tour.
john mayer
yes.
him.
move on

Anything up to about 1975 is worth listening to, never mind the contrarians who jerk off to shitty concert recordings from the 80s-90s.

>>74574569
They needed someone handsome to bring in the hot young groupies, can't blame them.

>>74574586
But '77 is their best year. 80's were pretty bad but Spring 1990 tour was incredible.

>>74572099
>>74572331
This guy sums it up phenomenally. Great birds eye view of it all.

Find some songs you love, find out the best performances of it on headyversion.com and listen to those shows.

Google great AUD recordings if you're new and can't deal with spotty quality. Watch videos and official video releases on YouTube. Dick's Picks and Dave's Picks picked some absolute classic shows. Remember, it's all about the format and the flow of the set/show, so do listen to shows front-to-back. You'll figure out what eras you lean toward in no time.

Next step is seeing that great shows are still tucked away all over, regardless of era. Hell, I even heard a 1980 show recently that skyrocketed to my list of favorites. Everyone listen to 11/30/80.

>>74572099
>>74572331
>>74574447
Well said, long live the DEAD!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WninWFtO0Gg

>>74572189
But Deadheads are very nice and chill. I rather have that kind of fanbase.

1) be a dull white person
2) have shit taste