The Grateful Dead Goes Into the Studio

I was never a Deadhead, but I had lots of friends who were. They finally dragged me to a show on July 6, 1995 at Riverport Amphitheater in St. Louis. Lucky me too, Jerry died almost exactly a month later.

So I'm obviously no expert. The show was definitely memorable. But I've always been (perhaps the only one) more of a Dead studio-work lover. An article in a book I'm reading, Stories Done, discusses how Workingman's Dead and American Beauty were the albums where they consciously attempted to rein in their wildly psychedelic live sides and make simple pop-country-folk songs. So I could never rate (or have the patience to listen to) all the Dead's live songs, but here are my favorite studio tracks:

15. "Built to Last," Built to Last, 1989

14. "Franklin's Tower," Blues for Allah, 1975

13. "U.S. Blues," From the Mars Hotel, 1974

12. "China Cat Sunflower," Aoxomoxoa, 1969

11. "St. Stephen," Aoxomoxoa, 1969

10. "Foolish Heart," Built to Last, 1989

09. "Ripple," American Beauty, 1970

08. "Sugar Magnolia," American Beauty, 1970

07. "Friend of the Devil," American Beauty, 1970

06. "Eyes of the World," Wake of the Flood, 1973

05. "Uncle John's Band," Workingman's Dead, 1970

04. "Touch of Grey," In the Dark, 1987

03. "Casey Jones," Workingman's Dead, 1970

02. "Truckin'," American Beauty, 1970

01. "Box of Rain," American Beauty, 1970

Debate, Deadheads.

Photo by www.sauer-thompson.com