Historic Dead
Encyclopedia
Historic Dead is a live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead
. It was recorded at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California in the autumn of 1966, and released in June 1971.
Historic Dead was produced as a vinyl LP
on the Sunflower Records
label and distributed by MGM Records
. Sunflower had purchased the rights to a number of concert recordings from the Avalon, including some by the Grateful Dead. Historic Dead is therefore not a bootleg album
. However, the band did not participate in its production. The album reached number 154 on the Billboard 200
. It has long been out of print, and has never been issued on CD
.
Historic Dead was preceded by another Sunflower Records album recorded at the Avalon in 1966, Vintage Dead
.
Side two
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. It was recorded at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California in the autumn of 1966, and released in June 1971.
Historic Dead was produced as a vinyl LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
on the Sunflower Records
Sunflower Records
Sunflower Records was a Los Angeles, California-based record label founded by songwriter Mack David and music industry veteran Danny Kessler that operated from 1970 to 1972. The label was distributed by MGM Records...
label and distributed by MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
. Sunflower had purchased the rights to a number of concert recordings from the Avalon, including some by the Grateful Dead. Historic Dead is therefore not a bootleg album
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
. However, the band did not participate in its production. The album reached number 154 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. It has long been out of print, and has never been issued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Historic Dead was preceded by another Sunflower Records album recorded at the Avalon in 1966, Vintage Dead
Vintage Dead
Vintage Dead is a live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California in the autumn of 1966, and released in October 1970....
.
Track listing
Side one- "Good Morning Little SchoolgirlGood Morning, School Girl"Good Morning, School Girl" or "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" is a blues standard that has been "covered countless times across the decades"...
" (Sonny Boy WilliamsonSonny Boy Williamson ISonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
) – 11:01 - "Lindy" (Will ShadeWill ShadeWill Shade was an African American Memphis blues musician, best known for his membership in the Memphis Jug Band. Shade was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimmer, because "son" is short for "grandson"...
, Jab Jones) – 2:49
Side two
- "Stealin'Stealin'Stealin' is an American folk song from the 1920s. The song is particularly identified with the jug band tradition, but gained wider popularity after several folk and blues artists recorded it in the 1960s....
" (Will Shade, Gus CannonGus CannonGus Cannon was an American blues musician, who helped to popularize jug bands in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874....
) – 3:00 - "The Same Thing" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 12:01
Grateful Dead
- Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Bob WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, vocals - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, vocals - Phil LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Bill KreutzmannBill KreutzmannBill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Production
- Produced and engineered by Robert Cohen
- Edited and remixed by Richard Delvy
- Album design by Robert Hickson