The Vinyl Project: The Best of the Grateful Dead: Skeletons from the Closet (1974)
A Trip Thru Your Grooves - Episode 18
Release Date: 19-February-1974
Genre: Jam Bands/Rock/Folk Rock
Producer: Stephen Barncard, Betty Cantor, David Hassinger, the Grateful Dead, and Bob Matthews
Label: Warner Bros.
Time: 44m 53s
Review Date: 16-December-2018
Format: LP
Side One
A Deep Cut You'll Love: Friend of the Devil
An interesting note about this album: By leaving songs like Dire Wolf, Ripple, Box of Rain, High Time, and Bertha off this set, the label showed they never really understood the band nor its fans. In fact, other than St. Stephen, no songs from Anthem of the Sun or Aoxoamoxa are included on the album, the latter generally recognized as the Dead's greatest studio release.
Release Date: 19-February-1974
Genre: Jam Bands/Rock/Folk Rock
Producer: Stephen Barncard, Betty Cantor, David Hassinger, the Grateful Dead, and Bob Matthews
Label: Warner Bros.
Time: 44m 53s
Review Date: 16-December-2018
Format: LP
Side One
- The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)
- Truckin'
- Sugar Magnolia
- St. Stephen
- Uncle John's Band
- Casey Jones
- Mexicali Blues
- Turn on Your Love Light
- One More Saturday Night
- Friend of the Devil
Review: The Grateful Dead left Warner Bros. to start their own label with their own production and publishing arm after fulfilling their contract upon the release of Wake of the Flood. Warner Bros. wasn't very happy with that decision and decided that they would capitalize on the band's back catalog by releasing a compilation of songs with no input from the band. As if to say "thanks for nothing," they sanctioned an artist to design the cover using none of the band's trademark symbols.
Granted, the band might have conceded that the music belonged to the label, but the intellectual property did not, and denied them use. So, the geniuses at Warner Bros. had the artist create a different rendition of a skeleton smoking a hand-rolled cigarette and spinning a gold record on its middle finger. Goodbye. Good luck. Fuck you.
The back of the album features Marlon Brando, Jesus in a graduation cap and gown, and Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid playing poker. Above their head is an image of a flying saucer from the movie Plan 9 from Outer Space, generally regarded as the worst movie of all time. Goodbye. Good luck. Fuck you.
The album cover is really the only reason I own this album. Well, that and I picked it up for $1.99 at used record store.
I am a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, but have always liked their live stuff better than their studio stuff. It's hard to call this a greatest hits package because the only hit the band ever had was Touch of Grey, and that wasn't released until 1987. But it contains the obligatory FM radio staples Casey Jones, Truckin', Sugar Magnolia, and Uncle John's Band, plus two live songs in truncated format, Turn on Your Love Light (January 26, 1969 recording from the Avalon Ballroom) and One More Saturday Night (recorded May 26, 1972 at the Lyceum Theater in London during the band's Europe '72 tour). St. Stephen is probably my favorite GD song of all time, but the studio version pales in comparison to every single live performance ever recorded.
Hey Mike, did the Grateful Dead ever OFFICIALLY record a studio version of Mexicali Blues? No they did not, and great observation. That track was lifted from Bob Weir's solo album Ace, though the rest of the band did back him in the recording studio.
The band and the label did not often see eye to eye. This letter, from the label to the band's manager, Danny Rifkin, in 1967 is just one example:
Phil Lesh offered a nice return volley on the letter. Turn sideways to read his message.
The only redeeming value this album has is that it's a great introductory primer for those who want to discover the Grateful Dead. And mind you, this is no knock on the band. The Grateful Dead has recorded tens of thousands of hours of flawless studio and live music, and in fact, even when they are far from flawless, they're still flawless.
But give Warner Bros. a pat on the back for a successful cash grab. I'm not sure that the band earned any money from the sale of this album. The recording contracts in those days gave full exclusivity to the labels into perpetuity and since the band had exercised its right to leave Warner Bros., the label probably owed no royalties to the band based on its sales.
And sell it did. Skeletons from the Closet is certified gold as of 1980. They probably should have called it Exhuming the Dead, which is basically what the label did. It remains the biggest-selling album by the band as of 2018.
Still, it's at least an enjoyable listen, and the cover art, as excruciating as it is, remains a great conversation starter over a beer (or a few) with your non-Dead Head friends, and a great way to introduce them to the band.
Make no mistake, however, the Grateful Dead was not a singles band, and a greatest hits album from a band that rarely got radio airplay is actually laughable. Based on the legacy the band has generated, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann garnered the last laugh.
Best Songs: St. Stephen, Casey Jones, Truckin', Sugar Magnolia, Uncle John's BandGranted, the band might have conceded that the music belonged to the label, but the intellectual property did not, and denied them use. So, the geniuses at Warner Bros. had the artist create a different rendition of a skeleton smoking a hand-rolled cigarette and spinning a gold record on its middle finger. Goodbye. Good luck. Fuck you.
The back of the album features Marlon Brando, Jesus in a graduation cap and gown, and Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid playing poker. Above their head is an image of a flying saucer from the movie Plan 9 from Outer Space, generally regarded as the worst movie of all time. Goodbye. Good luck. Fuck you.
The album cover is really the only reason I own this album. Well, that and I picked it up for $1.99 at used record store.
I am a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, but have always liked their live stuff better than their studio stuff. It's hard to call this a greatest hits package because the only hit the band ever had was Touch of Grey, and that wasn't released until 1987. But it contains the obligatory FM radio staples Casey Jones, Truckin', Sugar Magnolia, and Uncle John's Band, plus two live songs in truncated format, Turn on Your Love Light (January 26, 1969 recording from the Avalon Ballroom) and One More Saturday Night (recorded May 26, 1972 at the Lyceum Theater in London during the band's Europe '72 tour). St. Stephen is probably my favorite GD song of all time, but the studio version pales in comparison to every single live performance ever recorded.
Hey Mike, did the Grateful Dead ever OFFICIALLY record a studio version of Mexicali Blues? No they did not, and great observation. That track was lifted from Bob Weir's solo album Ace, though the rest of the band did back him in the recording studio.
The band and the label did not often see eye to eye. This letter, from the label to the band's manager, Danny Rifkin, in 1967 is just one example:
Phil Lesh offered a nice return volley on the letter. Turn sideways to read his message.
The only redeeming value this album has is that it's a great introductory primer for those who want to discover the Grateful Dead. And mind you, this is no knock on the band. The Grateful Dead has recorded tens of thousands of hours of flawless studio and live music, and in fact, even when they are far from flawless, they're still flawless.
But give Warner Bros. a pat on the back for a successful cash grab. I'm not sure that the band earned any money from the sale of this album. The recording contracts in those days gave full exclusivity to the labels into perpetuity and since the band had exercised its right to leave Warner Bros., the label probably owed no royalties to the band based on its sales.
And sell it did. Skeletons from the Closet is certified gold as of 1980. They probably should have called it Exhuming the Dead, which is basically what the label did. It remains the biggest-selling album by the band as of 2018.
Still, it's at least an enjoyable listen, and the cover art, as excruciating as it is, remains a great conversation starter over a beer (or a few) with your non-Dead Head friends, and a great way to introduce them to the band.
Make no mistake, however, the Grateful Dead was not a singles band, and a greatest hits album from a band that rarely got radio airplay is actually laughable. Based on the legacy the band has generated, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann garnered the last laugh.
A Deep Cut You'll Love: Friend of the Devil
An interesting note about this album: By leaving songs like Dire Wolf, Ripple, Box of Rain, High Time, and Bertha off this set, the label showed they never really understood the band nor its fans. In fact, other than St. Stephen, no songs from Anthem of the Sun or Aoxoamoxa are included on the album, the latter generally recognized as the Dead's greatest studio release.
- Previous Review: Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin (1969)
- Up Next: Superfly (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Curtis Mayfield (1972)
- A link to all my LP reviews
Comments
Post a Comment