History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice)
| History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice) |
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| Live album by Grateful Dead | ||||
| Released | July 13, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | February 13–14, 1970 | |||
| Genre | Jam, rock, folk rock, blues | |||
| Length | 47:28 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Owsley Stanley | |||
| Compiler | Owsley Stanley | |||
| Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Rolling Stone | Mixed |
History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice) is a live album by the Grateful Dead. Released in July 1973 on Warner Bros. Records, it offers concert highlights recorded February 13 and 14, 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York City. Known simply as Bear's Choice, the title references band soundman Owsley "Bear" Stanley. It was originally intended to be the first volume of a series.
The album peaked at number 60 on the Billboard 200.
The album was recorded during a period when the Grateful Dead were playing concerts consisting of electric sets, plus an acoustic set, revisiting their roots as a folk/jug band. Reflecting this approach (though it was ultimately released three years later), the album has an acoustic side and an electric side. As per policy at the time at promoter Bill Graham's Fillmore East, the band played both an early show and a late show. The recordings were culled from the February 13 & 14, 1970 late shows (bonus tracks on reissues include contemporaneous recordings from Graham's Fillmore West, in San Francisco). Dick's Picks Volume 4, an album released in 1996, offers additional material from these same performances.
The original album was recorded and produced by Owsley "Bear" Stanley, the Dead's then-soundman, who chose his favorite tracks. He compiled it as a tribute of sorts to Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, the band's original keyboard player and blues aficionado, who died during the production of the release. As such, it features three songs on which Pigpen sings lead, including all of side two.
Band manager Rock Scully said "Pigpen went out on the stage and sat down in a chair ... it was the only time he ever did it. He sat down and played the bottleneck guitar. We’d been pushing him for years to do it and finally he just got loose enough and comfortable enough with the audience there at the Fillmore to go out and do it. He went out and sat down on the stage — it was Valentine’s Day and he had a honey out in the crowd. He went out and played ‘Katie Mae’ to her. Immediately following that, Bobby (Weir) and Garcia went out and did the same thing. They sat down and played acoustic guitars. They don’t do that anymore."
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