The Golden Road (1965-1973)

Disc 1
1	Early Morning Rain previously unreleased 3:22
2	I Know You Rider previously unreleased 2:41
3	Mindbender (Confusion's Prince) previously unreleased 2:41
4	The Only Time Is Now previously unreleased 2:24
5	Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) 3:17
6	Can't Come Down 3:04
7	Stealin' previously unreleased / Instrumental 2:40
8	Stealin' With Vocals 2:36
9	Don't Ease Me In previously unreleased / Instrumental 2:01
10	Don't Ease Me In With Vocals 2:02
11	You Don't Have to Ask previously unreleased 3:35
12	Tastebud previously unreleased / Instrumental 7:04
13	Tastebud previously unreleased / With Vocals 4:35
14	I Know You Rider previously unreleased 2:36
15	Cold Rain and Snow previously unreleased 3:15
16	Cold Rain and Snow With Vocals 3:17
17	Fire in the City / Jon Hendricks 3:19
Disc 2
1	Viola Lee Blues previously unreleased 9:39
2	Don't Ease Me In previously unreleased 2:43
3	Pain in My Heart previously unreleased 4:24
4	Sitting on Top of the World previously unreleased 3:51
5	It's All Over Now, Baby Blue previously unreleased 5:12
6	I'm a King Bee previously unreleased 8:52
7	Big Boss Man previously unreleased 5:11
8	Standing on the Corner previously unreleased 3:46
9	In the Pines previously unreleased 4:55
10	Nobody's Fault But Mine previously unreleased 4:15
11	Next Time You See Me previously unreleased 2:47
12	One Kind Favor previously unreleased 3:44
13	He Was a Friend of Mine previously unreleased 4:45
14	Keep Rolling By previously unreleased 7:57
Disc 3
1	The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion) 2:11
2	Beat It on Down the Line 2:30
3	Good Morning Little Schoolgirl Full Length Version 6:35
4	Cold Rain and Snow 2:29
5	Sitting on Top of the World Full-Length Version 2:46
6	Cream Puff War Full Length Version 3:20
7	Morning Dew Full Length Version 5:19
8	New, New Minglewood Blues Full Length Version 2:44
9	Viola Lee Blues 10:23
10	Alice D. Millionaire Bonus Track 2:24
11	Overseas Stomp (The Lindy) Bonus Track 2:27
12	Tastebud Bonus Track 4:21
13	Death Don't Have No Mercy Bonus Track 5:23
14	Viola Lee Blues Bonus Track / Edited Version 3:05
15	Viola Lee Blues Bonus Track 23:13
Disc 4
1	That's It for the Other One: Cryptical Envelopment/Quadlibet for ... 7:40
2	New Potato Caboose 8:26
3	Born Cross-Eyed 2:07
4	Alligator 11:20
5	Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) 9:50
6	Alligator Bonus Track 18:43
7	Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) Bonus Track 11:38
8	Feedback Bonus Track 6:58
9	[Untitled Track] 2:55
Disc 5
1	St. Stephen 4:27
2	Dupree's Diamond Blues 3:34
3	Rosemary 2:00
4	Doin' That Rag 4:44
5	Mountains of the Moon 4:04
6	China Cat Sunflower 3:42
7	What's Become of the Baby 8:13
8	Cosmic Charlie 5:44
9	Clementine Jam Bonus Track 10:51
10	Nobody's Spoonful Jam Bonus Track 10:09
11	The Eleven Jam Bonus Track 15:05
12	Cosmic Charlie Bonus Track 6:47
Disc 6
1	Dark Star 23:18
2	St. Stephen 6:31
3	The Eleven 9:18
4	Turn on Your Love Light 15:05
5	Death Don't Have No Mercy 10:28
6	Feedback 7:49
7	And We Bid You Goodnight 3:13
8	[Untitled Track] 2:44
9	[Untitled Track] 1:00
Disc 7
1	Uncle John's Band 4:45
2	High Time 5:14
3	Dire Wolf 3:14
4	New Speedway Boogie 4:06
5	Cumberland Blues 3:16
6	Black Peter 5:43
7	Easy Wind 4:58
8	Casey Jones 4:38
9	New Speedway Boogie previously unreleased / Bonus Track / Alternative Mix 4:10
10	Dire Wolf Bonus Track 2:31
11	Black Peter Bonus Track 9:07
12	Easy Wind Bonus Track 8:09
13	Cumberland Blues Bonus Track 4:52
14	Mason's Children Bonus Track 6:32
15	Uncle John's Band Bonus Track 7:57
16	[Untitled Track] 0:31
Disc 8
1	Box of Rain 5:18
2	Friend of the Devil 3:24
3	Sugar Magnolia 3:19
4	Operator 2:25
5	Candy Man 6:13
6	Ripple 4:09
7	Brokedown Palace 4:09
8	Till the Morning Comes 3:09
9	Attics of My Life 5:14
10	Truckin' 5:17
11	Truckin' Bonus Track / Single Version 3:17
12	Friend of the Devil Bonus Track 4:21
13	Candy Man Bonus Track 5:18
14	Till the Morning Comes Bonus Track 3:20
15	Attics of My Life Bonus Track 6:31
16	Truckin' Bonus Track 10:10
17	[Untitled Track] 3:01
18	[Untitled Track] 1:10
Disc 9
1	Bertha 5:43
2	Mama Tried 2:43
3	Big Railroad Blues 3:35
4	Playing in the Band 4:40
5	The Other One 18:07
6	Me & My Uncle 3:04
7	Big Boss Man 5:14
8	Me and Bobbie McGee 5:42
9	Johnny B. Goode 3:44
10	Wharf Rat 8:32
11	Not Fade Away/Goin' Down the Road Feelin Bad 9:26
12	Oh, Boy! Bonus Track 2:50
13	I'm a Hog for You Bonus Track 5:20
14	[Untitled Track] 1:00
Disc 10
1	Cumberland Blues 5:43
2	He's Gone 6:57
3	One More Saturday Night 4:49
4	Jack Straw 4:49
5	You Win Again 4:00
6	China Cat Sunflower 5:32
7	I Know You Rider 5:03
8	Brown-Eyed Woman 4:38
9	It Hurts Me Too 7:20
10	Ramble on Rose 6:04
11	Sugar Magnolia 7:10
12	Mr. Charlie 3:39
13	Tennessee Jed 7:18
14	The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion) Bonus Track 6:50
Disc 11
1	Truckin' 13:06
2	Epilogue 5:10
3	Prelude 7:38
4	Morning Dew 11:41
5	Looks Like Rain Bonus Track 7:37
6	Good Lovin' Bonus Track 18:30
7	Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) Bonus Track 4:39
8	Who Do You Love? Bonus Track 0:23
9	Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks) Bonus Track 1:44
10	Good Lovin' Bonus Track 3:09
11	[Untitled Track] 5:59
Disc 12
1	Katie Mae 4:44
2	Dark Hollow 3:52
3	I've Been All Around This World 4:18
4	Wake Up Little Susie 2:31
5	Black Peter 7:27
6	Smokestack Lightnin' 17:59
7	Hard to Handle 6:29
8	Good Lovin' Bonus Track 8:56
9	Big Boss Man Bonus Track 4:53
10	Smokestack Lightnin' Bonus Track / Version Two 15:11
11	Sitting on Top of the World 3:20

Barnes & Noble

Capturing the whole story of the Grateful Dead's most creative period in one package might seem a nearly impossible task, but this remarkable 12-CD collection comes pretty darn close. Using the band's seminal Warner Bros. studio albums as a foundation, The Golden Road builds out and up, appending more than seven hours of previously unreleased studio material that connects the dots of the creative process and illuminates the band's earliest days in fascinating detail. The latter effort comes to fruition on a two-disc foray dubbed "Birth of the Dead," which collects recordings made under the names the Warlocks and the Emergency Crew. Those tracks display both a disarming gentleness (in evidence on a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain") and the nascence of that fierce improvisation (in full effect on two versions of "Pigpen" McKernan's "Tastebud"). By the time they'd recorded their self-titled debut, the Grateful Dead had developed a dual reputation as stylists and jammers, and both skills are driven home on the bonus tracks appended to the remastered disc contained here -- included are a topsy-turvy version of the pre-WWII dance hit "The Lindy Hop" as well as a 23-minute spiral into "Viola Lee Blues." Each of the discs -- which are packaged separately, with individual 16-page booklets containing new essays by such noted Dead associates as Owsley "Bear" Stanley, David Gans, and Blair Jackson -- is outfitted with several bonuses. The additional tracks on Anthem of the Sun emphasize the live side of the band, via extended versions of "Alligator" and "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)," both of which date to an 8/23/68 Los Angeles date. Those on Aoxomoxoa zero in on the band's in-studio improvisations, unspooling 15 jaw-dropping minutes of "The Eleven" and a bubbling 10-minute "Nobody's Spoonful Jam." And while epic jams are a big part of the band's appeal, scattered gems like the rare single edits of "Dark Star" and "Truckin' " reveal that size isn't the only thing that matters in the Dead catalogue. Workingman's Dead, revamped with live versions of several songs from the original release, boasts a surprisingly dark alternate version of "New Speedway Boogie," while the expanded American Beauty adds several live tracks that gently amplify the disc's rustic acoustic nature. The set winds up with extended versions of their two early-'70s live albums. Live/Dead appends sinewy versions of "I'm a Hog for You Baby" (their last-ever performance of the song) and "Oh Boy" (the first and only electric performance of the tune), while Europe '72 adds a six-pack of bonus tracks, including a searing "Who Do You Love?" Extravagantly packaged and immaculately annotated (the custom box includes an 80-page booklet featuring a band history from longtime Dead spokesman Dennis McNally, rare photos, reproductions of memorabilia, and a detailed group discography), this fascinating set is sure to sate -- and create -- Deadheads for many a moon to come. David Sprague

All Music Guide

The primary impetus behind this ambitious 12-disc box set is to gather all nine of the Grateful Dead's Warner Brothers titles. However, the staggeringly high quotient of previously unissued bonus material rivals -- and at times exceeds -- the content of those original albums. The Golden Road (1965-1973) truly has something -- and usually a lot of it -- for every degree of Deadhead. Working chronologically, the bonus material begins before the beginning so to speak, with the two-disc sub-compilation aptly titled "Birth of the Dead," a project actually green-lighted by Jerry Garcia in the mid-'80s. Disc one features studio recordings by a primordial incarnation of the band known as the Warlocks and later the Emergency Crew. Disc two contrasts their studio efforts with some of the earliest surviving live Grateful Dead recordings from July of 1966. While enthusiasts and critics have long been divided in their assessment of the Grateful Dead's pre-psychedelia, there is no denying the decidedly raw and vital garage rock intensity that became unique to this era. Even ballads and standards, such as "In the Pines" or the flawlessly emotive cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue," resonate and glisten with an inarticulate, yet palpable energy. The Dead would ink a deal with Warner Brothers in late 1966, yielding four and a half studio albums and four and a half live packages. It is difficult to ultimately classify this collection, as it contains both live and studio performances, sometimes simultaneously. While each of these albums have been on CD prior to this collection, the remastering and use of HDCD technology renders those discs superfluous. Purists should take note, however, as several tracks from the Grateful Dead's self-titled debut -- including "Good Morning Little School Girl," "Cream Puff War," and "Sitting on Top of the World" -- have in fact been remixed as well as fadeouts extended to include the entire performance. There are a few significant studio tracks added as bonus material on the other albums within the box. Of particular note are the trio of instrumental jams which augment Aoxomoxoa. However, the vast majority of the additional content consists of previously unissued concert performances. Most of these reflect on-stage what was happening concurrently in the studio. Each album is individually housed in a cardboard digi-pack with a 15-page liner-notes booklet. Additionally, there is a separate full-color 75-plus-page softbound book which features an extended essay by Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNalley, as well as a selected discography and page upon page of rarely published photographs and memorabilia. Lindsay Planer

Blender

Deadheads will think all their birthdays have come at once. Peter Kane