{"product_id":"best-of-the-grateful-dead-1","title":"Best of the Grateful Dead","description":"Personnel: Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh (vocals, guitar, piano); Bob Weir (vocals, guitar); Ron \"Pigpen\" McKernan (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, organ, keyboards, congas, percussion); Keith Godchaux (vocals, piano, keyboards); Brent Mydland (vocals, keyboards); Donna Jean Godchaux (vocals); Tom Constanten (piano, keyboards); Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann (drums, percussion).\u003cbr\u003eLiner Note Author: Blair Jackson.\u003cbr\u003ePhotographers: Jim Marshall ; Herb Greene.\u003cbr\u003eOnly the second major career-spanning retrospective of the Dead, The Best of the Grateful Dead -- released in the spring of 2015, just before a series of farewell shows in the summer -- takes advantage of the extra disc 2003's The Very Best of Grateful Dead lacked. Weighing in at 32 tracks -- a full 16 cuts longer than Very Best -- The Best of the Grateful Dead also follows a strict chronological sequence, so it takes a little while for the psychedelic haze to lift and the Dead to settle into the rangy, rootsy groove that characterized so much of their existence -- right around \"St. Stephen\" and \"China Cat Sunflower,\" both from 1969's Aoxomoxoa. From there, many -- but by no means all -- of the group's warhorses are marched out, all in their studio incarnations. This structure perhaps invites some griping about their sometimes ill-advised attempts to ride commercial waves -- there's no disguising the disco diversion of \"Shakedown Street\" -- but by celebrating the warts and providing space for that unexpected late-'80s commercial comeback, The Best of the Grateful Dead is a good capsule history of a band that usually defies such straightforward narratives. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine","brand":"MovieMars","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45963283857695,"sku":"081227955984","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/7833\/0399\/files\/55730b727e03b86b1f77f97e36691441.jpg?v=1777738677","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemars.com\/products\/best-of-the-grateful-dead-1","provider":"MovieMars","version":"1.0","type":"link"}