By 1969, the Grateful Dead's marathon free-form performances were fundamentally expanding the known boundaries of rock music. Grateful Dead Records' new 3-CD gold mine presents a bounty of iconic Dead songs recorded at the... more »ir now-historic Fillmore West dates from February 27 to March 2, 1969. Indulge in the essential Grateful Dead at the Fillmore in 1969, the cosmic peak of their phenomenal rise to global superstardom.« less
By 1969, the Grateful Dead's marathon free-form performances were fundamentally expanding the known boundaries of rock music. Grateful Dead Records' new 3-CD gold mine presents a bounty of iconic Dead songs recorded at their now-historic Fillmore West dates from February 27 to March 2, 1969. Indulge in the essential Grateful Dead at the Fillmore in 1969, the cosmic peak of their phenomenal rise to global superstardom.
CD Reviews
Gotta Have It
Kenneth M. Goodman | Cleveland, Ohio United States | 12/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Highlights:
Disk one: Morning Dew: grittier version while retaining staggering beauty. Doin' That Rag: quirky song that sticks in your mind, then really pays off with kewl Jerry guitar solo at the end.
Disk two: DARK STAR: Energetic as well as psychedelic; if you're a lover & collector of Dark Stars...you gotta have it.
The Eleven: Other than the "Filmore East 2/11/69" version, this is the best Eleven jam I've ever heard...very creative.
Disk three: JAM: Fantastic jam, goes through several changes...
all extraordinary. It really has a power."
Takes Off Where "Live Dead" Started.
Hurley 4815 | Florida | 12/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Now that I have this set I am gonna be sorry I never sprung for the 10 disc complete Fillmore 69 stand. That was limited to 10,000 copies. Guess that's how the Dead pays the bills these day. We keep buying this stuff.
The sound quality is amazing. This was the first live recording to use a 16 track. Darkstar is amazing, but different than the performance on "live dead." Unlike the original Allman Brother's Live at Fillmore, there are no splices, every performance is as it happened. Morning Dew is one of the three best I have ever heard. Get it."
The real Deadhead deal is right here.
Phil | Simpsonville, Seychelles | 11/22/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is by far the best pre 70's Grateful Dead music out there. This is a small slice of the four night show in 1969 at the Fillmore west. Any Deadhead that does not pick this up is being unfaithful to the band. The 10 CD box set is now history. The version of Dark star is awsome, jamming St. Stephen and pigpen heats up the harmonica. Get this today, [...]This set of tunes has a lot of long jams and sounds great.
[...]"
Snapshot from their peak years
Timothy G. Niland | New Jersey, USA | 09/20/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This three-disc set tracks the Grateful Dead's performances during the height of their early power. The material collected here had been previously bootlegged by the Dead's legion of collecting fans, but this official release cherry picks the finest performances and adds lengthy liner notes and many color photographs to create a nice package. While the music contained herein demonstrates the breadth of the bands music, certain things do stand out. For me it was Ron "Pigpen" McKernan lending the band some bluesy credibility that they may have otherwise lacked. Pigpen plays swirling organ and some strong harmonica throughout the music, but is heard to best effect on the blues songs he took lead vocals on.
He leads the band through an absolutely charging version of Bobby Bland's "Turn on Your Lovelight" and sings with great authority on Muddy Waters' "King Bee" and John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl." The rest of the band is certainly not to be undone, as the music alternates between spacey on "Mountains on the Moon," "Dark Star" and blasting rock and roll on tracks like "Cosmic Charlie" and the go-for-broke final concert ending medley jam. In a sense this music would be the high water mark of the band's early period, with a shift to acoustic instruments and the first of many personnel additions and subtractions on the way. Still, this is a great snapshot of one of the finest live-performance bands in rock and roll history."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1