What a Long Strange Trip It's Been | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | August 18, 1977 | |||
Recorded | 1967–1972 | |||
Genre | Jam rock, roots rock, psychedelic rock | |||
Length | 85:38 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Grateful Dead, Paul L. Wexler | |||
Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [2] |
Rolling Stone | [3] |
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is the second compilation album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was released August 18, 1977, by Warner Bros. Records, three and a half years after the Skeletons from the Closet compilation. Both albums are subtitled "The Best of the Grateful Dead". Unlike the previous compilation, What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a double album.
After the Grateful Dead had completed their contract with Warner Bros. and begun self-releasing their recordings, the label released Skeletons from the Closet. The compilation of tracks from their back catalog was successful, and when the band moved onto Arista Records in 1977 to record Terrapin Station , Warner Bros. released a second, larger compilation of tracks from the 1967–1972 period.
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a two-record set, with mostly studio tracks collected on the first disc and all live tracks on the second. Sixteen of the tracks are taken from previously released albums. Two tracks are single versions previously unavailable on album: the studio version of "Dark Star", and its B-side, the single mix of Anthem of the Sun's "Born Cross-Eyed". The Grateful Dead's most recognizable song at the time, "Truckin'," is the only track used on both compilations. "St. Stephen" appears again, though this time in a live version (an excerpt of the Live/Dead track). Of the nine original Warner Bros. albums, the only one unrepresented is Anthem of the Sun (aside from its associated single). [4]
The title comes from the bridge of "Truckin'", which ends with the stanza:
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been.
The cover art is darkly themed, with red, Old English Gothic script and a black skeleton graphic against a black background. The metallized skeleton (less distinct on some printings) is an air-brushed image by Rick Griffin, who had created several previous album covers for the band. The back cover features the rear view of the skeleton, with the text reversed. The inside of the gatefold features the first appearance of the iconic "dancing skeletons" graphic, rendered in white. Also featured are photographs of the band in concert. However, rather than dating from the Warner Bros. era, they are from October 1976 (see Dick's Picks Volume 33 ).
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been was released as a double CD in 1989, after sales of the band's albums had been revitalized by In the Dark . Like its predecessor compilation, it has achieved Platinum sales certification (in 2001). [5]
Certification | Date |
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Gold [5] | August 24, 2001 |
Platinum [5] |
Ronald Charles McKernan, known as Pigpen, was an American musician. He was a founding member of the San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972.
Live/Dead is the first official live album released by the rock band Grateful Dead. Recorded over a series of concerts in early 1969 and released later the same year, it was the first live rock album to use 16-track recording.
Robert Hall Weir is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, which he co-led with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. In 2015, Weir, along with former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined with Grammy-winning singer/guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form the band Dead & Company.
Aoxomoxoa is the third studio album by American rock band the Grateful Dead, released on June 20, 1969, by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. It was one of the first rock albums to be recorded using 16-track technology. The title is a meaningless palindrome, usually pronounced.
Grateful Dead is a live album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released on September 24, 1971 on Warner Bros. Records, it is their second live double album and their seventh album overall. Although published without a title, it is generally known by the names Skull and Roses and Skull Fuck. It was the group's first album to be certified gold by the RIAA and remained their best seller until surpassed by Skeletons from the Closet.
Europe '72 is a live triple album by the Grateful Dead, released in November 1972. It is the band's third live album and their eighth album overall. It covers the band's tour of Western Europe in April and May that year, and showcases live favorites, extended improvisations and several new songs including "Jack Straw" and "Brown Eyed Women". The album was the first to include pianist Keith Godchaux and his wife, vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, and the last to feature founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, who died shortly after its release.
Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings is a 10-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains four complete concerts recorded on February 27, February 28, March 1, and March 2, 1969, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. The album was remixed from the original 16-track concert soundboard tapes. It was released as a box set in November 2005, in a limited edition of 10,000 copies.
"Dark Star" is a song released as a single by the Grateful Dead on Warner Bros. Records in 1968. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia; however, compositional credit is sometimes extended to include Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bob Weir. "Dark Star" was an early Grateful Dead classic, which the group often used as a vehicle for extended jam sessions during live performances. One such performance, lasting 23 minutes, was included on the Dead's breakthrough 1969 album Live/Dead and is the best-known version of the song. "Dark Star" is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and was ranked at number 57 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead is the first compilation album from rock band the Grateful Dead. It was originally released in February 1974. As with other such packages, the album was a way for Warner Bros. Records to capitalize on the Dead's back catalog after the band had left the label. It was followed three years later by a second compilation, What a Long Strange Trip It's Been.
The Golden Road (1965–1973) is a twelve-CD box set of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums released during their time with Warner Bros. Records, from 1965 to 1973. After 1973, the band went on to create its own label, Grateful Dead Records. Also included in the box set is a two-disc bonus album, Birth of the Dead, containing very early recordings of the band.
"Truckin'" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album American Beauty. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.
The Very Best of Grateful Dead is a single-CD compilation album chronicling all the years of the San Francisco psychedelic band the Grateful Dead. It is the first release to document every label the band recorded on: Warner Bros. Records, Grateful Dead Records/United Artists Records and Arista Records. It was released on September 16, 2003.
Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 is a live album by American rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains two CDs and one DVD and was released in 2008. The album was recorded September 15 & 16, 1978, at the Giza pyramid complex in Giza, Egypt. This was the third continent on which the band performed, having previously performed in Europe. The shows on the album were recorded on a 24-track multitrack recorder and were mixed down to stereo for the album's release.
Road Trips Volume 3 Number 2 is two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The tenth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was released on February 24, 2010. It contains the complete concert recorded on November 15, 1971, at Austin Memorial Auditorium in Austin, Texas. This concert was the 16th concert after Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead on piano. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan did not perform at this or any of the October and November, 1971 concerts due to poor health.
Road Trips Volume 3 Number 3 is a live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. Recorded on May 15, 1970, and released on June 14, 2010, it was the 11th of the "Road Trips" series of albums, and the first to contain three discs instead of two.
The Warner Bros. Studio Albums is a box set of five vinyl LPs by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It is a reissue of their first five studio albums: The Grateful Dead (1967), Anthem of the Sun (1968), Aoxomoxoa (1969), Workingman's Dead (1970), and American Beauty (1970). These albums were originally released by Warner Bros. Records. The box set was released by Rhino Records on September 21, 2010.
Europe '72: The Complete Recordings is a box set of live recordings by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Billed as a "mega box set", it contains all of the band's spring 1972 concert tour of Europe—22 complete shows, on 73 CDs. It was released on September 1, 2011.
Dave's Picks Volume 14 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead containing the concert recorded March 26, 1972 at the Academy of Music in New York City It was released on May 1, 2015 as a limited edition of 16,500 numbered copies. Recorded during a seven-day run at the venue, the shows were the final American Grateful Dead shows before the Europe '72 tour commenced.
July 1978: The Complete Recordings is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Packaged as a box set, and produced as a limited edition of 15,000 copies, it contains five complete concerts on twelve CDs. It was released on May 13, 2016.
Dave's Picks Volume 30 is a 3-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete early and late shows recorded on January 2, 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York City, along with five songs from the band's performances at the same venue the following night. It was released on May 3, 2019 in a limited edition of 20,000 copies.