# The Best of the Grateful Dead Live

The Best of the Grateful Dead Live is a greatest hits album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains songs that were recorded live in concert and previously released on other Grateful Dead live albums. It was released on March 23, 2018.

## Production

According to producer David Lemieux, "We wanted to follow up the 2015 The Best of the Grateful Dead studio set with a live counterpart, and have focused our efforts on the band's primary live albums as well as some key tracks from archival concert releases."

## Critical reception

On AllMusic, Timothy Monger said, "Created as a counterpart to their 2015 two-disc Best of the Grateful Dead studio collection, The Best of the Grateful Dead Live includes highlights culled from the band's commercially released concert albums on the Warner Bros. and Arista labels as well as a handful of live selections from their own personal archives."
In All About Jazz, Doug Collette wrote, "The Best of the Grateful Dead Live doesn't purport to be comprehensive, but it does offer the novice virtually all the necessary touch-points by which to become more intimately acquainted with the unit's entire body of work (the exception, omitted no doubt by time constraints: any example of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's extended stage spotlights)."

## Track listing

Disc one :
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Previously released | Length |
| 1. | "St. Stephen" | Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Robert Hunter | February 27, 1969 Fillmore West San Francisco | Live/Dead | 6:37 |
| 2. | "Bertha" | Garcia, Hunter | April 27, 1971 Fillmore East New York City | Grateful Dead | 5:42 |
| 3. | "Wharf Rat" | Garcia, Hunter | April 26, 1971 Fillmore East New York City | Grateful Dead | 8:32 |
| 4. | "Sugar Magnolia" | Bob Weir, Hunter | May 4, 1972 Olympia Theatre Paris | Europe '72 | 7:10 |
| 5. | "Jack Straw" | Weir, Hunter | May 3, 1972 Olympia Theatre Paris | Europe '72 | 4:48 |
| 6. | "Truckin'" | Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Hunter | May 26, 1972 Lyceum Theatre London | Europe '72 | 13:07 |
| 7. | "Morning Dew" | Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose | May 26, 1972 Lyceum Theatre London | Europe '72 | 11:28 |
| 8. | "Brown-Eyed Women" | Garcia, Hunter | April 14, 1972 Tivoli Concert Hall Copenhagen | Europe '72 | 4:37 |
| 9. | "The Music Never Stopped" | Weir, John Barlow | August 13, 1975 Great American Music Hall San Francisco | One from the Vault | 5:28 |
| 10. | "Estimated Prophet" | Weir, Barlow | May 8, 1977 Barton Hall Ithaca, New York | Cornell 5/8/77 | 8:44 |
| Disc two ||||||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Previously released | Length |
| 1. | "Friend of the Devil" | Garcia, John Dawson, Hunter | October 27, 1980 Radio City Music Hall New York City | Dead Set | 7:32 |
| 2. | "Feel Like a Stranger" | Weir, Barlow | October 4, 1980 Warfield Theatre San Francisco | Dead Set | 5:46 |
| 3. | "Fire on the Mountain" | Mickey Hart, Hunter | October 31, 1980 Radio City Music Hall New York City | Dead Set | 6:47 |
| 4. | "Bird Song" | Garcia, Hunter | October 14, 1980 Warfield Theatre San Francisco | Reckoning | 7:38 |
| 5. | "Ripple" | Garcia, Hunter | October 4, 1980 Warfield Theatre San Francisco | Reckoning | 4:26 |
| 6. | "Eyes of the World" | Garcia, Hunter | March 29, 1990 Nassau Coliseum Uniondale, New York | Without a Net | 16:13 |
| 7. | "Touch of Grey" | Garcia, Hunter | July 4, 1989 Rich Stadium Orchard Park, New York | Truckin' Up to Buffalo | 6:30 |
| 8. | "Blow Away" | Brent Mydland, Hunter | July 7, 1989 John F. Kennedy Stadium Philadelphia | Crimson White & Indigo | 12:19 |
| 9. | "So Many Roads" | Garcia, Hunter | July 9, 1995 Soldier Field Chicago | So Many Roads | 9:35 |

## Personnel

Grateful Dead
* Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
* Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
* Phil Lesh – bass, vocals
* Bill Kreutzmann – drums, percussion
* Mickey Hart – drums, percussion on "St. Stephen", "The Music Never Stopped", "Estimated Prophet", "Friend of the Devil", "Feel Like a Stranger", "Fire on the Mountain", "Bird Song", "Ripple", "Eyes of the World", "Touch of Grey", "Blow Away", "So Many Roads"
* Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, harmonica, percussion, vocals on "St. Stephen", "Bertha", "Wharf Rat", "Sugar Magnolia", "Jack Straw", "Truckin'", "Morning Dew", "Brown-Eyed Women"
* Tom Constanten – keyboards on "St. Stephen"
* Keith Godchaux – keyboards on "Sugar Magnolia", "Jack Straw", "Truckin'", "Morning Dew", "Brown-Eyed Women", "The Music Never Stopped", "Estimated Prophet"
* Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals on "Sugar Magnolia", "Jack Straw", "Truckin'", "Morning Dew", "Brown-Eyed Women", "The Music Never Stopped", "Estimated Prophet"
* Brent Mydland – keyboards, vocals on "Friend of the Devil", "Feel Like a Stranger", "Fire on the Mountain", "Bird Song", "Ripple", "Eyes of the World", "Touch of Grey", "Blow Away"
* Vince Welnick – keyboards, vocals on "So Many Roads"
Additional musicians
* Merl Saunders – organ on "Bertha", "Wharf Rat"
* Branford Marsalis – saxophone on "Eyes of the World"

## Charts

| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) | 37 |
| US Billboard 200 | 167 |