The Grateful Dead have gotten into the holiday spirit with the release of Merry and Grateful, a compilation album featuring highlights from December shows throughout the 1970s, plus one 1992 show. All of the recordings have appeared on previous Grateful Dead archival releases, including Dick’s Picks, the band’s digital download series, and box sets.
The 30-track, four-hour Merry and Grateful spans from the Dead’s December 10th, 1971 show at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, MO (released in 2021 on the Listen to the River box set) through December 16th, 1992, on the band’s home turf at Oakland Coliseum (released as Dick’s Picks #27). The bulk of the album, however, falls between the ’71 St. Louis show and the closing of San Francisco’s Winterland Arena on December 31st, 1978.
The tracks are arranged to resemble a single Grateful Dead show, starting with opener “Bertha” before getting going with “China Cat Sunflower” > “I Know You Rider”, all from December 10th, 1973 at the Charlotte Coliseum in North Carolina (Download Series Volume 8). A fiery, 14-minute “Sugaree” highlights 12/29/77 (the inaugural Dick’s Picks #1) before things slow down with an easy ’92 “Row Jimmy” and Bob Weir‘s expansive “Let It Grow” to follow.
But the meat of the compilation comes from 12/26/79 (Dick’s Picks #5) at Oakland Coliseum, contributing 12 of the 30 total songs. Listening through, it makes sense why this whole chunk was included, as the Dead move uninterrupted through a sequence of “Uncle John’s Band” > “Estimated Prophet” > “He’s Gone” > “The Other One” > “Drums” > “Not Fade Away” > “Brokedown Palace” > “Around and Around”.
Winding down with Chuck Berry‘s “Johnny B. Goode” and “Run Rudolph Run”, the album returns to 12/26/79 for one of only nine “Shakedown Street” encores the band ever played. Merry and Grateful finally wraps with the “We Big You Goodnight” the Dead sang around the time the sun was coming up following their nearly five-hour show on New Year’s Eve 1978, the final concert at Bill Graham‘s famed Winterland Arena.
Check out the Grateful Dead Merry and Christmas sample of December shows below or on your preferred streaming platform.
Grateful Dead — Merry And Grateful (Live)
Merry And Grateful Tracklist Details
#1-4: 12/10/1973 Download Series #8, Charlotte Coliseum, NC
#5, 11: 12/2/1973 Dick’s Picks #14, Boston Music Hall, MA
#6-9: 12/29/1977 Dick’s Picks #10, Winterland, CA
#10: 12/19/1973 Dick’s Picks #1, Curtis Hixon Convention Center, FL
#12-13: 12/16/1992 Dick’s Picks #27, Oakland Coliseum, CA
#14-25, 28-29: 12/26/79 Dick’s Picks #5, Oakland Coliseum, CA
#26-27: 12/10/71 Listen to the River box set, St. Louis, MO
#30: 12/31/78 The Closing of Winterland, Winterland, CA