Originally released in March of 1967 on Warner Bros. Records courtesy of a line-up of Jerry Garcia (guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (guitar, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (organ, vocals) and Bill Kreutzmann (drums, percussion), the Grateful Dead’s self-titled debut album features seven folk/blues standards from the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson and Jessie Fuller along with a pair of originals in “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” and “Cream Puff War.”

It captures the group’s early sound with a mix of electrified jug band stomps (“Sitting On Top of the World”), Chicago blues (“Good Morning Little School Girl”), crazed modal improv (“Viola Lee Blues”), and Dylan-y put-downs (“Cream Puff War”). The set unabashedly flaunts the Dead’s musical roots and influences while simultaneously showcasing the promising songwriting that would subsequently help define an entire genre.

Music scribe Jesse Jarnow noted, “The Grateful Dead is the Grateful Dead as they existed, a slice of their fast-changing live repertoire circa 1967. Nothing would ever be the same, but nothing had ever been the same with the Dead from the time of their second show onward.”