2011 Limited Edition Record Store Day Only 180gm Mono Mix Pressed At Pallas In Germany. Vinyl Appears Glossy, Beautiful Clean Jacket. "The Grateful Dead's Eponymously Titled Debut Long-Player Was Issued In Mid-march Of 1967. This Gave Rise To One Immediate Impediment -- The Difficulty In Attempting To Encapsulate/Recreate The Dead's Often Improvised Musical Magic Onto A Single LP. Unfortunately, The Sterile Environs Of The Recording Studio Disregards The Subtle And Often Not-So-Subtle Ebbs And Zeniths That Are So Evident Within A Live Experience. So, While This Studio Recording Ultimately Fails In Accurately Exhibiting The Grateful Dead's Tremendous Range, It's A Valiant Attempt To Corral The Group's Hydra-headed Psychedelic Jug-band Music On Vinyl. Under The Technical Direction Of Dave Hassinger -- Who Had Produced The Rolling Stones As Well As The Jefferson Airplane -- The Dead Recorded The Album In Los Angeles During A Ritalin-Fuelled "Long Weekend" In Early 1967. Rather Than Prepare All New Material For The Recording Sessions, A Vast Majority Of The Disc Is Comprised Of Titles That The Band Had Worked Into Their Concurrent Performance Repertoire. This Accounts For The Unusually High Ratio (Seven:Two) Of Folk And Blues Standards To Original Compositions. The Entire Group Took Credit For The Slightly Saccharine "Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)," While Jerry Garcia (Guitar/Vocals) Is Credited For The Noir Garage-flavored Raver "Cream Puff War." Interestingly, Both Tracks Were Featured As The Respective A- And B-sides Of The Only 45 RPM Single Derived From This Album. The Curious Aggregate Of Cover Tunes Featured On The Dead's Initial Outing Also Demonstrates The Band's Wide-Ranging Musical Roots And Influences. These Include Pigpen's Greasy Harp-fuelled Take On Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl" And The Minstrel One-Man-Band Folk Of Jessie "The Lone Cat" Fuller's "Beat It On Down The Line." The Apocalyptic Cold War Folk Anthem "Morning Dew" (Aka "[walk Me Out In The] Morning Dew") Is Likewise Given A Full-Bodied Electric Workout As Is The Obscure Jug-Band Stomper "Viola Lee Blues." Fittingly, The Dead Would Continue To Play Well Over Half Of These Tracks In Concert For The Next 27 Years." AMG Review By Lindsay Planer.