GRATEFUL DEAD 'BEAR'S CHOICE' HISTORY OF UK FIRST PRESSING 1973 EX IN SHRINK

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GRATEFUL DEAD 'BEAR'S CHOICE' UK FIRST PRESS 1973 ~ EX SHRINK
GRATEFUL DEAD 'BEAR'S CHOICE' ~ HISTORY OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD VOLUME 1 LABEL: WARNER BROTHERS (UK) K-46246  PRESSING: FIRST UK PRESSING 1973 RELEASE DATE: JULY 13, 1973 MATRIX: K-46246  RECORDED LIVE: FEBRUARY 13&14, 1970 FILLMORE EAST PRODUCTION/ENGINEERING: OWSLEY 'BEAR' STANLEY ARTWORK: DAVID SINGER
VINYL: EX  JACKET: EX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection this summer and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this fantastic, clean UK First Pressing 1973 copy of the Grateful Dead's "Bear's Choice" live album.
This is my original copy that I purchased 'new' back in the Summer of 1973.
It's a single LP of acoustic and electric material from the shows on February 13 and 14, 1970 at the Fillmore East. During that period, the Dead often did 'Acoustic' or 'unplugged' sections during their shows.
It's an essential document of the Dead at the dawn of the 1970s. It was the Dead's last album for Warner Brothers. 
This is a rare UK first pressing of the album and is in excellent condition. The Dead did an extensive tour of England and Europe in 1972, so this live album from 1973 was popular in the UK, at least for a little while.
Although this was released in 1973, it is actually a compilation of songs recorded in 1970 when they regularly did acoustic sets. Side A is all acoustic, side B is all electric. As heard on 'American Beauty' and 'Workingman's Dead' the band's music was becoming more Americana or Countrified in the early 70s.
The great Psychedelic artwork on the cover was done by David Singer, who did a lot of the Fillmore West concert posters.
See the full description of the jacket and vinyl condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You need to appreciate this album in it's 1973 context.
Collectors today seem to have an unlimited amount of Grateful Dead material to choose from, but people need to realize how different things were in 1973.
There were only 10 Dead albums available then, including the two dubious almost-bootleg albums, 'Vintage Dead' and 'Historic Dead', recorded in 1966 and released by MGM/Sunflower. Taping networks were in their infancy and most fans had very limited, if any, access to live tapes or bootlegs back then. Live Grateful Dead material was rare and ANY new live album was highly anticipated. The Dead had released several live albums, but this was the first live album to focus on their acoustic set and was very anticipated by us Deadheads at the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This record is very, very interesting once you know the history behind it.
This album is called "History of the Grateful Dead Volume One"
The 'History' part of this album's title comes from the fact that several of these songs go way back to the day of Garcia's and McKernan's folky jug bands, before forming the Warlocks and the Grateful Dead.
This album also claimed to be 'Volume 1' but there would be no volume 2.
The Dead were known for their live shows, and, at this time, 1973, they were considering releasing a series of live recordings containing highlights from a variety of vintage Dead performances, but they switched record labels and that never happened until many years later when the Dick's Picks series started in 1991. 
Warner owned not only their studio material, but also most of their recorded live material. When they left Warner, they lost access to much of their own live archives.
That's where their old soundman Owsley 'Bear' Stanley comes in. He had a vast collection of live tapes that Warner didn't know about. Owsley's 'stash' so to say. 
Owsley “Bear” Stanley was the Band's soundman and 'chemical engineer', in the late sixties. He was famous for his LSD but his luck ran out in 1970. He went to Federal prison from July 1970 until July 1972 for LSD distribution.
By the time he was released, the Dead had switched to Alembic and their famous 'Wall of Sound' and they no longer used Owsley's sound system. Owsley was 'unemployed' but still a member of the Dead's inner circle.
By early 1973, the Dead were thinking of moving away from the clutches of Warner Brothers records and thinking of starting their own label, but the band had a contract with Warner, to produce a certain number of albums.
The band released 'Europe 72' as a triple album, which they thought would fulfill their contract, but Warner insisted that the band owed them one more album.
The band hated Warner by then, and didn't want to spend any time or money going into the studio. They realized that another live album would get them out of their contract cheaply and easily.
The band were busy touring, so handed the project over to Owsley to complete. Thus the album truly was "Bear's Choice" as the band had little interest in putting together another album for their former label. The Dead assigned Owsley to dig thru his vast archive of live tapes and find something 'worthy' to release to Warner as their last album.
Owsley offered up a bunch of choices for the band's final approval, but the Dead rejected several live things that Owsley proposed because they didn't want Warner making a lot of money from releasing their best stuff. They wanted to put out good material, but not too good.
Owsley liked everything the band did, but was a real fan of the crisp, clean, delicate sound of the bluesier and folkier material they were doing around 1970. Owsley also wanted to pay tribute to his friend Pigpen. He chose some of the bluesier material, mostly featuring Pigpen, from the 1970 Fillmore shows for this release.
The band finally agreed on the songs that appear on this album. They were chosen as a memorial to the Dead’s vocalist, organist, harp player and resident shaman. The album was a sort of 'goodbye' and a 'celebration' of Pigpen. It was the end of an era for the Grateful Dead in several ways; The loss of both pigpen and their record label.
Ron 'PigPen' McKernan was a key component of the early Grateful Dead. His roots with the band went back to the very early days, when he was in a Jug Band with Jerry Garcia, way before the Dead formed. Pigpen was a heavy drinker with health issues and by the summer of 1972, after their long tour of Europe, he was too ill to continue. Pigpen died in March of 1973, several months before this album was released and it was assembled as a tribute to their friend and bandmate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Dead were often at their best interpreting the work of other artists. The Band's Acoustic sets in 1970 included tunes from every corner of the American pop songbook and that's what you get on this great record.
This record has some great driving bluesy jams as well as some fantastic, delicate playing on tasty acoustic numbers.
It needs to be heard on a clean, crisp, flat, quality pressing like this great original UK first pressing copy. That's why I purchased this UK pressing back in 1973 instead of the cheaper, more common US pressing. I figured it was the best available pressing of this album at the time. I was right, this version of the record sounds fantastic.
The setlist on this great live album includes:
Katie Mae (Sam 'Lightning' Hopkins) Dark Hollow (Bill Browning) I’ve Been All Around This World (Traditional) Wake Up Little Susie (Boudleaux Bryant/Felice Bryant) Black Peter (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter) Smokestack Lightnin’ (Chester 'Howling Wolf' Burnett)  Hard To Handle (Otis Redding/Isbell/Jones) 
Flawlessly recorded, this album kicks off with a Ron “Pigpen” McKernan spotlight acoustic number, a playful rendition of Lightnin' Hopkins' “Katie Mae.” 
Right away the vibe is hip, very loose, laid back and very intimate. The performance is tight and note-perfect, despite Pigpen hitting a wrong note and starting the song over. (Pigpen was a much better keyboard player than guitarist). It's a great version with Pig's thoroughly boozed and raspy voice that all of us 'older' Deadheads really miss.
'Dark Hollow', a Bill Browning cover, is the next song. Bob Weir sings lead with Jerry and Phil pulling off some close harmony vocal work. Weir always had a voice suited for county/folk songs, and this is no exception. 
You can hear how loose and spontaneous this set is. Jerry asks "what key do we play it in?" before the song begins. Once they get going, Bobby and Jerry do some fantastic gentle acoustic picking and strumming. A lovely version, short and sweet.
Garcia takes the lead vocals for the first time on the folky “I’ve Been All Around This World,” in which Garcia and Weir blend together and sound more like Hot Tuna than anything else. This old folk cover has a very laid back sound and Jerry's vocals are soothing. In the middle, Jerry briefly loses his timing before going back to tapping his foot in time. Another example of the looseness of this set.
This is followed by a playful run-through of The Everly Brothers‘ “Wake Up Little Susie.”  This shows that the Grateful Dead have always been keen students of all sorts of music, appreciating the beauty in a wide variety of styles. It's a song they rarely did in concert.
Garcia’s “Black Peter” is the album's only non-cover, original composition. It's masterfully executed. Jerry's heartfelt vocals and guitar really shine on this beautiful track. It's my favorite version of the tune, better than the studio version on 'Workingmans Dead'.
Side 2 of the album is less 'unplugged' and showcases the electric side of the 1970 Grateful Dead. The second side features two electric offerings -- a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightnin'" and Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle."
Both are full-blown rave-ups allowing the entire band to weave their collective R&B-influenced and psychedelic tastes into great jams.
It starts with a ripping cover of Howlin' Wolf's 'Smokestack Lightning'. Classic vintage Dead. This 18-minute chugger starts out slow, like a locomotive, with quiet electric-picking, and builds steam as the song unfolds. 
Pigpen’s howling, wailing vocals and harmonica are terrific and bluesy. He seems to be cosmically 'fused' with the rest of the band as if they were joined at the hip. 
It's a fantastic blues jam with everyone firing on all cylinders. Phil adds some wolf-like howls, Jerry is noodling around like he always does, and Pigpen lays down perfect accents on harp. A great hypnotic, psychedelic performance!
The band really peak on the last number, a fiery version of Otis Redding‘s “Hard to Handle” Garcia is at his best, Pigpen just tears up the vocals, and the band is tight, quick and really groove. “Hard To Handle” is a classic Dead tune, a perfect hustling shuffle that the band excelled at in the early 70s, once most of the acid wore off. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl is very nice. Clean, bright and Shiny. There are no hairlines or defects. I purchased this new in 1973 and have taken great care of it. A handful of playings over the years, but still in excellent condition. Flawless.
LABELS: This has the 'Palm Tree' Warner labels, typical of the time. The labels are clean with no marks or damage. The spindle holes are clean, suggesting minimal or careful playing.
JACKET: The jacket is also in excellent condition. Still in it's original shrink wrap. Corners are sharp and the colors are still bright. It does have a small 'cut out' BB hole in the bottom corner. Very nicely placed.
Overall, a fantastic condition record for being nearly 50 years old. This is a rare UK First Pressing from 1973. I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
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