50 years ago today (3/17/67), The Grateful Dead released their debut full length self-titled LP. The album was primarily recorded at RCA’s Studio A, in Los Angeles, in only four days and featured a number of traditional and cover songs along with two originals “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” and “Cream Puff War.” The non-originals were reimagined by the Dead and became live how stalwarts including “New New Minglewood Blues,” “Cold Rain and Snow” and “Morning Dew.” The album never took off commercially and has never been considered one of the Dead’s strongest, but it has its fan base still and a remastered version with the full versions of five album tracks, plus six bonus tracks, was released by Rhino as part of the box set The Golden Road (1965–1973) in 2001, and as a separate album in 2003. Listen to “Cold Rain and Snow” off the LP..
