The Grateful Dead have officially tied the record for most Billboard Top 40 albums by any act in history with the debut Dave’s Picks Vol. 48 at #33 on this week’s Billboard 200.
The Dead join Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley with 58 albums ranking in the Top 40, and could break the record with one more release. This marks the 40th time that a volume in the Dave’s Picks series, which is produced and curated by Grateful Dead Legacy Manager and Audio Archivist David Lemieux, has reached the Top 40. The album was recorded at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on November 20th, 1971.
Volume 49 was announced last week and is due out in the first quarter of next year via Rhino Entertainment. The release will include a 4-CD mega set of two complete Grateful Dead shows at Stanford University‘s Frost Amphitheater on April 27th and 28, 1985, and it will be the 45th installment in the series released by Rhino.
“Dave’s Picks is a testament to Rhino never veering off the path of its vision to treat Dead Heads with respect and caring,” said David Lemieux.
“Working with the Grateful Dead is such a unique experience because they really are one of one,” added Mark Pinkus, President of Rhino. “With over 2,300 amazing shows in their illustrious 30-year career, Rhino has the wonderful responsibility to present those shows to new and old fans alike in a meaningful and magical way. Their continued chart success simply proves what we already know, there are still a lot of Dead Heads in the world and they dig what we do.”
This historic achievement is indicative of the Grateful Dead’s ongoing commitment to fans, and vice versa. The band has continued to be accessible with archival releases, which this year included the Here Comes Sunshine box set to the 50th Anniversary of Wake Of The Flood, new installments of The Angel’s Share outtakes, Playing In The Band’s interactive mixing board, and more.
The revelations continue with the premiere of an extraordinary lost session by Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and the Grateful Dead on the latest episode of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast. The tape features the only known example of Hunter leading the group in an extended studio session and includes “Prelude”, a.k.a. “Tuesday Night Jam”, a 35-minute studio improvisation by the Dead minus Jerry Garcia—who was playing with Old & In The Way—with Hunter’s lyrics and overdubbed vocals. The recording was captured during the mixing session for the “Eyes of the World” single on November 6th, 1973 and was later played over the PA before Grateful Dead concerts at Winterland in San Francisco. The piece includes never-before-heard Hunter/Dead originals and improvisation on instruments not usually heard in the Dead’s music, plus a rare duet of Keith and Donna Godchaux singing “Sweet Inspiration”, the 1968 hit the couple sang together before joining the Dead.
Rhino will also reissue all eight albums from the Grateful Dead’s tenure with Arista Records (1977-1990) in pairs between now and July 2024 beginning this Friday, November 10th with the band’s final studio album, Built To Last, and Without a Net, the 3LP collection of historic live performances from the late-Brent Mydland era. Newly remastered by Grammy-winning engineer David Glasser and produced for release by David Lemieux, both albums will be available in retail worldwide on limited-edition black vinyl and on red vinyl exclusively at Barnes & Noble.
Click here to order Dave’s Picks Vol. 48, and listen to “Prelude”/”Tuesday Night Jam” on the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast below.
Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast – Wake Of The Flood 50: Prelude/Tuesday Night Jam
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