Postcards Of The Hanging - Grateful Dead Perform The Songs of Bob Dylan

Grateful Dead | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B00006314F
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,201 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece

2. She Belongs To Me

3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

4. Maggie's Farm

5. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

6. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry

7. Ballad Of A Thin Man

8. Desolation Row

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

11. Man Of Peace

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Good!, March 20, 2002

By 

Kenneth M. Goodman (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Postcards Of The Hanging - Grateful Dead Perform The Songs of Bob Dylan (Audio CD)

Perhaps you're wondering whether or not to buy this CD. Well, I bought it and am glad to report...it's good! Don't let that other unfortunate CD, "Dylan and the Dead," steer you away from this. Jerry really shines throughout, voice and guitar.
His solos, for example, on She Belongs To Me are at the level of Morning Dew, i.e., it's like listening to an angel play. I defy anyone to listen to the rousing All Along The Watchtower without concluding that's it's just as good as the immortal Hendrix version. Dickie Betts makes a great guitar contribution on It Takes A Lot to Laugh, and Jerry is A+ on Baby Blue. The last song on the CD, Man of Peace, is a fantastic rehearsal with Bob (Dylan) not Weir, ha ha. Bob's voice is tough and Jerry's guitar phenomenal. On the bonus CD, check out Mighty Quinn. It really swings in a Mississippi Half-Step style. All in all, NICE!

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars won't tell me what it is that i dropped, March 19, 2002

By 

Alan Thornton (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Postcards Of The Hanging - Grateful Dead Perform The Songs of Bob Dylan (Audio CD)

Its been a long time since i played tracks over and over again before i got to the end of a new record. These are peak performances, though, that kept me re-listening. When Phil started singing 'just like tom thumb's blues' i thought, oh, no, its too early in the day for a phil song, but then i heard him start to play with the lyrics. 'my best friend the drummer won't even tell me what it is that i dropped!' i was laughing and playing it a second time, then i remembered, i was supposed to be a picky deadhead. and i played it again.

There is an Allman's inflected 'It takes a train to laugh...' that features Dickie Betts and Butch Trucks (well, Mickey isn't on the track and the Dead never seems to want to run out of drummers) and a version of 'Man of Peace' with Bob from the Dylan/Dead rehersals in in 1987. The early versions of the package feature and extra disc with a "Queen Jane..." from 12/29/88 and a "Quinn the Eskimo" from 12/30/85.

If David Gans keeps producing compilations of the quality of this one, 'Stolen Roses', 'Might as Well...Persuasions sing Grateful Dead' and 'So Many Roads' (where he co-produced with Steve Silberman and Blair Jackson) we might have a quite a few more 'studio' albums that beat some of the good old years when the band was around and around.

The notes say that Bobby Weir was really into the project and listend to many of the possible choices. Between him and the GDH mailing list and the Well's deadlit conference and 'big-eared version chooser' David Lemieux (whew) SOMEBODY did a great job of putting the right stuff together for this time and space.
'Postcards'is a great souvenir for a season when Dylan is back on tour and Ratdog is blazin away.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Circles Up And Down The Block, April 3, 2002

By 

toad (san francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Postcards Of The Hanging - Grateful Dead Perform The Songs of Bob Dylan (Audio CD)

Simply a must have for Dylan fans and Deadheads alike!!!

David Gans compiled what I believe to be key performances of these Dylan classics! For those who have been to a few Dead shows, you'll agree that it was always apparent that when a Dylan number was pulled out, it was a special moment... And O.K., sometimes those songs covered Bobby's turn at vocals.

Regardless, I cannot think of one Dylan cover I've ever seen that has disappointed! This disc CLEARLY illustrates that from start to finish! Without rating each song, let's cover the highlights...

And before we move forward, remember that no one covers a Dylan tune more complete than GD. I've played this disc for Dylan fans who are not Dead fans at all... The general reaction is "wow, I didn't know they could play these songs so well!!!

"The "Watchtower" from Rich Stadium is absolutely awesome and it ROCKS! This performance easily rivals the now historic Hendrix version from the Monterey Pop Fest.

"It Takes A Lot To Laugh..." what more can you say, I've noticed the other reviews listed here make special mention of this incredible version... We're talking 1973 with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Merle Saunders, how could it get any better?

"Desolation Row" from the Knickerbocker reels out of control! Bobby's vocals are tight, (how many of us could remember every lyric to this rock anthem)? Definitely one of the highlights of this fine disc.

"Thin Man" from Meadowlands is Bobby at his best! Cerrralwling in and out of the lyric like a lizard while delivering the message, the way it was intended to be... A sad ballad with an ending we can all relate to, or can't we? One of life's questions.

"Baby Blue" is almost in a sense a Garcia song. Why? Because Dylan said so. This song was a consistent encore hit at Dead shows as well as Garcia Band shows. This beautiful and intense version from Dane County, 1981 could be a perfect close to "Postcards Of The Hanging." But we're not finished yet!

The rehearsal track of "Man Of Peace" from the
Dylan/Dead 87' tour rehearsals "brings it all back home" where it began and where it still stands... The songs of Bob Dylan!

As stated in the beginning... Simply a must have for Dylan fans and Deadheads alike!!!