This is where it all began for the Grateful Dead. Admittedly, this is not their best album to listen to at all. Still, its relevance in the San Francisco Psychedelic Rock scene in particular cannot be underestimated. Recorded in a four-day long period in early 1967 and released shortly thereafter, it was seemingly rushed according to the band, rather than a solid representation of what they were musically capable of. It does feature Jerry Garcia, who would become a Rock legend for his unique guitar skills, especially live as a lifelong member of the Grateful Dead. Due to certain disagreements on the album’s front cover, the art work modified the written words on the cover, leaving just the band’s name alone on it. Regardless, this is a historically important album and by all accounts, a good listen. Let’s hear it.

The Golden Road begins with some Eastern-tinged melodies, quickly launching into a good Pop song from the era. Nonetheless, even for a so-called “mediocre” album, this sounds fresh and fun to hear, to this very day. A very enjoyable listen with great singing, simple Psychedelic instrumentation and other things going on here. The guitar solo verges on feedback, and this all sounds really brilliant for what it is. This does admittedly sound a little amateurish compared to efforts such as what The Beatles and Pink Floyd were doing at the time, but it is energetic and promising. The chords to conclude this song sound weird.

Beat It On Down The Line is a piece that begins with some drum-led grooves and launches into an unusual Elvis Presley-sounding tune, mixed with 1960s Pop/Rock influences. Nonetheless, this slice of Psychedelic Pop is infectious, enjoyable and magical to listen to, to this very day. Some well-written and image-evoking lyrics are present here, and the Grateful Dead sound so youthful and energetic in this song. The drumming and organs present are fantastic, too. A vocal scream leads into a very Rockabilly guitar solo by Jerry Garcia. A really cool and pleasant listening experience, this is exactly what should be listened to more in today’s world. A very joyous listening experience, it ends after two and a half minutes. Sweet.

Good Morning Little School Girl is a notable cover from Sonny Boy Williamson. It is about young love between a schoolboy and a schoolgirl. It begins slowly and melodic, with some interesting Blues overtones about it. Harmonica enters, and this legendary piece gets underway. It leads into a fantastic and slowed-down dramatic cover version of the traditional Blues Music classic tune. This sounds not a million miles away from The Doors, and the singing is a good imitation of those traditional Bluesman out there who make a genuinely good impression on the listener. A slow, sleazy and warped musical piece, complete with a harmonica solo, this does sound really great melodically and musically. This may seem old-fashioned as music today, but it still kicks the proverbial nicely. This suspenseful cover song likely could have been shortened and also could have lifted up the tempo a bit, but it still sounds really impressive. In the second half are some fantastic vocals and interesting screamed vocals. The guitar work by Jerry Garcia is very well played here, and he just sounds really incredible as a musician. This begins to speed up, The Doors style, to an interesting conclusion. A really cool listening experience, through and through. An animated and interesting listening experience, this sounds amazing, right through to the faded outro.

Cold Rain And Snow begins with some interesting twangy guitar parts, organs, weird bass guitar work and a nicely melodic tune to boot. The Grateful Dead, even as musical novices, could make some interesting and accomplished music throughout. This likely has not dated very well at all, but the midsection makes for an interesting listening experience, with drum rolls and organ melodies galore to maintain your interesting musically. Nonetheless, this is a good listening experience about the bitter winter months in the USA, and this is catchy and memorable, especially in the chorus. A nice song.

Sitting On Top Of The World sounds extremely minimal with some dual-tracked guitars and enters into a two-minute-long Country Pop piece that sounds really quite good. A really exceptionally excellent piece of music with Jerry Garcia on vocals and guitar, this sounds so underrated and joyous. A great electric guitar solo is present in this song, and this tune sounds truly impressive. A really great listening listening that is upbeat and worth your ears throughout. A very good listen, it ends with a Fender Stratocaster-styled Bluesy guitar solo to fade out. Excellent.

Cream Puff War is very weird from the beginning. It has some unusual guitar parts and organs, with some dramatic drumming throughout. This obviously isn’t the greatest Psychedelic album ever, but the songs such as this one easily can win one over. A really good listening experience that sounds great, there is a really awesome-sounding Fender-styled guitar solo in the midsection. A very cool listening experience that is quite magical. A fun, fresh and exciting for the style of music that it was. This music is really insanely good, and this isn’t even the greatest Grateful Dead album to date. Sweet.

Morning Dew isn’t exactly an appropriate title for a song. It begins with hi-hats and launches into a fantastic fairly downtempo and sweetly melodic listen. The guitar work is better than expected, and the mixture of subtle drums, organ and soft singing sounds beyond brilliant on this album at this time. A really awesome and top-notch listening experience throughout, this music is very Hippie based but gorgeous and melodic throughout. A very great listen that is a more subtle side of the Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia sings deeply and emotionally, and the music at hand is really superb. This music has a great deal of soul in it and sounds really top and amazing. The 1960s was a fairly revolutionary time for the music scene internationally, and although this album may not seem overly original in a musical sense, it changed a lot in the world of music after its release. In any case, this tune is really awesome and has some nicely played and different guitar parts to match. A great tune to listen to, this flows excellently. The singing returns after some excellent guitar soloing. Sure, Deadheads may not love this album as much as their live efforts, but this still works wonderfully well. This wraps up with a nice fade-out.

New, New Minglewood Blues is a short Fender Stratocaster-driven tune that sounds upbeat and has some image-evoking lyrics. The music here is quite humourous and witty lyrically throughout, it just sounds lovely. A very musically adventurous and awesome listening experience with some excellent Fender Stratocaster-styled guitar soloing, this is a pure solid gold winner of a song. Enjoyable, loveable and upbeat, this sounds extremely cool to listen to. A good 12 Bar Blues styled piece, this wraps up with another killer guitar solo section to fade out.

Viola Lee Blues is a 10-minute long extended piece that begins nicely with some good electric guitars and launches into a quirky and excellent West Coast Psychedelic Rock based tune. This is, again, underrated and excellent as a song. The song quickly enters into a really great guitar solo section that sounds absolutely top-notch. The lyrics are fairly minimal on this tune, and it is about being imprisoned. Nonetheless, this heads into another excellent and quirky guitar solo that sounds really great. The music here is magical and different throughout. Jerry Garcia in particular should be applauded for his wonderful guitar work throughout this tune. The singing concludes towards the middle of this song, and this tune launches into a really awesome instrumental. A real magical winner of a tune, this is a good listening experience of Fender Stratocaster work that is wonderfully played and has some microphonic feedback through it all. A really awesome and supercharged listening experience. Understandably, this may be seen as dated today, but it still sounds very amazing, given the musical context of the songs present. The midsection of this song sounds really cool and is an excellent, tuneful jam song that is likely ideal for LSD tripping. After all, this music is designed for that purpose. The music becomes quite more frenetic in the second half of this tune, and it has some exceptionally good examples of different Fender Stratocaster tones throughout, particularly on the neck pickup of that guitar. It sounds like a fantastic listen because it is. A great song to hear, this sounds extraordinarily unique and well done musically for what it is. The organ becomes a musical rival in the second half of this song, sounding quite shrill but still listenable. The jam here is not a million miles away from what The Velvet Underground were doing at the time. Towards the end of this lengthy song is some insane guitar strumming and a chaotic finale, before returning to planet Earth after all that. This slow and melodic jam section is really cool, and the guitar soloing is still prominent in this song. Singing resumes of the song, and this has a really cool conclusion at hand. A good finish to a frequently overlooked album.

Underrated is the best single word to describe this album. The music at hand is very, very good and although the Grateful Dead were definitely in their infancy as a band, they were making some impressive music and moves in the West Coast Psychedelic Rock scene of the late 1960s. This is a special musical album and one that changed things long term, especially for those who loved music from 1967 San Francisco. Should you listen to this album? Do give it a try, especially if you like LSD-inspired music of any sort.

A great starting point for all Deadheads out there.

8/10