Disc 1 consists of tracks the band cut for independent labels like Autumn and Scorpio before signing to Warners (the Autumn stuff was actually produced by Sly Stone in his pre-Family days). These include a folk-rock reading of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Mornin' Rain," the Dylan-influenced "Can't Come Down," and "Cold Rain & Snow," which Deadheads will recognize from the band's first album. "Fire in the City," cut with jazz singer Jon Hendricks, casts the Dead in an almost gospel call-and-response vein.
By the time of the material heard on disc 2, the band had played at Ken Kesey's acid tests, and some of the trippy atmosphere that would characterize its later work was becoming evident. At this point, the Dead was still playing primarily blues -- and Pig Pen was still singing lead. However, a version of "Viola Lee Blues," one of the long trippy numbers from the debut album, hints at the kind of mercurial jamming that would become the Dead's trademark as it went on to become America's longest-living rock band.
