Dave’s Picks 33

The Live For Live Music site which is a premier music media, marketing, and production company reported that the Grateful Dead just landed their 100th different album on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States.  This is an achievement that’s never been done before by any artist or group.  They released around 200 albums, most of them concert recordings and most of these albums belong to the Dave’s Picks series of live recordings curated by the band’s archivist David Lemieux.  The Dick’s Picks series started in 1993 and Dave was put in charge of the Grateful Dead’s vault after the August 1999 passing of original Grateful Dead tape archivist Dick Latvala.  Dick’s Picks were followed by a series from 2007 to 2011 called Road Trips, and Dave’s Picks started in 2012.  There were 36 Dick’s Picks albums, 17 Road Trips, and 34 Dave’s Picks albums released by the Grateful Dead.  The record 100th charting album is Dave’s Picks Vol. 33: Evans Field House, N. Illinois University, Dekalb.  It landed at #45 in January 2020.  Dave’s Picks Volume 33 is a three-CD live album, featuring 21 songs.  Actually, of the 100 Grateful Dead albums that reached the charts, 43 managed to enter Top 40.

The Grateful Dead have managed to accomplish a feat that’s almost unheard of in the music industry.  The band that rose to fame largely outside the usual industry framework studio releases and album sales has now had 100 different albums land on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States.  The Beatles had many higher charting albums than the Grateful Dead, as they had 15 #1 albums, but they only had just over 40 albums that made the Billboard 200.  The Rolling Stones have around 60 albums that made the Billboard 200.  Out of the Grateful Dead’s 100 total albums which have made it to the Billboard 200, 43 of them have managed to crack the Top 40.

Many highly successful groups don’t ever get to 10 charting albums, and 100 is nearly unheard of, but the Grateful Dead rarely miss the Billboard 200 whenever they have something even slightly different to share with fans, and quite a few of their more recent releases have landed inside the upper half of the chart, beating out new projects from rappers and pop stars of today.  The number of live recordings the Grateful Dead has released is now far greater than traditional studio albums, and their legion of listeners are unique in their dedication to buying whatever the band releases and in their desire to hear every concert in the group’s past, no matter the setlist or how similar one concert may be to the last (though they do differ quite a bit typically).

I was only able to find 91 of these 100 albums that made the Billboard 200.
In The Dark peaked at #6
Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel peaked at #16
Wake Of The Flood peaked at #18
Sunshine Daydream peaked at #19
Dave’s Picks Volume 19 peaked at #19
Blues For Allah peaked at #21
Dave’s Picks Volume 32 peaked at #22
Go To Heaven peaked at #23
Europe ‘72 peaked at #24
Grateful Dead (also known as Skull and Roses) peaked at #25
Cornell 5/8/77 peaked at #25
Hundred Year Hall peaked at #26
Dave’s Picks Volume 7 peaked at #26
Dave’s Picks Volume 21 peaked at #26
Dave’s Picks Volume 26 peaked at #26
Dave’s Picks Volume 29 peaked at #26
Dave’s Picks Volume 31 peaked at #26
Workingman’s Dead peaked at #27
Built To Last peaked at #27
Dave’s Picks Volume 12 peaked at #27
Dave’s Picks Volume 25 peaked at #27
Terrapin Station peaked at #28
Dead Set peaked at #29
Dave’s Picks Volume 12 peaked at #29
Dave’s Picks Volume 27 peaked at #29
American Beauty peaked at #30
Dave’s Picks Volume 9 peaked at #30
Dave’s Picks Volume 23 peaked at #30
Dave’s Picks Volume 30 peaked at #30
Dave’s Picks Volume 14 peaked at #31
Dave’s Picks Volume 17 peaked at #31
Dave’s Picks Volume 6 peaked at #32
Dave’s Picks Volume 13 peaked at #32
May 1977: Get Shown the Light peaked at #33
Dave’s Picks Volume 3 peaked at #34
Dave’s Picks Volume 16 peaked at #34
Dave’s Picks Volume 22 peaked at #34
Rocking The Cradle: Egypt 1978 peaked at #35
Dave’s Picks Volume 28 peaked at #35
Dylan & the Dead peaked at #37
Dave’s Picks Volume 5 peaked at #38
Dave’s Picks Volume 18 peaked at #38
Dave’s Picks Volume 20 peaked at #39
Shakedown Street peaked at #41
Without A Net peaked at #43
Reckoning peaked at #43
Spring 1990: The Other One peaked at #45
Dave’s Picks Volume 33 peaked at #45
Live At The Cow Palace: New Year’s Eve 1976 peaked at #48
Steal Your Face peaked at #56
To Terrapin: Hartford ’77 peaked at #59
History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear’s Choice) peaked at #60
July 1978: The Complete Recordings peaked at #62
Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C., July 12 & 13, 1989 peaked at #64
Live/Dead peaked at #65
The Very Best Of Grateful Dead peaked at #69
Europe ’72 Volume 2 peaked at #72
The Grateful Dead peaked at #73
Dozin At The Knick peaked at #74
Rockin’ The Rhein With The Grateful Dead peaked at #75
Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead peaked at #75
Fillmore East 2-11-69 peaked at #77
Fallout From The Phil Zone peaked at #83
The Warfield, San Francisco, California, October 9 & 10, 1980 peaked at #84
Anthem Of The Sun peaked at #87
Pacific Northwest ’73–’74: The Complete Recordings peaked at #88
Europe ‘72 peaked at #91
Dave’s Picks Volume 24 peaked at #91
The Arista Years peaked at #95
One From The Vaults peaked at #106
Three From The Vault peaked at #112
Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 peaked at #118
Two From The Vault peaked at #119
Postcards Of The Hanging: Grateful Dead Preform The Songs Of Bob Dylan peaked at #120
What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been peaked at #121
Vintage Dead peaked at #127 Unauthorized
Truckin’ Up To Buffalo, July 4, 1989 peaked at #137
Dave’s Picks Volume 2 peaked at #145
Historic Dead peaked at #154 Unauthorized
Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It peaked at #157
Steppin’ Out With The Grateful Dead England ‘72 peaked at #160
30 Trips Around the Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965–1995 peaked at #161
Ladies and Gentlemen… the Grateful Dead peaked at #165
The Best of the Grateful Dead Live peaked at #167
So Many Roads (1965-1995) peaked at #170
Ready or Not peaked at #172
Red Rocks: 7/8/78 peaked at #177
Houston, Texas 11-18-1972 peaked at #183
The Golden Road (1965-1973) peaked at #191
Europe ’72: The Complete Recordings peaked at #193
Nightfall Of Diamonds peaked at #196

The Grateful Dead are not one-hit wonders, as that term refers to an artist who had one hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 and then never appeared on the chart again.  The Grateful Dead had 14 singles that made the Billboard Hot 100 or the Mainstream Rock Tracks, one of them was a #1 hit and 3 songs made it into the Top Ten.  ‘Touch Of Grey’ peaked at #1, ‘Hell In A Bucket’ peaked at #3 and ‘Foolish Heart’ peaked at #8.  ‘Touch of Grey’ was the only Grateful Dead song with an accompanying music video.  ‘Throwing Stones (Ashes Ashes)’ peaked at #15, ‘Dire Wolf’ peaked at #37, ‘West LA Fadeaway’ peaked at #40, ‘Just A Little Light’ peaked at #41, ‘When Push Comes To Shove’ peaked at #45, ‘Ripple’ peaked at #50, ‘Truckin’’ peaked at #64, ‘Alabama Getaway’ peaked at #68, ‘Uncle John’s Band’ peaked at #69, ‘The Music Never Stopped’ peaked at #81 and ‘Sugar Magnolia’ peaked at #91. ‘Truckin’’ was recognized as a “national treasure” by the Library of Congress in 1997.  ‘Casey Jones’ and ‘Dark Star’ never made the charts.