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Greatest Story Ever Told
Composer: Bob Weir / Robert Hunter

Greatest Story Ever Told was first performed by the Grateful Dead in February 1971. It was played regularly up to October 1974. After the band regrouped after their year off the song didn't return to the repertoire until February 1979 and from then on was played an average of about a dozen times a year up to 1995. In total the Grateful Dead played the song just under 280 times.

Greatest Story Ever Told developed from the Pump Song which was released on the Mickey Hart album Rolling Thunder. Robert Hunter comments on this song in Box Of Rain: Lyrics 1965-1993;

Also known as 'Pumpman' and 'Moses' - I wrote this to the rhythm of the pump in Mickey Hart's well.


Grateful Dead

info Dead Set, 1981
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 6, 1996
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 11, 1998
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 13, 1999
info View From The Vault, 2000
info View From The Vault (video), 2000
info Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72, July 2002
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 28, 2003
info Beyond Description, 2004
info Truckin' Up To Buffalo, 2005
info Truckin' Up To Buffalo (DVD), 2005
info Grateful Dead Download Vol. 9: 4/2 & 3/89, 2006
info Grateful Dead Download Vol. 11: 6/20/91, 2006
info Three From The Vault, 2007
info Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings, 2008
info Road Trips: Vol 2, No 3: June 1974, Wall Of Sound: Bonus CD, 2009
info Road Trips: Vol 3, No. 1: Oakland Dec 28, 1979, 2009
info Road Trips: 2011 Bonus Disc, 2011
info Europe '72, The Complete Recordings, 2011
info Europe '72, Vol. 2, 2011
info Europe '72: London, 4/7/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Newcastle, 4/11/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Aarhus, 4/16/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Frankfurt, 4/26/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Hamburg, 4/29/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Paris, 5/3/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Paris, 5/4/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Bickershaw Festival, 5/7/1972, 2011
info Europe '72: Amsterdam, 5/10/1972, 2011
info Dave's Picks Vol. 2: Hartford, CT, 7/31/74, 2012
info Sunshine Daydream, Veneta, 8/27/72, 2013
info Live Albums Collection, 2013
info Spring 1990 (The Other One), 2014
info Houston, Texas, 11/18/1972, 2014
info Dave's Picks Vol 14, 2015
info 30 Trips Around The Sun Box Set, 2015
info Dave's Picks Vol 21, 2017
info Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Complete Recordings, 2018
info Portland Mem. Col. 5/19/74, 2018
info Giants Stadium 1987/1989/1991, 2019
info Workingman's Dead (50th Anniv. Edition), 2020
info Dave's Picks Vol 36: Hartford, 3/26&27/1987, 2020
info American Beauty 50th Anniv. Deluxe Ed, 2020
info Dave's Picks Vol 38: Nassau Col, 9/8/73, 2021
info Olympia Theatre, Paris, 5/3/1972, 2021
info Listen to the River: St. Louis '71 '72 '73, 2021
info Dave's Picks Vol 42: Winterland, 2/23/74, 2022
info Wembley Empire Pool, 4/7/1972, 2022
info Dave's Picks 2023 Bonus CD, 2023
info Here Comes Sunshine 1973, 2023
info From The Mars Hotel: Deluxe Edition, 2024
info Dave's Picks Vol 51: Scranton, PA, 4/13/71, 2024

The Dead

info Columbia, MD, June 18, 2003
info Cleveland, OH, July 28, 2004
info Dead '09: Hartford, CT, April 26, 2009

Furthur

info Dec 12, 2009, Asbury Park, NJ
info Feb 13, 2010, Fairfax, VA
info Mar 2, 2010, Chicago, IL
info June 29, 2010, Jim Thorpe, PA
info November 16, 2010, Reading, PA
info March 11, 2011, New York, NY
info March 23, 2011, Upper Darby, PA
info July 23, 2011, Philadelphia, PA
info Sept 30, 2011, Morrison, CO
info Nov 13, 2011, Buffalo, NY
info April 7, 2012, Wallingford, CT
info July 13, 2012, Brooklyn, NY
info October 2, 2012, San Diego, CA
info January 16, 2013, Mill Valley, CA
info April 24, 2013, Port Chester, NY
info July 11, 2013, Brooklyn, NY
info Sept 25, 2013, Eugene, OR
info Oct 2, 2013, Las Vegas, NV

Dead & Company

info New York, NY, 12 Nov, 2017
info Boston, MA, 19 Nov, 2017
info Charlotte, NC, 28 Nov, 2017
info Riviera Maya, MX, 18 Feb, 2018
info Raleigh, NC, 9 Jun, 2018
info East Troy, WI, 22 Jun, 2018
info Boulder, CO, 13 July, 2018

Phil Lesh & Friends

info November 22, 2014, Port Chester, NY, 2014
info November 5, 2015, Port Chester, NY, 2015

 
Bob Weir

info Ace, Bob Weir, 1972
info Der Sampler 32, Various Artists, 1989
info Ace: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, Bob Weir, 2023

Ratdog

info Baltimore MD: October 20, 2003
info Toronto ON: October 29, 2003
info Indianapolis IN: November 10, 2003
info Columbia MO: November 17, 2003
info San Francisco CA, March 2, 2004
info Boulder CO, March 16, 2004
info Indianapolis IN, April 4, 2005
info Northampton, MA, April 19, 2005
info Atlantic City, NJ, September 4, 2005
info Chicago, IL, October 27, 2005
info Jim Thorpe, PA, November 10, 2005
info Phoenix, AZ, NM, December 4, 2005
info Long Beach, CA, December 11, 2005
info Boston, MA, April 1, 2006
info Milwaukee WI, October 21, 2006
info Jacksonville FL, November 14, 2006
info Vancouver BC, February 18, 2007
info Peekskill NY, March 6, 2007
info Norfolk VA, March 20, 2007
info Hampton Beach NH, October 26, 2007
info Charlotte, NC, November 8, 2007
info Cleveland, OH, March 26, 2008
info San Jose, CA, July 9, 2008
info Newark, NJ, November 12, 2008
info Boise, ID, August 27, 2009
info Negril, Jamaica, January 24, 2010
info Upper Darby, PA, February 15, 2014
info Boston, MA, February 25, 2014
info Chicago, IL, March 7, 2014
info Grand Rapids, MI, June 10, 2014

Dark Star Orchestra

info DSO Live: Dec 27, 2003, Chicago, IL, 2004
info DSO Live: Dec 31, 2003, Indianapolis, IN, 2004
info DSO Live: Jan 25, 2004, Charlottesville, VA, 2004
info DSO Live: Jan 30, 2004, Raleigh, NC, 2004
info DSO Live: Mar 9, 2004, Baltimore, MD, 2004
info DSO Live: Mar 15, 2004, Winooski, VT, 2004
info DSO Live: Mar 17, 2004, Providence, RI, 2004
info DSO Live: Mar 18, 2004, Teaneck, NJ, 2004
info Werewolves of Atlanta: Halloween 2004, 2005

Other recordings

info Persuasions Of The Dead, The Persuasions & Friends, 2011

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