Grateful Dead is, for a good chunk of American music listeners, the finest group ever produced by the country. Indeed, on its long and strange trip, these hippie-rockers touched on a variety of vital musical styles, from old country to zany psychedelic rock. Grateful Dead is one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

But the Dead was also, until recently, at least, solely an American phenomenon. Sure, you could find people proclaiming their undying love for the band on every U.S. street corner. Could the group’s tours be successful in other parts of the world? Should “American Beauty” have been a global phenomenon?

I want to help make things right for the group. And I want to provide a short and satisfying introduction for those who have not yet discovered their tunes. This is my list o the 10 best songs by Grateful Dead.

10 Greatest Songs by Grateful Dead

10. “Dark Star”

Grateful Dead is the premier jam band. Their willingness and the ability required to improvise for, oftentimes, tens of minutes at a time has spawned numerous imitators and an entire musical scene.

When recorded initially, “Dark Star” was a short and sweet mission statement. It failed to chart. But once it had been integrated by the band in its live sets, and extended to versions of over 20 minutes on albums like “Live/Dead” it was well on its way to becoming a classic.

9. “Scarlet Begonias”

Grateful Dead and the hippies that followed them like religious figures weren’t nihilists. They weren’t trying to bring down order in America. Nah, like Jack Kerouac and the Beatniks, they were just trying to find themselves a bit of heaven.

“Scarlet Begonias” is a song about gambling with love and losing. But it’s the easy-going sound of it that makes one feel everything’s going to be alright. No wonder Sublime opted to cover this.

8. “Touch of Grey”

There are some who might claim that Grateful Dead’s story would’ve been all the more satisfying had the group never enjoyed a proper hit. Well, that fantasy was spoiled in 1987 when Jerry Garcia and the band found themselves on MTV and in the charts for “Touch of Grey.”

While it’s a little challenging to picture the San Franciscan hippies as 1980s pop stars, keep an open mind. “Touch of Grey” was a strong song, and “In the Dark” is one of the more satisfying releases by one of the best roots-rock bands ever.

7. “Me and My Uncle”

One of the things that I remind myself is that, essentially, the Grateful Dead was a great conduit for fantastic music. Of course, “Me and My Uncle” is a cover song. It’s also possibly one of the finest country-influenced compositions ever written. Had The Dead not increased its popularity over the 1960, it could’ve virtually been lost to time.

John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas wrote “Me and My Uncle.” It tells the story of a ride towards Texas, of a fight over money and of a betrayal that leaves one of the two travellers lying dead in the desert. It’s C&W storytelling at its best.

6. “Fire on the Mountain”

“Fire on the Mountain” was written by Robert Hunter and drummer Mickey Hart. And it is, appropriately, one of the grooviest songs by the Dead, complete with an almost reggae-like rhythm.

Like many of the band’s most famous songs, this has its short studio version. But fans will always recommend the group’s extended, live experiments where the song was often paired with “Scarlet Begonias.” There must be thousands of bootlegs that contain this combo. Yes, Jerry Garcia wanted you to have them!

5. “Althea”

Jerry Garcia always claimed that the Grateful Dead was really on a mission to constantly improve as musicians. The truth is that playing for a few hours every night and jamming loosely should help to do that.

“Althea” is one of the band’s most famous songs. However, this was released in 1980, once the group’s fame was well established.

Hunter and Garcia came together, for all time’s sake, to write “Althea” and contribute to the “Go to Heaven” album. The slow, mellow song captured some of the old magic even though it seemed to reference worsening drug issues while morbidly quoting “Hamlet.”

4. “Casey Jones”

The truth is that many of Grateful Dead’s chemically-adventurous peers didn’t make it out of the 1960s. And while Jerry Garcia and the band openly experimented with all sorts of substances, chiefly LSD, they too recognized the destructive potential of these adventures.

“Casey Jones” is meant to sound like a cocaine-induced frenzy. Garcia described it as “A little evil. A little hard-edged.” It’s also one of the most memorable songs from the Dead country and psychedelics period, recorded for the legendary “Workingman’s Dead” album.

3. “Uncle John’s Band”

For “Workingman’s Dead,” the San Franciscan group daringly reinvented itself. Instead of long electric guitar solos, the Dead produced a short, pretty collection of songs that drew inspiration from country and folk.

You can hear all of these in the beautiful harmonies of “Uncle John’s Band” as the musicians trade acoustic guitar lines.

Lyricist Robert Hunter claimed that he wrote the words about a flea circus. But for most listeners, “Uncle John’s Band” is about finding peace in the midst of chaos. It’s a message that resonated in the Vietnam Era in the U.S. and should still resonate today all over the world.

2. “Friend of the Devil”

Sure, sure, Grateful Dead had put all of their chips on playing live shows along the whole of the U.S.A. and having concertgoers tape and trade the band’s concerts. It was an unorthodox strategy. But it had worked completely.

On “American Beauty,” the band focused on the bare bones of the songs that they were playing. Grateful Dead had started, after all, as a blues band. The group was now interested in exploring the roots of American music further.

Sure, “Friend of the Devil,” whose tale of running away from jilted lovers and the long arm of the law, is the catchiest of the songs written around that period. It’s also one of the Dead’s most oft-covered songs and a reminder of just how much musical exploration the band actually did.

1. “Ripple”

Grateful Dead was, for some, symbolic of America’s changes during the 1960s. So who better to change with the times than the most famous psychedelic-rock band in the U.S.A.?

On “American Beauty”, the group slowed things down. They embraced vocal harmonies and a sound influenced by country and bluegrass. They tried to rival Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for gorgeous harmonies.

Most importantly, in the wake of all the turmoil around them, the band mellowed out. “Ripple,” written by Garcia with Robert Hunter, is a meditative song about finding peace inside of yourself, about focusing on the things that one can actually control. It’s a beautiful song and, in my opinion, Grateful Dead at its best.