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Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	Mixed^[2]

Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead was the first compilation album from the Grateful Dead. It was first released on LP in February 1974. The release was a ploy for Warner Bros. Records to cash in on the escalating popularity of the band (based on the sales of Workingman's Dead and American Beauty).^[3]

Four of the tracks were not original Dead album studio recordings. This "Turn On Your Love Light" first appeared on the album The Big Ball, which was a loss leader sampler distributed by Warner Bros.; it had also appeared in longer form on Live/Dead. "One More Saturday Night" was taken from the band's live release Europe '72. And, "Mexicali Blues" was actually a track from guitarist Bob Weir's solo release Ace. The version of "St Stephen" on the European release of Skeletons from the Closet is the identical recording from the Live/Dead LP with the long jam in the middle edited out.

Warner Bros. released the album on CD and cassette in 1988 before re-releasing the LP in 1990. The album would be later re-released on by Rhino Records on May 24, 2004 as part of a greatest hits series by various bands. It contains the complete "Love Light" from Live/Dead.

Skeletons from the Closet is the Dead's best-selling album, going triple platinum in the United States.

Album cover art

The artwork for the front and back covers of the album was created by John Van Hamersveld. The back cover depicts three men playing cards, with a globe in the center of the table. The futuristic Dymaxion car designed in 1933 by U.S. inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller is parked outside in the background. The three men appear as Marlon Brando from The Wild One, a long-haired bearded man in a graduation cap and gown and Cesar Romero as The Cisco Kid. The front cover features the Roman goddess of fertility, Venus, from the painting by Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus.

Track listing

Side one

"The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)" (Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Bob Weir) – 2:07
- Originally released on the album The Grateful Dead.
"Truckin'" (Garcia, Lesh, Weir, Robert Hunter) – 5:09
- Originally released on the album American Beauty.
"Rosemary" (Garcia, Hunter) – 1:58
- Originally released on the album Aoxomoxoa.
"Sugar Magnolia" (Weir, Hunter) – 3:15
- Originally released on the album American Beauty.
"St. Stephen" (Garcia, Lesh, Hunter) – 4:26
- Originally released on the album Aoxomoxoa.
"Uncle John's Band" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:42
- Originally released on the album Workingman's Dead.

Side two

"Casey Jones" (Garcia, Hunter) – 4:24
- Originally released on the album Workingman's Dead.
"Mexicali Blues" (Weir, John Perry Barlow) – 3:24
- Originally released on the Bob Weir album Ace.
"Turn On Your Love Light" (Deadric Malone, Joseph Scott) – 6:30 / 15:08 (2004 re-release)
- Originally released on Live/Dead.
"One More Saturday Night" (Weir) – 4:45
- Originally released on the album Europe '72.
"Friend of the Devil" (Garcia, John Dawson, Hunter) – 3:20
- Originally released on the album American Beauty.

Personnel

Grateful Dead

Jerry Garcia – lead guitar, vocals; pedal steel guitar on "Sugar Magnolia"
Bob Weir – rhythm guitar, vocals; lead vocals on "Truckin'", "Sugar Magnolia", "Mexicali Blues"
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, harmonica, vocals; lead vocals and conga on "Turn On Your Love Light"
Phil Lesh – bass guitar, vocals; backup vocals on "Mexicali Blues"
Bill Kreutzmann – drums, percussion except "Rosemary"
Mickey Hart – drums, percussion on "Truckin'", "Sugar Magnolia", "St. Stephen", "Uncle John's Band", "Casey Jones", "Turn On Your Love Light", "Friend of the Devil"
Tom Constanten – keyboards on "Rosemary", "St. Stephen", "Turn On Your Love Light"
Keith Godchaux – piano on "Mexicali Blues", "One More Saturday Night"
Donna Jean Godchaux – backing vocals on "One More Saturday Night"

Additional performers

John "Marmaduke" Dawson, Debbie, Peter Grant, Mouse, David Nelson, Wendy on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
David Grisman – mandolin on "Friend of the Devil"
Howard Wales – organ on "Truckin'"
Snooky Flowers – horns on "Mexicali Blues"
Luis Gasca – horns on "Mexicali Blues"
The Space Rangers – horns on "Mexicali Blues"

Technical personnel

Alembic – engineering, mixing on "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band"
Stephen Barncard – compilation production; production on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Dick Bogert – engineering on "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)"
Betty Cantor – production, engineering on "Casey Jones", "Rosemary", "St. Stephen", "Turn On Your Love Light", and "Uncle John's Band"
Bob Cassidy – engineering on "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)"
Dave Collins – digital remastering assistance; pre-mastering assistance on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Tom Flye – engineering, mixing on "Casey Jones", "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", "Truckin'", and "Uncle John's Band"; mastering supervision on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Joe Gastwirt – remixing, production; pre-mastering assistance on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
David Hassinger – compilation production; production on "The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)"
Dan Healy – consulting engineering on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
Scott Heard – equipment technician on "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band"
Robin Hurley – audio production on "Casey Jones", "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", "Truckin'", and "Uncle John's Band"
Bob Matthews – production, engineering on "Casey Jones", "Rosemary", "St. Stephen", "Turn On Your Love Light", and "Uncle John's Band"
Andrew McPherson – authoring on "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band"
David McLees – executive production on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Jeffrey Norman – engineering, mixing on "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band"; engineering on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Fred Ordower – engineering on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Ramrod – equipment technician on "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band"
Bob Seidemann – art direction
Rudson Shurtliff – engineering, mixing on "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band"; engineering on "Friend of the Devil", "Sugar Magnolia", and "Truckin'"
Owsley Stanley – consulting engineering on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
John Van Hamersveld – artwork
Ron Wickersham – consulting engineering on "Rosemary" and "St. Stephen"
Bill Wolf – editing

Charts

Billboard

Chart	Position
Pop Albums	75^{[citation needed]}

RIAA Certification

Certification	Date
Gold^[4]	March 14, 1980
Platinum^[4]	December 15, 1986
Double Platinum^[4]	June 27, 1994
Triple Platinum^[4]	January 31, 1995

References

^ Lankford, Ronnie D., Jr.. Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead at AllMusic
^ Scoppa, Bud (April 25, 1974). Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead, Rolling Stone
^ Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip . Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 165.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "RIAA Gold & Platinum database-Skeletons from the Closet". Retrieved February 28, 2009.

[1] Lankford, Ronnie D., Jr.. Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead at AllMusic

[2] Scoppa, Bud (April 25, 1974). Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead, Rolling Stone

[3] Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip . Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 165.

[RIAA-4] "RIAA Gold & Platinum database-Skeletons from the Closet". Retrieved February 28, 2009.

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@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 '''''Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead''''' was the first [[compilation album]] from the [[Grateful Dead]]. It was first released on [[Gramophone record|LP]] in February 1974. The release was a ploy for [[Warner Bros. Records]] to cash in on the escalating popularity of the band (based on the sales of ''[[Workingman's Dead]]'' and ''[[American Beauty (album)|American Beauty]]'').<ref>''Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip'' . Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 165.</ref>
-Four of the tracks were not original Dead album studio recordings. This "Turn On Your Love Light" first appeared on the album ''The Big Ball'', which was a [[loss leader]] sampler distributed by Warner Bros.; it had also appeared in longer form on ''[[Live/Dead]]''. "[[One More Saturday Night (song)|One More Saturday Night]]" was taken from the band's live release ''[[Europe '72]]''. And, "Mexicali Blues" was actually a track from guitarist [[Bob Weir]]'s solo release (but essentially a Dead album) ''[[Ace (Bob Weir album)|Ace]]''. The version of "St Stephen" on the European release of ''Skeletons from the Closet'' is the identical recording from the ''Live/Dead'' LP with the long jam in the middle edited out.
+Four of the tracks were not original Dead album studio recordings. This "Turn On Your Love Light" first appeared on the album ''The Big Ball'', which was a [[loss leader]] sampler distributed by Warner Bros.; it had also appeared in longer form on ''[[Live/Dead]]''. "[[One More Saturday Night (song)|One More Saturday Night]]" was taken from the band's live release ''[[Europe '72]]''. And, "Mexicali Blues" was actually a track from guitarist [[Bob Weir]]'s solo release ''[[Ace (Bob Weir album)|Ace]]''. The version of "St Stephen" on the European release of ''Skeletons from the Closet'' is the identical recording from the ''Live/Dead'' LP with the long jam in the middle edited out.
 Warner Bros. released the album on [[Compact Disc|CD]] and [[cassette tape|cassette]] in 1988 before re-releasing the LP in 1990. The album would be later re-released on by [[Rhino Records]] on May 24, 2004 as part of a greatest hits series by various bands. It contains the complete "Love Light" from ''Live/Dead''.