How Many Gold Records Do the Grateful Dead Have?

The Dead have had 21 of their albums certified for Gold Record Awards from the RIAA

Neal Umphred in Tell It Like It Was · 2024-07-17 01:20 · 50 claps · 11.7 min read paywalled

#grateful-dead #rock-and-roll #60s-rock #psychedelics #riaa-gold-records

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How Many Gold Records Do the Grateful Dead Have?

The Dead have had 21 of their albums certified for Gold Record Awards from the RIAA

The Dead’s second live album was self-titled but is appropriately known as the “Skull & Roses” album due to the cover art. This image was cropped from the full jacket (which can be seen below), (Image: personal collection)

THE UNDERDOGS OF ROCK & ROLL.** That’s how I often think of the Grateful Dead. Creative, eclectic, subversive, and — in some respects, the ultimate “party band” — they were, nonetheless, regularly derided by critics and never really embraced by large numbers of record buyers. So I rarely think in terms of Grateful Dead Gold Records despite their having quite a few.**

Many Dead fans were caught off guard in 1987 when the group released an upbeat, groovy single that shot up the charts and became the group’s first and only Top 10 pop hit. Touch Of Grey was a masterful single: catchy melody with hooks (!), a great bridge, cool harmonies, a commercial arrangement, and a full but uncluttered production. Hell’s Belles, man — you can sing along with it!

Part of the Grateful Dead’s allure was not being a part of the normal pop music world — they created their own world where everyone was welcome.

It was so masterful, so natural-sounding that one wonders why they didn’t do it more often — make Top 10 hits, that is. Of course, a part of their allure was not being a part of the world of normal pop music. So, back to this article!

The Grateful Dead have twenty-one albums that have been certified by the RIAA for an “official” Gold Record Award. Seven of these albums were further certified for a Platinum Record Award and four have received multi-Platinum Awards. It’s hard to imagine that any Dead fans from the ’60s ever thought they would see the band achieve so much success selling records

But before going any further, if the reader needs some background information on the history of the Grateful Dead and its various members (of which surface I am not even going to scratch below), try this biography by Jesse Jarnow on the Dead.net website.

The Dead’s second live album was this self-titled two-record set. It is appropriately known as the “Skull & Roses” album due to the stupendous cover art on the gatefold jacket by Alton Kelly and Stanley Mouse. Released in 1971, this quickly became the first Grateful Dead album to be certified by the RIAA for a Gold Record Award. (Image: personal collection)

Chronology of the first discography

Since their first album in 1967, the Grateful Dead have been associated with three major record companies — Warner Brothers, United Artists, and Arista — and two not-so-major companies: their own Grateful Dead Records and the former itty-bitty indie, Rhino Records.

The albums in the discography below include only those albums that have been certified by the RIAA for a Gold Record Award. The albums are listed in chronological order by the record company that released the album.

There are five subsections:

1. Warner Brothers Records 2. Grateful Dead Records 3. Arista Records 4. Grateful Dead Records 5. Rhino Records

All of the albums on the Warner Brothers imprint are listed before the albums on Arista, which are listed before the albums on Grateful Dead Records and Rhino Records. There are no albums listed for 2. Grateful Dead Records, as none of the albums released then have been certified Gold.

The Dead’s third album was Aoxomoxoa (Warner Brothers WS-1790), released in 1969. It featured this gorgeous cover featuring art by San Francisco psychedelic poster superstar artist Rick Griffin. It is one of my all-time faveravest album covers! (image: personal collection)

Warner Brothers Records 1967–1973

Between 1967 and 1973, the Dead released five studio albums and four live albums for Warner Brothers. Several compilation albums from this period were released on Warners and Rhino Records (below).

Aoxomoxoa

Warner Brothers WS-1790 Released in May 1969

Gold Record Award

On May 13, 1997, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 copies.

• This was the Gold Record #12.

Platinum Record Award

This album has not been submitted for certification for a Platinum Record.

Live/Dead

Warner Brothers 2WS-1830 (2 records) Released in November 1969

Gold Record Award

On August 24, 2001, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 units (which would be 250,000 copies of the album).

• This was the Gold Record #15.

Platinum Record Award

This album has not been submitted for certification for a Platinum Record.

Workingman’s Dead

Warner Brothers WS-1869 Released in May 1970

Gold Record Award

On July 11, 1974, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of $1,000,000 at the wholesale price (approximately 500,000 copies).

• This was the Gold Record #3.

Platinum Record Award

On October 13, 1986, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

Note

Given that Uncle John’s Band, one of the group’s most famous tracks, is on this album, I am a wee bit surprised it hasn’t sold enough copies to reach the 2xPlatinum level over the past thirty-eight years.

American Beauty

Warner Brothers WS-1893 Released in October 1970

Gold Record Award

On July 11, 1974, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of $1,000,000 at the wholesale price (approximately 500,000 copies).

• This was the Gold Record #4.

Platinum Record Award

On October 13, 1986, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

On August 24, 2001, the RIAA awarded this album a 2xPlatinum Record for sales of 2,000,000 copies.

Grateful Dead

Warner Brothers 2WS-1035 (2 records) Released in November 1971

Gold Record Award

On November 15, 1971, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of $1,000,000 at the wholesale price (approximately 250,000–300,000 copies).

• This was the Gold Record #1.

Platinum Record Award

This album has not been submitted for certification for a Platinum Record.

Note

This enormously popular album should have easily reached the $2,000,000 mark decades ago but hasn’t!

Europe ‘72

Warner Brothers 3wx-2668 (3 records) Released in November 1972

Gold Record Award

On December 14, 1972, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of $1,000,000 at the wholesale price (which would be approximately 150,000–200,000 copies of the album).

• This was the Gold Record #2.

Platinum Record Award

On August 24, 2001, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 units (at least 333,334 copies).

On August 24, 2001, the RIAA certified this album for a 2xPlatinum Record for sales of 2,000,000 units (at least 666,667 copies).

The Best of “Skeletons From The Closet”

Warner Brothers W-2764 Released in February 1974

Gold Record Award

On March 14, 1980, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 copies.

• This was the Gold Record #5.

Platinum Record Award

On December 15, 1986, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

On June 27, 1994, the RIAA awarded this album a 2xPlatinum Record for sales of 2,000,000 copies.

On January 31, 1995, the RIAA awarded this album a 3xPlatinum Record for sales of 3,000,000 copies.

On December 14, 2018, the RIAA awarded this album a 4xPlatinum Record for sales of 4,000,000 copies.

Note

It seems like everyone on the internet — including Discogs, whose contributors should know better — believes this album is titled “The Best Of The Grateful Dead — Skeletons From The Closet.”

It’s not:

(images: personal collection)

(images: personal collection)

So, given the three lines of text on the front cover of the jacket and on the record label, we can read the title three ways:

GRATEFUL DEAD — THE BEST OF a.k.a. “Skeletons from the Closet”

GRATEFUL DEAD — THE BEST OF “Skeletons from the Closet”

As it is customary for record companies to include the artist’s name on the record’s labels. then the appearance of GRATEFUL DEAD is a given and not a part of the title.

In that case, the title of the album is simply:

THE BEST OF “Skeletons from the Closet”

And this is the one I have chosen to go with.

What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been — The Best Of The Grateful Dead

Warner Brothers 2W-3901 (2 records) Released in September 1977

Gold Record Award

On August 24, 2001, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 units (which would be 250,000 copies of the album).

• This was the Gold Record #16.

Platinum Record Award

On August 24, 2001, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

The Dead’s third and final studio album on their own imprint was Blues For Allah (Grateful Dead Records LA-494). Released in 1975, it sported — in my opinion — the last truly cool cover the group used on a regular album. (image: personal collection)

Grateful Dead Records 1973–1976

Between 1973 and 1976, the Dead had their own imprint, Grateful Dead Records. Their records were manufactured and distributed by United Artists. During this time, the Dead released three studio albums and one live album.

Despite all three albums reaching the Top 20 on the Billboard best-selling LPs chart — making them the group’s most successful charting albums — none have been submitted to the RIAA for certification.

On September 4, 1987, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 copies.

• This was the Gold Record #8.

Platinum Record Award

On September 18, 1987, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

On August 10, 1995, the RIAA awarded this album a 2xPlatinum Record Award for sales of 2,000,000 copies.

Built To Last

Arista ARCD-8575 Released in October 1989

Gold Record Award

On January 3, 1990, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 copies.

• This was the Gold Record #9.

Platinum Record Award

This album has not been submitted for certification for a Platinum Record.

Without A Net

Arista ACD2–8634-DL (2 discs) Released in September 1990

Gold Record Award

On November 27, 1990, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 units (which would be 250,000 copies of the album).

• This was the Gold Record #10.

Platinum Record Award

On October 13, 1986, the RIAA certified this album for a Platinum Record Award for sales of 1,000,000 copies.

The album titled Dozin’ At The Knick is affectionately known to Dead fans as “Dosin’ At The Knick.” (image: personal collection)

On October 4, 2011, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 units (which would be 125,000 copies of the album).

• This was the Gold Record #19.

Platinum Record Award

This album has not been submitted for certification for a Platinum Record.

The Golden Road (1965–1973) contains twelve discs that contain the entirety of the Dead’s first nine albums plus outtakes and other bonus tracks. (image: personal collection)

On February 8, 2016, the RIAA certified this album for a Gold Record Award for sales of 500,000 units (which would be 6,250 copies of the album).

• This was the Gold Record #21.

Platinum Record Award

This album has not been submitted for certification for a Platinum Record.

Live/Dead is one of only a relatively few two-record albums issued in the ’60s. (They didn’t start becoming “common” until after the success of the Beatles so-called “White Album” in 1968) Live/Dead is also one of only a relatively few live rock albums issued in the ’60s. (image: personal collection)

RIAA criteria

With the first Gold Record Awards in 1958, the RIAA based a Gold Record on sales as racked up by the album in dollars at the wholesale level. As the list price for a single-record pop LPalbum was $3.98, it required sales of 800,000 albums to qualify for an RIAA Gold Record.

As the cost of LPs escalated, by 1974, select new LPs by top artists began carrying a $6.98 list price. An album could be certified for a Gold Record for 476,000 copies sold. In 1975, the RIAA changed its criteria: an album (LPs or tapes) must sell the regular $1,000,000 at wholesale with a minimum of 500,000 units sold.

The first four Grateful Dead albums that received Gold Records were certified using the dollar amount criteria. All other awards were made using unit sales.

Units

The American record industry and the RIAA refer to records and CDs as units with each disc counting as one unit. So, a regular album with one disc counts as one unit, a two-disc album counts as two units, etc. The RIAA counts each record or disc as a unit toward certification for a Gold or Platinum Award.

Video awards

The Dead has also received Gold and Platinum Awards for nine movies (which are classified by the RIAA under “video longform”).

RIAA certification criteria

For more information on the weird and convoluted history of the RIAA certification criteria, refer to “Understanding RIAA Gold And Platinum Record Awards.”

If you liked this article

This article contains 2,900 words (including subtitles, headers, and captions. It is a truncated version of the original article as it appears on my *Rather Rare Records* blog. There, the article is 800 words longer and includes five more images.

So, if you liked this article, give the longer version of this article a perusal. Click on this link: “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been for Grateful Dead Gold Records.”

Postscript

Thanks to Brian Ellez for proofreading the final draft!