The Grateful Dead Movie DVD contains two discs, the original DVD (1977) that was compiled from their retirement shows at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco between October 16 and 20, 1974 and a second disc of bonus footage. This is the Godchaux version of the band with one drummer.

The film was co-directed by Leon Gast and Jerry Garcia and is a cultural time capsule of deadhead culture. One of the most memorable features of movie is the opening animation sequence by Garry Gutierrez. The extended segment features a Harley-riding skeleton and is a study in the simultaneous use of stop as well as hand-drawn animation.

This feature-length film was shot during the Grateful Dead's so-called "retirement run" of shows at Winterland Arena as the band was to take an extended sabbatical from touring North America.

The Shout Factory has released the original movie on Blue-ray with bonus concert footage on DVD.

The retirement was a hiatus.Blues For Allah (1975) was one of the ways the Grateful Dead spent their retirement. The album has some of the more complex song structures that the Grateful Dead recorded in the studio resulting in one of their strongest studio efforts. When the Dead made "Blues for Allah," the band was at one of its high points, and the music on the recording brings together long-form compositions, complicated harmonies, carefully chosen rhythms and some of the Dead's best melodies.