Dick's Picks Volume 1 is the first album in the Dick's Picks series of live releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on December 19, 1973, at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa, Florida, and contains a rare recording of the band playing the blues standard "Nobody's Fault but Mine".
As the first of the Dick's Picks, the album was considered by Deadheads to be a significant breakthrough. All previous live Dead albums (except Vintage Dead and Historic Dead) had been based on multi-track recordings, which can be remixed extensively before being commercially released. Dick's Picks were created using stereo(two-track) concert recordings. This made possible the release of many more Dead shows that exist in the band's extensive tape vault. The series was named for Grateful Dead tape archivist Dick Latvala.
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psychedelia; for its differentiated live performances centered around improvisation; and for its devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye, "Their music touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, the Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of the jam band world".