Remastered and reissued in 2001 with some bonus tracks, initially as part of the Rhino box set The Golden Road (1965-1973), but now also available separately. The bonus tracks are:
Katie Mae 13 Feb 1970 Dark Hollow 14 Feb 1970 I've Been All Around This World 14 Feb 1970 Wake Up Little Susie 13 Feb 1970 Black Peter 13 Feb 1970 Smokestack Lightnin' 13 Feb 1970 Hard To Handle 14 Feb 1970
The album was originally planned with a rather different tracklist, but Pigpen died during the process of putting it together. So it was altered to be a Pigpen tribute as Jesse Jarnow explained during the Bear's Choice 50 episode of Deadcast:
Good Lovin' 13 Feb 1970 (early show) Big Boss Man 5 Feb 1970 Smokestack Lightning 8 Feb 1970 Sitting On Top Of The World 8 Feb 1970
"The original tracklist for the album included Dire Wolf and Smokestack Lightning on the first side. The second contained Monkey and the Engineer, Little Sadie, Wake Up Little Susie, Black Peter, and concluded with Katie May. With Katie May moved to the top, and the entire second side given over to Pigpen jams, Bear's Choice became a tribute to Pigpen when it was released in the summer of '73."
Further Information
For more information on this recording see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography
For liner notes for this album see the Grateful Dead Album Reference site (now archived)