Though it was something of a contractual obligation, as the band were trying to finish the terms of their recording contract and end their association with Warner Bros., it was compiled as the first volume of either a two-volume set or a series. However, further volumes never came to be as the band were creating their own record label, after which, difficulties prevented the release of live archival recordings. Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia explained, "We to give it to them in order to make Europe '72 a triple LP... We ended up giving them four discs instead of just two just to be able to go to Europe. It all goes back to that damn vacation of ours... represents us in early 1970, at a time in our existence when we never made a record. The stuff we were doing at the time never got onto any of our records before now." Drummer Bill Kreutzmann commented, "To fulfill our contract with Warner Brothers, we let Bear put together a live anthologyhence the nickname Bear’s Choice. The official title, History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One, reflects its unofficial intent as a tribute and send-off to Pigpen."