Grateful Dead - Blues for Allah

Following the Dead's early Warner Bros. LP's and their evolution from a San Francisco hippie phenomenon to one of the biggest bands on the planet, these five album masterpieces chronicle the creatively expansive portion of their long, strange, and amazing trip beginning in 1873 when they launchd their own label. Rhino's remastered & expanded editions celebrate the Dead's immortal music with state-of-the-art sonics and a wealth of fresh-from-the-archives bonus rarities. Album Description

How could it not be loved?

Music. It is music. It is great music. Need I say more? June 26, 2008

Blues for Allah is Definitive Dead.

Blues for Allah (1975) is Definitive Dead, and essential to any serious rock collection. The Dead's eighth studio album is a fusion of rock, blues, reggae, jazz, psychedelia, and improvisational jam. Blues for Allah marked the return of drummer Mickey Hart to the band after a four-year hiatus. The album features Garcia and Weir on guitars and vocals, Lesh on bass, Keith Godchaux on keyboards and vocals, Donna Jean Godchaux on vocals, and Kreutzmann and Hart on dual percussion. I first experienced this album on vinyl. Side one opened with the 7:18-minute jam, "Help on the Way/Slipknot!" and ended with Weir's 4:35-minute concert favorite, "The Music Never Stopped." On side two of the album, Garcia's "Crazy Fingers" then took me places I'd never been before. I experienced "Sand Castles and Glass Camels" and "Unusual Occurrences in the Desert" along the way. The remastered CD is worth the upgrade from vinyl, featuring the following setlist:

1. Help On The Way/Slipknot
2. Franklin's Tower
3. King Solomon's Marbles: Part I: Stronger Than Dirt/Part II: Milkin' The Turkey
4. The Music Never Stopped
5. Crazy Fingers
6. Sage & Spirit
7. Blues For Allah: Sand Castles & Glass Camels/Unusual Occurrences In The Desert
8. Groove #1 (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
9. Groove #2 (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
10. Distorto (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
11. A To E Flat Jam (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
12. Proto 18 Proper (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
13. Hollywood Cantata (Studio Outtake)

G. Merritt
April 16, 2008

Love it

This purchase was to replace an old, long-lost copy. I've always liked their studio-produced stuff, much to the chagrin of some more serious aficionados. Every once in a while it's nice to hear a nice crisp rendition than to have to pore over tons of bootlegs to find just the one. March 24, 2008

GD in Non-Centre-Parting Shock

Go on, I bet you thought I made that up. Not so.
The Grateful Dead are an interesting idea(l) of a band much given to `groovin' as is their wont, and gettin-on-down at EVERY ROCK FESTIVAL OF THE SEVENTIES, looking every inch like a live advert for `Head and Shoulders'. Aah.. That`s much too easy. Let's take a closer look at what we're dealing with.
To start with, `Blues for Allah' is a VERY good title. Let's us know that despite all the hair and denim, we're not dealing with mugs here. The temptation to scoff derisorily is over-whelming, these trippy types are usually good for some shallow, simple-minded fun, at the expense of their lifestyles and ideals, but if we're talking music (and I will be in a minute!) it just isn't possible to poke too much fun at `BFA' because it's an album which is well capable of wiping the smirk off even the most determined cynics face.
The prog-tastic symbolism is as rampant as my fevered imagination. A rubbishy, diarrhea colored sleeve, with pictures of our heroes, splendidly replete with DEEP centre-partings, giving it plenty at some lost hippy outpost, with far too many people on stage.
However strangely seductive the album is (and it is!), these lads know well the sheer innate insanity of the devil's own rock music, and just to prove it, the only flash of colour on the sniffy sleeve is the red-flash of the robe of Satan himself in his `Dead' guise. Obvious to all, but re-assuring because of it.
Groups like this survive in the world of gangs, jean-jacketed `clubs' who wander the vast plains and deserts of the US, kicking up dust, and worrying about whether the Deads' third album is better than their fifth, as they trudge loyally and dutifully to the next festival. Eagerly anticipating a three hour set, (that's two numbers in a Dead show!) and some free sandwiches. They instill a genuine sense of belonging in pre-Morrissey, bed-sit types. In particular, wet behind the ears teenagers with nothing but wetness to think about, who get up at three in the afternoon, smoke dope and whinge how bad the world is.
Of course, if they were really subversive they would support Nixon (and Bush), and rather than trendy hippy veggie-ness, eat hearty meals of beef and tripe. Instead they tread the tired and (even in the 70's) redundant boards of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and POINTLESS GIGGING. A coming together of like-minds (and hairstyles!) is a staple and prime ingredient of that marinating rock `n` roll soup, in fact in some cases it's become MORE important than the music itself. No worries on that score here though, there's no way `BFA' is going to be eclipsed by even the most dusty and leathery of the Dead's fervent acolytes.
They remind me of the cavemen in `One Million Years BC' who emerge from the volcanic turmoil, bleary-eyed and shaky, but with a will and determination to carry on, to finish that third 15 minute encore!
In a sane world, this couldn't exist but again there's that madness. That post-Vietnam thing, (the Grateful Dead are VERY Oliver Stone) that slight shifting in the hearts and minds of the youth of America. Realization had crept in, the Government manipulated Cold War insecurities had dissolved into genuine feelings of mistrust and disillusionment. They tell lies, guys.
The disaffected did what they always do, looked for salvation in the form of the similarly dissolute. The Dead bravely stepped into the breach. The harsh flat-tops of the draft became the unsightly locks of the drag (maaan!), and bands like the Dead struck for home.
As an entity, `Blues for Allah' reflects the era a big solid treat, and as base philosophy I can see it's attractions. You wont see any of these guys dying from stress (pretty much everything else sadly, but that's another story).
All of the connotations and stand-points combined means that `Blues for Allah' cannot be regarded as anything less than a major work. It stands proud as a kind of 70's picaresque, haunted and hunted by it's dreams and responsibilities.
It represents a kind of caving-in, an after-thought in musical terms, but we sleep sounder because of it. Friendly fire if you like.
It frequently turns in on itself, like a fulcrum, then twists away. Back to the point at hand - the `Great, Grateful Dead album' - fact.
I duck the issue, `Blues for Allah' is probably more than we deserve, even though culturally, some of us live light years away.
And yes, it really is true, one of the GD (Shock! Horror!!) DOESN'T have a centre parting, obviously the end of the world is upon us....

February 21, 2008

In a magical land of sage&spirit,sand castles&glass camels

"Blues for Allah" heralded the Grateful Dead's return after their legendary concert at the Winterland. They hadn't been in a winter land for long--the music on "Blues for Allah" is an oasis for the spirit. Sonic help is indeed on the way! You'll be smiling and tapping your toes. It's like a delicious North African stew blending the sweet and savory.

"Blues for Allah" is as mesmerizing as the sights and smells of the Marrakesh night market. The opening,"Help is on the way" is at once anthemic and easy-going. It's as reassuring as a cup of Moroccan mint tea. "Franklin's Tower" is majestic. The King Solomon's Marbles sequence is remarkable acid jazz. It's like finding the ancient city of Petra,the "rose red city,half as old as time." "The Music Never Stopped" is an ode to the joy of making music. "Crazy Fingers" is exuberant reggae. "Sage and Spirit" (which sounds like the perfect name for a Southwestern New Age store) is New Agey jazz,evoking the desert. One can imagine seeing the red Sangre de Cristo Mountains,the last of the Rockies, becoming the flat purity of the desert. Finally,the "Blues for Allah/Sand Castles&Glass Camels/Unusual Occurrences in the Desert" sequence is at once mysterious and melancholy. It's a mournful desert lament.

The reissue has six bonus tracks worth the price. Five are jazzy jam band instrumentals,pure improvisation. "Hollywood Cantata" is a clever look at the price of fame and celebrity.

"Blues for Allah" won't leave you feeling blue. Venture into the sands,and feel the desert power... January 5, 2008

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