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"...The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get..."
I have had a hard time with The Grateful Dead and their music for decades.
Not everyone would agree – some might even get aerated and whomp me one. Like fellow Space-Psych-Rock cult bands Hawkwind or Gong, I know Deadhead fans are notoriously loyal obsessives. They will say this pioneering San Francisco band can be credited with starting Psych and Stoner Rock, were anti music-commercialism when others raced towards it, contributors to the counter-culture on a biblical level (The Lost Continent of MU ahoy). The Dead are 60ts doyens, feted and worshiped, fuzzed-out poster art darlings etc.
But in truth I have found much of their output dull, badly recorded, indulgent and downright un-listenable a full five to six decades after the event. In 2018 or 2023 for that matter, it is hard to forgive this level of experimental tomfoolery let alone enjoy it. They could never seem to write a tune to save their weed-lives. As one reviewer back in the day noted "...there really is no excuse for this kind of junk. But there is an explanation – drugs..." Not much truck then (if you will forgive the obvious keep-on trucking pun).
And so it is with this '50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition' of their second disruptor album "Anthem Of The Sun" initially thrust on a hippy-world in July of 1968. The remaster is an improvement for sure (those drums and percussive sounds on "Alligator" for instance and the vocal panning in "Caution" is a little clearer) and I have honestly not heard the 1971 remix version that so many prefer sound so muscular either. But then the music is such hard going. And as a supposedly DE – Rhino's effort is not without its disappointments either – a piddly 16-page booklet that seems to want to avoid all that period colour and memorabilia and a foldout card Digipak that isn't exactly exciting or adventurous in any real way. To what we have got - let's get to the quadlibets for tender feet...
UK/EUROPE issued 13 July 2018 - "Anthem Of The Sun" by THE GRATEFUL DEAD on Rhino/Dead.Net 603497864881 (Barcode 603497864881) is a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition 2 x HDCD Reissue in Digipak Repro Artwork with David Glasser, Jamie Howarth and Jeffrey Norman Audio Restoration and Remasters. CD1 offers the Original 1968 and Remixed 1971 Stereo Versions of the Album (one after the other) and a Previously Unreleased 22 October 1967 concert recorded live at Winterland in San Francisco, California is offered on CD2 (also in Stereo). They play out as follows:
CD1 Original 1968 Stereo Mix and 1971 Remix (78:18 minutes):
1. That's It For The Other One
I. Cryptical Envelopment
II. Quadlibet For Tender Feet
III. The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get
IV. We Leave The Castle
2. New Potato Caboose
3. Born Cross-Eyed
4. Alligator [Side 2]
5. Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)
Tracks 6 to 10 as above but are the 1971 Album Remix
Tracks 1 to 5 are their 2nd studio LP "Anthem Of The Sun" – released July 1968 in the USA on Warner Brothers WS 1749 and November 1968 in the UK on Warner Brothers WS 1749 (both Stereo only). Produced by DAVE HASSINGER – it peaked at No. 83 on the US Billboard Rock LP charts (didn't chart UK).
CD2 Live At Winterland, San Francisco, CA on 22 Oct 1967 (55:06 minutes):
1. Morning Dew
2. New Potato Caboose
3. It Hurts Me Too
4. Cold Rain And Snow
5. Turn On Your Lovelight
6. Beat It On Down The Line
7. That's It For The Other One
I. Cryptical Envelopment
II. The Other One
III. Cryptical Envelopment
THE GRATEFUL DEAD was:
JERRY GARCIA – Lead and Acoustic Guitars, Kazoo, Vocals
BOB WEIR – Rhythm, 12-String and Acoustic Guitars, Kazoo, Vocals
RON McKERNAN – Organ, Celesta, Claves, Vocals
PHIL LESH – Bass, Trumpet, Harpsichord, Piano, Tympani and Vocals
MICKEY HART and BILL KREUTZMANN – Drums and Percussion
TOM CONSTANTEN – Prepared Piano, Piano, Electric Tape
Initially in shrink-wrap, it looks the part with its gold reissue details sticker on one side and a 50th Anniversary lightning head sticker on the other. But once you open it, the three-way fold out card sleeve doesn't really offer much – track lists in a difficult-to-read font. The picture art CDs are nice and some band hand-drawn recording details are beneath each see-through CD tray for Side 1 and Side 2. But the 16-page booklet is hugely disappointing even with new and deeply knowledgeable liner notes from STEVE SIBERMAN. He goes into the music scene at the time, their output and attitudes as a direct result of the 'chaotic splendour of LSD'. He also does not shirk from remarks then (and now) that some viewed this album as stoned-hippy cack (me being one of them).
I found the live CD (recorded October 1967) raw, but much more interesting that the terrible main studio album. The Dead open with a riffage-heavy cover of the Tim Rose winner "Morning Dew" following that with a track the crowd had not heard yet (would be on the "Anthem Of The Sun" album in 1968) – the near ten-minutes of "New Potato Caboose". And on it goes to fourteen minutes of "Anthem Of The Sun". The audio is pretty damn good given the vintage and circumstances – vocals to the left – Neil Young grunge guitar and Animals-type organ to the right. Bluesy lurch channelling a more hard-hitting B.B. King comes at us with their cover of the Tampa Red 40ts Blues classic "It Hurst Me Too" (great Harmonica too).
The terrible vocals and DIY-band vibe continue with "Cold Rain And Snow" – throwing back her yellow hair – only to be followed with more R&B – a cover of the Bobby Bland romper "Turn On Your Lovelight" which the Dead typically heavy up but you have to say in a good way (and you can so hear why CD2 is a cause for fan excitement). The drums, vocals and counter vocals are clean and it’s a surprisingly coherent bash at its very Gloria feel (great guitar work). And on it goes...
You would have to say that all three-out-of-five star ratings attributed to this supposed 50th Anniversary celebration are absolutely on the money. It is good but never really great despite the improved audio. Hear "Anthem Of The Sun" first before you buy is the best advice and also - don’t buy drugs, become a Board Member of Pfizer and they will give them to you and your family for free...
