DEAD ROOTS
THE GRATEFUL DEAD SONGBOOK
THE LEGEND OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD OFTEN PIVOTS on psychedelic largesse, on a spirit of musical exploration that transcends earthly limits. Listen to a live version of Dark Star – the 23-minute take on
Live/Dead
is a decent one to start with – and the Dead sound untethered from music’s history and conventions.
The truth, though, is much richer and more complicated. Jerry Garcia and his bandmates started their adventures from a position of profound knowledge; an understanding of blues, bluegrass, soul, country and rock’n’roll that was both scholarly and intuitive. Hence this month’s MOJO CD,
Dead Roots
, which gathers together 15 diverse songs adopted over the years by the Grateful Dead. Some figured as part of their earliest setlists six decades ago, a garage R&B band whose job, as Bob Weir puts it, was to “get people dancing”. Others were picked up as their trip evolved, incorporating a kind of Cosmic Americana into the improvised maelstrom. All provide a skeleton key to the raw essence of this most expansive and rewarding of American bands… Shall we go, you and I, while we can?
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty (6), PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy Stock Photo, Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo (2), Val Wilmer/Redferns/Getty Images