1976 represented a major turning point for The Grateful Dead.
\nHaving “retired” in 1974, they played a whopping four dates in 1975
\n– some of which were invitation only – that brought great
\nexcitement to the Deadheads. Were Jerry Garcia and crew ready to
\nreturn to form – and to the concert stage?<\/p>\n
The answers started to come in a show that was later
\nimmortalized on
\nOne From The Vault<\/i>, a CD of one of the 1975 shows in San
\nFrancisco. Throughout the show, the Dead played new material that
\nwould eventually become their 1976 studio album
\nBlues For Allah<\/i>. (The show at the Great American Music Hall,
\nby the way, represented one of the very few times that “Blues For
\nAllah” itself would ever be played live.)<\/p>\n
In one sense,
\nBlues For Allah<\/i> represented some of the most exciting music
\nthat the Dead ever recorded, merging the worlds of jazz and rock
\ntogether seamlessly. In another sense, the disc had examples of
\nwhat can happen when a musical idea is carried too far.<\/p>\n
The highlight of this disc for me will always be the three-song
\nsuite (really listed as two tracks), “Help On The Way \/ Slipknot!”
\nand “Franklin’s Tower”. There is something about this song that
\nnever fails to put a smile on my face and can always raise my
\nspirits when they’ve sunk low. Granted, I would take a live version
\nof this song suite over the studio effort at times, but there are
\npoints in it, especially during “Help On The Way,” that have never
\nsounded cleaner.<\/p>\n
The jazz influences continue with the instrumental “King
\nSolomon’s Marbles,” another song you can divide into two parts. The
\n7\/4 rhythm used for a good portion of the song (it might be used
\nthroughout the track, but I had a hard time keeping the beat for an
\nextended period of time) provides a friendly challenge to the
\nlistener, almost as if the band was saying, “Try and keep up with
\nus!” Musically, it’s a great game of tag that’s wonderful fun.<\/p>\n
One other track which I occasionally find myself drawn to is
\n“Crazy Fingers,” another track that has reached higher levels for
\nme thanks to the numerous live versions I’ve heard over the years.
\nGarcia’s gentle combination of vocals and his guitar lines
\ntranscends the mere pop sound of the song and brings the listener
\nto a whole new level – even without the help of any substances, if
\nyou get my drift.<\/p>\n
So far, it might seem that
\nBlues For Allah<\/i> is an album that can do no wrong. Hold on
\nthere, sprout. While the Dead have always been a band to push the
\nmusical envelope, when you hear the 12-minute epic “Blues For
\nAllah,” you might wonder if they didn’t push the envelope over the
\nside of a cliff. The first part of the track (which is the actual
\n“Blues For Allah”) builds up on an Egyptian rhythm pattern, using
\nonly vocals, drums and the occasional guitar lick. At times, it
\nmade me feel like I was listening to a Greek chorus from ancient
\ntheater – not one of the world’s most pleasant experiences. By the
\ntime the band gets “Sand Castles & Glass Camels” working, the
\nlong, strange trip just becomes strange – too strange, in fact. The
\nmore structured closing movement “Unusual Occurrences In The
\nDesert” doesn’t help matters or tie things together.<\/p>\n
There is one track on
\nBlues For Allah<\/i> that I’ll concede is a matter of personal
\npreference – and that is “The Music Never Stopped”. Frankly, the
\nfirst time I ever heard it was on
\nOne From The Vault<\/i>, and Donna Jean Godchaux’s vocals totally
\nruined it for me. The studio version is a little more controlled,
\nbut it’s still – at least for me – not one of the Dead’s finer
\nmoments. (Side note: I heard this song performed live long after
\nGodchaux and her husband Keith left the band in 1979 – and it did
\nsound a little better without their presence. I believe that Brent
\nMydland took over half the vocal chores – I swear, that guy could
\nhave sang the phone book and made it sound funky.)<\/p>\n
So what’s the final ruling on
\nBlues For Allah<\/i>? It’s still very much a disc that’s worth
\nchecking out, especially if you want to get past the songs that
\nclassic rock stations play to death. But you should be aware that
\nthis album is not your typical musical trip – and maybe that’s what
\nthe Dead wanted to accomplish. Maybe they wanted to shake things up
\na bit – I just wonder if they shook one too many times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5668],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-36349","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-grateful-dead","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36349"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}