{"id":16357,"date":"2025-07-22T21:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T21:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/16357\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T21:12:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T21:12:09","slug":"the-grateful-dead-blues-for-allah-50th-anniversary-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/16357\/","title":{"rendered":"The Grateful Dead ‘Blues for Allah’: 50th Anniversary Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn 1975, the Grateful Dead<\/a> found themselves at Bob Weir\u2019s home studio in Mill Valley, California, recording a new album. This time, though, was a bit different than their previous sessions: they recorded almost entirely without any pre-written material. \u201cThe whole idea was to get back to that band thing, where the band makes the main contribution to the evolution of the material,\u201d Jerry Garcia said. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe result was the experimental Blues for Allah<\/a> \u2014 an album that\u2019s jazzy, otherworldly, and at times straight swamp-rock \u2014 that arrived after a rare hiatus from the road. For the 50th anniversary, the album will be celebrated with a deluxe edition<\/a>, out Sept. 12.<\/p>\n

\n\tBlues for Allah (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)<\/a>\u00a0contains 3 CDs: the remastered album (you can hear \u201cThe Music Never Stopped\u201d below), rehearsals\/soundcheck from their Aug. 12, 1975, show at San Francisco\u2019s Great American Music Hall, and performances from their June 21, 1976, concert at Pennsylvania\u2019s historic Tower Theatre.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe second CD contains portions of the Dead\u2019s set at Bill Graham\u2019s SNACK (Students Need Athletics, Culture, and Kicks) Benefit at Kezar Stadium on March 23, 1975. That show featured one of the only three known performances of the groovy instrumental \u201cKing Solomon\u2019s Marbles,\u201d and was a wild, three-keyboard set with Keith Godchaux, Ned Lagin, and Merl Saunders. (The benefit is also famous for Neil Young and Bob Dylan\u2019s performance, the first time the two rock icons played together<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to the 3-CD set, Blues for Allah (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be available<\/a> in a variety of formats, including a picture disc, limited-edition \u201cMidnight Fire\u201d vinyl (which features a replica lyric sheet with English and Arabic translations, like the original LP), and more.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBlues for Allah\u00a0is the Dead\u2019s unique vision, a deeply humane parable that framed their own artistic renewal in the most inclusive, expansive terms,\u201d Nicholas G. Meriwether, Executive Director of the Grateful Dead Studies Association, wrote in the liner notes. \u201cFifty years later, it remains one of their most musically successful and resolutely experimental albums.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year also marks the Grateful Dead\u2019s 60th anniversary, which is being commemorated in a number of ways, from the massive 60-CD box set\u00a0Enjoying the Ride<\/a>\u00a0to a screening of 1977\u2019s The Grateful Dead Movie on\u00a0IMAX<\/a>. Dead & Company will also perform three nights at San Francisco\u2019s Golden Gate Park<\/a> next month. As we\u2019ve always known, the music never stopped.<\/p>\n

\n\tBlues For Allah 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) CD Track List
Disc One
2025 Remaster
1. \u201cHelp On The Way\u201d \/ \u201cSlipknot!\u201d
2. \u201cFranklin\u2019s Tower\u201d
3. \u201cKing Solomon\u2019s Marbles\u201d
4. Part I: \u201cStronger Than Dirt\u201d
5. Part II: \u201cMilkin\u2019 The Turkey\u201d
6. \u201cThe Music Never Stopped\u201d
7. \u201cCrazy Fingers\u201d
8. \u201cSage & Spirit\u201d
9. \u201cBlues For Allah\u201d
10. \u201cSand Castles & Glass Camels\u201d
11. \u201cUnusual Occurrences In The Desert\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDisc Two
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA Soundcheck\/Rehearsal (8\/12\/75)
1. \u201cHelp On The Way\u201d >
2. \u201cSlipknot!\u201d
3. \u201cFranklin\u2019s Tower\u201d
4. \u201cHelp On The Way\u201d >
5. \u201cSlipknot!\u201d
6. \u201cFranklin\u2019s Tower\u201d
7. \u201cKing Solomon\u2019s Marbles\u201d
8. \u201cCrazy Fingers\u201d
9. \u201cSage And Spirit\u201d<\/p>\n

Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA (3\/23\/75)
1. \u201cBlues For Allah\u201d
2. \u201cStronger Than Dirt (Or Milkin\u2019 The Turkey)\u201d
3. \u201cDrums\u201d
4. \u201cStronger Than Dirt (Or Milkin\u2019 The Turkey)\u201d
5. \u201cBlues For Allah\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tDisc Three
Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA (6\/21\/76 and 6\/22\/76)
1. \u201cThe Music Never Stopped\u201d
2. \u201cHelp On The Way\u201d >
3. \u201cSlipknot!\u201d >
4. \u201cFranklin\u2019s Tower\u201d
5. \u201cCrazy Fingers\u201d
6. \u201cComes A Time\u201d
7. \u201cEyes Of The World\u201d >
8. \u201cDancing In The Street\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1975, the Grateful Dead found themselves at Bob Weir\u2019s home studio in Mill Valley, California, recording a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,14307,341],"class_list":["post-16357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-grateful-dead","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}