VARIOUS ARTISTS Part 4: Grateful Roots

Grateful Dead Hour #384 was a radio episode that changed my life.  The first part of the episode was a Winterland performance from 1974.  It was especially fitting that a song from that performance is one of my favorite Grateful Dead covers.  The song "Not Fade Away" shows the influence of early Rock and Roll music that made The Grateful Dead's musical influences just the tip of the iceberg.  It showed whatever the Grateful Dead played on any given night it infused music of Early Rock and Roll, Blues, Bluegrass, Folk, Jazz and countless other genres of music.  

The second part of Grateful Dead Hour #384 was a section of West Coast Live with the great Henry Kaiser.  He and his band played a Bob Dylan song called "Silvio" During the interview segment they discussed a new album called The Music Never Stopped: The Roots of the Grateful Dead.  They mentioned about how Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir and the rest of the band had so many influences.  When they discussed all people who played on the album I wanted to hear more.  I knew some of the people on this awesome compilation and some I did not know.  I was very curious.  

They also mentioned the art work done by none other then Robert Crumb.  In 1995/6 I was a huge Robert Crumb fan.  The compilation was an awesome with all this great music.  Of some of the music I knew were Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Woody, Guthrie, Howling Wolf, and Chuck Berry.  The rest of the acts I did not know, but was very curious on who they were.  It was time to dive into this CD and check out the rest of the people performing on this compilation.  Way before Google, this took a lot of research.  A lot of digging and a lot of asking questions at the record stores I went to were ahead of me.  

A few years previously I was a subscriber to the Grateful Dead Almanac.  I mentioned this in my Grateful Dead post in July of 2019.  It was an every other month newsletter that I subscribed to for about six years.  I still have all the issues.  Each issue had a section about what the band is listening to currently or what they liked.  I have mentioned this before on how important these recommendations were to my music curiosity.  When The Music Never Stopped came out.  This was a nice size collection of what music the Grateful Dead were listening to and what influenced them to be a band.  All in one CD and even better a bit of description about how they stumbled upon the song and or artist.  Some of these songs were self explanatory others needed a little back story to keep the listener looking for more.   

Not Robert Crumb Artwork 

After hearing the Grateful Dead Hour Episode I had to get this compilation for myself.  I was quick to pick it up and start diving into the music.  After hearing "Cold Rain and Snow" on the Grateful Dead Hour and now on The CD I knew that this was going to be a fun ride.  It was a musical education.  It was even more then that when I would hear the originals and then the Grateful Dead versions in comparison.  Some of these songs were so unique that only the Dead would be able to put their unique spin on these songs.  Some songs were a given.  These songs were close to the original and also really showed the Dead and their roots.  Songs like "Morning Dew" and Dixie Cups "Iko Iko" were played by so many hearing the song from the Roots of The Grateful Dead made these songs sound so great and fresh.  There are so  many other songs when you hear the original and then hear a Grateful Dead version you are in awe of how they interpreted it.   

So this album has two purposes.  The first, is for a fan of older music and songs that we hear often from old time radio or just interesting music in general.  This is a great album for you and a great album with it's great and interesting notes.  The second, is for any Grateful Dead fan.  This album is a must.  How many times you heard a version of a song that they covered and was always wondering it's roots.  This album does that and more.  The notes talk about it's origins and talks about when and where the Grateful Dead lore the song is.  It's an awesome compilation.  Check it out!! Enjoy!