Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

The Grateful Dead began recording their American Beauty album just a few months after the band had released Workingman’s Dead. The close proximity of the two works has led many Deadheads to consider the two albums as a pair. Some of the notable aspects of the album were its abundant folk influences, as well as its improved and more complex harmonies. The latter was in thanks to Crosby, Stills & Nash, who had been giving the Dead tips on how to harmonize and sing together. The two bands had had their social circles intersect more and more at that time, as CSN had been recording their album Déjà Vu at Wally Heider Studios, the same place the Dead were recording American Beauty.

With music written by Jerry Garcia and lyrics by Robert Hunter, the song below was released as the opening track to Side Two of American Beauty. And when the group’s famed “Truckin’” was chosen from that album to be released as a single, it was the song below which accompanied it as its B-Side. Hunter’s lyrics were said to have been written after drinking half of a bottle of retsina; and much of the lyrics seem to have been influenced by the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.



Grateful Dead - Ripple (1970)

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Lyrics:

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music?
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It’s a hand-me-down; the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they’re better left unsung
I don’t know- don’t really care
Let there be songs to fill the air

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full, may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men

There is a road- no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall, you fall alone
If you should stand, then who’s to guide you?
If I knew the way, I would take you home

Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

Internal problems amongst the members of Jefferson Airplane began to boil over in 1970, starting with their drummer, Spencer Dryden, being unanimously voted out of the band. Members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen launched a side project, Hot Tuna; Paul Kantner and the married Grace Slick began a love affair; and Marty Balin felt like a bit of an outcast because of his bandmates pairing up without him.

Since Jefferson Airplane had only released one single in 1970, Paul Kantner decided to work on a solo album with Grace Slick titled Blows Against the Empire. The entire album was conceptualized around a science-fiction theme and was released under the name “Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship.” It’s important to note that this was not the same Jefferson Starship band that would be created in 1974 by Kantner. This was, if anything, a coincidental name that would provide the inspiration for Kantner’s Jefferson Starship four years later. It’s said that the name “Starship,” was inspired by many things: the evolution of Jefferson Airplane to something more grandiose, the star-filled lineup that accompanied Kantner and Slick on the album, and the fact that the characters within the album were seeking a starship to leave the planet Earth.

Speaking of the talent involved in the creation of the album, Blows Against the Empire featured not only the talents of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, but also fellow Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady and Joey Covington; the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart; CSN’s David Crosby and Graham Nash; Quicksilver Messenger Service’s David Freiberg; The Electric Flag’s Harvey Brooks; and Jorma Kaukonen’s brother Peter Kaukonen.

The song heard below appeared as the eighth song on Blows Against the Empire. It was written by Paul Kantner and David Crosby. It features Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia (pedal steel guitar), Mickey Hart (percussion), and David Crosby (vocals, guitar). Although the song never charted, Blows Against the Empire itself was the first rock album to be nominated for the Hugo science fiction award. If you like this song, I highly recommend listening to the entire album.



Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Have You Seen the Stars Tonite? (1970)

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Lyrics:

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up on ‘A’ Deck and look at them with me?
Have you seen the stars tonight?
Would you like to go up for a stroll and keep me company?

Do you know?
We could go
We are free
Any place you could think of
We could be

Have you seen the stars tonight?
Have you look at all the family of stars?

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman - Friend of the Devil [Live] (1991)

Although he would never concede that the Grateful Dead had an official leader, Jerry Garcia was definitely the frontman leading the band. As the group’s lead guitarist and primary singer/songwriter, he led the Dead through thirteen studio albums, nine live albums, and over thirty years of successful music making. He’s been featured as a guest artist on a “who’s who” list of famous names, formed numerous successful side bands, and even put out an extensive solo library. His life was cut short by a heart attack related to years of drug abuse, but his legacy left an imprint far larger than anything that could be summarized here.

Given the nickname “Dawg” by Garcia in 1970, David Grisman has been in numerous groups since the age of eighteen. From the Even Dozen Jug Band in the Greenwich Village folk scene to the psychedelic rock group known as Earth Opera, he has always dabbled in various musical endeavors. In 1990, he founded a record label, Acoustic Disc, in an attempt to widen the popularity of folk, bluegrass, and acoustic music.

Originally released on the Grateful Dead’s 1970 album, American Beauty, this song’s music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson, while the lyrics were written by Robert Hunter. After laying the original down, Robert Hunter was quoted as stating, “that was the closest we've come to what may be a classic song.” And as it turns out, it’s one of the Dead’s most covered songs, being performed by artists such as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, and many more. This version is from a soundtrack based on a documentary, Grateful Dawg, about the friendship between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. The actual recording of the song was taken at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco, California on December 7th, 1991.



Jerry Garcia and David Grisman - Friend of the Devil [Live] (1991)

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Lyrics:

I let out from Reno
I was trailed by twenty hounds
Didn’t get to sleep that night
‘til the morning came around
Set out runnin’
But I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
I just might get some sleep tonight

Ran into the devil, babe
He loaned twenty bills
Spent the night in Utah
In a cave up in the hills
Set out runnin’
But I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
I just might get some sleep tonight

Ran into the levee
But the devil caught me there
Took my twenty dollar bill
And vanished in the air
Set out runnin’
But I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
I just might get some sleep tonight

Got two reasons why I cry
Away each lonely night
The first ones named sweet Anne Marie
And she's my hearts delight
The second one is prison, babe
The sheriff’s on my trail
And if he catches up with me
You know I'll spend my life in jail

Got a wife in Chino, babe
And one in Cherokee
First one says she got my child
But it don't look like me
Set out runnin’
But I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
I just might get some sleep tonight

Got two reasons why I cry
Away each lonely night
The first ones named sweet Anne Marie
And she's my hearts delight
The second one is prison, babe
The sheriff’s on my trail
And if he catches up with me
You know I'll spend my life in jail

Got a wife in Chino, babe
And one in Cherokee
First one says she got my child
But it don't look like me
Set out runnin’
But I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
I just might get some sleep tonight

David Crosby - Laughing (1971)

Born in 1941, this iconic guitarist, singer, and songwriter is a founding member of The Byrds as well as Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young). Raised in Los Angeles, California, he dropped out of college and moved to New York’s Greenwich Village where he came under the tutelage of Fred Neil (who also happened to be mentoring Bob Dylan at the time). From 1964 until 1967, he found immense success with The Byrds and continued that success from 1968 until 1970 with CSN. The remainder of his career has flourished with solo recordings, his groups’ reunions, television acting, voice acting, and an unfortunate short stint in prison. As of today, he is still touring with Crosby, Stills & Nash and was recently seen at the Occupy Wall Street protest movement.

This song is the fourth track on his first solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name, released in 1971. The album featured Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell, and members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana. This song in particular features vocals by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Joni Mitchell; the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann played bass and drums, respectively; and the pedal steel guitar is played by none other than the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia.



David Crosby - Laughing (1971)

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Lyrics:

I thought I met a man
Who said he knew a man
Who knew what was going on

I was mistaken
Only another stranger
That I knew

And I thought that I had found light
To guide me through
My night and all this darkness

I was mistaken
Only reflections of a shadow
That I saw

And I thought, “I've seen someone
Who seemed at last
To know the truth”

I was mistaken
Only a child laughing
In the sun

In the sun

Grateful Dead - Alice D. Millionaire (1967)

Coming out of the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965, this band was known for their groundbreaking combinations of folk, rock, bluegrass, and psychedelia, which led to a large group of cult followers, known as Dead Heads, following the band on tour for years at a time. Quite impressively, the core of the band (Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann) stayed together recording and performing from 1965 until the band’s end in 1995, when Garcia passed away.

This song was inspired by the headline of the Los Angeles Times, October 5, 1966, “LSD Millionaire Arrested”. It was an article about the brilliant underground chemist, Owsley Stanley, responsible for 1.25 million doses of LSD from 1965 to 1967, being arrested the day before California criminalized the drug. If you haven’t caught the connection, sound out the title of the article and the title of the song: “LSD Millionaire” and “Alice D. Millionaire”.



Grateful Dead - Alice D. Millionaire (1967)

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Lyrics:

You say you're livin’ in a world of trouble
All your schemes have popped like a bubble
Your mother told your sister
And your brother told your friend
Now your secret's out and you don't have to pretend
You can see for yourself; it's really not the end

You're standing there with tears in your eyes
There's too much going on, my my, there's no time to cry

You say the walls are closing in on you, child
All your friends have put you in exile
Bad luck seem to follow you all around the world
You can't seem to find no peace of mind, girl
You will take a chance to seem so bad

You're standing there with tears in your eyes
There's too much going on, my my, no time to cry (no time to cry)

Every minute is a brand new day
And there are some games that are just fun to play
Even bad scenes are for real; there's no time to cry

Since you left your old scene behind you
Go ahead and let the green light find you
It's warm and friendly, girl, and it won't blind you
Come out in the street and the weeds won't grind you
See that love is in the air; you feel it all around you

Standin’ there with tears in your eyes
There's too much going on, my my, no time to cry

Your yesterdays are all left behind
There's a brand new light in your mind
You don't need a key to define
What's written on the magic sign
There's no time to cry

When the season of the magic lantern
Is transformed into a funny pattern
And the wheel of fortune has a flat tire
You can't seem to get any higher
When you go above the baylor machine, you find a horseshoe

You're standing there with tears in your eyes
There's too much going on, my my, there's no time to cry