Shakedown Street [Sea Blue Vinyl]

by Grateful Dead

Overview

Since the Grateful Dead were notorious for recording awkward studio albums, it always seemed that the answer to their problem was simply getting the right producer to coax magic out of the band -- and nobody would seem better suited for the position than Little Feat leader Lowell George, whose own band shared the Dead's tendency to wander and jam in a live setting, yet made almost nothing but good studio records. But 1978 was not a great year for either camp, as the Dead were drifting in their attempts to score a crossover hit for Clive Davis' Arista Records, while George was pushing Little Feat toward disbandment as he was inching closer to his premature death in 1979. Add to that the Dead's sudden, inexplicable fascination with disco, a desire to have Donna Jean Godchaux be an integral part of the record, plus no new songs ready to go at the beginning of the sessions, and it's little surprise that Shakedown Street wound up as a mess. It rambles and wanders all over the place, as the Dead cover the Rascals' "Good Lovin'" before they revive "New Minglewood Blues" (which they originally cut for their debut), as Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter write their own "Stagger Lee" while Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann get a percussion workout on the brief instrumental "Serengetti" and Bob Weir affects a bluesy growl on "I Need a Miracle." In George's hands, this is all given a smooth gloss not all that far removed from such latter-day Feat LPs as The Last Record Album, but since the Dead favor hazy, lazy grooves to Feat's laid-back but tight New Orleans funk -- and since George didn't produce so much as he created an appropriate atmosphere in the studio -- Shakedown Street meanders mercilessly, and its indulgences wind up overwhelming the album as a whole. And there isn't just one kind of indulgence here; there's a plethora of them, ranging from the disco pulse of the title track to the fuzziness of the two songs sung by Donna Jean. This can make Shakedown Street a bit of a difficult, dated listen, since even the good songs boast bad arrangements ("Shakedown Street" and "Fire on the Mountain" were later reworked and revitalized in concert), yet it falls short of flat-out disaster, partially because it's a fascinating listen due to the very things that make it a severely flawed record. The disco flirtations, subdued funk, misguided commercial concessions, and overarching Californian slickness do make Shakedown Street fascinating for at least one spin, even if they'll keep even hardcore Deadheads -- maybe especially hardcore Deadheads -- from coming back to the record more than once every decade or so. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/26/2024
Label:	Grateful Dead / Wea
UPC:	0081227819521
Rank:	199

Tracks

1. Good Lovin' [2024 Remaster]
2. France [2024 Remaster]
3. Shakedown Street [2024 Remaster]
4. Serengetti [2024 Remaster]
5. Fire on the Mountain [2024 Remaster]
6. I Need a Miracle [2024 Remaster]
7. From the Heart of Me [2024 Remaster]
8. Stagger Lee [2024 Remaster]
9. All New Minglewood Blues [2024 Remaster]
10. If I Had the World to Give [2024 Remaster]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Grateful Dead   Primary Artist
John Kahn   Guest Artist
Steven Schuster   Guest Artist,Horn
Matthew Kelly   Guest Artist,Harmonica,Harmonica
Jordan Amarantha   Guest Artist,Percussion
Lowell George   Featured Artist,Vocals
Phil Lesh   Bass,Vocals,Guitar (Bass)
Mickey Hart   Drums,Percussion
Donna Jean Godchaux   Vocals
Bill Kreutzmann   Drums,Percussion
Bob Weir   Guitar,Vocals
Jerry Garcia   Guitar,Vocals
Keith Godchaux   Vocals,Keyboards

Technical Credits

Lowell George   Producer
Phil Lesh   Composer
Mickey Hart   Composer
George Horn   Mastering Engineer
Donna Jean Godchaux   Composer
Grateful Dead   Arranger
Brett Cohen   Engineer
Jimmy Edwards   Associate Producer,Executive Producer
John Perry Barlow   Composer
Hale Milfgrim   Associate Producer
Cameron Sears   Producer
Steve Parish   Mixing Engineer
Jeffrey Boden   Mixing Engineer
Robert Gatley   Mixing Engineer
Scott Pascucci   Associate Producer,Executive Producer
John Hagen   Mixing Engineer
Artie Resnick   Composer
Ted Jensen   Mastering Engineer
Traditional   Composer
Bill Kreutzmann   Composer
Bob Weir   Composer
David Lemieux   Producer,Reissue Producer
Joe Gastwirt   Producer,Remastering Engineer
John Kahn   Horn Arrangements,Associate Producer
Rudy Clark   Composer
Jerry Garcia   Composer
Hamza el Din   Composer
Arthur Resnick   Composer
Tom Flye   Mixing Engineer
Brent Mydland   Composer
Dan Healy   Producer
Bob Matthews   Engineer
Billy Candelario   Mixing Engineer
James Austin   Producer
Robin Hurley   Associate Producer,Executive Producer
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan   Composer
Robert Hunter   Composer