Disco de Grateful Dead: “Shakedown Street [Bonus Tracks]”

This purchase was to replace an old, long-lost copy. I've always liked their studio-produced stuff, much to the chagrin of some more serious aficionados. Every once in a while it's nice to hear a nice crisp rendition than to have to pore over tons of bootlegs to find just the one.

The Grateful Dead really put themselves out on this one.One thing that makes 'Shakedown Street' so great is the fact that the bands recent mix of blues and jazz with their traditional rock sound is now spiced up with a little creamy production slickness and a lot of funk.The title track is a perfect example-it's silly,catchy and deeply into an R&B/funk flavor.R&B is a big interest here because The Rascles "Good Lovin'" is given a bouncy Caribbean-soul type of feeling right along with a bit of a slower take with "Stagger Lee".Same goes for Mickey Hart's brilliant percussion on the sing a long "Fire On The Mountain"."France" is another matter entirely-a very fun and romantic vision set to music that so perfectly accompanies it-the best part is the ringing steel drums and fender rhodes piano.Ironically the two rockers "I Need A Miracle" and "All New Minglewood Blues" aren't the most impressive tunes here."From The Heart Of Me" is absolutely gorgeous and the closer? "If I Had The World To Give" has a songcraft to it that is almost to the level of an Elton John or The Beatles.So are the Grateful Dead trying to be less jamsters and more craftsmen here?Yes they sure are but Bob,Bill,Mickey and Jerry do it sooooo well here that it makes no difference.Yes long intricate jams are what made them but 'Shakedown Street' shows what great musicians they are and that even though these are short songs they never had to commercialize their music.Nothing here is very conventional-each song could spin off into some other crazy musical genre.And it's themes are relaxing and fun.So what more could a music lover want?

Despie having an empathic producer in Little Feat's Lowell George, "Shakedown Street" is a mediocre Grateful Dead album. There are pointless instrumentals, a pointless attempt at a danceable hit in the title track, and the emergence of Donna Godchaux as a lead vocalist. There are good songs buried in the murk, like concert staples to come "I Need a Miracle" and "Fire On The Mountain." "Shakedown Street" also gets of to a rousing start with a cover of The Rascals' "Good Loving."

But when you mix in the flavorless Godchaux composition "From The Heart Of Me" and some other lackluster material ("France," "Serengetti") or the 'why'd ya bother" Hunter/Garcia rewrite of the saga of "Stagger Lee," you wonder how much pressure the band was under to deliver a hit album versus a Dead album. They'd make up for this with "Go To Heaven" and they'd eventually get that hit single when "Touch Of Grey" finally charted, but about half of "Shakedown Street" sounds bloodless to the modern ear.

When The Grateful Dead began their stay with Arista with mixed or disappointing reactions

resulting with the release of Terrapin Station in 1977, the band would do even better with

this surefire hit album the following year. Shakedown Street, released in 1978, gave both

listeners and critics a mesmerizing showcase that successfully combines new directions in

music and commercial success `their way', despite The Dead's sudden, rather inexplicable

fascination with disco, and they did with instant success and less controversy, whch had

come as an unexpected pleasure to some (The Rolling Stones and Earth, Wind And Fire,

ABBA, Diana Ross and "several" other rock or R&B acts did include some elements of disco

in their music, but seriously remained close to their original art). So beginning with a slick

version of The Rascal's Good Lovin', the topsy-turvy track set then conclude well on other

memorable tuneful songs including Serengeti, Fire On The Mountain, From The Heart In Me,

the Jerry Garcia- Robert Hunter composition Stagger Lee and All New Minglewood Blues.

Even though their two albums of the late-1970's left the most enthusiastic Deadheads to

demand something more from The Dead, Shakedown Street was able to return the favour,

while the expanded edition feature several live bonus tracks. So with Mickey Hart and Bill

Kreutzmann firing up the percussion alongside The Dead's high-rocking rhythm, Shakedown

Street would serve as a well-performed timeless example on how they dealt with change

without losing their own artistic step.

This review is regarding the quality of this mp3 download... The music is 5 stars... However, I must take issue with the completely botched ending of All New Minglewood Blues which skips a couple beats and the vocals get cut off. This is INEXCUSABLE! ...and, as is customary in the world of downloaded music, no one on the business side of things will take responsibility for this glaring defect.