What’s the “best” Grateful Dead studio release? The ones I hear mentioned most often are American Beauty, Terrapin Station and Workingman’s Dead. For me, it’s definitely Blues For Allah. The Dead at their jazziest. I use the tune “King Soloman’s Marbles” when I want to “trick” someone into liking the Grateful Dead. It’s a great instrumental full of snazzy percussion, snakey bass, chiming rhythm guitar and lotsa Jerry Garcia’s tangled guitar playing. Just one interesting tidbit from a band beyond description.
Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the woods of central New Hampshire. A past contributor to Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and Salon, he originated several of our weekly features including the Friday Morning Listen, (Cross the) Heartland, WTF! Wednesday, and Sparks Fly on E Street. Follow him on Twitter: @msaleski. Contact Something Else! at [email protected].
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