Grateful Dead - From The Mars Hotel

180-gram vinyl

Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel 50th Anniversary Remaster

Fifty years ago, the Grateful Dead were cooking with gas. It was spring 1974, the band had successfully emerged from a series of hectic, harrowing times, and would soon follow their transformative Wake Of The Flood with the second acclaimed album release on their very own Grateful Dead Records: From The Mars Hotel. During the mere eight months that had passed between those two beloved LPs, the group also played some of their most exploratory live music and largest venues to date, famously amplified by the homemade, 75-ton Wall of Sound that they debuted on March 23rd, 1974, at their hometown Cow Palace in Daly City, California.

Eternal staples such as "Scarlet Begonias," "Ship Of Fools" and "U.S. Blues" would first be introduced into setlists along that season's tour, before the Grateful Dead spent two months recording and honing them in the studio for From The Mars Hotel. Not to mention perennial classics such as "China Doll" and "Loose Lucy," or "Pride of Cucamonga" and "Unbroken Chain" — the final two tracks Phil Lesh would sing on a Grateful Dead studio album.

Now, as Grateful Dead members and tributaries continue to celebrate and bring so many of these formative songs to the masses, From The Mars Hotel has been remastered, in honor of its 50th Anniversary. Recorded in San Francisco's Coast Recorders studio, From The Mars Hotel finds Keith Godchaux particularly shining across a variety of keys, from the "China Doll" harpsichord to the pounding piano on Bob Weir's "Money Money," to the churchy organ that elevates "Ship Of Fools." Lyricist Robert Hunter packs "U.S. Blues" with a barrage of imagery, pop-culture references and sardonic asides — as Canadian author Ray Robertson writes in the 50th Anniversary Edition's liner notes, it "carries an undeniable whiff of late-capitalism ennui...it's the most fun you'll ever have dancing to the end of the American Empire." Jerry Garcia's jaunty lead guitar drives bouncing melodies across the LP, while guests include Ned Lagin's unnerving synth effects on "Unbroken Chain," Clover member John McFee's country-rock pedal steel on "Pride Of Cucamonga," and more.

From The Mars Hotel peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1974, contributing to the Grateful Dead's historic achievement last month, when they broke the all-time record for Most Top 40 albums on the Billboard 200.

 

1. U.S. Blues

2. China Doll

3. Unbroken Chain

4. Loose Lucy

5. Scarlet Begonias

6. Pride of Cucamonga

7. Money Money

8. Ship of Fools

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