By the good grace of the Internet, one interested Deadhead found himself fascinated by the idea of compiling what would have been the 14th Final Studio Album by the Grateful Dead. Between the weeks of February 6 and 20 of 1992, the band rehearsed and recorded an album’s worth of songs at their Club Front rehearsal space in California, right before heading out on their 1992 Spring tour. With Jerry Garcia passing away August 9, 1995, the album was never released.
The potential “album” did not have a title, so YouTube user Chinacat Sunflower (aka Osty Gale) dubbed the compilation “So Many Roads,” and organized the songs in the order of his personal preference. This album is by no means definitive of what the last Grateful Dead album would have sounded like, however, it is a nice idea to entertain. It is the “album that never was, but could’ve been.”
Get your fix of 90’s studio Dead in the playlist below:
So Many Roads (1995, Full Album):
1. Liberty (0:00)
2. Wave to the Wind (5:18)
3. Corinna (13:04)
4. Lazy River Road (22:13)
5. Eternity (29:03)
6. So Many Roads (36:30)
7. Way To Go Home (42:26)
8. Days Between (47:56)
9. Easy Answers ( 58:57)
10. Childhood’s End ( 1:02:50)
Information regarding tracks:
Liberty: From P+F Studio album [TaBA, 2002]
Wave to the Wind: From the March 17th, 1993 Soundcheck at The Capital Centre.
Corinna: From Ratdog’s Evening Moods album (2000)
Lazy River Road: 2/18/1993 Studio Outtake From the 1999 GD Compilation CD – [So Many Roads]
Eternity: 2/18/1993 Studio Outtake From the 1999 GD Compilation CD – [So Many Roads]
So Many Roads: Take #6 from studio sessions on feb. 13th, 1992.
Way To Go Home: 2/17/92 Rehearsal Outtake.
Days Between: 2/18/1993 Studio Outtake From the 1999 GD Compilation CD – [So Many Roads]
Easy Answers: From RW’s “Trios” album (1994)
Childhood’s End: From a SBD/EQ’ed P+F’s show [5/27/00]
Omitted Tracks: “Samba In The Rain” (Studio recording, but not very well-received by deadheads throughout the 90’s), and “If The Shoe Fits” (No studio recording exists/circulating).
A live/concert-sourced version of this “album” surfaced in the late 90’s, but that version was called “Earthquake Country” (which was a title actually kicking around for Aoxomoxoa instead…) and it only utilized live concert recordings and not studio quality recordings. This is a sonic upgrade/ album oriented version, compared to that “live” version.
The album cover is from a Publicity photo shoot taken at Club Front Studios, February 17th, 1992.
Hope you all like the “album that never was, but could’ve been.”
Thank you to the Tapers, and more importantly the Grateful Dead for all the good times.
Buy official releases at Double-u Double-u Double-u (Dot) DEAD (Dot) Net.
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[via YouTube]