Starting with the release of “Workingman’s Dead” in 1970, the Grateful Dead seemed to be moving away from their trippier, explorative side and toward a style that embraced Americana.

The release of “American Beauty” and the ‘Skull and Roses” live album only served to deepen that impression, but Jerry Garcia’s first solo album – and the first solo album by any of the bandmembers - provided ample evidence that he had one foot planted firmly in each of the two camps.

Many of the straightforward songs that are featured here would become standard repertoire for the band’s live shows and remain some of the most popular material among fans of the band. Songs like “The Wheel”, “Deal” and “Sugaree” are veritable staples in any deadhead’s diet, but the psychedelic side of this album is another matter. Anybody who’s listened to “Anthem of the Sun” or “Aoxomoxoa” knew that the Dead had already released a fair amount of ‘trippy’ music but here, Garcia takes that side to a new level, adding electronic sounds to create something quite different from where the band had been just a few months earlier.

Featured tracks include:

The Deal

Bird Song

Sugaree

Loser

Late for Supper

Spidergawd

Eep Hour

To Lay Me Down

An Odd Little Place

The Wheel

January 1972 - Billboard Charted #35