Review: A Non-Dead Head Looks At The Grateful Dead’s Recently Released ‘From The Mars Hotel (50th Anniversary Edition)’…And Discovers a Gem
I mentioned in a recent post about the Scorpion’s Love At First Sting, that the now 40 year old metal album was merely a brief detour from my current listening, which has been of late all Stones (since I saw them in Denver) and rock n roll from the late 60s to the early/mid 70s (Little Feat & early Neil Young & Crazy Horse), not to mention the fabulous stuff that came out of Stax Records. What I perhaps failed to mention was that I was also spending a lot of time with the recently released anniversary edition of the Grateful Dead album from 1974, From The Mars Hotel (50th Anniversary Edition) as well. While I have posted previously about the Dead’s wonderful “Americana,” country rock-centric 1970 albums Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, I must fully admit that I am not now, nor have I ever been a Dead Head. I don’t know why that hippy ethos of taking off for the summer, living in a van, following the Dead never took hold with me. It seems like a pretty cool idea now.
Since I’m not a Dead Head and am more of a casual fan, I’m hoping the Dead fans out there will fill in any of the blanks in this post around the Dead’s From The Mars Hotel. I know friend of the blog “Grateful Dead” David will help me if I get anything egregiously wrong here… “leastways, I’m hoping” he will. The common trope about the Dead is that they could never capture that alchemy they seemed to summon on the live stage in front of an audience when recording their albums. Whatever sorcery they could conjure at a concert just couldn’t be captured in the studio. As a serious Dead Head said to me some 20 years ago, “The live stuff is the point.” I guess I’m the anomaly, since as a young rock n roll fan I never got into the live stuff from the Dead (other than Live/Dead which made my list of all time favorite live albums), I didn’t have the baggage when I listened to their studio stuff. While I appreciated Jerry Garcia as the phenomenal guitar genius that he was, the live stuff just sounded like endless noodling to me… however listening to this Deluxe Edition that may be changing…
When I posted about Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, I remember I went back and listened to the Dead’s first six studio albums. I really enjoyed everything up to Wake Of The Flood which left me sort of cold. I wish I’d kept going for one more album and listened to From The Mars Hotel. I’ve been a fan of this album for a long time without even knowing it… I don’t usually comment about cover art, but man, a San Francisco flop house pictured as being on Mars… that’s iconic…”Ugly Rumours (Roomers)” indeed. As long time readers know, I’m a huge fan of these deluxe box sets but usually I’m there for the “extras,” be that outtakes, bonus tracks or a live concert from the era the LP came out. What I like about this set is that the From The Mars 50th Anniversary drove me to go back and not rediscover, but discover a really great Dead album that I’d never put the time into.
As I said, I’ve been a fan of this album for a long time without knowing it. Somewhere along the line “U.S. Blues,” the boogie rocker that starts this album, became one of my favorite Dead tunes. What a great start to the album. I included the song on my July 4th Playlist. I’ve also been a huge fan of the ballad, “Ship Of Fools,” a tune that is just a knock out track and was also included on my April Fool’s Playlist. “But I would slave to learn the way to sink your ship of fools…” kind of sums up how I feel about certain reactionary elements in society these days. The third track I always loved was “Scarlet Begonias.” I think the first time I heard the song it was a live version a Dead Head I knew in college played for me. Not to be confused with “Sugar Magnolia” another track extolling flowers… There were only 8 tracks on this album and I was a huge fan of 3 of them… why didn’t I check out this album long ago?
I knew the Dead had incorporated folk and country elements on those albums from 1970, but I guess I never realized those elements stuck with them. “China Doll” is just a gorgeous acoustic ballad and includes a striking vocal from Garcia. I know the Dead supposedly couldn’t capture the live magic in the studio but “Unbroken Chain” feels like they got close. It’s an almost 7 minute jam written by Phil Lesh. It’s got a nice harmony vocal from Donna Jean Godchaux who I’m not sure the Dead ever fully utilized. “Pride of Cucamonga,” another Lesh lead vocal isn’t country rock but full on country. Garcia plays a wonderful pedal steel guitar. “Loose Lucy” is a nice slinky rocker that feels like it’d be at home on a Little Feat album, albeit it sounds a little like slut shaming a woman who sounds like she’s a lot of fun. “Money Money” is the most “rocking” tune here with Bob Weir on lead vocals. A rich rock star complaining about money seems out of place on a Dead album… It’s a good tune despite the lyrics. The first disc is rounded out with a demo of “China Doll,” stripped down to just Garcia’s voice and acoustic guitar. An early version of “U.S. Blues” known as “Wave That Flag” is also a nice to have, but not essential. It was just such a joy to crank this album up and discover how great the Dead were in the studio without getting credit for it. Maybe the songs just went up another notch live… who am I to judge?
The 50th Annivesary box also includes a live performance from the University of Nevada/Reno from May 12th of 1974. I’m sure the set is familiar with most Dead Heads and fans of the band as I know there are archives of live shows out there but it was new to me. I enjoyed this concert so much I put on Europe ’72 after I got done listening to it. It may not change your life but it’s a fun listen. The tracks are relatively compact from what I’d expected. “The Other One” rages on for over 20 minutes and represents what I thought Dead concerts were like. “Truckin'” is 10 minutes but it’s a great rocking version and Garcia’s guitar is the star. I did see the Dead once, in 90 or 91, memory fails, but Garcia was glorious and Bruce Hornsby was on piano… I remember long jams but what I most remember is the twirling dancers. I should have been more focused on the performances.
I thought there were a lot of great moments on the live discs. Dead Heads, please forgive me if I’m mentioning staples here, I’m new to this universe. “Sugaree” was a great opener. “Brown Eyed Woman” was kick ass, another track I’d never heard. The three tracks that stretched from “Beat It On Down The Line,” a track only the Dead could do “China Cat Sunflower,” and “I Know You Rider” (where have they been hiding this great track?) is probably my favorite stretch on the concert discs. I was surprised at the number of and the diversity of the covers they do. From the country songs “El Paso” (Marty Robbins’ cover) and “Big River” (Johnny Cash cover) to doing Kristofferson’s penned “Me And Bobby McGee” made famous by Janis Joplin. I love that they do a Chuck Berry cover, “Around And Around.” Chuck influenced literally everybody. The band sounds great, but I will say I wasn’t a fan of Donna Jean’s caterwauling harmonies on a few of these tracks.
This concert may not change any Dead Head’s lives but I really liked it. It may have possibly changed my mind about listening to live stuff from the Dead. I’m not about to start building my live Dead archive, but I am certainly now more open to listening to the Dead’s concert recordings. Sometimes your mind just has to be ready to receive certain rock n roll and I’ve been slow on the uptake on the vast amount of live Grateful Dead out there.
If the concert isn’t a draw for you, I’d certainly recommend this gem of an album, From The Mars Hotel for any fan of 70s, rootsy rock n roll. I was delighted to finally trip over this great album. It will remain in high rotation around here at B&V as our groovy 70s summer rolls on this year…
Cheers!
Job well done KC!!! To many Deadheads you passed the test the moment you expressed agony over Donna’s vocals 😆 🤣!!
Your review is great and spot on but what stands out to me is your on your way to understanding the Dead more than you realize.
The live shows are where it’s at and as you mention the studio stuff is more an anachronistic check in of where they were at a point in time and a sonic footprint of any particular song’s “baseline.”
I’d encourage you to think of the live stuff as sunrises and sunsets. Always there, always different; often something you appreciate, occasionally spectacular, minimally disappointing.
No one “gets” the Dead immediately. It doesn’t work that way. But, if you remain curious and open and keep the live stuff spinning it will eventually start breaking and come to life for you. The subtleties will reveal themselves and you will start figuring it out. You will see the full range they possessed unfold and you’ll really appreciate with amazement what they built, cultivated and left behind for us to enjoy, discover and re-discover.
David, thank you so much for the feedback, I was worried I’d miss the mark so knowing you and your relationship with the Dead, I feel a lot better about this post!! Your response reads like poetry my friend, you might end up with a blog of your own! I am very curious about the Dead, always have been. This box has kind of led me back to that music in terms of exploring/spelunking. Great album and that makes me want to look a little deeper! Cheers and have a great weekend!
In those years I was fascinated by CSN&Y and in the years that followed also by their solo projects. That’s why I missed other good groups that I would undoubtedly have appreciated very much.
The Greatful Dead are one of them, I realize now. I believe that Jerry Garcia took CSN&Y’s song Teach your Children to a much higher levell with his lap steel guitar intro. And I understand now why David Crosby invited The Dead to the studio for his LP ‘If a could only remember my name’. They were without a doubt soulmates. It’s time for me to catch up and dive into The Dead’s back catalog. Thanks Kenneth.
I loved what Garcia did on “Teach Your Children,” he totally elevated that song!! And oh my, I loooove ‘If I Could Only Remember My Name.’ Yes indeed the Dead and CSNY were definitely kindred spirits! Cheers!
Really nice write up. One minor quibble, Bob Weir and the Dead were far from rich at this point. They were if anything most likely in debt, or at the most getting slightly more comfortable. And the song is about a shallow woman who wants money more than anything else. It is definitely a good tune musically, lyrically pretty weak, and the rest of the band were never great fans.
Thank you for that info! Puts the track in perspective. I’m not a Dead expert, as I mentioned, but am getting more and more into them. I appreciate the feedback! Cheers.
If you are a Feat fan, then you’ll be pleased to know Lowell George produced their next studio album “Shakedown Street”.
Yes, I love Lowell George! That’d be an interesting chemistry, Lowell and the Dead! I’m familiar with the title track but clearly I need to dig into that album! I can’t believe it took me this long to get into the Dead. Cheers!
I’ve been a Deadhead from the first time I heard Skull & Roses in 1972. My first concert was 1973 at Roosevelt Stadium NJ. I was 13 years old. I’m 65 now and still listen to them virtually everyday, to varying degrees. The greatest band ever. I call them the Beatles with balls!
“Beatles with balls!” – I love it!! That’s hysterical. Dude, I love your history with this band. I’m similar with Springsteen or the Stones… not a day goes by I don’t listen to something by them. I’ll tell you I slept on the Dead for too long… the more I explore their music the more I realize how kick ass they are! Cheers and thanks for sharing!
Really enjoyed your review. Unlike you, I DO consider myself a Deadhead, and even at almost 53, nothing sounds better than jumping in the van and taking off the summer to follow around the Dead, just wish I could, like soo many others… Not gonna say Dead and Company is terrible or anything. Even admire John Mayer as a talented musician. But make no mistake…that AIN’T the Grateful Dead. So… I’ll forever be stuck on 11 shows. Owell…a good thing about it now is the Internet has opened up a wealth of material that used to be only available through a scratchy and background noise tinged thousandth dubbed cassette of an audience recording from somewhere… there truly is nothing else like, and nothing else that can ever be like, a Grateful Dead show. I consider them an American treasure that not just I lost that day in 95 when Jerry died…the world lost something beautiful that can never be again.
Im gonna end up on a high note and agree with you on Donna Jean, good and bad, we all love her still yet. And I never understood what the twirling chicks got out of their way of experiencing the show and wish I would have asked them. Maybe something else I missed.🤷
Doug, thank you for sharing. I feel like I missed out on the Dead… only having seen them once. I will agree that nothing sounds better than taking the summer off, living in a van, following a band around the country. Thanks for your comment! Cheers!
if it listens like a deadhead and spins like a deadhead and talks like a deadhead and dances like a…seriously tho this is good stuff here love the article and the comments especially the first one from David. I’m a second generation deadhead and although I grew up on the music it didn’t hit me (my miracle moment) until one day listening to Cassidy from Reckoning in my bedroom as a teenager. One minute I was listening to the song and then all of a sudden I heard it, my moment,I immediately knew when they started their always exceptionally classic Cassidy jam or ‘noodling’ to use your word, the music changed,I was transported like never before. I wasn’t listening to my dads music,I was listening to THE MUSIC! We don’t know when or why or even how sometimes but the Grateful Dead will always bring you safely home. And of course I miss Jerry but Phil my heart and soul I miss you but I’m so glad we had you for so so so many years! Long live the wrist band Phil I hope you’re still rocking it up there with Jerry and of course pig and Brent. But my friends you can’t get lost when you’re always found and that’s just the way it is with the dead you can’t go wrong as long as your mind remains open and the tunes playing. However do not get caught up in the I’m a bigger deadhead because I went to xxx#of shows or I know all the names and you don’t stuff cuz while it is rare some music lovers get caught up in childish clout shaming with the dead and deadhead knowledge but just play the music and be kind and like I said the dead will always take you safely home!!!
This is fabulous stuff, thank you for sharing this. I love stories like yours, those epiphany listening experiences are so special! Cheers!
The live stuff will start to open your soul. For when you become intimately familiar with their catalog and listen to ANY random show, you will start to realize that they never EVER play the same song the same way twice. Each show becomes a revelation, each tune with a slightly or distinctively different arrangement that makes each version a gem in its own moment. THAT’S where the magic is. Chase it!
Will do! Thank you for the feedback! This journey sounds like it’s gonna be a lot of fun… Cheers!
Highly recommend checking out the somewhat recently released recordings from Barton Hall at Cornell University on 5/8/1977….pure magic all the way through!
Thank you for the recommendation!! Always looking for suggestions as to where to go next in my journey with the Dead. Greatly appreciated!