Written by Caleigh May
Deadhead
noun
1.
a fan and follower of the rock group the Grateful Dead.
Before the world had belibers or swifties, being a deadhead was one of the first fandoms that gained massive notoriety. If you associated yourself with being or currently being a deadhead, people would most likely picture you as a nonbathing, hippie clothing wearing pothead that believed that the world could live in happiness if we all came together as one. Deadheads come in many forms and I myself would consider myself one even though people may never suggest it. The Grateful Dead was unlike any other band that was around at that time ( being the early 70s
to late 80s ). They had a country bluegrass sound that was also somehow mixed with this psychedelic rock sound but also somehow jazzy, basically working with every genre and type of sound. They really were a once in a lifetime band, and pretty much defined a whole decade with their sound.
As a result of Bob Weir passing away this past January I thought it only right to talk about the impact he has had on music. Weir is a legendary guitarist, writer and founder of one of the biggest bands in the whole world, The Grateful Dead! While he did primarily play with the Grateful Dead, after Garcia’s passing in 1995, Weir and the others went their separate ways for a bit, each working with different bands or doing solo work. He was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and he received a Grammy lifetime achievement award. Through the course of his 60 year career he played in over 4,500 shows, including multiple nights in the Las Vegas Sphere just last year. Bob Weir was a once in a lifetime and he will always be remembered though the music he created for us!
In this review I’m talking about one of my favorite Dead albums, Wake of the flood. Originally released in 1973, it is 45 minutes and 33 seconds of happiness, and I’m gonna talk about a couple of my favorites. It’s a relatively short album but none less impactful than their other albums. This album’s frontrunner is Eyes of the world, the guitar intro alone is enough to get someone hooked! The mix of Weir’s guitar and Jerry Garcia’s (the lead singer) voice is especially prominent in this song to me. Weir and Garcia in this song play a solo super high up on the neck of the guitar and blends with Garcia’s higher pitched folkish vocals. You know that moment of listening to a song where it just clicks to you that you’re going to love this song for a VERY long time, that is Eyes of the World (the whole song). Another favorite from the album is Stella Blue, at first look this could just be added to the plethora of songs named after women, but that may not be true. In fact, It is speculated though that the name Stella Blue could have come from a classic blues guitar that was actually blue and had the Stella trademark. This could be totally true as the song is told from the narrative of a defeated feeling man, who once was a legendary guitarist. Side topic: This song’s counterpart is Desperado by the Eagles (i just wanted to plug the best song to ever exist) both of them to me, show the feeling of longing at the end of a long life. Through Stella Blue we hear the bridge “Dust off those rusty strings just one more
time, gonna make ’em shine”. Showing the narrator’s redemption after wasted years and unfulfilled dreams. It instrumentally consists of slow/quiet guitar in the back with it fluctuating to be loud blending with the background vocals harmonizing during the bridge. For a complete 180° another favorite from the album is Let Me Sing Your Blues Away, a bluesy, jazz-folk sound. Starting the song super strong with Sax, mixing it with blues notes on piano and Garcia singing “Not a cloud in the sky, such a sunny day,” it’s a feel good tune that automatically puts you in a good mood. The lively sax and upbeat piano keeps the energetic feeling, making it definitely one the most memorable and one my favorites!
Although Wake of the Flood may not be the first album people think of when they think of the Grateful Dead, it’s one that captures the essence of the band so well! The album flows effortlessly through genres and tones and just leaves you wanting more when it’s over. The musical range is something that the Grateful Dead did so well, and shows they weren’t just musicians, they were storytellers and poets! The Dead’s legacy lives through all of us music folk as they were heavily influential then and still in music, and of course as we know legends never die!