What is the shortest Grateful Dead song?
Knowing where to start can be a challenge for those wanting to delve thoroughly into the weird and wonderful world of the Grateful Dead. This is because the Californian troupe of psychedelic conjurers produced a mass of material in their time, with many different titles celebrated as their best by their dedicated fanbase, the Deadheads.
Another point that makes the Grateful Dead such a daunting prospect, in addition to their 13 studio albums and 77 live albums, is that their arc encompasses a host of different sounds. The mix of blues, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, reggae, rock, world music, and, of course, psychedelia can make it confusing where to commence.
One aspect inextricable from the band’s story is their penchant for an extended song thanks to their shared love of improvisation, something they’d take to new heights in the live setting. The classic ‘Alligator’ from 1968’s Anthem of the Sun, often extended to over 18 minutes in front of an audience, as heard on the 2001 and 2003 reissues.
With numerous tracks over ten minutes long and several clocking in at over five minutes, the attention needed for each one is also a challenging mission for newcomers.
What is the shortest Grateful Dead song?
Perhaps then, to put all confusion to bed, it would be best to start with the Grateful Dead’s shortest song in their oeuvre. ‘Serengetti’ from 1978’s Shakedown Street is said to be the third-shortest at two minutes and two seconds, and ‘Rosemary’ from 1969’s third album Aoxomoxoa just pipping it to second at exactly two minutes.
However, it is the bizarre ‘Antwerp’s Placebo’ from 1980’s Got to Heaven that is their most brief effort at 38 seconds. Featuring an effects-laced shaker, being high listening to this one might be a slightly unsettling experience.
And what is the longest Grateful Dead song?
By the time the Dead’s 1973 masterpiece arrived in the form of Wake of the Flood, Garcia and Robert Hunter were writing most of the material. However, short-short-wearing guitarist Bob Weir contributed Grateful Dead’s longest song found on a studio album in the form of the closing track ‘Weather Report Suite: Prelude / Part I / Part II (Let It Grow)’. Clocking in at 12 minutes and 41 seconds, the ‘Prelude’ was developed onstage, with ‘Part 1’ co-written with Eric Andersen, famed for the civil rights anthem ‘Thirsty Boots’. John Perry Barlow then conceived the lyrics.
The above might be the longest track found on a studio album. Still, the 1974 live album, Playing in the Band, Seattle, Washington, 5/21/74, recorded at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, contains only one song, ‘Playing in the Band’, and it too holds an accolade. At just over 46 minutes in duration, it is confirmed as the longest continuous song the Grateful Dead ever recorded.
Remarkably, one of the group’s most prolonged jams was for the definitive 1968 single, ‘Dark Star’. Although the lauded rendition reached 23 minutes on 1969’s Live/Dead, one night in Rotterdam in 1972, they took it to new heights, exploring it for 48 minutes.
How many songs did the Grateful Dead write?
According to this comprehensive graph compiled by a fan, Grateful Dead wrote and released 151 original songs across their albums and played this number of them live. The chart also includes the missing ‘Empty Pages’ by founding member Pigpen, who died in 1973. It is also comprised of Brent Mydland and Vince Welnick originals, two later members.
In terms of precisely how many numbers the band wrote, that’s anyone’s guess. Individually and as a unit, the members will have conceived many pieces that never saw the light of day.
