The terrible Grateful Dead song “that just sort of happened” to Bob Weir
The Grateful Dead are viewed by many as one of the best live bands ever. They could take what is great about live music and turn it up to 1000. Their shows don’t have any specific structure; there’s a setlist, sure, but the start and end of songs contort into one another as they improvise their way through tracks and add a different spin on it every time.
In that sense, Grateful Dead are one of the best live bands on the planet. When you consider what live music is, the connection people feel as a result, and the energy a band can give to a crowd, you will never get anything as raw as what they offer on their scale. Sure, you go to a jazz bar, and there will be a lot of improvisation, but getting that same pure musical effect in a stadium is something else altogether.
Their popularity is interesting in that sense, given they are widely famed for their live shows, but their albums have never quite met the same hype. They don’t perform poorly; it would be unfair to suggest they do, but they are hardly a band known for having a back catalogue of number one singles and albums.
There was a time when they decided they wouldn’t mind being in the charts, though, and the result was arguably the worst album they’ve ever produced. Shakedown Street was an album widely discredited by Dead Heads everywhere, who said it was a blatant attempt to sell out and not a true reflection of the band they had grown to know and love. These criticisms weren’t just angry fans annoyed at change; they were spot-on observations, as, with time, the band have agreed.
“We were trying to sell out,” says percussionist Mickey Hart in the liner notes for the album Beyond Description (1973-1989). He continues, “Oh, let’s make a single and get on the radio. Sure. We failed miserably once again. I mean, we could never sell out even if we tried, and we tried.”
Unsurprisingly, the Grateful Dead could not make a number one single, as that’s never been what the band stood for. They provide musical experiences that no other outfit has been able to do, and that’s why they are so beloved. If they could write hits, they might not have the same legacy or reputation they have now.
The fact they have never been hit-writers is reflected in the lack of direction that the album had, specifically that present in the song ‘France’. It’s bad, so bad that most of the band refuses to acknowledge its existence. Well, speak no evil, see no evil; unfortunately, there is no unhearing this garbage.
“I didn’t write that one – it just sort of happened,” said Bob Weir when discussing what he describes as “spectacular failures of judgment.”
“It sure as hell didn’t happen right,” he added.
If you ever need more proof that this is a bad song, remember that the Grateful Dead are famous for their live shows that go on for hours and hours, and this song has never been so much as uttered on a stage once. A failure in judgement is certainly one way to put it, but at least the band are self-aware and used their flop album to remind them what they were good at and why people love them so much.
