Grateful Dead

Released: March 24, 1990

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

Producer: Grateful Dead

There must be some kind of way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion here
I can't get no relief
Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plow men dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody of it is worth

[Instrumental break]

No reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour's getting late

[Instrumental break]

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
Barefoot servants came and went
Little children too
Outside in the distance
A wild cat did growl
And two riders were approachin'
And the wind began to howl

[Instrumental]

Amidst the growing counter-culture scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Grateful Dead were founded by lead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia, bass player Phil Lesh, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann in Palo Alto in 1965, originally as The Warlocks. Percussionist Mickey Hart later joined the group in 1967 and other members cycled through the group in following years as the core remained intact. Their eclectic music formed the archetype for the “Jam Band” genre, combining elements from rock, blues, folk, country, bluegrass, and psychedelic music into improvisational performances.

Over the years the Dead released 22 recorded albums, although they were most famous for their improvisational jams at concerts, earning them a cult-like following of self-proclaimed “Dead Heads” who would follow the band from concert-to-concert throughout the band’s career.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and they’ve sold more than 40 million albums in total; all that with only one top 40 hit (“Truckin”), and one Top 10 hit (“Touch of Grey”) that came near the end of the band’s run, shortly before Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995. Grateful Dead was also ranked 57th in Rolling Stone’s “The Greatest Artists of All Time” issue in 2004 and 2005. Since then, various incarnations of the Dead have continued to tour, although a 2015 farewell tour was said to be the band’s last.

more tracks from the album

Dozin’ at the Knick

From the album

Dozin’ at the Knick (1996)

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All Along the Watchtower (Live at Knickerbocker Arena, March 1990)Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

Dozin’ at the Knick