It’s a phenomenon that’s almost impossible to logically explain yet most of the GRATEFUL DEAD followers don’t care about logic when there are emotions involved – lysergically enhanced and otherwise – and it’s difficult to deny that there’s quite a few albums in this ensemble’s labyrinthine discography which can be interesting not only to Deadheads yet also to a wider audience, 1973’s “Wake Of The Flood” being one of those.
Released after a nigh on three-year hiatus to become the first offering of Grateful Dead Records, this platter was also the first not to feature Pigpen, who had joined the “27 Club” earlier in the year and whose absence helped the group move further away from their rhythm-and-blues roots and edge towards fusion. As much is obvious on the album’s anniversary edition which will be issued on September 29th – augmented with only two studio bonuses, both demos of the LP tracks, yet given an entire disc dedicated to the collective’s November 1973 concert that opened and closed with the new numbers. Something aficionados should eagerly embrace.
Wake Of The Flood –
50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
CD 1:
1. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
2. Let Me Sing Your Blues Away
3. Row Jimmy
4. Stella Blue
5. Here Comes Sunshine
6. Eyes Of The World
7. Weather Report Suite
demos:
8. Eyes Of The World
9. Here Comes Sunshine
CD 2 – Live at McGaw Memorial Hall, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 11/1/73:
1. Weather Report Suite
2. Morning Dew
3. Playing In The Band, Pt. 1
4. Uncle John’s Band
5. Playing In The Band, Pt. 2
6. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
