Grateful Dead Ready or Not

new Grateful Dead live LP w/ unreleased songs + Jerry Garcia photo book coming

A new Grateful Dead live album has been announced, featuring previously unreleased live recordings from their ’90s era of then-new songs that might have made up the band’s final studio album, before Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995. If you’ve listened to live shows from that era (or seen shows in that era), you’ve probably heard these songs in one way or another, but as Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux — who compiled the album — says, “This batch of ‘new’ Grateful Dead songs has never been compiled in one place and given its proper due as a huge part of the Dead’s late-era legacy.”

The album is called Ready Or Not and due November 22 via Rhino (pre-order). Here’s more from the product description:

As if their repertoire wasn’t tall enough to reach the endless sky, the band began adding new tunes to their sets in 1992, working them into “quintessential Grateful Dead romps,” with the intention of a new studio album. By the mid-90s, they set out recording with the wisdom of Willie Dixon’s blues, Neil Young’s fuzzed-out guitar, newcomer Vince Welnick’s tried-and-true sketches, and Bobby reunited with Robert Hunter on a duo that had quickly become fan-favorites. Alas, it was not meant to be. Until now.

We proudly present READY OR NOT, nine unreleased live versions of late-period Grateful Dead songs that debuted in 1992 and 1993, a reflection of what could have been the band’s next official studio album.

You can check out the full tracklist and a video of David Lemieux discussing the compilation, below.

There’s also a new Dave’s Picks on the way, Dave’s Picks Volume 32, which is of the band’s 3/24/73 show at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Pre-orders launch on Dead.net on Tuesday, October 22 at 10 AM Pacific.

In other Grateful Dead news, Dead tribute band High Time played NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl on Sunday (10/6) and were joined by Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan for a lengthy portion of their second set. Watch video of Ira playing “Dark Star,” “Wharf Rat,” and “The Other One” with High Time below. Yo La Tengo had previously covered “Wharf Rat” in San Francisco with William Tyler on the day of Robert Hunter’s death (9/23/19) as a tribute to him. Ira had recorded that song a few years ago for the Day of the Dead tribute album.

Lastly, longtime Dead photographer Jay Blakesberg has a new book, Jerry Garcia: Secret Space Of Dreams, with a foreword by John Mayer and an introduction by David Gans, coming out this Friday (10/11). According to the product description, “the focus of the book is to present a collection of Jay’s iconic images of Garcia from 1978 until Garcia’s death in 1995,” and “the book will include quotes from many notable musicians who were influenced and inspired by Jerry Garcia.”

Tracklist
1. Liberty – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (10/14/94)
2. Eternity – The Pyramid, Memphis, TN (4/2/95)
3. Lazy River Road – Dean Smith Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (3/25/93)
4. Samba In The Rain – The Omni, Atlanta, GA (3/30/95)
5. So Many Roads – Star Lake Amphitheatre, Burgettstown, PA (6/23/92)
6. Way To Go Home – Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN (6/28/92)
7. Corrina – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (10/14/94)
8. Easy Answers – Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA (9/13/93)
9. Days Between – Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA (12/11/94)

Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan with High Time at Brooklyn Bowl – 10/6/19