via//chicago

np: "U.S. Blues" - Grateful Dead

I figured this was a fairly appropriate song title for this evening, given the depressing several minutes of RNC coverage I was subjected to. Not to mention the very real possibility, no matter how slim, that this woman could someday be the leader of the free world. That very thought sends shivers down my spine. I try to stay away from politics on this blog, but there are so many things about this woman that chill me to the core. I'll leave it at that for now, but please... if you have any hope for the future of our country, not to mention common sense, you'll make sure she gets nowhere near the White House.

But, hey, at least someone is having some fun with this whole thing.

I'm also listening to this particular track because my wonderful wife (along with some help from my father and mother-in-law, both also wonderful) got me the fantastic Grateful Dead box set, Beyond Description (1973-1989), for my birthday. This covers the less canonical half of the Dead's studio output, but I think a great majority of this stuff holds up just as well as their earlier albums. There may be no single album as soldily classic as American Beauty or Workingman's Dead, but I've always felt that stuff like From the Mars Hotel and Blues For Allah got short shrift from casual fans and Deadheads alike. I mean, hell, the former contains great studio versions of Dead classics like "Unbroken Chain", "Scarlet Begonias" and (one of my all-time favorites) "U.S. Blues". Sure, the disco Dead period and eighties albums were full of more hits than misses, but these all deserve a place in any self-respecting (hush you) Deadhead's collection.

But, much like the first box set, this is all about the wealth of bonus live material added to the original discs. Not only are we treated to first class, era appropriate live versions of stunners like "Eyes of the World", "Fire on the Mountain" (from the Egypt shows) and "Althea"; we also get ENTIRE DISCS added to both the Reckoning and Dead Set live albums. It's fantastic.

In tribute to this fine collection and in an effort to convert more of the non-believers out there, here are a couple Dead gems to get you through your day.

Grateful Dead - "U.S. Blues" (taken from From the Mars Hotel)
Grateful Dead - "Picasso Moon" (taken from Built To Last)
Grateful Dead - "Stagger Lee" (taken from Shakedown Street)
Grateful Dead - "Stella Blue" (taken from Wake of the Flood)