As described when I first
shared this a few years back, what had the potential to be the
Grateful Dead's greatest album--or at least pretty close--sadly doesn't exist. Coming off two of their finest studio albums, 1970's
Workingman's Dead and
American Beauty,
Jerry Garcia (with lyricist Robert Hunter) was on an absolute songwriting tear, while Bob Weir (with both Hunter and lyricist John Barlow) was no slouch, and even Pigpen penned a few. Garcia & Weir each released a solo
studio album in 1972 packed with great songs that would become Grateful Dead concert staples; meanwhile, other songs never got a studio recording at all. Most of the latter appeared on the
Europe '72 triple-LP tour document (though, given the subsequent overdubs and edited-out applause, these arguably resemble studio recordings as much as live performances).
My proposed Ramble On Rose album culls the previously-unrecorded songs from Europe '72, expanded with other tracks from the '72 tour originating from the Garcia & Weir solo albums. (I'd given thought to using the studio versions, but it didn't work sonically; this way, at least it sounds like a proper album.)
Given the overdubs (at least on the Europe '72 cuts), this sounds almost like a studio album, but, still, it would've been wonderful to hear this mix given the American Beauty recording treatment.
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