The Weirdest Mainstream LP Ever

After decades of listening (sans headphones until recently, alas), I think this title is deserved for the Grateful Dead's second record, Anthem of the Sun. Look for the words "Tear down the Fillmore, Gas the Avalon" in the song "Alligator" just after "hung up waitin for a windy day" (the Dead and others were promoting their own Carousel Ballroom at the time). Marvel at the inserted stuff. An amazing, ground-breaking record. only nobody at the time seems to have recognized the need for headphones, at least at the time,,,


update 11/04/7 - My first exposure to this music decades ago was on the WB lp WS-1749 RE, yellow background on cover. Good record but nothing eponymous or particularly distinguished. (thick air indeed) The next time I bought it was as WB cd 2-1749, again w/yellow background on cover. Sounded about the same as the lp although by this time I finally heard it on headphones and had seen the "making of" video, Anthem To Beauty. A bit more intriguing but still, nothing too out of the ordinary. The next time I bought it was as Rhino cd 73943, purchased primarily for the bonus tracks. (damn completists!) but also noticed that this time the cover had a dark purple background. Hmmm, I had also heard Garcia had remixed the album in '72 to make it "more normal" or something, plus occasionally had seen an lp version with that dark purple background as well. This version was a revelation! Swirling early Dead jamming resolving to drones or other strangeness that belonged more to a musique concrète performance then that of the Dead. Live pieces wildly speeding up, meshing and fusing with other live pieces. And last weekend, finally got to listen to the original W7A lp, WS-1749, the one with the dark purple background cover - Almost the same as the Rhino cd but again, a little bit different, looks like it's time for the headphones with the turntable once again.

So what's so different about a remix? Once again, Anthem of the Sun doesn't disappoint, unlike the "typical process of mixing an album in those days, Dan Healy, Jerry Garcia, and Phil Lesh mixed parts of this record as a live performance in and of itself, mixing together simultaneously live recordings from various venues with studio material, all the source tapes synced and running at once! Little wonder there are no "out takes" of this material as such, only the individual source tapes from whence this album was created.

Next on my list is the original mix of Aoxomoxoa...

update II 11/14/07 With a liitle creative Google searching, managed to find mp3s of a "needle drop" Aoxomoxoa original mix from the pre-1972 lp and yes, I found to be as relevatory as the original Anthem of the Sun. Pity those in charge (Garcia, Lesh) saw fit to redo the record but then again, it's their music and whatever version(s) out there should be the version(s) they wish to make available. What's Become of The Baby on the remixed lp is a muddy, boring, unlistenable mess (which I usually skip) while the original version has all sorts of sound effects in the quiet portions, maybe not true to the song per se but making the whole piece a very unusual psychedelic artifact. IMHO the song itself is pretty weak, I'm not aware that they ever played it live and for myself, the original version is great. Likewise, I really enjoyed the extra production on Dupree's Diamond Blues and on Doin' That Rag. The five-part harmony at the end was sorely missed.