TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Anthem Of The Sun" - Grateful Dead (1968)

"Anthem Of The Sun" - Grateful Dead  (1968)

      "Anthem of the Sun," the band's second studio album, is the one I've wanted to own for the longest time.  And I intentionally avoided listening to this album until I could actually spin it for myself.  Probably the Grateful Dead's most psych-ified album, where the colorful 'pass-it-around' circle rug begins to spread wider and wider for everyone to enjoy.  An essential album, especially for psych enthusiasts.  Soon, the band would drift into a more cosmic country-folk-rock direction while still maintaining their community aura of headiness.  

     The trip-fest square is a multiple-net-free tightrope walk across hundreds of wires strung from every direction… and crossing streams like you wouldn't believe.  An almost blindfolded adventure of sorts.  The band is fearless in their 1968 lysergic leap of faith.  This square is the purple microdot that defined the Grateful Dead as foragers on their own path.  Jamming and noodling to their hearts' content.  It's their bag, and people can either grab a groovy spot on the Grateful Dead flying carpet or not.  So, roll it, pat it, and mark it with GD.  Put on your headphones and set yourself free.

"Anthem Of The Sun" - Grateful Dead  (back)

Favorites include:

"That's It For The Other One"

"Alligator"

"New Potato Caboose"

     My copy has the green label with a Warner Bros shield, but the vinyl has "-1A and -1B" stamped in the deadwax, which indicates the record was pressed using the very first lacquer cut made from the original 1968 master tapes.  It does not get any earlier or closer to the source than this.  It was pressed at the Columbia Terre Haute plant.  The label has no times listed for the tracks on either side.  This album also includes the original mix, with the vocals panned left and right; the 1971 remix has a more centered sound.  There are fans of both.

     The album's back cover has a little flaking on the top, but no splitting, and the spine is free from the crumblies, which is a must.  The vinyl still has a nice shiny luster and sounds great.  I don't want to own everything by The Grateful Dead, an impossibility to be sure, but I have been listening to a lot more.  And my perception of the Dead albums is slowly coming around to a much better place.

Warner Bros. Records label

Cat #

WS 1749

SIDE A  DEADWAX

T Lc  39369 WS 1749 A  -1A  I  L

SIDE B  DEADWAX

T  .39370 WS 1749 B  -1B  I  ꓥ 24

"That's It For The Other One" - Grateful Dead / "Anthem Of The Sun" (1968)

TRACKS:

A1  "That's It For The Other One"

     I. "Cryptical Envelopment"

     II. "Quadlibet For Tender Feet"

     III. "The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get"

     IV. "We Leave the Castle"

A2  "New Potato Caboose"

A3  "Born Cross-Eyed"

B1  "Alligator"

B2  "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)"

PERSONNEL:

Jerry Garcia - vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, kazoo, vibraslap, co-lead vocals (A1, A3), 

Bob Weir - vocals, rhythm, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, kazoo, lead vocals (A2), co-lead vocals (A1, A3)

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - vocals, organs, celesta, claves, lead vocals (B1, B2)

Phil Lesh - vocals, bass, trumpet, harpsichord, kazoo, piano, timpani, 

Mickey Hart - drums, orchestra bells, gong, chimes, crotales, prepared piano, finger cymbals

Bill Kreutzmann - drums, glockenspiel, gong, chimes, crotales, prepared piano, finger cymbals

ADDITIONAL:

Tom Constanten - prepared piano, piano, electronic tape

Good stuff.

Casey Chambers

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