The Grateful Dead has announced the latest installment of its ongoing series of deluxe 50th anniversary reissues. The band’s 1975 album, Blues for Allah, will be reissued in expanded form on September 12.
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Blues for Allah will be available as a three-CD set and via digital formats, and will feature a newly remastered version of the original album, as well as nearly two hours of previously unreleased bonus recordings.
The remastering album was overseen Award-winning engineer David Glasser, utilizing the original analog tapes and the Plangent Processes system for speed correction and tape restoration.
The bonus tracks include recordings from a soundcheck at the Dead’s August 12, 1975, concert at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and performances from a June 21, 1976, show at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Also featured are selections from the group’s set at a benefit concert held on March 23, 1975, at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
A newly remastered version of the Blues for Allah track “The Music Never Stopped” has been released as an advance digital track from the reissue.
The deluxe reissue can be pre-ordered now. The remastered Blues for Allah also will be available on LP pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, as a picture disc, and, exclusive to Dead.net, on a limited-edition “Midnight Fire” vinyl. A Blu-ray version of the album also will be available exclusively at Rhino.com. The Blu-ray features four new mixes of Blues for Allah created by acclaimed producer Steven Wilson: Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround, high-res stereo, and an instrumental mix.
More About Blues for Allah
Blues for Allah, the Grateful Dead’s eighth studio album, was released on September 1, 1975. The album, which is considered one of the band’s most experimental collections of tunes, was recorded at singer/guitarist’s home studio during an extended hiatus from touring.
Unlike most of the band’s previous albums, which featured songs that had previously been played live, Blues for Allah was mainly made up of tunes that the Grateful Dead had developed during the recording sessions.
The album featured influences of jazz fusion and Middle Eastern music.
“The whole idea was to get back to that band thing, where the band makes the main contribution to the evolution of the material,” late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia once explained.
Two songs from the album, “The Music Never Stopped” and “Franklin’s Tower,” were released as singles. “The Music Never Stopped” peaked at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. Blues for Allah became the Grateful Dead’s highest-charting album at the time, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard 200.
Blues for Allah (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) Three-CD Track List:
Disc One: 2025 Remaster
- “Help on the Way”/“Slipknot!”
- “Franklin’s Tower”
- “King Solomon’s Marbles”
-Part I: “Stronger Than Dirt”
-Part II: “Milkin’ the Turkey” - “The Music Never Stopped”
- “Crazy Fingers”
- “Sage & Spirit”
- “Blues for Allah”
- “Sand Castles & Glass Camels”
- “Unusual Occurrences in the Desert”
Disc Two:
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA Soundcheck/Rehearsal (8/12/75)
- “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!”
- “Franklin’s Tower”
- “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!”
- “Franklin’s Tower”
- “King Solomon’s Marbles”
- “Crazy Fingers”
- “Sage and Spirit”
Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA (3/23/75)
- “Blues for Allah”
- “Stronger Than Dirt (or Milkin’ the Turkey)”
- “Drums”
- “Stronger Than Dirt (or Milkin’ the Turkey)”
- “Blues for Allah”
Disc Three: Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA (6/21/76 and 6/22/76)
- “The Music Never Stopped”
- “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower”
- “Crazy Fingers”
- “Comes a Time”
- “Eyes of the World” > “Dancing in the Street”
(© PETER SIMON/petersimon.com)
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