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Artist News Releases
New compilation of Grateful Dead’s final songs to be released
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 10 October 2019
A new compilation of live Grateful Dead recordings is set for release next month, featuring songs intended for the follow-up to what became the band’s final album.
When the band’s frontman Jerry Garcia died in 1995 they had not released a studio album since 1989’s ‘Built To Last’. However, they had written new material with the intention of returning to the studio for another LP. Now a collection of live performances of those tracks, titled ‘Ready Or Not’, has been put together by Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux.
“‘Ready Or Not’ has been a long time coming. It’s an album we’ve been working on for many, many years”, says Lemieux. “This batch of ‘new’ Grateful Dead songs has never been compiled in one place and given its proper due as a huge part of the Dead’s late-era legacy”.
“Many of these songs can easily stand alongside some of the Dead’s oldest, most-loved songs as bona fide classics despite their short tenure in the repertoire”, he continues. “We’ve dug deep into the archive and listened to countless live versions of these songs to find the best, most definitive live performances. When the Grateful Dead were ‘on’ in their later years, their live concerts were as good as any era in their history. The nine songs on ‘Ready Or Not’ exemplify how good the Dead could be in their later years of touring”.
The album is set for release on 22 Nov. Listen to ‘Lazy River Road’ from the record here:
