The Grateful Dead may have released the band’s final studio album, Built to Last, on Halloween 1989, but that didn’t stop them from writing new songs for the following years, adding several new tracks to their live repertoire in the early 90s. Sadly, the group was unable to ever complete them in a studio before the death of singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia in 1995.
The world will never know what that album would have sounded like, but we do have a rough idea thanks to a new collection curated by the band’s archivist David Lemieux. Ready Or Not features nine unreleased live versions of late-period Grateful Dead songs that debuted in 1992 and 1993. The collection’s tracklist reflects what might have been the band’s next official studio album following Built to Last.
“Ready Or Not has been a long time coming. It’s an album we've been working on for many, many years. 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,” says Lemieux.
“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. 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 collection focuses on the best unreleased live versions of these late-period gems, all mastered from the original digital soundboard tapes. Recorded live between 1992 and 1995, Ready Or Not spotlights performance by the final Grateful Dead lineup: Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and new keyboardist Vince Welnick.
Ready Or Not will be released in various formats on November 22nd, available to pre-order here.
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