The Grateful Dead - Blues For Allah: The Angel's Share

Hello all!

I'm continuing my annual November 2nd (Day Of The Dead) tradition, with the latest Grateful Dead offering: Blues for Allah: The Angel's Share, featuring 15 newly unearthed studio outtakes, instrumental rehearsals, working and alternate versions recorded between February and July 1975 at band member Bob Weir’s home studio (Ace's) in Mill Valley, California during the Blues For Allah recording sessions.  The original Blues For Allah album was released in September 1975 (on the band's own label), and was the Dead's third straight Top 20 release and their highest-charting album up to that point, peaking at #12 in the US during a thirteen-week run on the US charts.

This one is the latest in a series of archival Grateful Dead releases put out over the past six years, two of which I've already included here in past DOTD postings.  I was debating over posting either this one, or a multi-disc compilation of Acid Test Reels the band did with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters in and around San Francisco during the mid-1960s, that I happen to own. The Acid Tests, while interesting in parts, also contain a lot of meandering jams and formless sound colleges that I didn't feel were as immediately compelling as what this Angel's Share disc had to offer. So there you have it.  Who knows - I may put up the Acid Test Reels at a later date.

Well, I was gonna write another one of my long-winded screeds describing the highlights of this release... but it seems I don't have to.  The Twangri-La blog posted a rock-solid, comprehensive review of this album about a year ago by Harry Kaplan that I can in no way improve upon: Here it is, if you care to have a look.

I will, however, provide you all with a rundown of the track list:

1. Crazy Fingers (Instrumental) (4/2/75 Rehearsal)
2. Distorto (Instrumental) (2/28/75 Rehearsal)
3. Franklin's Tower (Instrumental) (6/5/75 Rehearsal)
4. Help On The Way / Slipknot! (Instrumental) (4/2/75 Rehearsal)
5. Help On The Way / Slipknot! (Instrumental) [6/5/75 Rehearsal] (Version 1)
6. Help On The Way / Slipknot! (Instrumental) [6/5/75 Rehearsal] (Version 2)
7. Jam / Blues For Allah (Instrumental) (3/5/75 Rehearsal)
8. King Solomon's Marbles (Instrumental) (7/7/75 Rehearsal)
9. Lazy Lightning / Supplication (Instrumental) (7/7/75 Rehearsal)
10. Proto 18 Proper (Instrumental) (2/28/75 Rehearsal)
11. Sand Castles And Glass Camels (Instrumental) (3/5/75 Rehearsal)
12. Stronger Than Dirt (Instrumental) (2/28/75 Rehearsal)
13. Surf Jam (Instrumental) (3/26/75 Rehearsal)
14. The Music Never Stopped (Instrumental) (2/28/75 Rehearsal)
15. They Love Each Other (Instrumental) (7/7/75 Rehearsal)

And I suppose that's all I have to say about this album for the time being.  Once again, for your Dias De Los Muertos listening pleasure, here's Blues For Allah: The Angel's Share, released by Rhino Records on September 25th, 2025.  To quote Mr. Kaplan in his superb review:

This isn’t Grateful Dead 101. I wouldn’t recommend that someone new to the Dead music start out with this release. This collection is curated specifically for the devoted fans—those self-proclaimed “nerds”—who have listened to almost every live recording and know the entire Grateful Dead catalog from beginning to end.

If you count yourself as one of this august group - here you are!  Enjoy... and, as always, let me know what you think.

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