[2019-11-22] The Grateful Dead "Ready Or Not" live reconstruction of unfinished final studio album (Grateful Dead/Rhino)

Linda · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2019 1:45 am

Description
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 tantalizing 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 track list reflects what might have been the band’s next official studio album following Built to Last.

READY OR NOT will be released on November 22.

“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.

Four of the album’s nine tracks originally debuted during a two-day period in February 1993, including “Lazy River Road,” “Liberty,” and “Eternity,” a song that Weir wrote with Rob Wasserman and blues legend Willie Dixon. Another was “Days Between.” This grand and achingly nostalgic Robert Hunter and Garcia composition closes the album with a version that was recorded in December 1994 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Hunter – who worked mainly with Garcia – began writing with Weir again during this period. Two of their collaborations are featured on READY OR NOT: “Corinna” and “Easy Answers.” The album also includes “Samba In the Rain,” a song by Welnick that features Hunter’s lyrics. The album’s two remaining songs – “Way To Go Home” and “So Many Roads” – made their live debut in February 1992, just a few months before the live versions included on READY OR NOT.

Tracklist
1. Liberty – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (10/14/94)
2. Eternity – The Pyramid, Memphis, TN (4/2/95)
3. Lazy River Road – Dean Smith Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (3/25/93)
4. Samba In The Rain – The Omni, Atlanta, GA (3/30/95)
5. So Many Roads – Star Lake Amphitheatre, Burgettstown, PA (6/23/92)
6. Way To Go Home – Deer Creek Music Center, Noblesville, IN (6/28/92)
7. Corrina – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (10/14/94)
8. Easy Answers – Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA (9/13/93)
9. Days Between – Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA (12/11/94)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y9BH2NG/?tag=imwan-20

Linda · **Posted:** Wed Sep 25, 2019 1:48 am

Very early info from Rhino above, subject to change.

Federico · 12 Jul 2006

This looks like they're trying to replicate what would have been the next studio album. By all accounts the attempts to record in the studio were a waste so this is as close as we're going to get.

Invisible Pedestrian · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2006 **Posts:** 26163

This is pretty cool, and like Frederico said, attempts at a studio album failed.

ranasakawa · 26 Jan 2007

After watching the Dead documentary recently I'm not surprised that Jerry was in no condition to sing or play with his sad health decline and eventual death

ARK · **Joined:** 23 Mar 2013 **Posts:** 1323

Interesting. Will definitely consider this one.

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

Days Between is worth the cost of admission & I believe there was only one officially released version on the first box set which I believe is now out of print. Weird that they haven't released it, there are a ton of live versions on archive.org. I dl'd a bunch of versions back in the days when the Dead allowed soundboard flac on archive.org.

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Sep 28, 2019 1:37 am

Somebody in the Dead camp must have decided that Ready Or Not was not ready, because the pre-order listing has gone dormant. Hopefully it will be back soon, and with more details.

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Oct 01, 2019 7:40 pm

The CD is pre-orderable again, but with no additional details yet:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y9BH2NG/?tag=imwan-20

Charles · 19 Dec 2007

All of Phil's songs from this time aren't included..................

Wave To The Wind
Childhood's End
and
If The Shoe Fits

None of them were good songs.............."If The Shoe Fits" is in contention for worst ever Grateful Dead song.

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:56 pm

We now have the cover image and description in the first post, and here's the first audio sample, "Lazy River Road"::

Charles · 19 Dec 2007

Worst ever Grateful Dead album cover.

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Oct 12, 2019 11:28 am

The pre-order price has dropped by more than $4, down to $15.77:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y9BH2NG/?tag=imwan-20

Linda · **Posted:** Sun Nov 10, 2019 1:14 am

"Easy Answers":

[2019-11-22] The Grateful Dead "Ready Or Not" live reconstruction of unfinished final studio album (Grateful Dead/Rhino)

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