Grateful Dead
Beyond Description (1973–1989)

(Rhino)

Part Five: Shakedown Street

The Music Box's #8 specialty package for 2004

First Appeared in The Music Box, December 2004, Volume 11, #12

Written by John Metzger

The union between Little Feat’s Lowell George and the Grateful Dead was certainly an intriguing concept, but the reality of such a collaboration proved to be a near disaster. Hired to produce the band’s ninth studio effort, George contributed very little to the project, and in the end, Shakedown Street became one of the worst outings of the Grateful Dead’s career. It certainly didn’t help matters that the glossy sheen that embraced Terrapin Station showed no sign of receding, but even worse, it significantly sapped the energy from tunes like Good Lovin’, All New Minglewood Blues, Stagger Lee, and I Need a Miracle, making them sound rather perfunctory. Elsewhere, France stumbled more than it soared, despite its superb acoustic guitar interludes; If I Had the World to Give was a gentle love song that just fell flat; and From the Heart of Me was simply forgettable. Only the disco swirl of the title track; the serpentine, reggae groove of Fire on the Mountain; and the shimmering percussion of Serengetti truly could be called successful. In short, Shakedown Street wasn’t quite as bad as many made it out to be. Then again, it wasn’t very good either.

There are five bonus tracks featured on the reissue of Shakedown Street. Given the inferiority of the much of the album, it shouldn’t be a surprise that, other than a lively rendition of Good Lovin’ sung by Lowell George, the material was plucked from the Grateful Dead’s vast vault of concert recordings. The band was certainly at home backing up Hamza El Din on Ollin Arageed and before El Din left the stage, the collective transformed the tune’s hazy, hypnotic rhythms into a sprawling rendition of Fire on the Mountain. While the fusion of the songs wasn’t perfect — during the transition, the band significantly shifted tempo, though it never fully broke its stride — the meshing of cultural ideas was one of those supremely inventive moments that perfectly suited the Grateful Dead’s wide-ranging style. As for Stagger Lee and All New Minglewood Blues, the former was presented as a slow, deliberate stroll that served to highlight Jerry Garcia’s impassioned vocals as well as the intricate manner in which he and Bob Weir’s guitar accompaniments uniquely interlocked, while the latter was a potent powerhouse that raged and roared far more than anything on the album from which it came. ½

This is the fifth installment of a ten-part series, which will examine Beyond Description (1973–1989) on an album by album basis. The entire set is rated:

Beyond Description (1973-1989)

Part One: Wake of the Flood

Part Two: From the Mars Hotel

Part Three: Blues for Allah

Part Four: Terrapin Station

Part Six: Go to Heaven

Part Seven: Reckoning

Part Eight: Dead Set

Part Nine: In the Dark

Part Ten: Built to Last

Beyond Description (1973-1989) is available from Amazon.com.
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Shakedown Street  [REMASTERED CD] is available from
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Ratings

1 Star:   Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2004 The Music Box