The Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa (1969)

50 years ago, The Grateful Dead released their 3rd studio album, Aoxomoxoa. Originally released on June 20th, 1969, it bridged the gap between the lysergic, balls to the wall psychedelia of the first two albums and the rustic, country-tinged flavours of their early 70's material. This is also the first album with lyrics by Robert Hunter, who would be the group's principal lyricist starting with Dark Star the previous year all the way up until their final year in 1995.

Aoxomoxoa is probably my all time favourite Dead album. The combination of psychedelic weirdness and country/folk/bluegrass works extremely well in this setting. Though the melding of these disparate influences wasn't uncommon in those days, especially around 1969/1970, sometimes it hits the mark and sometimes it doesn't. I think the Dead are able to make it work because they were unlike any other band of their day. Though they were lumped in with fellow San Francisco bands (Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, etc) by the press, I always felt that The Dead were unique amongst their peers. They had all the same attributes as the other groups of their time (ties to the underground movement, penchant for anarchist things like drugs and free love, long winding jams) but they were able to make things their own. I attribute this uniqueness with the joining of Robert Hunter. Musically, before Hunter, The Dead were like their contemporaries, taking old folk and blues and twisting and transmuting them into strange psychedelic beasts, but with Hunter's poetic lyrics, it seemed to cause the rest of the group to streamline their sound to match the heavy poetry. That's not to say there aren't batshit insane moments on the record. I mean, if you can sit through all 8 + minutes of whatever STP trip What's To Become of Baby is supposed to be, then you're a better man than I, but it all seems to fit within a theme. Aoxomoxoa is, for me, the first album by the group that feels like an album. Their self titled debut felt like a covers record that was a watered down version of their live sets and Anthem of The Sun is definitely an experience, but more of an experience than a album. This combination of The Dead really coming in their own as songwriters and performers with Hunter's amazing lyrics finds the group at their peak of what is called "Primal Dead". Interestingly, Jerry Garcia and bassist Phil Lesh went back in 1971 and remixed the album, removing some things and adding new vocal takes on some songs. The 50th anniversary edition that was released in June of this year contained both the original 1969 mix and 1971 remix that appeared on most CD reissues. I'm most familiar with the remix due to the original mix not being widely available until now and while the original mix is certainly interesting, I think the group made the right decision. It's less experimental than the original, but in my opinion, it's to the album's benefit. Some may not agree, but I think making the album a little more easy to digest made the album better. While there are tracks that would take on a life of their own in live settings, which was a common thing with the group, there are tracks here that I believe have their best versions right here on the album. The Dead wouldn't release another studio album like this again, as their next venture was the cowboy Americana of Workingman's Dead so this, plus their first live album, Live/Dead was the last of "Primal Dead" put on vinyl.

Key Tracks: St. Stephen, Dupree's Diamond Blues, Doin' That Rag, Mountains of The Moon, China Cat Sunflower, Cosmic Charlie

Well when I get those jelly roll blues
Why I'd go and get anything in this world for you