Grateful Dead-Shakedown Street (1978)


 

Artist: Grateful Dead

Title: Shakedown Street

Label: Arista

Format: LP

Cat #: AB 4198

Year of Release: 1978

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US Terre Haute Press, Black Arista

Listed Condition: G+/G+

Sell Date: 1/12/21

Sell Price: $19.99

Discogs Last Sold: 1/4/21 VG/VG+ $15.00

Low: $7.00 VG+/P

Median: $17.25

High:  $42.68 M/M

Current low price: $17.77 VG/G

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 7

Have/Want: 194/72

Where Sold:  Philadelphia, PA

Time it took to sell: 5 years

Where and When Bought: Worcester, MA That's Entertainment $5 box of records

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B+

Sad To See It Go: No

"The world doesn't need another Jimmy Buffett sounding frat rock record" railed label proprietor cum fledgling hard rock DJ Kenny.  Well you maybe that was a paraphrase as we were having some hot toddies at Parkside with Morgan and Viking and I didn't jot down his exact quote.  The funny part is he was already referencing Shakedown Street and I was considering the recent sale for writing fodder sometime this week.  Somebody had bought my war torn copy I got in a $5 box that had a "John Driscoll" mini-label affixed to each and every record including several in this star-alligned 7 record order.  This black Arista  edition is a $40+ record in much better shape, and it went fairly for $20.  The play was fairly clean.

I did a headphone listen last week and while streaming now, I suddenly realized what Kenny was talking about.  Not so much the frat rock of the Rascals "Good Lovin, '" the Weir sung cover that opens the album, but the Godchaux laden spectacle that is the second track, "France."  "France" is a pretty wretched track that made me see what Kenny was talking about.  Apparently it was never played live.  In fact, only 6 songs on this album were performed live and of those only 4 were Dead standards.  Some may have even been sub-Buffett.  "From The Heart Of Me" is a Donna Godchaux sung monstrosity that was  performed a couple dozen times in the late 70's and here and there in the later years.

I personally always considered Shakedown a fairly strong record the one time I played it start to finish in the early 80's.  The live standards of course were the AOR hits "I Need A Miracle" and "Shakedown Street" as well as "Fire On The Mountain" which sounds awkward in studio mode.  The song that jumped out at me: "Stagger Lee."  If only because the protagonist shoots someone in the balls.  I honestly can't remember ever noticing Jerry committing such a violent act on stage or in song.  I have to say it leapt into my favorite cut on this listen although I always ignored it over the years.  

The other track I like is the closer "If I Had The World To Give," a plaintive Jerry closer they perform more posthumously than when Jerry was alive.  So no, this isn't a terrible album in my view.

It beats Built To Last and that's about it for the Dead studio catalog.


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