Grateful Dead-Steal Your Face (1976)
Title: Steal Your Face
Label: Grateful Dead Records
Format: 2 LP
Cat #: GD-LA620-J2
Year of Release: 1976
Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1976 Terre Haute Press
Listed Condition: VG+/VG+
Sell Date: 3/11/21
Sell Price: $29.99 minus $10 refund
Discogs Last Sold: 2/27/21 $17.95 G+/G
Low: $9.99
Median: $26.60
Average: $28.87
High: $45.00
Current low price: $23.26 VG
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 7
Have/Want: 462/113
Where Sold: Matthews, NC
Time it took to sell: 5 years
Where and When Bought: street vendor in Boston's Back Bay
Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B
Sad To See It Go: Yes
This is one of those albums with a HISTORY behind it. Not so much for the content, which I think is a bit lagging as far as live Dead goes. This record is an argument for the studio versions, even with the stripped down electric approach that sounds better in theory than execution.
The history is mine. I found this album by premonition in Boston in the late 80's when I lived in the Emerson dorm my first year there. I was out and about and saw an middle-aged hippie looking guy selling what looked to be beat up classic rock records. The thought went through my head "I have every Dead album except Steal Your Face. I wonder if this guy has it?" I flipped through his records and they were mostly beat up records I had--Zep, Stones. But then, STEAL YOUR FACE came into view. I never saw it anywhere. It was out of print and it never made the used bins. It looked to be in great shape and I paid his asking price--TWO DOLLARS. You heard that right, my Dead collection was complete through 1988. I was made whole.
In the dorms a few weeks later my roommates were trotting out their bong of "Afghani Bud" as my roommate exclaimed. Well a few bong hits of that and it was uncomfortable to move. After that passed, I decided to go to bed and throw on a record. I had Crass' Station of the Crass bought recently on the turntable and tried to play that. It seemed flat and one dimensional and I couldn't deal with the aural assault. Then I saw they copy of Steal Your Face I had recently paid $2 for, so I threw that on. I immediately understood hearing music in marijuana induced 3-dimensions that I've never heard before or since. I then understood why the Dead were the musical choice of potheads.
So this copy was safeguarded in a plastic sleeve for safekeeping. It survived a flood that, in it's wake, avoided the damage that my other G and H albums got hit with. It sold for $29.99, a slightly low price that dropped around 20 bucks from my initial listing 5 years ago. But it was soon to drop more.
I did not realize over 30 years that the original owner had taken a razor blade to a photo of Jerry in the inner picket to put somewhere like a baseball card. The vinyl was immaculate. The cover on the outside looked beautiful. Who the fuck does that? So the buyer of course nailed me for a discount and
I offered 5 vs return. He wanted 10, so I settled. My long sought after find gone for a measly 20 bucks.
As for Steal Your Face, I gave this a spin in headphones before going out and listed to a stream again today all the way through both times. Something seems flat about this record that I can't quite put my finger on until "Big River" shows some signs of life. It's out of character for me to say this because the Bobby cover songs are usually not my favorite. The Chuck Berry covers always seem milquetoast and ill advised to me. I prefer Jerry's voice and noodling but a stripped down "Cold Rain and Snow" to open the whole shebang with that plopped between "The Promised Land" and "Around and Around" didn't seem right. My favorites were there "Stella Blue," "U.S. Blues," "Sugaree" but there is something about the performances on this album that seem better on paper.
The idea of Steal Your Face is better then the album itself.
The official version:
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