Grateful Dead - From The Mars Hotel

The Grateful Dead: From The Mars Hotel

Album #233 - June 1974

Episode date - October 9, 2024

The Top 500 of The Top 40
    0:00
    0:00

    If you graduated from High School anytime in the 1970’s (and even the 1980’s), then you almost certainly had some interaction with Deadheads.

    Now that the fanbase for the Grateful Dead has outlived the band by a significant margin, I sometimes wonder if the ‘modern’ version of a Deadhead acknowledges their studio recordings with the same degree of intensity as the thousands of live performances that have been so well-documented.

    From my perspective, and with only a few exceptions (“Workingman’s Dead” and American Beauty” in particular) the studio recordings seem to get short shrift, or entirely ignored by their most adoring fans, and that disappoints me. I applaud anybody who appreciates the various nuances of a live performance, even if that includes attempting to memorize two thousand-some-odd renditions of “Dark Star”, but for me, I often find myself returning to the studio recordings, and if I needed to pick just one, it would be “Mars Hotel” because it does such a fine job of presenting the band’s strong points.

    Any album that opens with the tongue-in-cheek irony of “U.S. Blues” and closes with the provocative insight of “Ship of Fools” is bound to be great, but add in a Phil Lesh masterpiece like “Unbroken Chain,” the gorgeous rock and roll of “Scarlet Begonias” and the dreamy/spooky wistfulness of “China Doll” (which always gives me chills when they resolve to a major key) and you have a Grateful Dead album that will withstand the ages, regardless of when you graduated.

    Feature tracks:

    U.S. Blues

    China Doll

    Unbroken Chain

    Loose Lucy

    Scarlet Begonias

    Pride of Cucamonga

    Money Money

    Ship of Fools

    June 1974 - Billboard Charted #16

    Related Shows

    Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

    Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

    Album #20 - April 1962

      0:00
      0:00
      Sinatra and Strings - Arranged and Conducted by Don Costa

      Frank Sinatra: Sinatra and Strings

      Album # 21 - January 1962

        0:00
        0:00
        West Side Story: Original Soundtrack Recording

        West Side Story: Original Soundtrack Recording

        Album #20 - October 1961

          0:00
          0:00
          Frank Sinatra: Nice 'n' Easy

          Frank Sinatra: Nice 'n' Easy

          Album #19 - July 1960

            0:00
            0:00
            The Dave Brubeck Quintet - Time Out

            The Dave Brubeck Quintet: Time Out

            Album #18 - December 1959

              0:00
              0:00
              Dinah Washington - What a Diff'rence a Day Makes

              Dinah Washington: What a Diff'rence a Day Makes

              Album #17 - November 1959

                0:00
                0:00
                The Genius of Ray Charles

                Ray Charles: The Genius of Ray Charles

                Album #16 - October 1959

                  0:00
                  0:00
                  Marty Robbins: Gunfighter Ballards and Trail Songs

                  Marty Robbins: Gunfighter Ballards and Trail Songs

                  Album #15 - September 1959

                    0:00
                    0:00
                    The Everly Brothers: (Self Titled, Debut Album)

                    The Everly Brothers: (Self Titled, Debut Album)

                    Album #14 - January 1958

                      0:00
                      0:00
                      Nat King Cole -  After Midnight

                      Nat King Cole: After Midnight

                      Album #13 - 1957

                        0:00
                        0:00
                        Frank Sinatra: A Swingin' Affair!

                        Frank Sinatra: A Swingin' Affair!

                        Album #12 - May 1957

                          0:00
                          0:00
                          Little Richard: Here's Little Richard

                          Little Richard: Here's Little Richard

                          Album #11 - March 1957

                            0:00
                            0:00