BLUES FOR ALLAH is the 8th album and 3rd released on Dead’s own label, Grateful Dead Records.
In their 10th year, the Grateful Dead recorded one of their most ambitious albums since the late 1960s, with songwriting and songs that were as out-there, jam-filled, and as psychedelic as the music they were making in 1968-1969.
Both Side 1 an Side 2 featured instrumental passages that show a band digging deep into the depths of their creativity, with "Silpknot!," "King Solomon's Marbles," "Stronger Than Dirt Or Milkin' The Turkey," "Sage & Spirit," and parts of the Blues For Allah suite being some of the wildest instrumentals the Dead ever recorded in the studio.
Add to this such masterpieces as "Help On The Way," "Franklin's Tower," "The Music Never Stopped," and "Crazy Fingers," and you have one of the Dead's most consistently great albums that stands the test of time, and sounds more from the future than the past.
Re-mastered by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer David Glasser from the original analog tapes, with speed-correction and tape restoration by Plangent Processes.
50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Grateful Dead's ambitious 1975 album Blues For Allah, we have produced what we feel is the most eclectic 50th anniversary reissue since this series began in 2017. The 3-disc special release features the original album on Disc 1, remastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering, with tape restoration and speed correction by Plangent Processes.
On Disc 2, we have nearly 45 minutes of nearly-live material from August 12, 1975 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, the soundcheck the day before the Dead's famous show at the venue on August 13, 1975, all mixed from the 16-track analog masters.
Additionally, we have included the full Blues For Allah suite from the March 23, 1975 SNACK Benefit at Kezar Stadium, where the Dead played their first of four 1975 shows by debuting one of their most wild pieces of music they'd ever composed.
Disc 3 features 75 minutes of live material recorded in June 1976 at the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, PA, on the Dead's first tour after the release of Blues For Allah, and features all five of the Blues For Allah songs the Dead were performing live at the time: "The Music Never Stopped," "Help On The Way>Slipknot!>Franklin's Tower," and "Crazy Fingers," along with a half hour of additional material from the shows.
This 50th anniversary reissue is packed with three hours of studio, soundcheck, and live material. It's a reissue unlike any other, just as Blues For Allah is an album unlike any other.
Tracklisting
Disc 1
2025 Remaster
1.Help On The Way / Slipknot!
2.Franklin’s Tower
3.King Solomon’s Marbles
Part I: Stronger Than Dirt
Part II: Milkin’ The Turkey
4.The Music Never Stopped
5.Crazy Fingers
6.Sage & Spirit
7.Blues For Allah
Blues For Allah
Sand Castles & Glass Camels
Unusual Occurrences In The Desert
Disc 2
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA (soundcheck/rehearsal 8/12/75)
1.Help On The Way>
2.Slipknot!
3.Franklin's Tower
4.Help On The Way>
5.Slipknot!
6.Franklin's Tower
7.King Solomon's Marbles
8.Crazy Fingers
9.Sage And Spirit
Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA (3/23/75)
1.Blues For Allah
2.Stronger Than Dirt (Or Milkin’ The Turkey)
3.Drums
4.Stronger Than Dirt (Or Milkin’ The Turkey)
5.Blues For Allah
Disc 3
Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA (6/21/76)
1.The Music Never Stopped
2.Help On The Way>
3.Slipknot!
4.Franklin's Tower
Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA (6/22/76)
5.Crazy Fingers
6.Comes A Time
7.Eyes Of The World
8.Dancing In The Street
