Olsen’s contributions to the record were controversial, even among members of the band.ĭrummer Mickey Hart called Olsen “disrespectful” for replacing a timbal part in “Terrapin Station” recorded by Hart with strings. Chosen more for his access to Studer recording equipment and a Neve recording console at Sound City studio in Van Nuys, California than for his familiarity with the Dead’s music, Keith Olsen was tapped to produce Terrapin Station. The aforementioned label head Clive Davis wanted the band to work with an outside producer for the first time since their 1968 LP, Anthem Of The Sun. Terrapin Station was the Grateful Dead’s first album released on Arista Records. First played live in New York City on May 1, 1977, “Sunrise” was performed only 30 known times, including a final time during the band’s trip to Egypt in September 1978. The band’s charity organization, the Rex Foundation, was named after Jackson. Donna based “Sunrise” on that experience, which was done in honor of longtime Grateful Dead road crew member Rex Jackson, who died in 1975. One sunrise service was conducted by Rolling Thunder in the backyard of the Tiburon, California home where Donna lived with her husband, late Dead keyboardist Keith Godchaux. Written with the encouragement of Garcia, Godchaux was inspired by sunrise services led by Native American medicine man Rolling Thunder. One of two originals credited to vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux during her tenure as a member of the Grateful Dead, “Sunrise” was the final song on the record’s Side A. Weir and the Grateful Dead also covered Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” and performed “Samson & Delilah” over 360 times between its live debut in 1976 and its appearance in their final set at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995. Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, also a student of Davis, arranged a meeting between Bobby and Davis in Queens, New York, shortly before the latter’s death in 1972. “Samson & Delilah,” the other cover on Terrapin Station, was brought to the band by Weir after learning it from his one-time mentor, the legendary guitarist Rev. The song, rarely played live and abandoned after 1981, bears a strong sonic resemblance to Fleetwood Mac’s song “Station Man,” which appeared on their 1970 album, Kiln House. Because of Lesh’s vocal chord damage at the time Terrapin Station was recorded, “Passenger” was sung by Weir and Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay. Navy and ordained Buddhist monk named Peter Zimels, wrote the song’s lyrics. Lesh composed the instrumentation while Monk, a former member of the U.S. Phil Lesh‘s sole songwriting credit on Terrapin Station was “Passenger,” which the bassist co-wrote with Peter Monk. Later digital releases of the album contained the horn-embellished version of the track. Olsen added uncredited horns to the radio edit, but “Dancin’ In The Streets” failed to achieve radio success. Brought back during the late-1970s “Disco Dead” era, Arista Records head Clive Davis chose it to be the Terrapin Station lead single. The Dead covered the song regularly between 19, but after only being played once in 1971, it was shelved for several years. One of two covers on Terrapin Station, “Dancin’ In The Streets” was written by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. Producer Keith Olsen brought in Tom Scott to perform a solo on the electric woodwind instrument known as a lyricon for the Terrapin Station version of “Estimated Prophet.” A staple of the Dead’s live shows, “Estimated” was played by the Dead over 385 times, providing Garcia an opportunity to employ his Mu-Tron III envelope filter pedal. Written by Bob Weir and John Perry Barlow, the album’s opening track, “Estimated Prophet,” made its live debut on February 26, 1977, at the Dead’s show at Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California – the same night “Terrapin Station” made its debut. Side A featured “Estimated Prophet,” “Dancin’ In The Streets,” “Passenger,” “Samson & Delilah” and “Sunrise.” The entire Side B was devoted to the band’s Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter-written opus, the seven-part title track “Terrapin Station.” On July 27, 1977, the Grateful Dead released their studio album, Terrapin Station.
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