Shakedown Street
	Produced by Lowell George and Dan Healy
	Released on November 15, 1978
	US CHART POSITION #41 . . . GOLD RECORD (9/4/87)
	Find it at GEMM
ARCD 8228 cover [high resolution scan]

D own the road apiece from Terrapin Station, for all intents the first side of that journey done twice. Some critics (e.g., the mossy minds of Rolling Stone) pack the Arista output into a single brown box and store it in the basement. I’ll grant you that Arista in the late ‘70s did little but drain the blood from its artists (Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, The Kinks), but the Dead continued to release vital music despite it. The disco amalgam of “Shakedown Street” (like “Estimated Prophet” earlier) isn’t a case of selling out but buying in. Shakedown Street never got a fair shake on radio, as Arista again trotted out a cover tune (“Good Lovin’”) for the single plus the discofied title track. To unfamiliar ears, it sounded like the Dead were reduced to disco and cover songs, so no wonder some thought their days were numbered. What they missed were the exotic shops that line this street, from the mantric reggae/pop of “Fire on the Mountain” (the same mountain where “Franklin’s Tower” resides apparently) to Donna Godchaux’ tropic “From The Heart of Me.” You can make a case that individual personalities pull the Dead in too many different directions and diffuse their energy, but a lack of ideas or talent is not their problem. If you enjoy them, Weir’s contributions this time include “I Need A Miracle” and “All New Minglewood Blues,” while Garcia and Hunter add the tale of “Stagger Lee.” I wouldn’t point you toward Shakedown Street if your travels with the Dead are still green, but in time it’ll prove an interesting avenue.

TRACK LISTING

1. GOOD LOVIN'    (A.Resnick/R.Clark)    4:51
2. FRANCE    (Mickey Hart/Bob Weir/Robert Hunter)    4:03
3. SHAKEDOWN STREET    (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)    4:59
4. SERENGETTI    (Mickey Hart/Billy Kreutzmann)    1:59
5. FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN    (Mickey Hart/Robert Hunter)    3:46
6. I NEED A MIRACLE    (Bob Weir/John Barlow)    3:36
7. FROM THE HEART OF ME    (Donna Godchaux)    3:23
8. STAGGER LEE    (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)    3:25
9. ALL NEW MINGLEWOOD BLUES    (trad. arr. by Bob Weir)    4:12
10. IF I HAD THE WORLD TO GIVE    (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)    4:50

CREDITS

JERRY GARCIA --
DONNA GODCHAUX --
KEITH GODCHAUX --
MICKEY HART --
ROBERT HUNTER --
BILLY KREUTZMANN --
PHIL LESH --
BOB WEIR --
Jordan Amarantha -- percussion
John Kahn -- associate producer, horn arrangements
Matthew Kelly -- harp
Steven Schuster -- horn (7)
Bob Matthews -- engineer
Brett Cohen -- engineer (4)
Gilbert Shelton -- artwork

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