Terrapin Station
	Produced by Keith Olsen
	Released on July 27, 1977
	US CHART POSITION #28 . . . GOLD RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
AL 7001 cover [high resolution scan]

I f you suspect the title track isn’t about turtles, you may be on(to) something. Terrapin, terrippin, trrippin, trippin. That’s how it was explained to me. Twenty years later, it still takes me places. The side-long “Terrapin Part I” is the proggiest passage I’ve encountered in the Dead’s catacombs. When I heard it, the whole Dead “thing” finally clicked with me. American Beauty confirmed it, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Albums are doors, after all, that lead to encounters. What attracts me to prog is that the whole thing is a great Narnian closet. You could argue that the Dead aren’t a prog band, and I wouldn’t disagree, merely point you to Blues For Allah, Terrapin Station, Aoxomoxoa, American Beauty and ask you where you’ve been lately. I’ll admit that the first half of Station is a little bumpy. For example, this line from “Sunrise” is laughably bad: I remember breezes from winds inside your body. Which would ordinarily win the prize for most disgusting thought of the day, but this morning’s paper had an article with the headline “Whale corpse violated.” Turned out the whale had been hit with a hammer after it was dead by someone who lacked the caption editor’s imagination. A cover of “Dancin’ in the Street” isn’t exactly a revelation either, although it is awfully catchy. The Dead at this stage had discovered a funky, organic vibe that created a colorful mosaic of music. In short form, it sounded trite (Shakedown Street), but in long form (Blues For Allah) it blossomed. These days, I come back to Terrapin Station for the title track and “Estimated Prophet.” In between it’s average, no better or worse than the studio albums that followed (Shakedown, Heaven). But the second side is a terrap I’d encourage prog fans to take if they really want to dig the Dead.

AL 7001 back cover	AL 7001 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. ESTIMATED PROPHET    (Bob Weir/John Barlow)    5:35
2. DANCIN' IN THE STREETS    (William Stevenson/Marvin Gaye/Ivy Jo Hunter)    3:30
3. PASSENGER    (Phil Lesh/Peter Monk)    2:48
4. SAMSON & DELILAH    (Traditional arr. by Bob Weir)    3:30
5. SUNRISE    (Donna Godchaux)    4:05
6. TERRAPIN PART 1    16:10
   Lady With A Fan    (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)
   Terrapin Station    (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)
   Terrapin    (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter)
   Terrapin Transit    (Mickey Hart/Bill Kreutzmann)
   At A Siding    (Mickey Hart/Robert Hunter)
   Terrapin Flyer    (Mickey Hart/Bill Kreutzmann)
   Refrain    (Jerry Garcia)
   
   CD reissue bonus tracks
   
7. PEGGY-O
8. THE ASCENT
9. CATFISH JOHN
10. EQUINOX
11. FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
12. DANCIN' IN THE STREET (LIVE)

CREDITS

JERRY GARCIA --
DONNA GODCHAUX --
KEITH GODCHAUX --
MICKEY HART --
BILL KREUTZMANN --
PHIL LESH --
BOB WEIR --
Paul Buckmaster -- orchestral arrangement
The English Choral -- choir
Martyn Ford -- conductor
Martyn Ford Orchestra --
Robert Howes -- choir conductor
Tom Scott -- lyricon and saxophones (1)
David DeVore -- engineer
Keith Olsen -- engineer
Kelley/Mouse Studio -- cover art
Mary Ann Mayer -- art coordination

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