based on liner notes from Wake of the Flood's 50th Anniversary Edition
Wake of the Flood was the band's 1st album since American Beauty and their 1st to be recorded at The Dead's own studio called The Record Plant.
Prior to recording, the band lost members Pigpen and Mickey Hart.
There are plenty of biblical references throughout the songs on the album. Hunter's lyrics got at a deeper set of truths including the sense of promise that followed the great flood in the book of Genesis. God ended the cataclysm with a new covenant and Rick Griffin drew on that story for the cover with not only the water on the front cover but also with the raven on the back cover which symbolized the raven sent out by Noah to see if the flood was receding. The bird also evoked that context; it came from the old card game Rook, marketed as a Christian alternative to traditional playing cards.
Thoughtful observers noted wakes followed both floods and deaths and much of what the band recorded August 1973 would also honor their fallen friend Pigpen.
The Wake of the Flood album weaves the fabric of the Dead's history into its themes in ways that highlight its ambition and achievement.
Jerry Garcia's brilliant lines imbue the album with a pastoral feel giving Stella Blues a wistfulness that brought out every phrase of his vocals and every nuance of Hunter's lyrics. As the song Row Jimmy marks a journey as a metaphor for life, Stella Blue describes loss being the accompaniment and inevitable end of that journey affirming the power of belief and determination in the face of tragedy. Garcia was especially proud of Stella Blue which he described as having a very slippery harmonic thing that works nicely.
based on liner notes from Wake of the Flood's 50th Anniversary Edition
Wake of the Flood was the band's 1st album since American Beauty and their 1st to be recorded at The Dead's own studio called The Record Plant.
Prior to recording, the band lost members Pigpen and Mickey Hart.
There are plenty of biblical references throughout the songs on the album. Hunter's lyrics got at a deeper set of truths including the sense of promise that followed the great flood in the book of Genesis. God ended the cataclysm with a new covenant and Rick Griffin drew on that story for the cover with not only the water on the front cover but also with the raven on the back cover which symbolized the raven sent out by Noah to see if the flood was receding. The bird also evoked that context; it came from the old card game Rook, marketed as a Christian alternative to traditional playing cards.
Thoughtful observers noted wakes followed both floods and deaths and much of what the band recorded August 1973 would also honor their fallen friend Pigpen.
The Wake of the Flood album weaves the fabric of the Dead's history into its themes in ways that highlight its ambition and achievement.
Jerry Garcia's brilliant lines imbue the album with a pastoral feel giving Stella Blues a wistfulness that brought out every phrase of his vocals and every nuance of Hunter's lyrics. As the song Row Jimmy marks a journey as a metaphor for life, Stella Blue describes loss being the accompaniment and inevitable end of that journey affirming the power of belief and determination in the face of tragedy. Garcia was especially proud of Stella Blue which he described as having a very slippery harmonic thing that works nicely.