![]() Garcia and bassist Phil Lesh returned in 1971 to remix the project, adding more clarity to certain songs but also, it seems, diminishing some of the quirky attitude of the original version. ![]() The story of Aoxomoxoa, however, doesn't end there. And, even if it doesn't quite fit into the larger dynamic of Aoxomoxoa, "Cosmic Charlie" certainly provides another hint at the rootsy path in store over their next two outings. Nevertheless, the Dead develops a solid, yet simultaneously loose groove, one that surges along in more or less straight-forward fashion with some stellar guitar flourishes along the way. At the same time, though, this country-tinged, Rolling Stones-y finale seems almost out of place. "Cosmic Charlie" is, on one hand, a great way to end the journey. The nitrous created a "telepathic thing that's fantastic," Garcia added. "On top of everything else, they brought nitrous oxide tanks into the studio and truly lost themselves in the mix," McNally said. In fact, according to Dennis McNally's book A Long Strange Trip, the band was indeed very stoned while recording Aoxomoxoa. Garcia's vocals are put through the effects ringer with various echo, delay and reverb to create an other worldly, acid-washed sound. Garcia said he wanted the sound of the entire band to come through, using only voices. " What's Become of the Baby," meanwhile, is the most out-there track on the album – a haunting work, and an example of the Dead's confident new footing in the studio. It also serves as a showcase for the dual drumming of Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Wonderful harmonies, nestled thick in the mix, take the song to a different level altogether. The rhythms are intricate, yet immediate, while Garcia's guitar snakes its way from top to bottom and back again. There is a lot more going on here than first meets the ears. " China Cat Sunflower," an important part of seemingly every Grateful Dead concert from 1968 through the very end of the road, looms large in the band's legend. It is psychedelic without any of the garish trappings of a 26-minute jam. One of the Dead's most beautiful songs follows in "Mountains of the Moon," as acoustic guitars shimmer over Garcia's plaintive lyric and a bed of harpsichord. Garcia and company are as focused as they'd ever be in the early days, capturing a nice bridge between the cerebral and the earthy. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's organ playing here adds a very Blonde on Blonde-era Bob Dylan feel to the tune. "Doin' That Rag," a sprightly folk-rocker, mapped out the direction the Dead would soon take on their next two studio albums, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. Listen to the Grateful Dead's 'Mountains on the Moon' While the acoustic guitar tracks weave in and out of each other, the vocals are run through a Leslie speaker to give them a surreal quality that suits the song perfectly. Next was "Rosemary," a sweet, yet eerie, track. Stephen" would be a live staple for years to come. The sound here is sharper and more direct than the previous album, but not without a certain cosmic glow about it. Stephen," which set the tone for the album perfectly. Just as important, however, was the new collaborative spark being generated by Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, a partnership that would ultimately lead to a series of Dead classics like "Friend of the Devil" and "Truckin'," among others.Īoxomoxoa kicked off with "St. ![]() ![]() "The-mix down became a performance in its own right, with three or more pairs of hands on the soundboard, minding their cues,” keyboardist Tom Constanten said in the book Skeleton Key. The availability of a 16-track studio offered much more room to play with the ideas in their collective head. The Grateful Dead originally set up camp at Pacific Recording in San Mateo, Calif., in late 1968 to begin work on the album, later finishing at San Francisco's Pacific High Recording. With Aoxomoxoa, they came to terms with the constraints, as well as the resilience, of a recording studio.
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