Grateful Dead: In the Twilight Zone (1985)

It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. This is the dimension we call the Grateful Dead.

Imagine if you will, 30 minutes of 1985 Grateful Dead music related to “The Twilight Zone” theme and mood.

With the help of middle-man Merl Saunders, the Dead were hired to create theme and incidental music for the 1985 reboot of “The Twilight Zone.” A soundtrack album was released containing a combination of ominous Dead “space” and cheesier, ‘80s pop moves.

This mp3 mix includes all the “space” passages, plus an edit of studio outtakes, plus three live passages. No cheesy stuff.

“Merl says that the night he sat in during the ‘space’ jam at one of the recent Berkeley shows, ‘we did a bit of the Zone without the theme. It was kind of loose. We’d been in the studio working things about a week, and then all of a sudden I was just up there onstage!’” (Golden Road #6)

According to Garcia, the band recorded enough bits to construct a much larger Twilight Zone space.

“… but what we got [to do] was a collection of little musical inserts called stings and bumpers – you know, little hunks of non-specific music of various lengths that have different moods. One might be a mood like, ‘Don’t open the door,’ or ‘Don’t go up into the attic.’ Or, ‘I’m going to work work, honey. Are you sure you’ll be OK home alone?’ They go all the way from a sort of noncommittal [he makes light, almost playful guitar sounds] to a real ominous ‘Braaaaaagh!” They gave us a huge menu of those – 40 that are like 5 seconds, 20 that are 6.5 seconds, a bunch that they can fade in and out. Then it’s the music editor who actually fits them into the show.” (Golden Road #6)

My assumption is that the 17 minutes from the official soundtrack included on this mix are made up of a slew of these tiny pieces of mood music, edited together. 

31-minute mp3 mix zipped up here

  • Twilight Zone (live 6/21/85)
  • Twilight Zone (live 9/15/85)
  • Twilight Zone (studio outtake edit)
  • Space (live 3/9/85 w/Merl Saunders)
  • TZ Soundtrack: Main Title Theme
  • TZ Soundtrack: Kentucky Rye Pt. 3
  • TZ Soundtrack: Shadowman (edit)
  • TZ Soundtrack: Nightcrawlers
  • TZ Soundtrack: Eye of Newton (edit)
  • TZ Soundtrack: End Credits

The session/demo edit comes from this set of fragments. I found that several of them contain the exact same, main passage (w/some different treatments), so my edit comprises the non-repeating passages. 

If you enjoy the Dead making soundtrack music, you might like:

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14 responses
Fantastic. Some truly excellent "Space" jams, going WAY out there. There are a lot of textures and moods, some creepy or even sinister, others more gently mysterious. So, here and there when the actual Twilight Zone motif keeps cropping up, suddenly it all makes perfect sense! I had read about this music, which resulted in wishing for easier access to it. Thanks a lot!!! PS: The track "Nightcrawlers" is riffing on an unlikely source: "The Rhythm of the Heat", the first track from Peter Gabriel's album Security. I am quite certain about this! It is a great song to begin with, with a distinctive beat. I thought of it as soon as "Nightcrawlers" began. And then...combine that beat with four particular notes slowly ascending, as the Dead do at around 00:40, and again more seriously around 01:20, and it suddenly becomes more of an actual cover version! HUH??? The original Peter Gabriel track features some VERY heavy African drummers at the end...my guess is that Hart and Kreutzmann heard of the incredible drumming in that track. This is so cool, I never pictured the Dead appreciating Peter Gabriel. I certainly do. Who is doing the harmonica at the end of that track??? (...and, did Peter Gabriel get writing credit on their soundtrack work here?)
— Ryan Bouchard
Ryan, I agree. I thought Peter Gabriel, too, though I hadn't pinned down a song. On the same sessions (on archive.org) there's a Dead jam that's *almost* Miracle, then becomes almost New Speedway. I think that "close but not quite" is a hallmark of "library music" - not violating copyright, quite.
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
Well, as long as the Dead wouldn't get in trouble, I think Peter Gabriel and his fans should hear about the Nightcrawlers track! He has long been a world music fan/musician, and maybe I shouldn't be so shocked by this connection. The first time I listened to it, I must admit that I was baffled, and for a mintute, I was like, "Nah, Hilgart must have accidentally included a clip of other musicians from that Twilight Zone soundtrack." So I listened again. Hmmm...whoever it is, they are doing a good moody job with it...the drums sound exotic, like Hart/Kreutzmann...who would definitely love the original song's lyrics, relaying Karl Jung's mind-blowing experience in an African drum circle...but still, I questioned who was behind this music. But around 2:45, a repeating low guitar riff appears...clean but nicely textured...and each riff is followed by a whammy bar hit that could be NONE OTHER than mid-80s Weir. "Whoa, no way--THIS REALLY IS the Dead jamming on PG!" Sure enough, we also get the drummers' breath-of-the-tiki-god effects, so cool to hear with that very tribal beat. That Weir riff I pointed out at 2:45...that is the riff from Eternity, right!? Strange, a 90s Dead song appearing in 1985...how long ago was Eternity known to exist? A TIME WARP...this is getting even weirder! (...cue TWILIGHT ZONE theme...) My 90s Dead knowledge is limited. I have enjoyed those wonderful Eternity jams found on your Dark Star Flashes LP#2 project, but otherwise I just know a couple versions of Eternity. Do you think I'm right, that Bob is playing the Eternity riff in this jam? Or could one say that's just a standard blues riff? Was he playing with that riff for a long time before finding a home for it?
— Ryan Bouchard
Whoa, that Weir riff IS really close to "Eternity!"
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
That is really something them using RotH by Gabriel.So cool.
— Crystal
added-Thanks for this. I was an electronic music fan and creator in 1981 when i firstvattended a show. Space was my favorite from my first night til the last show i saw in July '95. I think it was Jerry's too from what i hear.
— Crystal
Crystal, good for you appreciating Space from the get-go. I always loved it as a live experience but didn't listen to it much on tapes until much, much later.
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
Ha, if we were friends back then you could have joined in the chorus of "what the heck, man, why in the world are you doing that?" when i was editing hundreds of space/drums/space jams onto cassette! And come to hang out with my band that did hours of live space with a sprinkling of songs. I've only checked out a few clips on the YT channel, similar vibe, liking it. Thanks.
— Crystal
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