The Grateful Dead: Terraplayin’ (1993-1994)

Pretend that Spotify recommended this music because you listen to a lot of Khruangbin.

I have smashed together more than two hours of improvisational segments from late 1993 and 1994 Grateful Dead performances of “Playin’ in the Band” and “Terrapin Station.” 

At the time, the approaches to those two songs’ jams were closely related, and together they represent one of the highlights of late, improvisational Grateful Dead. Slinky, fusion-y, blue-green, dance music.

Everything on this mix appeared on previous Save Your Face mixes. I made a rough-cut playlist, and it turned out to be great for everything from snow shoveling to copywriting – a Dead “mood” that both rewards close attention and functions as sophisticated wallpaper music. 

So, I decided to take out the remaining vocals and tidy up the edges. Many of the segues originated on the earlier mixes I pulled from, and I welded a few more things together for this mix. Some edits are good illusions and others will be obvious, but they help create a dramatic ebb and flow of the band's Playin’ dilations and Jam-Out-of-Terrapin concentrations. 

This is what the mix will look like in your music player, if you download the zipped mp3 file. Anything that’s named “Terraplayin’” is an edit of related performances, featuring at least one jam from each song. 

2h13m mp3 file zipped up here

17 responses
This is cool. Thanks for posting. I was at some of these shows, and I enjoyed them. Fall '94 is very underrated, particularly some of the MSG shows. (The Scarlet>Fire of 10/14/94 is awesome.)
DC, it appears that I did not include that Scarlet>Fire on my October '94 mixtape. I will reinvestigate. That mix rejected any songs that were fucked up, performatively - I didn't edit anything - so possibly that's the reason for my omission. October '94 got short shrift, in the overall 1994 survey, in the sense that I only anthologized near-perfect performances, but did not return to pick up juicy passages from imperfect performances.
Thanks. Spring '94 has some good shows. But Summer '94 has some really bad moments. However, Jerry rested and cleaned up for Fall '94-- and the band knew they had to play better. Overall, the band was clearly trying during that Fall tour, and the MSG run is very solid. 10/13 is very consistent and strong. 10/14 has the highest peaks. 10/17 is strong and slightly dark. Worth checking out.
Hey John, great mix as always. Love the idea of the Dead as some kind of alternative instrumental band that the fabled algorithm would come up with after I listen Con Todo El Mundo. This and all the '94 mixes have inspired a renewed love of this era of Dead. So much, that my friend just got me Ready or Not for my birthday. I saw in the gate-fold that you were thanked. Were involved with the release?
Jordan, I'm sure that thank you comes from Jesse Jarnow, who wrote the notes. We corresponded a lot about this era's Dead. I'm so glad you're into the era now! It has opened up huge new tracts of music for me, as well.
this is great. thanks
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