Run for the Roses (2018 Remaster)

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The Grateful Dead maintained their usual busy touring schedule in 1981. In between these live gigs, however, Jerry Garcia found time to record his fourth and final solo album, Run for the Roses. Arriving a decade after his solo debut, 1972's Garcia, the full-length features many of his frequent collaborators, including Robert Hunter—who co-wrote multiple songs, including the optimistic title track and the heartbreak-laced standout "Midnight Getaway"— Jerry Garcia Band member Ron Tutt, and co-producer John Kahn. Accordingly, Run for the Roses is a typically diverse listen from Garcia, with nods to psychedelic rock, easygoing folk, and shapeshifting blues. The Beatles' most eclectic work is also an influential undercurrent, both obliquely (the White Album vibe of "Leave the Little Girl Alone") and obviously, as evidenced by a cover of the band's 1963 single "I Saw Her Standing There." And while Merl Saunders appears on one song (the horn-peppered R&B cover "Without Love") Run for the Roses is distinguished by the first appearances from organist Melvin Seals. A fluid and versatile player, he adds pep to the bluesy "Valerie" and a mournful edge to "Midnight Getaway," deepening the album's emotional timbre. Run for the Roses ends with an elegiac version of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" that exudes wistfulness. In this version, the narrator is happy to recall good times from the past while recognizing that these times are irrevocably gone. That sweet emotion also makes Run for the Roses one of Garcia's more enduring later-career efforts. © Annie Zaleski/Qobuz