What is the longest Grateful Dead song?
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American rockers the Grateful Dead were forged in the cauldron of early psychedelia that developed in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1960s. Although they were primarily a live band, and this trait was a staple throughout their career, the Dead’s discography includes far more live releases than studio albums, and they used their performances to push their music as far as possible.
There was the spontaneous psychedelic experimentation of their early days, the genre-bending spontaneity of their middle period, and the virtuoso solos of their final years. Some of the Dead’s songs are best known for their live versions, even if they were first recorded in the studio.
One or two of these pieces became staples in the band’s set lists, immovable objects despite the dozens of different songs they recorded over the decades. These pieces formed the basis for extended improvisations that not only allowed certain band members their own solos, but also encouraged the group to create something new together live on stage.
No song embodies this feeling of spontaneous, telepathic co-creation better than the aptly titled “Playing in the Band.” This simple, heartfelt tribute to the pure tribal instinct that binds a band of musicians together in song first appeared on the 1971 live album Gratefully deadalso known as Skull and roseswith a time of just four minutes and 39 seconds.
From that point on, however, the song gradually grew longer and longer, evolving into mind-shattering psych-jazz digressions that sent Dead fans into a frenzy. Finally, in May 1974, the band used it as the basis for their longest recording of a single piece of music to date.
How long is the longest version?
The Grateful Dead’s performance of “Playing in the Band” on May 21, 1974 in Seattle, Washington, was released as its own limited edition album for Record Store Day 2018. And it was certainly as good as any other album on the market, having to be cut in half to fit on the two sides of a vinyl LP.
In total, this version of the song lasted 46 minutes and 24 seconds, making it one of the longest rock songs ever recorded. This release surpassed the recording of their 1972 masterpiece “Dark Star” from a live performance in Paris, which was released on Record Store Day on the 50th anniversary of that performance in 2012. The Dead managed a mere 39 minutes and 27 seconds of “Dark Star,” a trivial track by comparison.
It seems only fitting that the Dead’s Ode to Playing in the Dead is the longest song they’ve ever played. It’s arguably the case that no band they’ve played in has meant more to the members than Palo Alto’s finest have to the song’s composers, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, and their bandmates.
Longtime Grateful Dead collaborator and non-member Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics to “Playing in the Band,” it must be said. But that doesn’t take away from the stage magic of the classic line-ups as they took the piece in a new direction with each performance.
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