DARK STAR
“Dark Star” is a song released as a single by the Grateful Dead. “Dark Star” was an early Grateful Dead classic and became one of their most loved and anticipated numbers, often with the group using it as a vehicle for musical improvisation sessions that extended beyond the original structure of the song. The song is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and was ranked at number 57 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. (More from Wikipedia)
Talking about “death” in the name is a good way to make it clear your band means business, and there have been several over the years. The Grateful Dead is the best known of course; even today, when you mention “the Dead”, I think most everyone knows who you mean. No Dead concert is quite the same as any other; I once saw an advertisement for an album consisting of an amalgamation of dozens of live versions of a single song (“Dark Star”) into an extended set that went on for something like 90 minutes. (I finally looked it up: It is 110 minutes long, and the two-CD album is called Grayfolded).
(July 2012)
