GRATEFUL DEAD Road Trips Vol.1 No.4 - From Egypt With Love (2-CD)

(Real Gone Music) 17 tracks

There are few lucky souls who have witnessed the Grateful Dead at perhaps one of their most mysterious and majestic performances, such as the one on the desert grounds surrounding the Great Pyramid of Giza.

When the newly inspired band returned to San Francisco in the fall of 1978, they and promoter Bill Graham arranged a five-night performance at Winterland with a slideshow of their Egyptian escapades to add a little Middle Eastern flair to their beloved Bay Area venue. But a slideshow was far from all they brought back from Egypt; master oud player Hamza El-Din accompanies them here on his composition Ollin Arageed (which segues into Deal, a transformation only the Dead perform). And this road trip - an excerpt from Winterland's final two concerts of October 21 and 22, 1978 - also brings in some heavyweight local talent, in the person of War Harmonica war harmonica player Lee Oskar (on the Got My Mojo Working,The Other One/Stella Blue, Sugar Magnolia) medley) and Quicksilver Messenger Service guitar giant John Cipollina (on Not Fade Away, Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad medley).

For many, the highlight may simply be Scarlet Begonia's Fire on the Mountain, which captures the exploratory nature of the band and the occasion in a riveting way. This recording is a Betty Board in HDCD sound, augmented in places with recordings from the audience and available for the first time in music stores.