When I was a kid I used to love the story Mike Mulligan and his Stream Shovel. Fortunately my brother bought a copy for my two year old and I’ve had the pleasure of reading it again lately. In the story, for those unaware, Mike claims that his steam shovel, Mary Ann, can dig as much in a day as a hundred men could dig in a week. What does this have to do with the Grateful Dead you might ask? Well Robert Hunter achieved his own “Mary Ann” moment one day in London in 1970. On a single day he wrote the lyrics to Ripple, Brokedown Palace, and To Lay Me Down. Not bad for a day’s work, eh?!

This version of To Lay Me Down is a studio outtake from the American Beauty recording sessions. It didn’t make it onto that seminal recording, but did pop up on Jerry’s first solo album.

It starts off with just a strummed acoustic guitar. The drums on this one sound a bit odd, kind of like someone beating on trashcans in the distance. You can tell that this didn’t make it to the mixing room floor. Jerry’s cadence is a little different on the opening line and he tells us about “sparkling water” instead of sparkling clover. I think the former actually makes a bit more sense! I don’t know much about the personnel on this recording, but the acoustic guitar work is very nice in places. Bobby’s backup vocals are done in an almost falsetto range and they sound pretty good. There are not a lot of surprises here as they pretty much play the song straight through. The piano is very nice in this rendition. For the most part it’s subtle with a number of very nice runs throughout. I have no idea who’s play piano on this particular track, but other contributors on the album are listed as Jerry, Phil, Howard Wales, and Ned Lagin so it’s likely one of those four. There are no solos here just solid ensemble playing. The feel of this is much different than the version released on Garcia, and definitely worth a listen. It is available on the So Many Roads box set.

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