April 9, 2021 —– Chart #86
Hello Musical Friends,
Welcome to Friday! Today is the 86th edition of my Chart of the Day and this time we are going with another iconic band that shaped rock and roll in America. “Ripple” is the sixth song on the Grateful Dead album American Beauty. It was released as the B-side to the single “Truckin‘”. This song is just fun to play and fun to sing. If you are not already a Grateful Dead fan, give this little tune a listen and see if you find yourself humming along and tapping your feet.
Robert Hunter wrote this song in 1970 in London on the same afternoon he wrote “Brokedown Palace” and “To Lay Me Down” (reputedly drinking half a bottle of retsina in the process ). The song debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco. Jerry Garcia wrote the music to this song. Several lines throughout the song have been compared to the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.Hunter said that Ripple contained the lines of which he was most proud: “Reach out your hand, if your cup be empty/ If your cup is full, may it be again/ Let it be known there is a fountain/ That was not made by the hands of men.”
“Ripple” has a similar melody to the gospel hymn “Because He Lives,” which was published a year later. It is also similar melodically to “Any Dream Will Do” from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which was first performed two years before “Ripple” was recorded.
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, gospel, and psychedelic rock; for live performances of lengthy instrumental jams; and for its devoted fan base, known as “Deadheads”. “Their music”, writes Lenny Kaye, “touches on ground that most other groups don’t even know exists.” These various influences were distilled into a diverse and psychedelic whole that made the Grateful Dead “the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world”. The band was ranked 57th by Rolling Stone magazine in its The Greatest Artists of All Time issue. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and a recording of their May 8, 1977 performance at Cornell University’s Barton Hall was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2012. The Grateful Dead has sold more than 35 million albums worldwide.
The Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s. The founding members were Jerry Garcia (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums). Members of the Grateful Dead had played together in various San Francisco bands, including Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions and the Warlocks. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they became the Grateful Dead; he replaced Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. Drummer Mickey Hart and non-performing lyricist Robert Hunter joined in 1967. With the exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, and Hart, who took time off from 1971 to 1974, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history. The other official members of the band are Tom Constanten (keyboards; 1968–1970), John Perry Barlow (nonperforming lyricist; 1971–1995), Keith Godchaux (keyboards; 1971–1979), Donna Godchaux (vocals; 1972–1979), Brent Mydland (keyboards, vocals; 1979–1990), and Vince Welnick (keyboards, vocals; 1990–1995). Bruce Hornsby (accordion, piano, vocals) was a touring member from 1990 to 1992, as well as a guest with the band on occasion before and after the tours.
Enjoy this tune:
Keep rockin’ my friends,
Stan