| "Truckin'" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Grateful Dead | ||||
| from the album American Beauty | ||||
| B-side | "Ripple" | |||
| Released | November 1, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | September 1970 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Composer(s) | ||||
| Lyricist(s) | Robert Hunter | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Grateful Dead singles [1] singles chronology | ||||
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"Truckin'" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album American Beauty . It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure. [2]
Written by band members Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and lyricist Robert Hunter, "Truckin'" molds classic Grateful Dead rhythms and instrumentation. [3] The lyrics refer to a drug raid of the band's hotel lodgings in New Orleans during a concert tour earlier in 1970:
Busted, down on Bourbon Street
Set up, like a bowling pin
Knocked down, it gets to wearing thin
They just won't let you be [4]
The song's climactic refrain, "What a long, strange trip it's been", has achieved widespread cultural use in the years since the song's release. [5]
"Truckin'" is associated with the blues and other early 20th-century forms of folk music. [6]
"Truckin'" was considered a "catchy shuffle" by the band members. [7] Garcia commented that "the early stuff we wrote that we tried to set to music was stiff because it wasn't really meant to be sung ... the result of [lyricist Robert Hunter getting into our touring world], the better he could write ... and the better we could create music around it." [2] The communal, shared-group-experience feel of the song is brought home by the participation of all four of the group's chief songwriters (Garcia, Weir, Lesh, and Hunter), since, in Phil Lesh's words, "we took our experiences on the road and made it poetry," lyrically and musically. He goes on to say that "the last chorus defines the band itself." [8] Weir credited the band's 1967 experience in backing vocalese singer Jon Hendricks for helping Weir to enunciate the tongue-twister lyrics in Truckin's verses. [9]
The song was taken from the American Beauty album and edited down in length from five to three minutes for release as a single. In addition to being shorter, the single version had some audible differences compared to the album version: it featured sections of lead guitar in places where it's faded down on the album version, a heavy processed effect on Bob Weir's lead vocals in the verses, a different vocal track for the "Sometimes the lights..." portion, and is missing the album version's organ part.
The single reached number 64 on December 25, 1971 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart and stayed on the chart for eight weeks. "Truckin'" was the highest-charting pop single the group would have until the surprise top-ten performance of "Touch of Grey" sixteen years later. Moreover, the album track was heavily played on progressive rock and album oriented rock radio stations and accordingly helped popularize the group among general rock audiences.
"Truckin'" debuted as the first song on the first set on August 18, 1970 at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, the same performance where many of American Beauty's songs premiered.
A longer rendition, that turns into a jam, was included on the popular 1972 live album Europe '72 segueing into "Epilogue", followed by "Prelude".
Over the band's long concert career, "Truckin'" was performed 520 times, making it the eighth-most performed Dead song. [10]
| Peak Chart Date | Position | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| December 25, 1971 | 64 [11] | 8 weeks |
American Beauty is the fifth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released November 1, 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, issued earlier in the year. Though the Americana approach is still evident in the songwriting, comparatively the sound focused more on folk harmonies and major-key melodies, showing influence from Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is the second compilation album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was released August 18, 1977 by Warner Bros. Records, three and a half years after the Skeletons from the Closet compilation. Both albums are subtitled "The Best of the Grateful Dead". Unlike the previous compilation, What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a double album.
Download Series Volume 2 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was released as a digital download on June 7, 2005. The show is a one-disc set of a previously uncirculated concert at Springer's Ballroom in Gresham, Oregon, from January 18, 1970.
Download Series Volume 3 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on October 26, 1971, at The Palestra in Rochester, New York. It was released as a digital download on July 5, 2005.
Download Series Volume 10 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was released as a three-disc digital download on February 7, 2006. It contains almost all of the concert the band performed on July 21, 1972 at the Paramount Northwest Theatre in Seattle, Washington.
Ace is an album by Grateful Dead singer and guitarist Bob Weir. His first solo album, it was released in 1972. It is essentially a Grateful Dead album, as almost all of the members of The Grateful Dead at the time played on it.
Hundred Year Hall is a two-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It was the first album to be released after Jerry Garcia's death, and one of the first releases in a continuing rush of live albums from the band's vault. It contains about two thirds of the April 26 concert at the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, West Germany, during the Dead's Spring 1972 tour of Europe. Disc one includes a number of songs from the first set, followed by the last part of the second set. Disc two includes the first part of the second set.
Truckin' Up to Buffalo is a double CD soundtrack to the DVD video of the same name by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park on July 4, 1989. There are no differences in the track listings of the CD and DVD versions. Two tracks had already been released: "All Along the Watchtower" was included in the compilation of Dylan songs, Postcards of the Hanging, and "Man Smart " was released on Weir Here – The Best of Bob Weir. The album title is taken from a line in the band's song "Truckin'," though it was not included in the setlist that night.
Dick's Picks Volume 31 is a four-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on August 4 and 5, 1974 at the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and on August 6, 1974 at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was released in March 2004.
Anthem to Beauty is a music documentary about the making of the Grateful Dead albums Anthem of the Sun and American Beauty. It originally aired in a somewhat shortened version in 1997 as part of the television series Classic Albums. It was released on VHS video tape in 1998 and on DVD in 1999, with a running time of 1 hour 15 minutes.
Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 is a live album by American rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains two CDs and one DVD and was released in 2008. The album was recorded September 15 & 16, 1978, at the Giza pyramid complex in Giza, Egypt. This was the third continent on which the band performed, having previously performed in Europe. Unlike Dick's Picks, Road Trips, Dave's Picks, and certain other of the band's archival series of live album releases, which are simply two-track stereo recordings made from the soundboard during the concert, the shows on the album were recorded on a 24-track multitrack recorder and were mixed down to stereo just prior to the album's 2008 release.
Road Trips Volume 2 Number 1 is two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The fifth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 18, 19, and 20, 1990. It was released on December 10, 2008.
Road Trips Volume 3 Number 1 is a two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The ninth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was recorded on December 28, 1979, at the Oakland Auditorium in Oakland, California, and contains the complete show from that date. A third, bonus disc included with some copies of the album was recorded two nights later, December 30, 1979, at the same venue. The album was released on November 10, 2009.
Road Trips Volume 3 Number 2 is two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The tenth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was released on February 24, 2010. It contains the complete concert recorded on November 15, 1971, at Austin Memorial Auditorium in Austin, Texas. This concert was the 16th concert after Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead on piano. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan did not perform at this or any of the October and November, 1971 concerts due to poor health.
The Warner Bros. Studio Albums is a box set of five vinyl LPs by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It is a reissue of their first five studio albums: The Grateful Dead (1967), Anthem of the Sun (1968), Aoxomoxoa (1969), Workingman's Dead (1970), and American Beauty (1970). These albums were originally released by Warner Bros. Records. The box set was released by Rhino Records on September 21, 2010.
Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Subtitled Denver '73, it contains the complete concert recorded on November 21, 1973, at Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado. It also includes three songs recorded the previous night at the same venue. The 15th of the Road Trips series of archival albums, it was released as a three-disc CD on April 26, 2011.
Winterland: May 30th 1971 is an album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. As the name suggests, it was recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California on May 30, 1971. The album includes most of the second set from that concert, as well as the encore. It was produced only as a two-disc vinyl LP, in a limited edition of 7,500 copies, and was released on November 23, 2012, in conjunction with Record Store Day.
Dave's Picks Volume 32 is a 3-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on March 24, 1973. It was released on November 1, 2019 in a limited edition of 20,000 copies.
Dave's Picks Volume 38 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on September 8, 1973 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. It also contains two bonus tracks recorded on the previous night at the same venue. Some copies of the album include a bonus disc with eight more songs from the September 7 concert. It was released on April 30, 2021 in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
Dave's Picks Volume 39 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on April 26, 1983, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also includes several bonus tracks recorded at the same venue on the previous night, and at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester, New York earlier that month. It was released on July 30, 2021, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.
