"Shakedown Street" is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by guitarist

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

. It was released as the title track on the album ''

Shakedown Street ''Shakedown Street'' is the tenth studio album (fifteenth overall) by rock band the Grateful Dead, released November 8, 1978, on Arista Records. The album came just over a year after previous studio album '' Terrapin Station''. It was the fina ...

'' in November 1978. The song was first performed live on August 31, 1978, at the

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the Western United States, western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the c ...

, in

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. The song "From the Heart of Me" was also played for the first time during the performance. The album ''

'' reached number 41 on the

Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular Album, music albums and extended play, EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an recor ...

for 1979.Planer, Lindsay
"Shakedown Street" song review
n. pag.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Web. Retrieved 21 Sep 2011. The term "

" was later used colloquially to describe the area outside of Grateful Dead concerts where vendors sold their wares.

Production

"Shakedown Street" was produced by Lowell George. The song was recorded and mixed at the band's studio, Club Le Front, in San Rafael, California. The recording took place throughout July 31, 1978 and August 18, 1978. "Shakedown Street" is found on the band's original album ''

'' (1978) as well as single recordings on ''Shakedown Street/France'' (1979), and ''Alabama Getaway/Shakedown Street'' (1981). Musicians include: *

- guitar, vocals *

Donna Godchaux Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name Places * Donna, Texas, USA * Døn ...

- vocals *

Keith Godchaux Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948 – July 23, 1980) was an American pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979. Following their departure from the Dead, he and his wife Donna formed the H ...

- keyboard *

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

- drums, percussion * Robert Hunter - lyrics *

Bill Kreutzmann William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to ...

- drums, percussion *

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30 ...

- bass, vocals *

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with the Other Ones, later known as the Dead ...

- guitar, vocals

Shakedown Street vending

After the song's success, many Grateful Dead followers, or Deadheads, used the name for the vending areas outside of Grateful Dead concerts during the 1980s and 90s. These areas were a place to purchase merchandise, food, and often illicit items. In more recent years, the music and arts festival

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

has used the term to describe the concert's long strip of vending.

References

External links

* http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/shak.html
Dead.net
the official site of the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakedown Street 1978 songs Grateful Dead songs Songs with lyrics by Robert Hunter (lyricist) Songs written by Jerry Garcia