Dark Star (album)

Dark Star
Live album by Grateful Dead
Released	April 21, 2012
Recorded	May 4, 1972
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	39:27
Label	Rhino
Producer	Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead chronology
Dave's Picks Volume 1 (2012) Dark Star (2012) Dave's Picks Volume 2 (2012)

Dark Star is a live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 4, 1972, at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, France. It contains only one song from that concert – a version of "Dark Star" that, including an embedded drum solo, is almost 40 minutes long. It was produced as a vinyl LP in a limited edition of 4,200 copies, and released on April 21, 2012, in conjunction with Record Store Day.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The entire May 4, 1972, concert, like all of the shows from the Dead's 1972 tour of Europe, was released on CD in 2011, both as a separate album and as part of the boxed set Europe '72: The Complete Recordings.^[6]

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Dark Star" (Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron McKernan, Bob Weir, Robert Hunter) – 19:21 →

Side 2

1. "Drums" (Kreutzmann) – 2:32 →
2. "Dark Star" (Garcia, Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh, McKernan, Weir, Hunter) – 17:34

Personnel

Grateful Dead

• Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
• Donna Jean Godchaux – vocals
• Keith Godchaux – piano
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums
• Phil Lesh – electric bass
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan – organ, percussion
• Bob Weir – guitar, vocals

Production

• Produced by Grateful Dead
• Mixing: Jeffrey Norman
• Mastering: David Glasser
• Cover illustration: Scott McDougall

References

1. "Grateful Dead – Europe '72: 40 Years Later – A Tale of Two Cities, Part II: The Paris Dark Star, May 1972", Glide magazine, May 4, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
2. "The Grateful Dead to Release "Dark Star" for Record Store Day", Jambands.com, March 26, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
3. Dark Star at Allmusic. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
4. Dark Star at the Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
5. Dark Star, Record Store Day. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
6. Fricke, David (January 19, 2011). "Grateful Dead Reach Back to Legendary 1972 Tour for Massive Box Set", Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 27, 2014.