Ready or Not (Grateful Dead album)

Ready or Not
Live album by Grateful Dead
Released	November 22, 2019
Recorded	June 23, 1992 – April 2, 1995
Genre	Rock
Length	79:53
Label	Rhino
Producer	Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead chronology
Dave's Picks Volume 32 (2019) Ready or Not (2019) Dave's Picks Volume 33 (2020)

Ready or Not is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains nine songs recorded at various venues from 1992 to 1995. It was released on November 22, 2019, in LP and CD format.^[1][2][3]

Unfinished Grateful Dead album

Main article: Unfinished Grateful Dead album

In February 1992, the Grateful Dead began work on recording a new studio album. That album was never completed, and the group disbanded in 1995 following the death of Jerry Garcia. Most likely the unfinished studio album would have included the songs that appear on Ready or Not.^[2][3][4]

Critical reception

On AllMusic, Fred Thomas wrote, "Ready or Not indeed offers a glimpse of what another studio album from what turned out to be the group's later phase would have sounded like, only with the buffer of comfort that comes from them working out the songs on-stage. It's a document not quite like any of the Dead's hundreds of other archival releases, zeroing in on unfamiliar and exciting material."^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Liberty" (October 14, 1994 at Madison Square Garden)	Jerry Garcia Robert Hunter	Garcia	6:14
2.	"Eternity" (April 2, 1995 at Memphis Pyramid)	Bob Weir Rob Wasserman Willie Dixon	Weir	10:10
3.	"Lazy River Road" (March 25, 1993 at Dean Smith Center)	Garcia Hunter	Garcia	6:54
4.	"Samba in the Rain" (March 30, 1995 at Omni Coliseum)	Vince Welnick Hunter	Welnick	6:44
5.	"So Many Roads" (June 23, 1992 at Star Lake Amphitheatre)	Garcia Hunter	Garcia	7:33
6.	"Way to Go Home" (June 28, 1992 at Deer Creek Music Center)	Welnick Bob Bralove Hunter	Welnick	6:02
7.	"Corrina" (October 14, 1994 at Madison Square Garden)	Weir Mickey Hart Hunter	Weir	15:27
8.	"Easy Answers" (September 13, 1993 at The Spectrum)	Hunter Bralove Weir Welnick Wasserman	Weir	7:00
9.	"Days Between" (December 11, 1994 at Oakland Arena)	Garcia Hunter	Garcia	13:25
Total length:				79:53

Personnel

Grateful Dead

• Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir – guitar, vocals
• Phil Lesh – bass, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums
• Mickey Hart – drums
• Vince Welnick – keyboards, vocals

Production

• Produced by Grateful Dead
• Produced for release by David Lemieux
• Associate Producers: Doran Tyson & Ivette Ramos
• Recording: Dan Healy, John Cutler
• Mastering: David Glasser
• Cover art: Ruben Perez
• Photos: Bob Minkin
• Design: Steve Vance
• Liner notes: Jesse Jarnow

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[6]	172

References

1. Reed, Ryan (October 8, 2019). "Grateful Dead: Unreleased Tracks Highlight New Live LP Ready or Not". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
2. Bernstein, Scott (October 8, 2019). "Grateful Dead Announces Ready or Not Compilation". JamBase. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
3. Shackleford, Tom (October 8, 2019). "Grateful Dead Announce Ready or Not Box Set Of '90s Originals, Share 1993 "Lazy River Road"". Live for Live Music. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
4. Josephson, Isaac (April 20, 1998). "The Last Trip: Unfinished Dead Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
5. Thomas, Fred. "Ready or Not". AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
6. "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200 (2/2)". Billboard on Twitter. Retrieved December 3, 2019.