tim truman space turtle grateful dead terrapin made for what album?

But you gotta love that kind of optimism.Ĭlive did have one major request. Clive believed that lurking underneath that loose, shambling, hippie exterior, lay a chart-topping band with unlimited commercial potential. He personally courted the band-especially Garcia, whom he admired tremendously (and had tried to sign as a solo act earlier)-and managed to convince the group and their managers that he was the guy who could take them to the next level. He had desperately wanted to sign the Dead back when he was president of Columbia Records, but couldn’t pry them away from Warner Bros.’ tight contract. The most appealing was the boss of Arista Records, a successful new label formed by record biz legend Clive Davis. But the Dead were successful enough that there was plenty of interest in them from conventional labels, so when they went looking for a new situation, following a semi-disastrous interim distribution arrangement with United Artists, there were several potential suitors (in suits) waiting for them. It turns out “hippie business empire” was an oxymoron. By 1976, the Dead’s brave attempt to break away from the music business establishment by starting their own record labels (in mid-’73) and handling their own publicity, booking and travel arrangements, was weighing them down and causing undue amounts of stress. The 35th anniversary of the release of the Dead’s Terrapin Station album on July 27, 1977, got me thinking about that magical year and how-or if-that disc fit into that time, and the ways it represented the Grateful Dead to the outside world.įirst, a little background.

Tim truman space turtle grateful dead terrapin made for what album?