Grateful Dead's sixth studio album, 1973's Wake of the Flood, in some ways represented a new beginning for the band.  Not only was it the first release on their Grateful Dead Records label, but it was their first LP following the passing of founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and the (temporary) departure of drummer Mickey Hart.  On September 29, the Dead's ongoing series of 50th anniversary reissues continues with 2CD, digital, and a variety of vinyl expansions of Wake of the Flood.

Wake of the Flood was primarily recorded over just nine days at California's Record Plant not long after the band played in front of more than half a million fans at Watkins Glen in New York.  Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir were joined by new members Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux as well as by a host of special guests on brass, winds, strings, and percussion.  These new textures were put to good use on such compositions as "Eyes of the World," "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo," and "Stella Blue," all of which were familiar to attendees of the Dead's recent live shows.  Country and R&B influences, long present in the Dead's music, were joined by jazz-rock and even ragtime, in no small part due to Keith Godchaux's participation.  He contributed one song, too; "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away" was performed live six times between the album's recording and release.

Upon its release in October 1973, Wake fared even better than its studio predecessor, American Beauty, when it reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200.  Dead archivist David Lemieux comments of the album in the new reissue's press release, "I was enthralled with the beautiful arrangements of some of the Dead's greatest songs, everything so clear and present. The songs and vocal treatments all sounded so mature, like these were guys who knew things and they wanted to share what they'd learned in the eight years since forming the Grateful Dead. And what really caught my ear were the many additional sounds that were striking at first, but I can't imagine these songs, on this record, without these many additional contributors."

The 50th anniversary 2CD and digital editions will feature previously unreleased demo recordings of "Eyes of the World" and "Here Comes Sunshine."  Recorded in February 1973, both demos boast Jerry Garcia introducing songs he'd written with Robert Hunter.  The second disc presents material from the Dead's concert of November 1, 1973 at Northwestern University's McGaw Memorial Hall in Evanston, Illinois including "Weather Report Suite," "Mississippi Half-Step Toodeloo," and a jam of "Morning Dew">"Playing In The Band">"Uncle John's Band">"Playing In The Band."

Various LP versions will also be issued, among them a single 180-gram black vinyl LP, limited edition 12-inch vinyl picture disc, limited edition "coke bottle clear vinyl" exclusive to Barnes & Noble, and Dead.net Exclusive, limited edition "Watermark" Custom Vinyl.  All of these pressings feature Plangent Processes tape restoration and speed correction and are newly mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, David Glasser and produced for release by David Lemieux.

Former UC Santa Cruz Grateful Dead archivist Nicholas G. Meriwether provides the liner notes for the new reissue.  He writes that with Wake of the Flood, the Grateful Dead were "not only building a musical microcosm, a unified narrative that described the state of the Dead's project, but also providing an example of what that project could accomplish, what it was designed to do: to create a viable alternative, an artistic vision of the beauty that could be created within and despite the sad, messy strife of the world...And they let that message speak for itself. In an album rife with religious imagery and overtones, they never preached; they just revealed."

All versions of Wake of the Flood are due from Grateful Dead/Rhino on September 29.  You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below.  The previously unissued demo of "Eyes of the World" is streaming everywhere now, including on YouTube.

Grateful Dead, Wake of the Flood: 50th Anniversary Edition (Grateful Dead GD-01, reissued Grateful Dead/Rhino, 2023)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl: BarnesandNoble.com Link TBD
1LP Picture Disc: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP Exclusive Vinyl: Dead.net

CD 1

1. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
2. Let Me Sing Your Blues Away
3. Row Jimmy
4. Stella Blue
5. Here Comes Sunshine
6. Eyes Of The World
7. Weather Report Suite
8. Eyes Of The World (Demo) *
9. Here Comes Sunshine (Demo) *

CD 2: McGaw Memorial Hall, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (11/1/73) (*)

1. Weather Report Suite
2. Morning Dew
3. Playing In The Band
4. Uncle John's Band
5. Playing In The Band
6. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

(*) denotes previously unreleased track