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Ace

Bob Weir

Initial release : May 1972

Warner Brothers BS 2627

Bob Weir's first solo LP. This is a Grateful Dead album in all but name. The musicians involved were the current line-up of the Dead plus a guest. Seven of the eight songs became standards in the Dead repertoire.

Tracks

  • Greatest Story Ever Told (Bob Weir / Robert Hunter)
  • Black Throated Wind (Bob Weir / John Barlow)
  • Walk In The Sunshine (Bob Weir / John Barlow)
  • Playing In The Band (Bob Weir / Robert Hunter)
  • Looks Like Rain (Bob Weir / John Barlow)
  • Mexicali Blues (Bob Weir / John Barlow)
  • One More Saturday Night (Bob Weir)
  • Cassidy (Bob Weir / John Barlow)
Musicians

  • Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
  • Jerry Garcia - guitar, pedal steel
  • Donna Godchaux - vocals
  • Keith Godchaux - piano
  • Bill Kreutzmann -drums
  • Phil Lesh - bass, vocals
  • Dave Torbert - bass
Credits

  • Recorded at Wally Heider's Studio by Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor
  • Mixed at Alembic Studios by Jerry Garcia and friends
  • Produced by everybody involved
  • String arrangement by Ed Bogus
  • Cover Art by Kelley/Mouse studios
  • Photography Ron Rakow
Notes

Recording for Ace started in January 1972.

In a contemporary interview Weir commented on Ace;

I pretty much knew in the back of my mind what would happen. I go and get the time booked and start putting the material together. Everybody gets wind of the fact that I got the time booked and I may be going into the studio. So one by one they start coming around. Lesh and Garcia, 'Hey man, I hear you got some time booked ... Need a bass player? A guitarist? .... Of course I ended up with the Grateful Dead on the record, which I figured up front ... And we had a great time making the record.
Talking about Ace in an interview in the early 1980's Weir said;
That was a Grateful Dead record, as far as I'm concerned. And I don't do that material with my side groups. ..... It was all me singing, all my songwriting. I started by using a couple of different musicians, and it just settled in to being a Grateful Dead record right quick.
Related releases

Issued in the UK in August 1972 on Warner Brothers K 46165

Reissued in 1987 by Grateful Dead Records GD BS 2627R

Reissued in 1988 on CD by Grateful Dead Records GDCD 4004

Reissued on CD in 1995 by Arista 14004

Cassidy was included on the loss leader sampler;

Cassidy was included on the promotional release; One single was released in conjunction with Ace; In Europe One More Saturday Night was issued on a single with Bertha by the Grateful Dead on the flip side.

Cassidy, Mexicali Blues, Looks Like Rain, Playing in the Band and One More Saturday Night were included on;

A 2 CD deluxe edition of Ace was released in 2023 comprising a remastered edition of the original album plus Bob Weir & Wolf Bros & Wolfpack live recordings of the Ace tracks from a 2022 show; Colored vinyl edition of the remastered Ace album were also released in 2023.

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