Grateful Dead Family Discography: Box Of Rain

Box Of Rain

Composer: Phil Lesh / Robert Hunter

Box Of Rain was first performed by the Grateful Dead in October 1972. The song was played regularly in 1972 and 1973 but was then dropped from the repertoire. It returned on March 1986 and was subsequently performed a dozen or so times each year through to 1995. Box Of Rain was last song to be played live by the Grateful Dead, the second encore song on July 9, 1995.

Robert Hunter explained the origin of this song in his notes in Box Of Rain: Lyrics 1965-1993;

Phil Lesh wanted a song to sing to his dying father and had composed a piece complete with every vocal nuance but the words. If ever a lyric 'wrote itself' this did - as fast as the pen would pull.

Grateful Dead recordings

American Beauty, 1970
American Beauty / Workingman's Dead, 198?
Fallout From The Phil Zone, 1997
The Golden Road (1965-1973), 2001
View From The Vault II (DVD), 2001
Dick's Picks, Vol. 28, 2003
The Very Best Of The Grateful Dead, 2003
American Beauty (Dualdisc), 2004
Searching for the Sound : My Life in the Grateful Dead Audio CD, Phil Lesh, 2005
Searching For The Sound Bonus CD, 2005
Trilogy, 2005
Eternally Grateful, Grateful Dead, 2007
Four Decades of Folk Rock, Various Artists, 2007
Revolutions In Sound: Warner Bros. Records: The First Fifty Years (USB), Various Artists, 2008

Robert Hunter

Jack O'Roses, 1980
Box Of Rain, 1990
Sacramento, CA, June 27, 2004
Portland, OR, July 2, 2004
Holmdel, NJ, August 10, 2004

Phil Lesh & Friends

Phil Lesh and Friends Live at the Warfield, 2006
June 18, 2006: Bonnaroo Music Festival, 2006
Instant Live: June 24, 2006, Orlando, FL, 2006
Instant Live: June 30, 2006, Camden, NJ, 2006
Instant Live: July 6, 2006, Mansfield, MA, 2006
Instant Live: July 9, 2006, Bethel, NY, 2006
Instant Live: July 16, 2006, Chicago, IL, 2006

The Dead

Vernon, NY, June 29, 2003
Morrison, CO, July 7, 2003
Columbus, OH, August 6, 2003
Salt Lake City, UT, June 29, 2004
Indianapolis, IN, July 25, 2004
Hartford, CT, August 3, 2004
Wantagh, NY, August 14, 2004
Dead ’09: Wilkes-Barre, PA, April 22, 2009
Dead ’09: Philadelphia, PA, May 1, 2009
Dead ’09: Chicago, IL, May 4, 2009
Dead ’09: Quincy, WA, May 16, 2009

Ratdog

Boca Raton, FL, November 22, 2008

Other recordings

Nicky Holland, Nicky Holland, 1991
Hurricane's Eye, Robin Hurt, 1992
Blue Morning, Toni Brown, 1996
Sloan Wainwright, Sloan Wainwright, 1996
Mileage, Mick Overman, 1998
Dead Delites, Vol. 2, Various Artists, 1998
Sing Out For Seva, Various Artists, 1999
Pickin' On The Grateful Dead, Vol. 2, Various Artists, 2000
Long Strange Trip: Swingin' and Pickin' on the Grateful Dead, Various Artists, 2001
Gratefully Yours, Jim Hudak, 2001
homesleephome2, Various Artists (Lenola), 2001
Electronic Tribute To The Grateful Dead, Various Artists, 2002
The 1000th Show, Dark Star Orchestra, 2005