Cardboard Cowboy (aka The Monster)

Grateful Dead

Searching For The Sound Bonus CD, Grateful Dead, 2005
Notes

Studio and live versions of this song were due to be released on the Golden Road box set in 2001. However they were withdrawn at the last moment.

To date the only release of the song has been on the limited issue bonus CD which was distributed with some early copies of the Phil Lesh book Searching for the Sound: My Life in the Grateful Dead.

The song was known for many years as Cowboy Cardboard. It is referred to on tape and set lists by this name. It was suggested in 2000 that the correct title is No Turn Left Unstoned. The authorship of the song was also uncertain.

However the bonus CD that included the released version of the song also included some spoken comments on the song by Phil Lesh. He acknowledges that the song is now known as Cardboard Cowboy but says that originally it was called The Monster, probably because of the difficulty of the song. Words and music were written solely by Phil Lesh.