Terrapin

Terrapin

ASIN: B0000296UA

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Regardless of your feelings about the Grateful Dead, there is much to enjoy on this amusing, sprawling effort. Led by bassist Joe Gallant, Terrapin seeks to recreate the Dead's most "difficult" album, Terrapin Station. In Gallant's hands, however, Terrapin is rendered as a reeling big band adventure, complete with vocalists from basketballer Bill Walton to jazz diva Patricia Barber to former Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. Musically, the recording is a whirling affair, slipping from straight-up big band to soul to more experimental passages with grace and humor. --S. Duda

Product Description
1999 outing, a must for Deadheads everywhere as it's a rearranging of the Grateful Dead's studio apex album from 1977, 'Terrapin Station'. An astounding reworking of the original record that blends jazz, jam rock, gospel noir, big band swagger, timeless vocals & searing electronics together, this is the second time Gallant has been commissioned by the Dead's Phil Lesh to rework one of their albums, having turned their 1975 outing 'Blues For Allah' into a contemporary masterpiece in 1996. 15 tracks.

Tracks:

Estimated Prophet
Dancin' In The Streets
Passenger
Samson & Delilah
Sunrise
Terrapin Station Part 1: Lady With A Fan/Terrapin Station/Terrapin/Terrapin Transit/At A Siding/Terrapin Flyer/Refrain
Peggy-O (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
The Ascent (Instrumental Studio Outtake)
Catfish John (Studio Outtake)
Equinox (Studio Outtake)
Fire On The Mountain (Studio Outtake)
Dancin' In The Streets (Live)

Customer Reviews:

great album reveiw of each track(except bonus tracks!).......2007-05-01

im gonna do a reveiw on each song so here go,
1. estimated prophet, one of the good dead jams bout' theguy bob weir saw who was alwyas stoned or whatever that booklet said anyways this is a good song one of the best on the album it just has a nice slow beat to it that is very relaxing, ahhhhhh
2. dancin in the streets, their tribute of this is not good this song was orginally writtien by marvin gaye but van halens tribute of that song blows this one away the live version on this cd sounds much better it just has too much of a disco beat to it not a good tribute,
3. passengar, this is probaly my fav on the album it may only be 3 min long but its defenentaly a landmark song on the album has a great beat and why they wrote well a phill lesh said in an interview, 'we wanted a song where ther was some ruanchy gutiars', classic dead song great beat too,
4. sampson and delliah,another landmark song on the album i know its a tribute but i forget who wrote the first version of it good drums in it,
5. sunrise, this song is okay but i dont know i dont really like how donna sings on that i'd prefer it if jerry garcia sung on it too that would of made it a lil better,
6. terrapin station, good song i like the beat a lot to this song and you know how jerry garcia wrote it in a room with a typewriter and there was no furniture in the room
all in all this a good album plus the bonus tracks include some rarities the only version i like of dancin on this album is the live one which sounds the best all in all if your a dead fan buy this album cool cover good album essential if your a big dead fan.

Dancing turtles.......2007-03-09

There's a reason which is enough to buy this album: "Terrapin Station Pt.1". Definitely one of the best Garcia-Hunter compositions. The lyrics are simply beautiful and the music surely does it justice. Garcia came with a magnificent melody and charming chord progressions. The strings and chorus don't fit the Dead quite well, but it doesn't matter much, The "Lady With A Fan" section is just marvelous. As for the rest of the record, it is not the Dead at their best, but thankfully this remastered version includes really interesting bonus tracks such as a wonderful live version of "Dancin' In The Streets" with a remarkable synth-like guitar solo by Mr. Garcia.
For moments, as beautiful as the front cover.

What a great album.......2007-02-05

This is one of the best dead albums. I have heard them all, and this is definetly in my top 5 greatest out of the 30 something albums they cut.

In the shadow of the moon.......2006-12-03

This album has always presented certain problems for Deadheads and the band alike. It was the first in a decade to be produced by an outside producer Keith Olson. In fact, this was recorded at his studio in Van Nuys, California. He had just produced the album Fleetwood Mac which was that band's first big hit album. This was the Dead's first for new label Arista and it was clear everyone wanted a hit. The band had interviewed a number of outside producers before Keith Olsen. Keith produced audiophile albums unlike most of what had been put out by the Dead up to this point. The original recording sessions ran rather smooth. Unfortunatly, when the band went out on tour in the early part of 1977, Keith decided to take matters in his own hands. Recording orchestras and singers without the band's involvement and actually erasing band member's parts from the recording sessions. What ended up happening was that the band ended up with a radio friendly album. Even alot of the critics seemed to like it. One even referred to it as the Dead's Dark Side Of The Moon. Unfortunatly it had the opposite effect on the band. Robet Hunter hated the way it turned out and said he would never write another involved song project for the band. As for fans themselves, is is the way it usually works - listen to Estimated Prophet and Terrapin Station and bypass the rest. I think that is a little harsh most of this album actually comes across pretty well. An interesting thing about the cd versions is that the studio Dancin' on here with horns is actually the single version. The original lp version didn't have horns. The new bonus tracks are REALLY good. Peggy-O while not having a vocal track is about the prettiest I've ever heard it. The Ascent is a short instrumental run thru that sound nice. Catfish John comes across better than any of the Jerry Garcia version I've heard. Equinox is a Phil Lesh tune that has been circulating for many years and it's great to have a great sounding copy. Fire On The Mountain has slightly different lyrics than later versions and is much more enjoyable the the Shakedown Street version. The live Dancin' is from 5-8-77 which is a favorite among many, but not me.

SIGNPOST TO TERRAPIN.......2006-08-31

This may not be my ABSOLUTE favorite studio Dead album, the five just before it are a notch or two higher overall in my mind (see my Dead list: "The Ship Of The Sun Is Drawn By The Grateful Dead" if you are curious how I view the original Dead releases), but it IS a very strong and satisfying one for me and I have always loved it. It is worth pointing out that I started going to Dead concerts around this time (my teen years), and this material was highlighted of course, so for me this was a signpost to the trippy world of the Grateful Dead. Once you've heard Terrapin anthem live, in that special state of mind, with the beautiful lights blending, you're a Grateful goner trust me (a dancing turtle and friends boarding the Terrapin Flyer on a gloriously sunny trip to anywhere the music plays)!

Weir's punchy Estimated Prophet begins it with a BANG as Garcia's signature slick (envelope filter) waahhhlll of joyful guitar bliss weaves between Weir's sharp chordal harmonic permutations and Lesh's tight ventricle vibrating bass thumpings. Kreutzmann & Hart are "on" here, laying down very interesting beats as if from a single four-armed monster. This was the new "hit" back then and is possibly Weir's biggest one ... "firewheel burnin' in the air". Tom Scott provides lyricon and saxophones for soft landing toward the end.

Dancing in the Streets is a fun little cover song, and the band are clearly grooving here. Lesh is especially noticeable with jazz-fusiony butter runs, spreading a tasty overlay to the what might have been a less than tasty disco-beat foundation (Mickey's interesting world beat is a shade of things to come for him). Smile big as Garcia and Weir wink at eachother parodying the times with their "brand new beat" jangly pop guitar musings - FUNNY! Horns are provided to rescue the somewhat pretty melodies getting lost in this hyper SNfever dance. God bless 'em, they tried valiantly to bring the Dead dance hall into the platform shoe era.

"Firefly, Can you see me, Shine on GLOWING, Brief and brightly ... PASSENGER, DON'T YOU HEAR ME?" - This song (Passenger, by Lesh) kicks your[...] in a happy, sweet and innocent way, but yes, IT ROCKS (at least briefly - short song at 2:48 min)! Garcia switches between bouncy melodic talkative storylines and slide-guitar exclamations as Weir holds down a pure rock 'n' roll structure with Lesh and the high-hat bashing rhythm section - very catchy and fun song that sticks with you, permanently.

Samson & Delilah (arranged by Weir) starts out with great drums and Garcia having fun tweaking the intense chord progressions with walking blues finally wailing out with a patented (amongst deadheads) twangy guitar lead. Strangely intense & mellow.Samson, tell me where your strength lies???

.. As a lead in to the incredibly beautiful melodic song by Donna "Sunrise" that I believe was created for the funeral of a friend. It is sung so tenderly, even thinking about this siren song can be emotional, as you get lost in the hymnal beauty. It's darn close to her crowning achievement with the Grateful Dead (although her work on Cat's Under the Stars is on par and equally gracious). Yes, this sweety did add a few precious things to the Dead continuum, despite the ambivalence of some fans to her live work.

And now we come to it, with thumbs up high ... Please may we get to Terrapin? THIS SONG IS JERRY'S MASTERPIECE if you want to know one fans opinion. With all else thrown out, the albums worth is paid back right here: "Since the end is never told, We pay the teller off in gold, in hopes he will come back ... but he cannot be bought or sold" (Lady With A Fan). The way I look at it, with Jerry gone now, this will have to do.

His most ambitious musical musings are stretched out and played with in this elaborate song. Pretty cerebral! Can you hear the myriad influences played out in this 16:10 minute opus? Since I have been a big progressive rock fan simultaneously with my Dead years it isn't hard seeing where ideas may have been found; English prog - Canterbury style rock/folk, Tull, Yes, Gentle Giant, Caravan, King Crimson and many others seem to be somewhat represented. And I do know Jerry had a bit of an American orchestra fetish (that he tried to explore solo) that is layered in. Even some classical aspects get a little attention compositionally. The Grateful Dead members were voracious consumers of ALL world music and it shows here more than most.

What a piece of work! Jerry (and the band) cooks all over this multi-layered diamond, and not just him, but the writing with Hunter is wonderful: "Inspiration, move me brightly, Light the song with sense and color, hold away despair. More than this I will not ask. Faced with mysteries dark and vast." All members put it all out for this song - it is just too much to get into the details - just turn it up, lay back and dream your way to Terrapin (it is a delightful state of mind while you're there). It is a melodic/harmonic paradise to my ears. Enjoy!

P.S. The extras on this Rhino remastered version are great generally: an excellent playful Peggy-o; a nice LONG and much improved jam on Dancin', a fun Ascent into Jerry jam land; Fire on the Mountain getting ready for the next album; A strange little song called Equinox (by Lesh) that is promising in an unfinished outtake; and last but certainly not least a GREAT Catfish John pulled from Garcia solo material that should make you want to go out and get all of the five newly remastered Garcia solo albums, filled to the brim with extras that are a true delight. Go get 'em while your still young!

Average customer rating:

Just cashing in a little too late
For the fans
Best Grateful Dead album of that era
A great introduction to the Dead
this is one of the more interesting dead releases

Terrapin Station
Grateful Dead
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Shakedown Street
Blues for Allah
In the Dark
Workingman's Dead
Wake of the Flood

ASIN: B000002VCC
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Estimated Prophet
Dancin' In The Streets
Passenger
Samson & Delilah
Sunrise
Terrapin Station Part 1: Lady With A Fan/Terrapin Station/Terrapin/Terrapin Transit/At A Siding/Terrapin Flyer/Refrain

Customer Reviews:

Just cashing in a little too late.......2006-09-25

After a 2 year hiatus from the studio, the Dead decided it was time to get even more progressive in their music. The only problem is Yes, King Crimson, Genesis and ELP had already beat the pants off of them years earlier with this kind of symphonic prog! Although it is a very good attempt on their part to try to capture this sound. But trying is all they do here. It simply lacks the feel that their European counterparts were successful at achieving. On the title track, you'd almost wish Peter Gabriel or Jon Anderson would come in and push Jerry out of the way and take over the vocals!

All in all, it's still an interesting listen given who it is. We're generally used to the usual stellar improv in jazz and blues they've excelled in. Unfortunately the Dead here were just trying to cash in on a genre that had already hit it's peak with Close to the Edge, Brain Salad Surgery, Red and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Nice try guys, but a little late here!

For the fans.......2005-12-10

This is an excellent album. It strengthened my image of who I was during my years after college and formed me into a good loving human. I think the power of the Dead movement was just that...how it moved you. Jerry and Bobby really did a great job with this so I feel honored to be able to write a couple of notes about them. I feel like Terrapin is one of those sonically classic albums that's a little bit over-engineered, but damn it sounds gooood. I guess I'm so used to hearing the album speak to me that its like an old friend. Estimated is one of those songs that lives with you for years. Terrapin Station(see also Dec. 31, 1978) is a marvel. I've heard conglomerations of the album live 2300 different ways and it always works for me. I am a Deadhead, and I always will be so this review is for those who know how special the whole experience has been for us.

Best Grateful Dead album of that era.......2005-09-22

Great rock art--creative Dead. Reminiscent of Jethro Tull and Renaissance of that same era. A little epical and orchestral with great Rbt. Hunter lyrics. A few cuts are typical Dead but the real beef of this album is Terappin Station and the cut that precedes that one with the female vocalist. Great Stuff!

A great introduction to the Dead.......2005-08-05

A great start for new listeners and for fans it is an essential recording.

This CD is worth the 15+ minute Terrapin Station title track alone, but the other songs are gems as well - especially Estimated Prophet, Passenger & Samson and Delilah.

If there was another Dead album to get besides this one, I'd choose American Beauty or Workingman's Dead. They are much more 'folky' and have that traditional Dead sound. Both compliment each other, and either would be a very worthwhile purchase. Enjoy!

this is one of the more interesting dead releases.......2005-02-23

this was my introduction to the Dead, and it was quite a first impression. The song "estimated prophet" has become one of the best grateful dead songs in my view. the next song on the disc is a completely forgettable cover song, the next is "passenger," which is pretty kick butt. "samson and delilah" is ok, and "sunrise" is a little boring, but "terrapin station" rules!!! This is one of the grateful dead songs that should definitely be listened to by everyone. "estimated prophet" is on their best of disc, so don't get this cd just for that. get it for terrapin station. The songs may all seem pretty good at first, but the novelty of most of them wears off quickly. Not so with the first song and the epic at the end!!
(also, the cover is one of my all time favorites!)

Average customer rating:

"Terrapin" collapses in on itself
this is not a good album
Stunning interpretations of Dead songs
Non essential

Terrapin
Joe Gallant & Illuminati
Manufacturer: Which?
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Blues for Allah Project
Music of the Grateful Dead & Beyond
Vol. 2 - Music of the Grateful Dead
Dark Star: The Music Of The Grateful Dead

ASIN: B0000296UA
Release Date: 1999-10-26

Tracks:

Passenger
Dancin' In The Streets
Estimated Prophet
Sunrise
Samson Et Delilah
Terrapin Station Suite: Lady With A Fan
Terrapin Station Suite: Terrapin Station
Terrapin Station Suite: Region I
Terrapin Station Suite: At A Siding-Orchestra
Terrapin Station Suite: Region II
Terrapin Station Suite: At A Siding-Voice
Terrapin Station Suite: Region III
Terrapin Station Suite: Region IV
China Doll
Jerome John

Amazon.com

Regardless of your feelings about the Grateful Dead, there is much to enjoy on this amusing, sprawling effort. Led by bassist Joe Gallant, Terrapin seeks to recreate the Dead's most "difficult" album, Terrapin Station. In Gallant's hands, however, Terrapin is rendered as a reeling big band adventure, complete with vocalists from basketballer Bill Walton to jazz diva Patricia Barber to former Zappa vocalist Ike Willis. Musically, the recording is a whirling affair, slipping from straight-up big band to soul to more experimental passages with grace and humor. --S. Duda

Album Description

1999 outing, a must for Deadheads everywhere as it's a rearranging of the Grateful Dead's studio apex album from 1977, 'Terrapin Station'. An astounding reworking of the original record that blends jazz, jam rock, gospel noir, big band swagger, timeless vocals & searing electronics together, this is the second time Gallant has been commissioned by the Dead's Phil Lesh to rework one of their albums, having turned their 1975 outing 'Blues For Allah' into a contemporary masterpiece in 1996. 15 tracks.

Customer Reviews:

"Terrapin" collapses in on itself.......2006-08-02

Joe Gallant's "Terrapin" is a jazz interpretation of the Grateful Dead's "Terrapin Station" (1977). This remake has two issues. First, the album is too processed and overly cluttered. "Terrapin" sounds like Gallant was too ambitious and wanted this project to be all things at once. For example, the techno sounding big beats and digital weirdness contribute nothing. Had Gallant stripped this down into something simpler, it would have been more compelling. Second, while the style of jazz here ranges from Swing to Dixieland, the primary vehicle is Avant-garde. Avant-garde never met the success of other jazz forms because it's intentionally inaccessible. Likewise, much of this music is 'rough on the ears' as the arrangements get lost in mazes of cacophony. Avant-garde aside, "Terrapin" features many musical passages of beauty. The swingin' 'Estimated Prophet' is a highlight along with some remarkable moments in the Terrapin Station Suite. Furthermore, Joe Gallant and his group get high points for integrity and effort. The exertion behind "Terrapin" must have been epic given the ambitious and extremely complex result. Indeed, this project employed a symphony orchestra, full brass section, rock band, assortment of ethnic instruments and a digital arsenal. If the listener is looking for a great jazz interpretation of the Dead or Gallant's best work, go with the "Blues for Allah Project." "Terrapin" has some highlights but it is so large that it ultimately collapses in on itself.

this is not a good album.......2000-08-10

As great as Gallant's earlier Blues For Allah Project is, that's how horrible this album is. I am a deadhead and a long time jazz fan. So my objection is not that these tracks don't sound like the originals. My objection is that they are too self consciously arty and over produced. They are almost entirely unlistenable. The execptions are the tracks, like Estimated Prophet, on which Gallant does what he is great at, wonderful big band charts that let the beauty and verasatility of the music become a playground for an excellent group of players swing.

Too much strings, too much sampling, why is Bill Walton singing (rapping), regardless of how big a deadhead he is?

Illuminati is a great live band. skip this cd.

Stunning interpretations of Dead songs.......2000-07-05

This album is pretty mind-blowing in both its soul and eclecticism. There's touches of big band, jazz, blues, gospel, bluegrass, psychedelia, soul, modern classical....and it all, amazingly, hangs together. The soulfulness of the Dead's music is really brought out- check out the frenetic Dancin in the Streets and the Donna Godchaux song Sunrise, re-invented as a sort of cross-pollination of Peggy Lee and Ute Lemper! While I enjoy Jazz is Dead, this album is on another level entirely.

Non essential.......2000-06-23

First of all, this is a CD for Grateful Dead fans. If you're a fan of the Grateful Dead, you may absolutely love this CD. Alternately, you may vehemently hate it. I'm kinda dancing on the line between love and hate. Let me explain: This CD is Joe Gallant and some huge jazz orchestra performing all the songs from the dead's Terrapin Station album in vastly different styles than the original. Sometimes, it sounds great and energetic, with all the instruments getting their improvisory space as in "Dancin' in the Streets' and "Estimated Prophet'(The best moment of the CD is when the latter (sung by Ike Willis) rises from the ashes of the former in a cool segue.) Other times, the need to fill the John Zorn style of quick style shifts makes the actual "Suite", for instance, sound too trying-to-be-experimental , it just sounds stupid, especially with too much pseudo DJ blah blah blah. I listen to the first "side" a lot, but the actual Terrapin Suite is too much to listen to all the way through. On the whole, I give it a 3 for attempting to expand listeners' consciousnesses. If you want to find a really amazing experimental-popular hero who is also into the dead, look up Henry Kaiser.

Average customer rating:

Terrapin Station
Grateful Dead
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock Jam Bands | Jam Bands | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000KS4YHC

Product Description

Printed in West Germany

Average customer rating:

Terrapin
Syd Barrett
Manufacturer: Vinyl Experience
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000M3CH9M

Product Description

This 6" X 12" printed box contains the 19 original Syd Barrett Fan Club Magazines 1965-1975 -some are printed - some made on copy machine. There is no music - there are no CD's.

Average customer rating:

Payola
Terrapin
Manufacturer: Sidekick Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009SQ3RM
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Tracks:

Pixelated
Numbers Man
My Shadow Chases Me Down The Road
Foolscap
Heart Of Gold

Album Description

Australian pressing. Payola is an ambitious release, which borrows some of its aesthetic from the plethora of experimental guitar noise bands of eons past. Sidekick. 2005.

Album Details

Hailing from Sydney's Inner West, Terrapin have Haunted the Traps for Almost Three Years, Playing under a Couple of Different Names Before Settling on their Current Moniker. They Are an Art-rock Band Without the Uni Bar Theology, a Rock Band Without the Testosterone Arrogance, and a Pop Band Sans 'idol Aspirations, Terrapin Create Melody-laden Psych-rock So Full of Hooks You'll Feel Like a Side of Newly Slaughtered Beef. They Boast a Sound that is Alternately Searing and Soothing; Where Evocative Lyrics Skip in and Out of Ropes of Intricate Guitars, Building Twisted Towers that Crash Down on Drums as Sleek and Tight as Silk Knit Stockings. Other Times You'll Be Treated to Visceral Vocals that Punch Along Atop Some of the Catchiest Riffery You'll Hear all Year.

Average customer rating:

Terrapin & 4 Other Cuts
Syd Barrett
Manufacturer: Not Used
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00000E0PB
Release Date: 1990-02-10

Average customer rating:

Terrapin Station
Grateful Dead
Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock Jam Bands | Jam Bands | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BRHPQY
Release Date: 2000-10-26

Average customer rating:

Not Here
Caveat Emptor

Terrapin Station 3/15/90

Manufacturer: Grateful Dead Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock Jam Bands | Jam Bands | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000F5JD3U

Product Description

Numbered ltd. edition

Customer Reviews:

Not Here.......2007-05-25

I agree, and besides, I've seen copies of this at used cd shops for anywhere between 15-21 dollars. This isn't that much of a collectable, it's available any time from The Dead's website.

Caveat Emptor.......2007-05-25

A "Like New, Collectible" copy from an Amazon reseller for $124.99 or a new, sealed, factory fresh copy from the official Grateful Dead Online Store for $39.50?

This is a nice 90s Dead set but you don't need to pay 85 bucks OVER the fair market value to buy it here. Disgusting. Just disgusting.

If you pay anything more than $39.50 for a NEW copy you're getting ripped off...period. You really want to spend $124.99? Go to the Dead store, buy THREE new, SEALED copies, and give TWO to your friends.

Average customer rating:

Darkest Before Dawn

Manufacturer: Terrapin
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CAL1MY
Release Date: 2004-12-14

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music