From the Mars Hotel
| From the Mars Hotel | ||||
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| Studio album by Grateful Dead | ||||
| Released | June 27, 1974 | |||
| Recorded | March 30 – April 19, 1974 | |||
| Studio | CBS Studios, San Francisco, California |
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| Genre | Acid rock, jam rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock, folk rock | |||
| Length | 37:26 | |||
| Label | Grateful Dead | |||
| Producer | Grateful Dead | |||
| Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B− |
| Rolling Stone |
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From the Mars Hotel is a studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. It was mainly recorded in April 1974, and originally released June 27, 1974. It was the second album by the band on their own Grateful Dead Records label. From the Mars Hotel came less than one year after their previous album, Wake of the Flood, and was the last before the band's then-indefinite hiatus, begun in October 1974.
The Grateful Dead returned to the studio at the end of March 1973, having readied another batch of songs. The majority were again composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter and featured Garcia's lead vocals. However, "Pride of Cucamonga" and "Unbroken Chain" were both written and sung by bassist Phil Lesh (with writing help from friend Bobby Petersen). This was the only time he would sing two songs on a Dead studio album, and they would be his final lead vocal work for the band until "Box of Rain" returned to setlists, in 1986. Rhythm guitarist Bob Weir also contributed "Money Money" with writing partner John Barlow.
The band chose to return to the previous Coast Recorders on Folsom Street in San Francisco, where they had recorded "The Golden Road (to unlimited devotion)" as a single for their first album, in 1967. The studio had since been purchased by CBS Studios and refurbished. They produced the album themselves with engineer Roy Segal. According to Segal, Garcia liked the room because it had a more "live" sound than the Record Plant, where the band had recorded their previous album. Garcia had played in CBS Studios earlier in the year with Art Garfunkel, for a track on Angel Clare.
Many of the Garcia-Hunter songs had been played live for up to a year or more. "U.S. Blues" had started life as "Wave That Flag" in February 1973, however "Scarlet Begonias" had been introduced the month prior to recording. Weir's "Money Money" was arranged in the studio. A separate version of "China Doll" (also introduced in February 1973) was recorded for the previous album Wake of the Flood, but not used. Lesh had recorded demo versions of his two tracks during sessions for that album. Though Garcia had played pedal steel for the band, John McFee (of Clover) guests on the instrument for "Pride of Cucamonga". Cohort Ned Lagin played synthesizer on "Unbroken Chain".
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Wikipedia