Steal Your Face
| Steal Your Face | ||||
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| Live album by Grateful Dead | ||||
| Released | June 26, 1976 | |||
| Recorded | October 17–20, 1974 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 84:13 | |||
| Label | Grateful Dead Records | |||
| Producer | Grateful Dead | |||
| Grateful Dead chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Rolling Stone |
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Steal Your Face is a live double album by the Grateful Dead, released in June 1976. The album was recorded October 17–20, 1974, at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, during a "farewell run" that preceded a then-indefinite hiatus. It was the fourth and final album released by the band on their original Grateful Dead Records label. The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, a second album from the same run of shows, was released in 2005.
After a grueling schedule, caused in part by the cost of the band's unwieldy "Wall of Sound" public address system, the decision was made to stop touring and performing as the Grateful Dead, short of actually disbanding. Averaging over 600 speakers powered by a minimum of 48 600-watt amplifiers, the massive and experimental sound reinforcement system had advanced the technology but also presented an array of physical, audio and technical difficulties. It had required four semi-trailer trucks to transport and, due to the rigging time, necessitated two, leapfrogging road crews with separate scaffolding sets. Adding the employees required to operate the band's Grateful Dead Records label (and sub-label Round Records), publishing entity, direct-to-fan mailers, and other business operations, personnel had swollen to several hundred.
Bassist Phil Lesh recalled that the "stresses and strains associated with large-scale touring – together with the devastating loss of [lead singer/organist] Pigpen – were starting to create cracks and crevices in our unanimity of purpose. ... Too many gigs, too much money spent, and too many people trying to get backstage all added up to a potentially explosive broth. Something had to give – so before it did, we made a decision to take some time off." Drummer Bill Kreutzmann stated "I didn’t think the Wall of Sound sounded great, but our interplay at some of those shows was phenomenal. At some point, though, that’s not enough. ... By the end of 1974, Jerry was done being that kind of hero. He was ready for a change of scene. He needed a break from it. I honored his decision and the rest of us did, too." Though the hiatus was initially short-lived (the band began recording a new album just months later), a five-date "farewell" run was scheduled for October 16–20, 1974 in San Francisco. In addition to recording the concerts on two 16-track machines, the shows were filmed for a movie release.
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Wikipedia