Two CD and Limited Edition Vinyl Picture Disc available June 7th

Grateful Dead will continue their ambitious reissue series to commemorate the 50-year anniversary for each of their albums with Aoxomoxoa this June. Like all the albums in this ongoing series, Aoxomoxoa will be released approximately 50 years after its anniversary date as a two CD deluxe edition that includes the original album with newly remastered sound, plus a bonus disc of unreleased live recordings. The album will also be released as a 12-inch picture disc produced in a limited edition of 10,000 copies. Both versions will be available on June 7th, just weeks before the album’s 50 year anniversary on June 20th.

Aoxomoxoa: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes two versions of the album – one fully remastered from the original 1969 recording, and the other remastered from the definitive 1971 band-produced mix. This is the first time both mixes have been presented together in a single release. Also included is a bonus disc with previously unreleased live music recorded January 24-26, 1969 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, CA. Newly remastered by Jeffrey Norman, these shows were among the first live performances ever to be recorded to 16-track tape.

The Picture Disc edition will also be available on June 7th will feature the remastered mix of the album from 1971.

“In 1969, for their third album, the Grateful Dead eschewed outside producers and created Aoxomoxoa themselves, beginning a run of self-produced albums that would continue until 1977,” states Grateful Dead audiovisual archivist Dave Lemieux. “Scrapping the first sessions, which were recorded to eight-track tape, the Dead now had 16 tracks with which to experiment their psychedelic sound, with an album that included entirely Robert Hunter-penned lyrics for the first time.”

An enigmatic classic, Aoxomoxoa is messy and murky, mysterious and majestic – a perfect time capsule that is still stubbornly resplendent a half century after it first appeared. The album introduced favorites like “St. Stephen” and “Mountains On The Moon,” as well as “China Cat Sunflower” – a song that would continue to remain in the band’s repertoire.

The deluxe edition’s bonus disc features unreleased live performances captured over several nights in January 1969 at the Avalon Ballroom. Recorded several months before the release of Aoxomoxoa, the live tracks include early versions of two tracks from the album – “Dupree’s Diamond Blues” and “Doin’ That Rag.” The disc also includes the final live performance of “Clementine,” a song the band began performing in 1968 but was never released on a studio album. The band also played several songs from its second album, Anthem of the Sun (1968). Highlights include a dynamic romp through “New Potato Caboose” and an electrifying “Alligator>Caution” jam that captures Pigpen at his primal best.

When these shows were recorded, the band members were: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh, Tom Constanten, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann.

2 CD | LP Picture Disc

CD 1:

1. St. Stephen [Original 1969 Mix] 2. Dupree’s Diamond Blues [Original 1969 Mix] 3. Rosemary [Original 1969 Mix] 4. Doin’ That Rag [Original 1969 Mix] 5. Mountains On The Moon [Original 1969 Mix] 6. China Cat Sunflower [Original 1969 Mix] 7. What’s Become Of The Baby [Original 1969 Mix] 8. Cosmic Charlie [Original 1969 Mix] 9. St. Stephen [1971 Remix] 10. Dupree’s Diamond Blues [1971 Remix] 11. Rosemary [1971 Remix] 12. Doin’ That Rag [1971 Remix] 13. Mountains On The Moon [1971 Remix] 14. China Cat Sunflower [1971 Remix] 15. What’s Become Of The Baby [1971 Remix] 16. Cosmic Charlie [1971 Remix]

CD 2: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco (1/24-26/69)

1. New Potato Caboose 2. Dupree’s Diamond Blues 3. Doin’ That Rag 4. Alligator 5. Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks) 6. Feedback 7. And We Bid You Goodnight 8. Clementine 9. Death Don’t Have No Mercy