Ace

Ace was the first solo album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, released in 1972. Its origins come from an offer by the Dead's Warner Bros. Records label to have band members cut their own solo records, and came out at the same time as Jerry Garcia's Garcia and Mickey Hart's Rolling Thunder. In the case of Ace, Weir's backing band was essentially the Dead itself, and all songs except "Walk in the Sunshine", became concert staples of the ... more

Ace was the first solo album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, released in 1972. Its origins come from an offer by the Dead's Warner Bros. Records label to have band members cut their own solo records, and came out at the same time as Jerry Garcia's Garcia and Mickey Hart's Rolling Thunder. In the case of Ace, Weir's backing band was essentially the Dead itself, and all songs except "Walk in the Sunshine", became concert staples of the Dead. In a way, Ace and Garcia can be considered Dead studio albums during a live album era that included Skull & Roses and Europe '72. "Greatest Story Ever Told" and "Playing In The Band" also appears on Hart's Rolling Thunder, as "The Pump Song" and "The Main Ten" respectively. Lyricist John Perry Barlow composed the lyrics to the song "Cassidy" about two people, Neal Cassady and Cassidy Law (the daughter of Eileen Law, one of the Grateful Dead's archivists). Some of the lyrics also relate to the death of Barlow's father. The song became a... less