The Grateful Dead - Promised Land

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Verse 1
I left my home in Norfolk, Virginia
California on my mind
Straddled that Greyhound, it rode me past Raleigh
And on across Carolin'
Stopped in Charlotte and bypassed Rock Hill
And we never was a minute late
We was ninety miles out of Atlanta by sundown
Rolling across the Georgia state
We had motor trouble, it turned into a struggle
Halfway across Alabam'
The Hound broke down
Left us all stranded in downtown Birmingham

Verse 2
Straight off bought me a through train ticket
Right across Mississippi clean
And I was on that midnight flyer out of Birmingham
Smoking into New Orleans
Somebody help me get out of Louisiana
Just help me get to Houston town
There's people there who care a little about me
And they won't let the poor boy down
Sure as you're born, they bought me a silk suit
Put luggage in my hands
And I woke up high over Albuquerque
On a jet to the promised land

Instrumental Break

Verse 3
Working on a T-bone steak a la carte
Flying over to the Golden State
When the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
We'd be heading in the terminal gate
Swing low sweet chariot, come down easy
Taxi to the terminal zone
Cut your engines, cool your wings
And let me make it to the telephone
Los Angeles, give me Norfolk, Virginia
Tidewater four ten oh nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling
And the poor boy's on the line

Instrumental

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The Grateful Dead

Amidst the growing counter-culture scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Grateful Dead were founded by lead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia, bass player Phil Lesh, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann in Palo Alto in 1965, originally as The Warlocks. Percussionist Mickey Hart later joined the group in 1967 and other members cycled through the group in following years as the core remained intact. Their eclectic music formed the archetype for the “Jam Band” genre, combining elements from rock, blues, folk, country, bluegrass, and psychedelic music into improvisational performances.

Over the years the Dead released 22 recorded albums, although they were most famous for their improvisational jams at concerts, earning them a cult-like following of self-proclaimed “Dead Heads” who would follow the band from concert-to-concert throughout the band’s career.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and they’ve sold more than 40 million albums in total; all that with only one top 40 hit (“Truckin”), and one Top 10 hit (“Touch of Grey”) that came near the end of the band’s run, shortly before Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995. Grateful Dead was also ranked 57th in Rolling Stone’s “The Greatest Artists of All Time” issue in 2004 and 2005. Since then, various incarnations of the Dead have continued to tour, although a 2015 farewell tour was said to be the band’s last.

In 2015 Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann started a new group called Dead and Company with John Mayer, Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge, and former Dead keyboardist Jeff Chimenti which Weir has said may have a future in the studio and will continue to tour in coming years.

In 2008, The Grateful Dead named the University of California, Santa Cruz McHenry Library as the home of their complete archival history, including their recorded music, live bootlegs, and artworks. The collections are are now housed at UC Santa Cruz.