Grateful Dead’s ‘Blues for Allah’ Re-Enters Billboard 200, Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Special Reissue

A fresh wave of interest has pushed the Grateful Dead's Blues for Allah back onto the Billboard 200. The 50th anniversary deluxe set hit No. 81, with 12,000 units sold in week one. 

Sales shot up an astounding 401,000% from the prior week. That increase in purchases helped Blues for Allah debut inside the top 10 on two Billboard rankings this frame. The title opens on the Vinyl Albums chart at No. 4, and it reaches No. 8 on the Top Album Sales list. This expanded version bundles classic tracks with raw sound checks and concert cuts. Fans also get Blues for Allah: The Angel's Share, a trove of 15 studio takes never heard before.

"The whole idea was to get back to that band thing, where the band makes the main contribution to the evolution of the material," Jerry Garcia said about the album's original recording process, according to Rolling Stone. The September 1, 1975, release marked new ground as their first project on their own label, Grateful Dead Records. Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, and Donna Jean Godchaux made up the band, then.

Blues for Allah is the Dead's unique vision, a deeply humane parable that framed their own artistic renewal in the most inclusive, expansive terms," wrote Nicholas G. Meriwether, Executive Director of the Grateful Dead Studies Association, in the album's liner notes, according to Rolling Stone. "Franklin's Tower" and "The Music Never Stopped" became instant hits with fans.

Most tracks came together in the studio with minimal advance writing. The final cut included "Help on the Way," "Slipknot!," "King Solomon's Marbles," "Crazy Fingers," "Sage & Spirit," and the title song, "Blues for Allah." The anniversary edition and The Angel's Share are streaming across major music services.