Rolling Thunder (album)

Rolling Thunder
Studio album by Mickey Hart
Released September 1972
Genre Rock
Length 39:06
Label Warner Bros.
Mickey Hart chronology

Rolling Thunder
(1972)
Diga
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau C+[2]

Rolling Thunder is the first solo album by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.

Although Hart had temporarily left the Grateful Dead at the time he made Rolling Thunder, members of the Dead play on the album, along with a number of other well-known musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. Also featured are classical tabla players Zakir Hussain and his father Alla Rakha. The album contains early versions of two songs co-written by Bob Weir that later became Grateful Dead concert staples — "Playing in the Band", and "Greatest Story Ever Told" (called "Pump Song" on this album).

The cover art for Rolling Thunder was created by Alton Kelly and Stanley Mouse's Kelly/Mouse Studios.

The album was named after the Shoshone medicine man, shaman, teacher, and activist Rolling Thunder,[3] who was a friend of Mickey Hart and the Grateful Dead and whose voice is heard on the first track.

In 1986, Relix Records re-released the album on vinyl, using the original masters and color separations. In 1989, the album was released on CD on the Grateful Dead label. It was subsequently re-released by Relix.[4]

Track listing

Side One

  1. "Rolling Thunder/Shoshone Invocation" (Rolling Thunder) – 0:46
  2. "The Main Ten (Playing in the Band)" (Hart, Weir, Hunter) – 7:04
  3. "Fletcher Carnaby" (Hart, Hunter) – 4:14
  4. "The Chase (Progress)" (Hart) – 4:04
  5. "Blind John" (C.J. Stetson, Peter Monk) – 3:48

Side Two

  1. "Young Man" (Hart, Monk) – 2:41
  2. "Deep, Wide, and Frequent" (Hart) – 5:33
  3. "Pump Song" (Weir, Hart, Hunter) – 4:42
  4. "Granma's Cookies" (Hart) – 3:00
  5. "Hangin' On" (Stetson, Monk; arranged by Mickey Hart) – 3:17

Personnel

By track

Rolling Thunder Chant

The Main Ten (Playing in the Band)

Fletcher Carnaby

The Chase (Progress)

Blind John

Young Man

Deep, Wide and Frequent

Pump Song

Granma's Cookies

Hangin' On

Summary

Production

Notes

References