Bob Weir Ace: 50th Anniversary Remaster (LP Vinyl)

Ace arrived the same year the Dead were hitting their improvisational peak on Europe ’72, and hearing Weir step to the front on material like “Playing in the Band” and “Cassidy” reveals just how much of the band’s identity ran through his songwriting. The Barlow collaborations born here would anchor setlists well into the 1990s, making this remaster not just a document of one album but a window into the origins of a creative partnership that shaped decades of live music.

Released in May 1972, Ace is technically Bob Weir‘s first solo albumbut it’s essentially a Grateful Dead album in everything but name. Recorded at Wally Heider Studios with the full Dead lineup (minus Pigpen), Ace captures Weir emerging as a songwriter and bandleader, partnering with lyricist John Perry Barlow to create songs like “Playing in the Band,” “Cassidy,” and “Mexicali Blues” that would become Dead standards for the next three decades. This 50th Anniversary remaster brings new clarity to performances that showcase Weir’s rhythm guitar work and distinctive vocal style.

The album features Weir exploring different facets of his songwriting: the cosmic Americana of “Cassidy” (written for Neal Cassady and Cassady Law Weir), the playful storytelling of “Mexicali Blues,” the extended improvisational canvas of “Playing in the Band,” and the tender “Looks Like Rain.” Garcia, Lesh, Kreutzmann, Keith Godchaux, and Donna Jean all contribute, making this a Dead album in spirit even if Weir’s name is on the cover. The production captures the warmth of early-’70s analog recording, with Garcia‘s pedal steel adding atmospheric textures and Lesh‘s bass providing melodic counterpoint to Weir’s rhythm guitar.

What makes Ace significant is how it established Weir as more than just the Dead’s rhythm guitaristhe was a songwriter capable of crafting material that could stand alongside Garcia and Hunter‘s compositions. Songs from Ace became permanent fixtures in Dead setlists, with “Playing in the Band” evolving into a vehicle for extended improvisation and “Cassidy” becoming an emotional high point of acoustic sets. This 50th Anniversary remaster, likely sourced from the original analog tapes, reveals details that earlier pressings obscured while preserving the album’s intimate, live-in-the-studio feel.

Tracklist

Side A

A1. Greatest Story Ever Told (3:42)
A2. Black-Throated Wind (5:43)
A3. Walk In The Sunshine (3:02)
A4. Playing In The Band (7:38)

Side B

B1. Looks Like Rain (6:10)
B2. Mexicali Blues (3:24)
B3. One More Saturday Night (4:25)
B4. Cassidy (3:39)

UPC: 603497836673
Label: Rhino
Release Date: 2.3.23
Format: LP Vinyl