Grateful Dead: Blues For Allah – The Angel’s Share (Rhino Entertainment Company) Album Review

Reviewed By Harry Kaplan

So I had read the title, The Angel’s Share, but never really paid too much attention to its deeper significance. As I was doing my research for “Blues For Allah: The Angel’s Share” release, I decided to Google the exact meaning of “angel’s share.” It is a term used in winemaking or whiskey making and refers to the two to three percent that is lost in the barrel to evaporation. I was awestruck; what a creative name! To take something with such a powerful moniker and apply it to Grateful Dead music, creating a memorable correlative objective, is truly a feather in the cap of the marketing team. The Angel’s Share is that part that was supposed to evaporate; we aren’t supposed to be experiencing it now. However, through tape recordings and modern-day techniques, this lost music has come back to life. The irony of the resurrection, when dealing with so many themes relating to death, is not lost on me, either.

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