DESCRIPTION:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, JamBase teamed with Telefunken to produce the Songs Of Their Own video series. We began with a list of 100 Grateful Dead original songs (exclusively their tunes, not covers they often played) and tapped many of our favorite artists to record a cover version either at the JamBase office in San Francisco or at one of the many venues around town and beyond. No song was allowed to be covered twice, and today’s participants Hot Buttered Rum took a shot at “The Music Never Stopped.”

The first Songs Of Their Own selection penned by the frequent collaborative team of lyricist John Perry Barlow and Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, “The Music Never Stopped” entered The Dead’s live setting during one of only four gigs the band played in 1975 - the famed August 13th show at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, later issued as One From The Vault. Over 200 Dead performances followed, with the song staying in rotation even after vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux, who originally sang a solo in the tune, left the band in 1979. It was last played live at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan on June 28, 1995.

Bay Area locals Hot Buttered Rum were in town between tour stops in March when the bluegrass quintet came down to the JamBase offices to record “The Music Never Stopped.” The Dead song has been in Hot Buttered Rum’s live repertoire for several years and the acoustic version they taped included an interpretation of mandolinist Herschel Sizemore’s instrumental tune, “Rebecca” in the middle of the Weir/Barlow song.

Audio and video recorded and edited by: Jake Alexander