ACE:50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION pairs a remastered new mix of
Bobby’s solo debut with new versions Bobby recorded earlier this
year at Radio City Music Hall with the Wolf Bros featuring The Wolfpack
and special guest guests Tyler Childers and Brittney Spencer.
When Bobby started working on ACE at Wally Heider’s Studio in San
Francisco in early 1972, he wasn’t planning for the Grateful Dead to be
his backing band. It just happened. “I pretty much knew in the back of
my mind what would happen,” Weir told Crawdaddy a few months after the
sessions. “I go and get the time booked and start putting the material
together. Everybody gets wind of the fact I got the time booked and I
may be going into the studio. So, one by one, they start coming around…”
It made sense, the band was already familiar with most of the music,
having road-tested six of the album’s eight songs, including “Greatest
Story Ever Told,” “Mexicali Blues,” and “Playing In The Band,” destined
to become one of Weir’s signature tunes. ACE also marked the beginning
of Weir’s long-running collaboration with lyricist John Perry Barlow and
includes early standouts “Cassidy” and “Looks Like Rain.”