Grateful Dead releasing 50th anniversary deluxe edition of ‘From The Mars Hotel’

Grateful Dead is celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversary of their album From The Mars Hotel with a new deluxe edition of the album.

The new release, dropping June 21, will include a remastered version of the album, along with demos of “China Doll” and “Wave That Flag,” the latter of which eventually became the Mars Hotel track “U.S. Blues.” The set will also come with a previously unreleased concert recorded May 12, 1974, at the University of Nevada-Reno, featuring performances of songs from Mars Hotel, along with classics like “Truckin’” and “Sugar Magnolia.”

Originally released on June 27, 1974, From The Mars Hotel was the follow-up to Wake of the Flood and was released less than a year after it came out. In addition to “China Doll” and “Wave That Flag,” the album featured such songs as “Scarlett Begonias” and “Ship of Fools,” along with “Pride of Cucamonga” and “Unbroken Chain,” which turned out to be the final two songs with lead vocals by Phil Lesh on a Grateful Dead studio album. Mars Hotel peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200.

From The Mars Hotel (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) will be released as a three-CD and digital set. The remastered version of the album will also be released as a single black vinyl; a limited-edition neon pink vinyl; a limited-edition “Ugly Rumors” custom vinyl, sold exclusively on Dead.net; and a specially designed zoetrope picture disc, which when viewed by a camera or strobe appears to animate.

All formats are available for preorder now.

And to celebrate the announcement, the ninth season of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast will premiere Thursday, March 28, with an episode dedicated to From The Mars Hotel.