The Annotated "West L.A. Fadeaway"

Lyrics omitted. The annotations below are reproduced by permission of David Dodd; the song lyrics themselves are copyrighted and are not reproduced here. Read them at the official source: dead.net/songs.

• Key: Am
• Time signature: 4/4
• Chords used: Am, B7, E7(#9), D, C6, F9, G5, A5
• Songbook availability:
  • In The Dark
  • Anthology, vol. II

• In the Dark

First performance: August 28, 1982, at the Oregon Country Fair Site in Veneta, Oregon. "West L.A. Fadeaway" appeared in the third spot in the second set, following "Man Smart, Woman Smarter," and preceding "Far From Me." The other first in the show was "Day Job." The song remained in steady rotation thereafter.

This note from a reader:

Subject: Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics : West LA
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 09:51:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Schwarm

Hi David,

I just wanted to make sure that you saw:

---begin---
>From           vjd 
Organization   Netcom
Date           Sat, 05 Apr 1997 13:30:31 -0400
Newsgroups     rec.music.gdead
Message-ID     <33468C31.21EA@ix.netcom.com>
References     1

The first LA Fadeaway I ever saw was at Lakeland 9-12-82 (which I just
got a DAT board of). It was a little different in feel, but also sported
the following verse, which subsequently vanished:

Here's what Ginger says, she talks like she ain't nobody's fool
Here's what Ginger says, she tries to live by the golden rule
She says you treat people all right, 
other people will probably treat you cool

When did this verse disappear, and more importantly, who was Ginger? Did
Jerry ever appear on Gilligan's Island?
<<>>
Vic
****************************************************************
My DAT list: http://www.netcom.com/~vjd
Uncle John's Band on the web: http://www.arborsjazz.com/ujb.html
---end---

David Schwarm           One Way To Get Political Today:
41 Southbrook                   5. Travel.
Irvine, CA
92604-3714              from http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC30/Editors.htm

Bob Dylan covers the tune in concert. For details, see the Dylan cover site.

chateau

copacetic