Jeff’s Playlist: Keith & Donna

This one goes out to Jacob Moody.

In the mid-1970s, Keith and Donna Godchaux were mem­bers of the band The Grateful Dead. They had a baby and short­ly after­ward made this album — their only ven­ture as band lead­ers while still active­ly play­ing in the Dead. Jerry Garcia and some of his friends helped them out, and the record­ing was released in 1975 on the Round Records label.

Give it a lis­ten and see what you think. 

Track list­ing

Side one
“River Deep, Mountain High” (Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry) – 4:17
“Sweet Baby” (Keith Godchaux, Donna Godchaux) – 5:00
“Woman Make You” (K. Godchaux, D. Godchaux) – 4:30
“When You Start to Move” (K. Godchaux, D. Godchaux) – 4:04

Side two
“Showboat” (K. Godchaux, D. Godchaux, Brian Godchaux) – 2:28
“My Love for You” (K. Godchaux, D. Godchaux) – 5:49
“Farewell Jack” (K. Godchaux, D. Godchaux, B. Godchaux) – 3:08
“Who Was John” (tra­di­tion­al) – 2:22
“Every Song I Sing” (K. Godchaux, D. Godchaux) – 6:26

Personnel

Musicians
Donna Godchaux – vocals
Keith Godchaux – key­boards, vocals
Jerry Garcia – gui­tar, vocals
Denny Seiwell – drums
Chrissy Stewart – bass

Additional musi­cians
Brian Godchaux – vio­lin on “Every Song I Sing“
Merl Saunders – organ on “Sweet Baby“
Bernard Purdie – drums on “River Deep, Mountain High“
John Kahn – bass on “River Deep, Mountain High“
Jim Brereton – drums on “Farewell Jack“
Bill Wolf – bass on “Farewell Jack ”

Production
Keith and Donna Godchaux – pro­duc­ers
Bill Wolf – engi­neer
Fred Bradfield – assis­tant engi­neer
Gene Eichelberger – mix­ing
Merl Saunders – mix­ing
Andy Leonard – front cov­er pho­to­graph
Cadillac Ron – back cov­er pho­to­graph
Jerry Garcia – illus­tra­tion of Zion’s thoughts

Released   March 1975
Label         Round
Producer   Keith and Donna Godchaux