Playing in the Band

"Playing in the Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir composed the music, with some assistance from percussionist Mickey Hart.^[1] The song first emerged in embryonic form on the self-titled 1971 live album Grateful Dead. It then appeared in a more polished form on Ace, Bob Weir's first solo album (which included every Grateful Dead member except Ron "Pigpen" McKernan).

It has since become one of the best-known Grateful Dead numbers and a standard part of their repertoire. According to Deadbase X, it ranks fourth on the list of songs played most often in concert by the band with 581 performances.^{[2][page needed]}

In the Grateful Dead's live repertoire, all songs featured musical improvisation and many featured extended instrumental solos; but certain key songs were used as starting points for serious collective musical improvisation—the entire band creating spontaneously, all at once. In this regard "Playing in the Band" was of major importance, second only to "Dark Star". During "Playing in the Band" the Grateful Dead would play the planned verses and choruses of the song itself; then they would improvise and explore brand new musical territory, sometimes for twenty minutes or more; and then the chorus would usually be reprised, to bring the song to its end. Sometimes during these extended "jams", the band would even perform other entire songs, before at last coming back around to the final chorus from "Playing in the Band".

Its performance on 21 May 1974 at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle has been cited as the longest uninterrupted performance of a single song in the Grateful Dead's history, clocking in at 46 minutes and 32 seconds.^[3][4] It was released in 2018 on the boxset Pacific Northwest '73–'74: The Complete Recordings and as its own LP.