This town ain't got no heart3 Out Of 5 Stars
Despie having an empathic producer in Little Feat's Lowell George, "Shakedown Street" is a mediocre Grateful Dead album. There are pointless instrumentals, a pointless attempt at a danceable hit in the title track, and the emergence of Donna Godchaux as a lead vocalist. There are good songs buried in the murk, like concert staples to come "I Need a Miracle" and "Fire On The Mountain." "Shakedown Street" also gets of to a rousing start with a cover of The Rascals' "Good Loving."
But when you mix in the flavorless Godchaux composition "From The Heart Of Me" and some other lackluster material ("France," "Serengetti") or the 'why'd ya bother" Hunter/Garcia rewrite of the saga of "Stagger Lee," you wonder how much pressure the band was under to deliver a hit album versus a Dead album. They'd make up for this with "Go To Heaven" and they'd eventually get that hit single when "Touch Of Grey" finally charted, but about half of "Shakedown Street" sounds bloodless to the modern ear.
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