Grateful Dead - Viola Lee Blues Lyrics






The judge decreed it, the clerk he wrote it.
Clerk he wrote it down indeed-e
Judge decreed it, clerk he wrote it down
Give you this jail sentence you'll be Nashville bound

Some got six month some got one solid.
Some got one solid year indeed-e
Some got six month some got one solid.
But me and my buddies all got lifetime here

I wrote a letter I mailed in the air, Mailed it on the air indeed-e
I wrote a letter I mailed in the air.
You may know by that I've got a friend somewhere





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Grateful Dead Viola Lee Blues Comments
  1. I.... S....

    Man if I ever get a band together, I want us to sound like this song with the climax build up and blow peoples minds!

  2. C.... C....

    @Michael Ervin I don't know, someone who clearly has a limited knowledge or appreciation of music. They say each their own, but somone who might attend a Lady Gaga concert or Ariana Grande concert.

  3. G.... A....

    ...January 14th, I walked to Golden Gate Park from where I lived in the Sunset. The Human Be-In was happening. Sunny warm weather defied winter in San Francisco. A Truly Magical Moment indeed. People were walking from every path, road, avenue to get to The Polo Fields. As I walked in to the area, I could feel an energy shield protecting the whole area. I made my way to the front of the stage. The was Tim Leary espousing the virtues of turning on, tuning in, and dropping out ! When the Grateful Dead came on and played several songs, Viola Lee Blues was unlike anything I ever heard before. It was the kind of improvisation and rhythm I heard in my head. These Guys put it together. Looking straight up at them from where I was standing, they looked weird too. Pig Pen looked like a giant bee with a stripped shirt. Who the hell are these guys..they look "tripped out"..long hair and all..and they sound Great ! I went to The Psychedelic Shop to order their Album. It had not been released yet. When I finally bought it and played it; I loved it and consider it absolutely required listening ! Mandatory ! Viola Lee Blues is a unique song in its' own league..there is nothing like it at all. I have heard this song almost 2,000 times. So much for the 2-2.5 minute hit single on pop radio. KSAN & KMPX took care of that by playing whole albums. Yes People, We need another Renaissance were We all gather and share again and again !

  4. W.... A....

    At last count, 107 poor pitiful fools missed jail sentence and apparently don't dig the good ol' faster than light drive and it's their own damn fault. Other than that, this is my all-time favorite tune on my all-time favorite Dead album where I finally had that proverbial come to Jesus epiphany and it all clicked for me, both spiritually and musically, when I was about 14 years old after already having heard Workingman's Dead and American Beauty and that whole vocal harmony driven country rock trip and I have always loved every bit of that as well, but this is the kind of music that beckoned me to get on the bus and 41 years later I've been gratefully going with the flow ever since, not to mention a heartfelt thank you kindly to producer Dave Hassinger and whoever else was engineering this album for turning Pigpen's Vox Continental organ way up on this really fucking cool and nevertheless much too often overlooked album in American rock and roll history. Unsolicited testimonial and yes I know, nobody cares... NEXT!!!🌹🇺🇸✌️

  5. C.... R....

    Harpur College version is one of the greatest moments of their career

  6. J.... V....

    Always loved how this starts out slow and then builds into a frenzy. Amazing jamming here!!

  7. F.... N....

    Jerry and Bobby dropping the funk!!!

  8. E.... P....

    Charles Manson's first acid trip 1967 Grateful Dead Avalon Ballroom !

  9. J.... H....

    Fav Dead song ever, makes my soul happy:)

  10. S.... H....

    Never equalled, never bettered. Awesome live, I was there more than once.

  11. 3.... ....

    Damn this song RIIIIPS

  12. K.... H....

    Wow, what a jam! There had to be smoke and flames billowing from the guitars and amplifiers afterwards.

    K.... H....

    Oh yeah, it sure did. After Doors' recording "Light My Fire" it was the 2nd. time the Fire Department drove their vehicles to a recording studio.

  13. R.... J....

    Let's get naked and drop some LSD!!!

  14. G.... R....

    Man that was one helluva party last night blasting this album . Last thing I remember it was somewhere 1973 got up it 2019 wtf.

  15. M.... S....

    hippie daze...

  16. d.... ....

    That's about as "live" a sound as you'll ever get from a studio recording!

  17. P.... M....

    What the holy shit fuck is goin on? Omg this song is fuckin wacky as fuck! It’s so outta control I can’t even handle it. Fuck!!!

  18. R.... B....

    Play at 0.75x
    Slowed so tite

  19. G.... P....

    There ain't nothin' like a good 'ol. jammin', rock and rollin' Grateful Dead tune! I LOVE IT!!!! Deadhead till the day I die and beyond!!!

  20. T.... v....

    wOw I was born 5/67 in SF and to know that This was going on at the time of my birth fucking BLOWS ME AWAY!!! NOT FADE AWAY (~};tavw

  21. T.... L....

    I'm gonna say this once.....dislikes deserve what they get...don't encourage their limited intellect......its makes them giddy....there fore wasting great topics of discussion....

  22. A.... W....

    There are 90 unhappy people out there aimlessly wandering the earth.

  23. s.... ....

    Pigpen rocking the Vox Continental!

  24. S.... W....

    First time I heard this I was dosed to the gills. As I lay on the bed staring at a tapestry thumbtacked to the ceiling it was literally Fluttering in the wind.... and I was inside 😎😎😎

  25. T.... T....

    El 67 el inició de la profecía LUZ

  26. D.... O....

    Jerry died and the world has been falling apart ever since

  27. M.... M....

    420k likes baby

  28. J.... W....

    I think this is their first album which would be 1967

  29. r.... ....

    I LOST my fucking FAVORITE guitar pick man. It's a bright hot pink pick and ive been looking for it for weeks. I can still shred but i need this thing i cant feel whole wihtout it. I know i didn't throw it away , so unless my roommates' cleaning lady threw it away It MUST be in my room somewher.e

    please i summon the spirit of jerry please help me find my long lost pick it means everything to me. I can't move on without my pick PLEASE send me your prayers.

  30. M.... S....

    amazing and so long ago...

  31. D.... ....

    Man alive, I was born about 20 years too late, the music, the festivals the good times. I would have soooo been to San Francisco in '67 just to party with the Dead!!!

  32. B.... B....

    Friggin' Awesome version of this song see the 1928 original version it's fucking amazing!

  33. T.... ....

    ive lived such a crazy life could make a movie out it. younger days consisted of touring and moving copious amounts of psychedelics into drug smuggling ,running grow farms ,addiction holy fuck i made it outta the madness

  34. r.... n....

    Garciatization runs very, very deep, along with the Lesh, Pigpen ad nauseum...

  35. s.... d....

    this is so fucking heady jesus lord

  36. J.... S....

    Goddamn do I love some early Dead! It's a shame they ditched this stuff in favor of country/folk stuff

  37. M.... F....

    Love them but the original is milion times better...its like they are forcing it here,mixing funk with blues that just doesnt fit right

  38. A.... D....

    amazing of course

  39. n.... ....

    Bob Weir looks like a Trump hippie 'Ice Queen' Did he really go that orange????

  40. M.... H....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qscVaMsTFBE&t=1s Please be gentle!
    PS thanks for posting this Dead song xoxo

  41. l.... ....

    Early Dead before Jerry had a beard is so very very trippy.

  42. D.... A....

    Greatest feeling in the world is knowing nothing about the grateful dead till 2018. Wow

    D.... A....

    Thank god we missed you

    D.... A....

    Welcome

  43. M.... A....

    my favorite album from them

  44. M.... B....

    My friends band The High Council of Seattle does an amazing cover of this.

  45. S.... S....

    Love that bass line

  46. J.... S....

    some got 6 months some got 1 solid

  47. F.... B....

    Tied with pink Floyd @ no.1

  48. S.... C....

    This makes me think a little of Country Joe & Fish - psychedelic organ.

  49. G.... R....

    Holy shit what happened went to a party last night woke up this morning and it was 2018 time warp or something they weren't kidding stay away from the brown acid .

  50. T.... A....

    Can we talk about the monster on the album cover??? Jerrrowl!!

  51. R.... M....

    I wrote a comment

  52. O.... T....

    A thousand bells stil ringing...fift years after

  53. N.... U....

    GOD!!!!!! the way it builds till it almost all falls apart, then they reel it back in....smooth as silk.......

  54. M.... T....

    Sure miss the Dead with Pig. A lasting piece of americana.

    M.... T....

    Pig died on 3/8/73. My dad died on 3/8/83. My oldest daughter was born on 5/7/83. Billy's birthday.
    My first Grateful Dead show was 8/18/70. Pig sang it's a Man's, Man's, Man's world.
    Viola Lee Blues is a total mind fuck of a song. Many youngsters went to the Haight Ashbury free medical clinic from being way too high back in the day. For some it didn't turn out so well. The Dead dropped if from their repertoire.
    For me it sounds like somebody's got the jail house blues.

  55. J.... ....

    Wow, and this was their First album, 1966, I believe.

  56. S.... H....

    It just doesn't get any better than this.

  57. B.... H....

    I love how this song starts to fall apart in the end and just like become perfect again All of a sudden

  58. R.... W....

    Got this album by mistake from RCA Record Club, I think I was 14 yrs old. Changed my life

    R.... W....

    Wow! Nice!

    R.... W....

    werent you so blessed!

    R.... W....

    That cray

    R.... W....

    My first LP 331/3 rpm Greatful Dead American Beauty

    R.... W....

    I got greatful dead American Beauty when I was 13 and became aware that Jerry's life was in beded in the same place as our family the Appalation mountions and the east coast. Viola Lee is family to my grandfather Robert Edward Lee my middle name is Edward as is my first sons . PEACE

  59. J.... H....

    Senior monquator sinchilly sanchez!!!

  60. D.... B....

    Phil really droppin some bombs on this one

  61. s.... ....

    I own most of this stuff. but its so nice to refresh myself without scratching up all my SHIT r.oyalally royal Thanks to To You, and of course the band, ..Khishes, mwAAHHH

  62. e.... ....

    This is a timeless call to the claymation warriors.

  63. B.... D....

    The first time I heard this song I was so blown away that I mindlessly started clapping at the end. Just me sitting in my room alone clapping at the studio version of the song like a fucking idiot. That's how good this is. Especially the high tempo jam they have going towards the end. It's pure, raw energy transferred into music. The Dead really had it figured out.

  64. A.... ....

    sorry to be that guy, but check out my music my fellow heads
    https://youtu.be/ZCTNGeYG_KQ

  65. A.... M....

    Some got 6 months some got one solid, some got one solid year indeedy, some got 6 months some got one solid year...

    A.... M....

    i wrote a letter mailed it in the
    mailed it in the air indeedy
    wrote a letter mailed it in the air

  66. S.... A....

    Awesome song! Music and lyrics.Tell a history(to me) of a group of fellas in jail for a long time ago aparentely.Is a scream and desire of freedom of all times, in a certain way. And musically is an very rough and powerful acid BLUES! Thanks Dominator8146 for share this amazing song.My greetings from Argentina!

  67. c.... ....

    I love the Dead, but man, that rhythm guitar is out of tune!

  68. V.... B....

    One of my favorites!

  69. A.... H....

    The grateful dead.. sets my dark on fire. Jerrys riffs make every day worth living. If the children of my children's kids can't tell me who the Garcia the grate is, im disowning them. Each and every one.

    A.... H....

    It's ridiculous to ask your grandchildren to care about something that happened 70ish years ago by the time they show up. They'll have their own culture, if they're lucky enough to live in better times than these.

    A.... H....

    I'll leave NOTHING to heirs who don't dig Good Old Grateful Dead and the original Allman Brothers.

  70. F.... P....

    QUESTI SONO I PEZZI DEL ROCK PATRIMONIO DEL UMANITA' CHE TUTTO IL MONDO DOVREBBE CONOSCERE SIMBOLO DI UNA GENERAZIONE UNICA ED IRRIPETIBILE QUELLA DEI FIGLI DEI FIORI CHE,DROGA A PARTE,HANNO VERAMENTE CERCATO DI CAMBIARE IL MONDO NON SOLO CON I LORO PROCLAMI MA IMPEGNANDOSI ANCHE A LIVELLO CIVILE CONTRO LA GUERRA PER LA PACE E L' UGUAGLIANZA E LA MUSICA CHE HANNO LASCIATO NE' è UN FULGIDO ESEMPIO COME QUESTA PERLA.

    F.... P....

    si, ma non urlare.

  71. D.... T....

    Aural sex.

  72. J.... M....

    Imagine this: How do you get to put a ten minute song on a debut album in 1967? Look at the other people who released albums in 1967 with nothing that long: The Beatles, Zappa, Cream, Hendrix. I could go on. Ahead of their time.

    J.... M....

    growing pains back then.... nothing pissed me off than the butchering of songs... 67 light my fire by the doors..still pisses me off.... what i loved about the dead, their songs were butcher proof ;-)

    J.... M....

    They negotiated royalties by the minute rather than per song, which I think was a first for a rock band at the time.

    J.... M....

    It's not about length. Cream's Spoonful at just over 6 minutes blows this out of the water and was done 1 year earlier. Peace and love all.

    J.... M....

    Zappa’s first album was a double (1966). Top that!

    J.... M....

    @IamSapindeNoel In a Gadda da Vida was long. I didn't particularly like that song but it played on and on and on!

  73. B.... V....

    I wish jerry did more songs like this,his later guitar tone got a bit too brittle for my taste!

  74. e.... ....

    When everyone in the band is able to chill the fuck out at the same precise moment

  75. i.... m....

    Now I get it!

  76. B.... O....

    Just got off work (delivery driver) to realize my bong has been in my backseat all night. This song just came on and needless to say my car is now a hotbox and I am in danger of dying from smoke inhalation. Fuck yeah.

  77. i.... ....

    turn it up

  78. G.... M....

    This first album is just flawless- I was able to see the anthem of the sun tour in Philadelphia- 100 people inside the electric factory- Jerry was wearing a hockey shirt.

  79. h.... ....

    strange music

  80. T.... ....

    Quite possibly the greatest rock song EVER.

  81. h.... ....

    cool
    groove

  82. D.... B....

    big big blues brother

  83. r.... b....

    Too long

    r.... b....

    ryan bunch it's not long enough when you're high out of your mind lol

  84. F.... 1....

    9:29
    AH LE MOLLETTE, AVEVO I DINDI, AVEVO I DINDI, LE PUNTINE, LE MOLLETTE, AVEVO I DINDI, YEAH!

    9:47 DIMENAVO 'MBARE E CHE CAZZO E'!!!!!!!!!!

    F.... 1....

    Formula 1 Amarcord fa piacere vedere italiani che sentono i Grateful Dead

  85. L.... P....

    like hearing it for the 1st time

  86. D.... O....

    Eternally in my soul will Pig Pen remain, the boys will always evolve but the core foundation will forever be McKernan/Garcia/Weir/Lesh.Kruetzman. Those guys revolutionized modern music and they don't get the credit they deserve.

    D.... O....

    Strangely enough at the same time I was enjoying the music of The Grateful Dead I also listened to Blue Cheer, another band that didn't the credit they deserved?.

    D.... O....

    I saw Blue Cheer at the Arizona State Fair, don't remember when, maybe 67. I was a fan.

  87. R.... g....

    so glad my friend introduced me to this music back in the 80's such good music to just kick back and chill.

  88. J.... ....

    Dropped 2 hits last night, discovered this song while I was peaking. The guitar solo blew my mind. I thought my head was gonna pop! Almost had to take the headphones off but I knew they'd steer me in the right direction... I love their music. I could see the guitar pick in my mind shredding strings and sending sparks flying!

    J.... ....

    Welcome to the greatest band ever. It's one in 10,000 that come for the show.

    J.... ....

    My good buddy was flyin off some cola (w a capital C). Anyway, asked what some good tunes to play while he was on his run. I threw this on. Sober or not, this shi crazy good

    J.... ....

    I had to outside somewhere or i'd feel like I was suffocating.

    J.... ....

    If you like this --- and so do I --- drop two more and listen to their entire second album. You'll never quite be same again.

    J.... ....

    Same experience 1971 :)

  89. R.... ....

    first moment of greatness on vinyl

  90. p.... S....

    this álbum is quite...

  91. M.... R....

    love how near the end when it seems like a run away train speeding ahead and about to go of the tracks that they just reel it back in and snap right back into the crunchy groove ..so amazing <3 forever a deadhead here

    M.... R....

    OH FUCKING RIGHT!!! i love that shit too. there is a major version of how that happens on "dick's pics" (fuck) i think it's dick's picks 10...though i could be wrong...

    M.... R....

    Hmmmm...I always thought of that bit as an aural orgasm.

    M.... R....

    @wangson Volume 8

  92. J.... p....

    those 19 people who disliked this want to see the world burn

    J.... p....

    I second that.

    J.... p....

    Now it's up to 20 :(

  93. F.... &....

    Before the last verse at the end, the song nearly blows up.

    F.... &....

    ha!!! that's the best part, baby! (in my estimation at least)!

  94. r.... n....

    Listening since "66", sometimes it just feels......alright...4/4 time ?.