In the summer of 1987, the Grateful Dead released “Touch of Grey,” from the album In the Dark. Peaking at # 9, the song was– and remains to this day – the only Grateful Dead song to reach the Billboard Top Ten. (“Truckin’, the Dead’s highest charting song prior to “Touch of Grey” peaked at # 64.)

On June 19, 1987, MTV premiered the video of “Touch of Grey” — a first for the Dead.  The video’s concept: life-sized marionette skeletons wearing the same clothes and playing the same instruments as the Dead musicians gradually morph into the actual performers.  The video was shot in front of a live audience at California’s Laguna Seca Raceway.  The song went on to become the Dead’s first hit single, largely attributed to its heavy rotation on MTV.

Lyricist Robert Hunter began working on the song in 1980, with Jerry Garcia writing the music.  The Dead performed “Touch of Grey” live for the first time on September 15, 1982, at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland – almost five years before the song appeared on the album In the Dark.

The song is about the band aging gracefully and aging gracefully is a challenge, especially in the music industry.  According to Dead drummer Mickey Hart, Hunter wrote the lyric as a pick-me-up.  "When he wrote 'Touch of Grey,' we were struggling," Hart said. " But it became an anthem to us. It perked us up."

The line, "I will get by, I will survive," also became a mantra of resilience in the Dead community.  When Jerry Garcia fell into a diabetic coma in July 1986, it looked like the group could be finished; when he returned to action in December 1986, the group opened their show in Oakland, California with "Touch Of Grey," – an appropriate comeback song for Garcia.

The special edition 45-rpm record is a unique gray colored vinyl.  Also included on the back of the frame is the original picture sleeve/limited edition 2-sided color poster.

Various Sources