Grateful Dead Family Discography: Cleo's Back

Cleo's Back

Composer: Willie Woods

Cleo's Back was probably performed by the Warlocks in 1965. Jerry Garcia spoke about the piece in an interview that was printed in The Golden Road in 1993:

Remember that old Junior Walker & the All-Stars instrumental 'Cleo's Back'? That was also real influential on the Grateful Dead - our whole style of playing. There was something about the way the instruments entered into it in a kind of free-for-all way, and there were little holes and these neat details in it - we studied that motherfucker! We might even have played it for a while, but that wasn't the point - it was the conversational approach, the way the band worked, that really influenced us.

Willie Woods was the guitarist with Junior Walker & The All Stars.

Junior Walker & The All-Stars recordings

Shotgun, Junior Walker and the All Stars, 1965
no info Single (Shake And Fingerpop / Cleo's Back), Junior Walker & All Stars, 1965
Live!, Junior Walker and The All-Stars, 1967
no info Single (Cleo's Back / Hot Cha), Jr. Walker & The All Stars, 1973
no info Shotgun (compilation), Jr. Walker & The All Stars, 1974
no info Motown Instrumentals, Various Artists, 1977
no info Shotgun/Roadrunner, Junior Walker and The All-Stars, 1986
no info Nothin' But Soul: The Singles, Junior Walker & the All-Stars, 1994
no info Instrumentals From Back In Da Day, Various Artists, 1995
no info The Ultimate Collection, Junior Walker and The All-Stars, 1997
no info Shotgun/Soul Session, Junior Walker and The All Stars, 2003
no info Shotgun (compilation), Jr. Walker & The All Stars, 2004
The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 5: 1965, Various Artists, 2006
no info Motown Made to Measure, Various Artists, 2006
no info Soul Power Instrumental, Various Artists, 2006
no info The Definitive Collection, Junior Walker & the All-Stars, 2008

Other recordings

no info The Great Memphis Sound, The Mar-Keys, 1966
no info Single (I Want To Love You / Cleo's Back), Denny Ezba & The B.F.B.A., 1966
no info Single, Roland Alphonso & The Skatalites, 196?
Lights Out: San Francisco: Voco Presents the Soul of the Bay Area, Various Artists (Tower Of Power), 1972
no info Single (Blues Party / ), Abb Locke with Otis Rush, 1983
no info If It's All Night, It's Allright, Silent Partners, 1989
no info Rockin' The Juke Joint Down, Jelly Roll Kings, 1993
no info Swamp Boogie, Little Freddie King, 1995
no info Ska-Ra-Van, Various Artists (Roland Alphonso), 1997
no info Dynamite Reggae Classics, Various Artists (Roland Alphonso), 2002
no info Ska: Down Jamaica Way, Volume Two, Various Artists (Roland Alphonso), 2003
no info Ska: Down Jamaica Way, Volume Six, Various Artists (Roland Alphonso), 2003
no info 6th Avenue Romp, Chico Hamilton, 2006
no info Gotta Walk With Da King, Little Freddie King, 2010
no info Fried Rice & Chicken, Little Freddie King, 2018