Grateful Dead Family Discography: On The Road Again

On The Road Again

Composer: Traditional / Will Shade

On The Road Again was performed a few times by the Grateful Dead in 1966 having been in the repertoire of the pre-Dead group Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. They next performed the song in acoustic sets in the last few months of 1980 and, mainly in electric sets, during the 1981 to 1984 period. It was then dropped from the repertoire. In total it was performed about 40 times.

The song was also played by The Other Ones, Furthur, Ratdog, Phil Lesh & Friends, and the Bob Weir Campfire Tour Band.

Most recordings credit Will Shade, of the Memphis Jug Band, as the writer of the song. Others list the song as traditional. The Lovin' Spoonful version of the song, though credited to John Sebastian, is based on the Memphis Jug Band song.

There are a number of other songs with this title.

Memphis Jug Band

no info Single (On The Road Again / A Black Woman Is Like A Black Snake), 1928
Memphis Jug Band, 1981
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1928-1929), 1990
no info Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Early American Rural Music, Vol. 1, Various Artists, 1997
Memphis Jug Band, Vol. 2, 1998
The Essential Memphis Jug Band, 2001
The Best Of The Memphis Jug Band, 2001
The Roots Of The Grateful Dead & Jerry Garcia, Various Artists, 2001
He's in the Jailhouse Now, Memphis Jug Band, 2003
Memphis Jug Band / Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, 2005
The Roots of the Grateful Dead, Various Artists, 2008

Other recordings

The Even Dozen Jug Band, The Even Dozen Jug Band, 1963
Do You Believe in Magic, The Lovin' Spoonful, 1965
no info Single (Do You Believe In Magic / On The Road Again), The Lovin' Spoonful, 1965
no info Introducing the Sonics, The Sonics, 1966
no info On The Road Again, Furry Lewis w/ Bukka White and Gus Cannon, 1969
It Must Be A Breakdown, The Grand Poo-Bah Beaner Band, 1976
no info Beale Street Saturday Night, Various Artists (Mud Boy & the Neutrons), 1979
Bleecker & MacDougal: The Folk Scene Of The 60s, Various Artists (Even Dozen Jug Band), 1984
no info Maintaining My Cool, The Sonics, 1991
no info Do You Believe in Magic/Hums Of, The Lovin' Spoonful, 1995
no info The Very Best of, The Lovin' Spoonful, 1998
no info Collector's Edition, Vol. 2, The Lovin' Spoonful, 1999
no info Greatest Hits, The Lovin' Spoonful, 2000
Live at the Florence Little Theater, The Blue Dogs, 2002
3/13/98 Cedar Cultural Centre, The Big Wu, 2002
no info The Jerden Years 1966-69, The Sonics, 2004
no info The Best of, The Lovin' Spoonful, 2004
no info Singles As & Bs, The Lovin' Spoonful, 2006
7/2/15, Chicago, IL, Infamous Stringdusters & Keller Williams, 2015

Grateful Dead

Reckoning, 1981
Dead Ahead, 1981
So Many Roads (1965-1995), 1999
Dick's Picks, Vol. 32, 2004
Beyond Description, 2004
The Tomorrow Show: Tom Snyder's Electric Kool-Aid Talk Show, 2006
Live Albums Collection, 2013
30 Trips Around The Sun Box Set, 2015
The Warfield, 10/9/80 & 10/10/80, Grateful Dead, 2019
The Story Of The Grateful Dead, 2020

Garcia / Weir / Kahn / Kreutzmann / Hart

Sing Out!: BCT, April 25, 1981, Various Artists, 2024

Mother McCree's

Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, 1998
Jerry Garcia: Collected Artwork: Ltd Ed CD, 2005
Jerry Garcia: Collected Artwork: Clts Ed CD, 2007

Furthur

Feb 5, 2010, Miami, FL
Feb 17, 2010, Buffalo, NY
July 7, 2010, Ottawa, ON
September 17, 2010, Eugene, OR
February 13, 2011, Broomfield, CO
March 25, 2011, New York, NY

Ratdog

Lowell MA, August 12, 2007
Buffalo, NY, March 4, 2014
Knoxville, TN, March 14, 2014
Madison, WI, June 12, 2014

Dark Star Orchestra

DSO Live: Jan 26, 2004, Charlottesville, VA, 2004