The Persuasions - Might As Well... The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead (2000)

The Persuasions are the last of the old-school doo-wop groups (they started kind of late), and the most adventurous--their last album was a set of Frank Zappa covers. Even so, this disc of close-harmony Grateful Dead tunes sounds like a stretch, but it's really an outgrowth of their lovely "Black Muddy River" from last year's Stolen Roses compilation, reprised here. The mood is festive if reverent; lots of vocal and instrumental guests show up, including the younger a cappella quartet Mary Schmary and Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick. Robert Hunter's lyrics sometimes shift between musical idioms a little awkwardly, but the group delivers them with palpable sincerity and love, and digs for the R&B roots of the Dead's roses. And when the Persuasions glom onto the right song, they run with it: "Lazy River Road," a late-model song on which bassman Jimmy Hayes does his "human subwoofer" routine, is a treat, and so is their foray into bluegrass (with Jerry Garcia's old collaborator Peter Rowan), "Sugaree."