Bajío Ollin

In 2008, the idea of a rock band doing their proverbial thing in Egypt holds far less cache than it did 30 years prior. However, it was unquestionably a novel notion when the Grateful Dead sought to begin diplomatic talks between the U.S. Government and Egyptian officials to allow for the band to bring their "long, strange trip" to Cairo's Gizah Sound & Light Theater in mid-September of 1978. Considering the precarious political state of the world at the time, it is a minor miracle that these shows came off at all. Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 (2008) gathers two-and-a-half hours of highlights from the September 15 and 16, 1978 performances – with the vast majority coming from the latter date. While they played on the 13th (as a sort of sound check) and the 14th as well, there is no music from either date located here…

This chronological, decades-spanning collection offers revelatory peeks at little-heard tunes as well as thrilling takes on beloved setlist staples. Reaching back to 1966, we get rare outings of folk/blues covers like "He Was a Friend of Mine" and Lead Belly's "In the Pines," while a 1978 recording from the legendary Egyptian performances at the foot of the pyramids produces a collaboration with oud master Hamza El Din on his own "Ollin Arageed."