Writers: Bob Weir, John Barlow, and Brent Mydland
Producers: Jerry Garcia and John Cutler
Recorded: 1983-1986 at Marin Veterans Auditorium and Club Front, both in San Rafael, California
| Players: | Bob Weir — vocals, guitar Jerry Garcia — guitar Phil Lesh — bass Brent Mydland — keyboards, vocals Mickey Hart — drums Bill Kreutzmann — drums |
| Album: | In The Dark (Arista, 1987) |
Following the Top 10 success of In The Dark's first single, “Touch Of Grey,” the politically tinged “Hell In A Bucket” was the album's second most popular song, receiving strong radio play at the time of the album's release.
Guitarist Bob Weir sang “Hell In A Bucket. He cowrote the song with keyboardist Brent Mydland and longtime lyricist John Barlow.
The In The Dark album sold more than two million copies and peaked at Number Six on the Billboard 200, making it the Grateful Dead's second-best seller, behind the Skeletons In The Closetgreatest-hits collection.
The Grateful Dead worked on In The Dark for several years and road-tested many of its songs, including “Touch Of Grey” and “Hell In A Bucket.”
Despite the success of In The Dark, the Grateful Dead was never a band that enjoyed being in the studio, according to singer-guitarist Jerry Garcia — “Our income doesn't come from records. It comes from (live) work. It's of some concern to us. We make records at least partially with commercial intentions. Making records is a different thing. It's not playing for warm human beings. It's a very artificial situation, with the overdubs and everything. In my mind, it's never really been making music.”
Percussionist Mickey Hart said the Grateful Dead didn't think much of In The Dark. “We thought it was OK, but we didn't think there were hits on it. I think we can do a better record than that, easily.”
Hart said the Grateful Dead tried to achieve a spirit close to its live shows for In The Dark: “We just got back down to relaxing and taking it easy, making it simple. The spirit of the record was very much 'Keep it simple, stupid.'”
