Grateful Dead Shares ‘China Cat Sunflower’ Video
By Scott Bernstein Jun 20, 2019 • 7:30 am PDT
Grateful Dead fans posted images of their fine felines to Instagram that were compiled into a video for “China Cat Sunflower.” The audio of “China Cat” comes from the 1971 mix found on the recently released 50th anniversary edition of Aoxomoxoa, the band’s 1969 studio album.
“China Cat Sunflower” was debuted live by the Dead on January 17, 1968 and the next year would be paired with “I Know You Rider,” a sequence the band played hundreds of times through 1995. Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics and Jerry Garcia penned the music for the tune. The version of “China Cat” on Aoxomoxoa features Garcia, Tom Constanten, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bob Weir.
Watch the video for “China Cat Sunflower” featuring a bevy of cats and a few dogs and be on the lookout for Weir’s cats, Olive and Walter:
