Lettuce Digs Into Vault For Funkified ‘Shakedown Street’ Cover

Lettuce released a recording of their NOLAfied version of the Grateful Dead classic “Shakedown Street.” The cover sung by bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes arrives in advance of the band’s appearance at the inaugural Dead Ahead destination event in Riviera Cancún, Mexico.

The archival studio recording captured during a 2015 session as per a press release features a Lettuce lineup comprised of Coomes, guitarists Eric Krasno and Adam “Shmeans” Smirnoff and drummer Adam Deitch along with saxophonists Ryan Zoidis and Sam Kininger. Lettuce’s “Shakedown Street” cover was accompanied by a lyric video of vintage footage assembled by Sunbronx.

Lettuce looked to the Crescent City for the vibe of their take on a song the Grateful Dead originally released as the titual track to a 1978 studio album. “It’s Shakedown Street mixed with Frenchmen Street,” explained Adam Deitch. “There’s a New Orleans feel on there that we felt worked well with the melody. Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes did a great job channeling Jerry on the vocals.”

“Whenever Shakedown comes on the whole crowd goes crazy and it’s one of the biggest dance songs in their catalog,” added Coomes. “Since Lettuce specializes in dance and funk music we thought we would do our best to make you bust a move and get into the groove.”

Check out the lyric video for Lettuce’s “Shakedown Street” recording below:

Erick “Jesus” Coomes will spin his favorite GD songs when he guest DJs on SiriusXM’s Grateful Dead Channel. Coomes’ appearance on the channel premieres on Tuesday, December 12 at 10 a.m. ET. Replays follow on Thursday, December 14 at 12 a.m. ET, Friday, December 15 at 5 p.m. ET and Sunday, December 17 at 9 a.m. ET. The guest DJ spot will also be available on-demand via the SXM app.

Lettuce will play two late night sets at Dead Ahead in January including a celebration of Jerry Garcia Band on Saturday, January 13. The band then embarks on the VIBE Tour.