Songs Of Their Own - #26 "Throwing Stones" West End Blend

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead, JamBase teamed with Telefunken to produce the Songs Of Their Own video series. We began with a list of 100 Grateful Dead original songs (exclusively their tunes, not covers they often played) and tapped many of our favorite artists to record a cover version either at the JamBase office in San Francisco or at one of the many venues around town and beyond. No song was allowed to be covered twice, and today’s participants West End Blend spun up “Throwing Stones.”
Borrowing a chorus from a traditional nursery rhyme, Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and longtime collaborator and political activist John Perry Barlow penned “Throwing Stones,” which was recorded and released as a single from the 1987 In The Dark album. Though not debuted until September 17, 1982 at Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine, the politically charged song quickly became a favorite of the band, being played live over 250 times and often seguing into “Not Fade Away” to close out second sets, as it did in its final performance on July 5, 1995 at Riverport Amphitheatre outside St. Louis.
Hartford, Connecticut-based soul-funk, hip-hop collective West End Blend headed over to nearby South Windsor to record “Throwing Stones” at the studios of our partner Telefunken. Returning to the site where they recorded their 2013 debut release What It’s All About EP (and where some of the band’s 13 members are employed) trumpeter/vocalist Mike Bafando, vocalist Erica Bryan and rapper/breakdancer Tangsauce led West End Blend through a funky, rap-infused performance of “Throwing Stones.”