New Speedway Boogie

The Record Company - New Speedway Boogie (Dead Covers Project) 2013
The Record Company

Chillin' this evening and this song comes on and I say (to myself I say)  'I recognize that tune'. Well, you oughta, it's been around since 1970, the year after I got out of high school, as if you care. It was originally done by the Grateful Dead. Songfacts has a few words to say:

"New Speedway Boogie" was written about the disaster at the Altamont Speedway concert in 1969 when the Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels to work security. The lyric: "In the heat of the sun, a man died of cold" refers to Meredith Hunter, an audience member who was killed by the Hells Angels. Garcia referred to the concert as "...a nice day in HELL."