"Blues for Allah," the Grateful Dead's September, 1975 release post a fallow '74, was greeted by Grateful Dead fans with the thrill usually reserved for firstborns and male heirs. The layoff apparently did the band good, for critics anointed the album, recorded at Bob Weir's Ace Studios, variously 'natural,' 'inspired,' 'multi-faceted' and 'highly evolved.' The album's success could be attributed to the band's new approach to the creative process. Said Jerry Garcia in an interview sometime later, "We all went on the trip of 'Well, we're gonna make a record, and we're gonna go in the studio with no preconceptions and with no material'..." The Dead didn't take to the road immediately after the album's release, although they did a few tune-up gigs in and around San Francisco during the creative process.