Fire on the Mountain (Grateful Dead song)

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Not to be confused with Fire on the Mountain (The Marshall Tucker Band song).
For other uses, see Fire on the Mountain.

"Fire on the Mountain"

Song by the Grateful Dead

from the album Shakedown Street

Released November 15, 1978

Recorded 1978

Genre Rock

Length 3:46

Label Arista

Composer(s) Mickey Hart

Lyricist(s) Robert Hunter

Producer(s) Lowell George

"Fire on the Mountain" is a song by the Grateful Dead. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and
composed by drummer Mickey Hart.[1] It was commercially released on the album Shakedown
Street in November 1978. An earlier instrumental version titled "Happiness is Drumming" appeared
in 1976 on Mickey Hart's album Diga with the Diga Rhythm Band.
Prior to the Dead recording, the song premiered at a concert on March 18, 1977 in San
Francisco.[2] It would often be paired with "Scarlet Begonias" during live performances, producing
lengthy musical excursions. The paired songs were soon nicknamed "Scarlet Fire".[1] One notable
performance of the paired "Scarlet Begonias"/"Fire On The Mountain", at Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York, on May 8, 1977, lasted for a total of 25 minutes and 50 seconds.[3]
"Fire on the Mountain" was performed in concert by the Grateful Dead 253 times between 1977 and
1995.[4] It appears on numerous Grateful Dead albums.[5] An outtake of the song appeared as a
bonus track on the 2004 reissue of Terrapin Station.
This song is also featured as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band.