Lyrics: Phil Lesh
Music: Phil Lesh
It now seems established that this is an alternative title to the song known as Cardboard Cowboy
(or "No Left Turn Unstoned"). Phil Lesh made the following comments about the song in a CD issued as bonus material with some copies
of his book "Searching For The Sound":
"This song here is one of the first originals that we wrote (or that actually I wrote, 'cause I wrote the words and the music), ... This is known as 'Cardboard Cowboy' but it actually was called 'The Monster,' and I'm not sure why we called it that except maybe it was just so big and ugly and hard to play."Dennis McNally also mentions this song in his book " A Long Strange Trip":
On returning to the Bay Area [in early 1966] they had a couple of gigs at the Matrix ... In addition to Chuck Berry, the jug material, Pig's blues tunes, and the originals, they'd added a couple of covers ... and three more originals: "You Can't Catch Me", "The Monster" and "Otis On A Shakedown Cruise." (p120)The book included with the box set "30 Trips Around The Sun" says of Cardboard Cowboy "Known within the band as 'The Monster' or 'No Left Turn Unstoned', played only in 1966".