Touch of Grey Single: Grateful Dead Album: In the Dark B-side: My Brother Esau Released: 1987 Genre: Pop rock Songwriters: Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter Grateful Dead first performed "Touch of Grey" as an encore on September 15, 1982, at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. In 1987, it was the lead track from the Dead's studio album In the Dark . Released as a single, it peaked on Billboard at number 9 . Hit records weren't typical of the Dead. Their previous high-water mark had been in 1971 with " Truckin' ," which peaked at number 64.