Grateful Dead | |
|---|---|
_(high_quality).png) The Grateful Dead in 1970. Left to right:Bill Kreutzmann,Ron McKernan,Jerry Garcia,Bob Weir,Mickey Hart, andPhil Lesh. | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Warlocks |
| Origin | Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock |
| Works | |
| Years active | 1965–1995 |
| Labels | |
| Spinoffs |
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| Past members | |
| Website | dead |
TheGrateful Dead was an Americanrock band formed inPalo Alto, California, in 1965.[1][2] Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock,blues,jazz,folk,country,bluegrass,rock and roll,gospel,reggae, andworld music withpsychedelia,[3][4] the band is famous forimprovisation during theirlive performances,[5][6] and for their devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". According to the musician and writerLenny Kaye, the music of the Grateful Dead "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists".[7] For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, the Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of thejam band world".[8]
The Grateful Dead was founded in theSan Francisco Bay Area during the rise of thecounterculture of the 1960s.[9][10][11][12] The band's founding members wereJerry Garcia (lead guitar and vocals),Bob Weir (rhythm guitar and vocals),Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (keyboards,harmonica, and vocals),Phil Lesh (bass guitar and vocals), andBill Kreutzmann (drums).[13] Members of the Grateful Dead, originally known asthe Warlocks, had played together in various Bay Area ensembles, including the traditionaljug band Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they changed their name to Grateful Dead, replacing Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. DrummerMickey Hart and non-performing lyricistRobert Hunter joined in 1967. With the exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, and Hart, who left the band from 1971 to 1974, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history.[14] Other official members of the band includedTom Constanten (keyboards from 1968 to 1970),John Perry Barlow (non-performing lyricist from 1971 to 1995),[15]Keith Godchaux (keyboards and occasional vocals from 1971 to 1979),Donna Godchaux (vocals from 1972 to 1979),Brent Mydland (keyboards and vocals from 1979 to 1990), andVince Welnick (keyboards and vocals from 1990 to 1995).[16]Bruce Hornsby (accordion, piano, vocals) was atouring member from 1990 to 1992, as well as a guest with the band on occasion before and after the tours.
After Garcia's death in 1995, former members of the band, along with other musicians, toured asthe Other Ones in 1998, 2000, and 2002, and asthe Dead in 2003, 2004, and 2009. In 2015, the four surviving core members marked the band's 50th anniversary in aseries of concerts inSanta Clara, California, andChicago that were billed as their last performances together.[17] There have also been several spin-offs featuring one or more core members, such asDead & Company,Furthur, theRhythm Devils,Phil Lesh and Friends,RatDog, andBilly & the Kids.
Despite having only one Top-40 single in their 30-year career, "Touch of Grey" (1987), the Grateful Dead remained among the highest-grossing American touring acts for decades. They gained a committed fanbase by word of mouth and through the free exchange of their live recordings, encouraged by the band's allowance oftaping. In 2024, they broke the record for most Top-40 albums on theBillboard 200 chart.[18]Rolling Stone ranked the Grateful Dead number 57 on its 2011 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[19] The band was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994,[20] and a recording of theirMay 8, 1977, performance atCornell University'sBarton Hall was added to theNational Recording Registry of theLibrary of Congress in 2012 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[21] In 2024, Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann, and Hart were recognized as part of theKennedy Center Honors.[22]
The Grateful Dead began their career as the Warlocks, a group formed in early 1965 from the remnants of aPalo Alto, California,jug band calledMother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and members of the Wildwood Boys (Jerry Garcia, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, David Nelson, Robert Hunter, and Norm Van Maastricht).[23] As the Wildwood Boys they played regularly at The Tangent, a folk music coffeehouse operated by Stanford Medical Center doctors Stuart "Stu" Goldstein and David "Dave" Shoenstadt on University Avenue in Palo Alto (1963).[24] As the Warlocks, the band's first show was at Magoo's Pizza Parlor, at 639 Santa Cruz Avenue in suburbanMenlo Park, on May 5, 1965, now a cocktail bar. The band continued playing bar shows,[25] like Frenchy's Bikini-A-Go-Go[26][27] inHayward and, importantly, five sets a night, five nights a week, for six weeks, at theIn Room[28][29] inBelmont as the Warlocks,[30] but quickly changed the band's name after finding out that a different band known as the Warlocks had put out a record under that name. (The Velvet Underground also had to change its name from the Warlocks.)[31]
The name "Grateful Dead" was chosen from a dictionary. According to Lesh, Garcia "picked up an oldBritannica World Language Dictionary ... [and] ... In that silvery elf-voice he said to me, 'Hey, man, how about the Grateful Dead?'"[32] The definition there was "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial." According to Alan Trist, director of the Grateful Dead's music publisher company Ice Nine, Garcia found the name in theFunk & WagnallsFolklore Dictionary, when his finger landed on that phrase while playing a game ofFictionary.[33] In the Garcia biographyCaptain Trips, author Sandy Troy states that the band was smoking the psychedelicDMT at the time.[34] The motif of the "grateful dead" appears in folktales from a variety of cultures.[35]
The first show under the name Grateful Dead was inSan Jose on December 4, 1965, at one ofKen Kesey'sAcid Tests.[36][37][38] Scholar Michael Kaler has written that the Dead's participation in the Acid Tests was crucial both to the development of their improvisational vocabulary and to their bonding as a band, with the group having set out to foster an intra-band musical telepathy.[39] Kaler has further pointed out that the Dead's pursuit of a new improvisatory rock language in 1965 chronologically coincided with that same goal's adoption byJefferson Airplane,Pink Floyd andthe Velvet Underground.[40]
Earlierdemo tapes have survived, but the first of over 2,000 concerts known to have been recorded by the band's fans was a show at theFillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on January 8, 1966.[41] Later that month, the Grateful Dead played at the Trips Festival, a three-daypsychedelic rock weekend party and event produced byKen Kesey,Stewart Brand, andRamon Sender, that, in conjunction with theMerry Pranksters, brought the nascenthippie movement together for the first time.[42][43]
Other supporting personnel who joined early includedRock Scully, who heard of the band from Kesey and signed on as manager after meeting them at the Big Beat Acid Test;Stewart Brand, "with his side show of taped music and slides of Indian life, a multimedia presentation" at the Big Beat and then, expanded, at the Trips Festival; andOwsley Stanley, the "Acid King" whoseLSD supplied the Acid Tests and who, in early 1966, became the band's financial backer, renting them a house on the fringes ofWatts, Los Angeles, and buying them sound equipment. "We were living solely off of Owsley's good graces at that time. ... [His] trip was he wanted to design equipment for us, and we were going to have to be in sort of a lab situation for him to do it", said Garcia.[34]
One of the group's earliest major performances in 1967 was theMantra-Rock Dance, a musical event held on January 29, 1967, at theAvalon Ballroom by the San FranciscoHare Krishna temple. The Grateful Dead performed at the event along with the Hare Krishna founderBhaktivedanta Swami, poetAllen Ginsberg, bandsMoby Grape andBig Brother and the Holding Company withJanis Joplin, donating proceeds to the temple.[44][45] The band's first LP,The Grateful Dead, was released on Warner Brothers in 1967.
Classically trained trumpeterPhil Lesh performed onbass guitar.Bob Weir, the youngest original member of the group, playedrhythm guitar.Ron "Pigpen" McKernan playedkeyboards,percussion, andharmonica until shortly beforehis death in 1973 at the age of 27. Garcia, Weir, and McKernan shared the lead vocal duties more or less equally; Lesh sang only a few leads, but his tenor was a key part of the band's three-part vocal harmonies.Bill Kreutzmann playeddrums, and in September 1967 was joined by a second drummer, New York City nativeMickey Hart, who also played a wide variety of otherpercussion instruments.
On May 3, 1968, the band played a free concert atColumbia University during theanti–Vietnam War student protests during which students occupied several campus buildings. In order to play, the band, equipment and all, had to be "smuggled" on campus in the back of a bread delivery truck. "We were already jamming away before the security and police could stop us", said Hart.[46]
Tom "TC" Constanten was added as a second keyboardist from 1968 to 1970, to help Pigpen keep up with an increasingly psychedelic sound, while Pigpen transitioned into playing various percussion instruments and vocals. 1970 included tour dates inNew Orleans, where the band performed atThe Warehouse for two nights. On January 31, 1970, the local police raided their hotel onBourbon Street and arrested and charged 19 people with possession of various drugs.[47] The second night's concert was performed as scheduled after bail was posted. Eventually, the charges were dismissed, except those against sound engineerOwsley Stanley, who was already facing charges in California for manufacturing LSD. This event was later memorialized in the lyrics of “Truckin'", a single fromAmerican Beauty that reached number 64 on the charts.
Hart took time off from the band in February 1971, after his father, an accountant, absconded with much of the band's money;[48] Kreutzmann was once again the sole percussionist, until Hart rejoined the Grateful Dead for good in October 1974. After Constanten's departure, Pigpen reclaimed his position as sole keyboardist. Less than a year later, in late 1971, Pigpen was joined by another keyboardist,Keith Godchaux, who playedgrand piano alongside Pigpen'sHammond B-3 organ. In early 1972, Keith's wife,Donna Jean Godchaux, joined the Grateful Dead as a backing vocalist.
Following the Grateful Dead's "Europe '72" tour, Pigpen's health had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer tour with the band. His final concert appearance was June 17, 1972, at theHollywood Bowl, in Los Angeles;[49][50] he died on March 8, 1973, of complications from liver damage.[51]
Pigpen's death did not slow down the Grateful Dead. With the help of managerRon Rakow, the band soon formed its own record label,Grateful Dead Records.[52] Later that year, it released its next studio album, the jazz-influencedWake of the Flood, which became their biggest commercial success thus far.[53] Meanwhile, capitalizing on the album's success, the band soon went back to the studio, and in June 1974 released another album,From the Mars Hotel. Not long after, the Dead decided to take a hiatus from livetouring. The band travelled to Europe for a string of shows in September 1974, before performing a series of five concerts at theWinterland Ballroom in San Francisco in October 1974, and delved into various other projects.[54] The Winterland concerts were filmed, and Garcia compiled the footage intoThe Grateful Dead Movie, a feature-length concert film released in 1977.[55]
In September 1975, the Dead released their eighth studio album,Blues for Allah. The band resumed touring in June 1976, playing multiple dates in small theaters, rather than the stadium shows that had become common, and had exhausted them, in 1974.[52] That same year, they signed withArista Records, and the new contract producedTerrapin Station in July 1977. The band's tour in the spring of that year is held in high regard by its fans, and itsconcert of May 8 atCornell University is often considered one of the best performances of its career.[56][57][58] TheirSeptember 1977 concert atRaceway Park inOld Bridge Township, New Jersey was attended by 107,019 people and held the record forlargest-ticketed concert in the United States by a single act for 47 years.[59]
Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux left the band in February 1979, citing artistic differences.
Following the Godchauxs' departure,Brent Mydland joined as keyboardist and vocalist and was considered "the perfect fit". The Godchauxs then formed theHeart of Gold Band, before Keith died in a car accident in July 1980. Mydland was the keyboardist for the Grateful Dead for 11 years until his death by narcotics overdose in July 1990,[60] becoming the third keyboardist to die.
Shortly after Mydland found his place in the early 1980s, Garcia's health began to decline. He became a frequent smoker of "Persian", a type of heroin, and he gained weight at a rapid pace. He lost his liveliness on stage, his voice was strained, and Deadheads worried for his health. After he began to curtail his opiate usage gradually in 1985, Garcia slipped into adiabetic coma for several days in July 1986, leading to the cancelation of all concerts in the fall of that year. Garcia recovered, and the band releasedIn the Dark in July 1987, which became its best-selling studio album and produced its only top-40 single, "Touch of Grey". Also, that year, the grouptoured withBob Dylan, as heard on the albumDylan & the Dead.
Mydland died in July 1990 andVince Welnick, former keyboardist forthe Tubes, joined as a band member, whileBruce Hornsby, who had a successful career with his band the Range, joined temporarily as a bridge to help Welnick learn songs. Both performed on keyboards and vocals—Welnick until the band's end, and Hornsby mainly from 1990 to 1992.
SaxophonistBranford Marsalis played five concerts with the band between 1990 and 1994.[61]
The Grateful Dead performed its final concert on July 9, 1995, atSoldier Field in Chicago.[62]
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Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995. A few months after Garcia's death, the remaining members of the Grateful Dead decided to disband.[63] Since that time, there have been a number ofreunions by the surviving members involving various combinations of musicians. Additionally, the former members have also begun or continued individual projects.
In 1998, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with several other musicians, formed a band calledthe Other Ones, and performed a number of concerts that year, releasing a live album,The Strange Remain, the following year. In 2000, the Other Ones toured again, this time with Kreutzmann but without Lesh. After taking another year off, the band toured again in 2002 with Lesh. That year, the Other Ones then included all four living former Grateful Dead members who had been in the band for most or all of its history. At different times the shifting lineup of the Other Ones also included guitaristsMark Karan,Steve Kimock, andJimmy Herring, keyboardistsBruce Hornsby,Jeff Chimenti, andRob Barraco, saxophonistDave Ellis, drummerJohn Molo, bassistAlphonso Johnson, and vocalistSusan Tedeschi.[64]
In 2003, the Other Ones, still including Weir, Lesh, Hart, and Kreutzmann, changed their name tothe Dead.[65] The Dead toured the United States in 2003, 2004 and 2009. The band's lineups included Jimmy Herring andWarren Haynes on guitar, Jeff Chimenti and Rob Barraco on keyboards, andJoan Osborne on vocals.[66] In 2008, members of the Dead played two concerts, called "Deadheads for Obama" and "Change Rocks".
Following the 2009 Dead tour, Lesh and Weir formed the bandFurthur, which debuted in September 2009.[67] Joining Lesh and Weir in Furthur were Chimenti (keyboards),John Kadlecik (guitar),Joe Russo (drums),Jay Lane (drums),Sunshine Becker (vocals), and Zoe Ellis (vocals). Lane and Ellis left the band in 2010, and vocalistJeff Pehrson joined later that year. Furthur disbanded in 2014.[68]
In 2010, Hart and Kreutzmann re-formed theRhythm Devils, and played a summer concert tour.[69] In the fall of 2015, Hart, Kreutzmann and Weir teamed up with Chimenti, guitaristJohn Mayer, and bassistOteil Burbridge to form a band calledDead & Company. Mayer recounted that in 2011 he was listening toPandora and happened upon the Grateful Dead song "Althea", and that soon Grateful Dead music was all he would listen to.[70] Dead & Company toured every year (except 2020), until announcing that their summer 2023 tour, which saw Kreutzmann replaced by Lane, would be their last.[71] However, they later clarified that it was only their lasttour, and they continue to perform concerts.
Since 1995, the former members of the Grateful Dead have also pursued solo music careers. BothBob Weir & RatDog[72][73] andPhil Lesh and Friends[74][75] have performed many concerts and released several albums. Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann have also each released a few albums. Hart has toured with hisworld music percussion ensemble Planet Drum[76] as well as the Mickey Hart Band.[77] Kreutzmann has led several different bands, includingBK3,[78]7 Walkers (withPapa Mali),[79] andBilly & the Kids.[80] Donna Godchaux has returned to the music scene, with theDonna Jean Godchaux Band,[81] andTom Constanten also continues to write and perform music.[82] All of these groups continue to play Grateful Dead music.
In May 2017, a four hour documentary filmLong Strange Trip about the band was released theatrically and on Amazon Prime. Directed byAmir Bar-Lev and produced byMartin Scorsese and Justin Kreutzmann, whileDavid Lemieux supervised the musical selection. Importantly, Weir, Hart, Kreutzmann, and Lesh agreed to new interviews for the film.[83][84][85]
Barlow died in 2018[86] and Hunter in 2019.[87] Lesh died in 2024.[88] Donna Jean Godchaux died in 2025.[89]
In 2015, Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann, and Hart reunited for five concerts called "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead".[90] The shows were performed on June 27 and 28 atLevi's Stadium inSanta Clara, California, and on July 3, 4 and 5 atSoldier Field inChicago.[90][91] The band stated that this would be the final time that Weir, Lesh, Hart, and Kreutzmann would perform together.[92] They were joined byTrey Anastasio ofPhish on guitar, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, and Bruce Hornsby on piano.[93][94] Demand for tickets was very high.[95][96] The concerts were simulcast via various media.[97][98] The Chicago shows have been released as a box set of CDs and DVDs.[99]
The Grateful Dead formed during the era when bands such asthe Beatles,the Beach Boys andthe Rolling Stones were dominating the airwaves. "The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band into a rock 'n' roll band", said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing."[100] Former folk-scene starBob Dylan had recently put out a couple of records featuring electric instrumentation. Grateful Dead members have said that it was after attending a concert by the touring New York City bandthe Lovin' Spoonful that they decided to "go electric" and look for a "dirtier" sound.Jerry Garcia andBob Weir (both of whom had been immersed in theAmerican folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s), were open-minded about the use of electric guitars.
The Grateful Dead's early music (in the mid-1960s) was part of the process of establishing what "psychedelic music" was, but theirs was essentially a "street party" form of it. They developed their "psychedelic" playing as a result of meetingKen Kesey inPalo Alto, California, and subsequently becoming the house band for theAcid Tests he staged.[101] They did not fit their music to an established category such as pop rock, blues, folk rock, or country & western. Individual tunes within their repertoire could be identified under one of these stylistic labels, but overall their music drew on all of these genres and, more frequently, melded several of them.Bill Graham said of the Grateful Dead, "They're not the best at what they do, they're the only ones that do what they do."[102] Academics Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell argued that the Grateful Dead were "not merely asprecursors ofprog but as essential developments of progressiveness in its early days".[103] Often (both in performance and on recording) the Dead left room for exploratory, spacey soundscapes.
Their live shows, fed by an improvisational approach to music, were different from most touring bands. While rock and roll bands often rehearse a standard set, played with minor variations, the Grateful Dead did not prepare in this way. Garcia stated in a 1966 interview, "We don't make up our sets beforehand. We'd rather work off the tops of our heads than off a piece of paper."[104] They maintained this approach throughout their career. For each performance, the band drew material from an active list of a hundred or so songs.[104]
The 1969 live albumLive/Dead did capture the band in-form, but commercial success did not come untilWorkingman's Dead andAmerican Beauty, both released in 1970. These records largely featured the band's laid-backacoustic musicianship and more traditional song structures. With their rootsy, eclectic stylings, particularly evident on the latter two albums, the band pioneered the hybridAmericana genre.[105][106][107]
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As the band and its sound matured over thirty years of touring, playing, and recording, each member's stylistic contribution became more defined, consistent, and identifiable. Garcia's lead lines were fluid, supple and spare, owing a great deal of their character to his experience playingScruggs style banjo, an approach which often makes use ofnote syncopation,accenting,arpeggios,staccatochromatic runs, and the anticipation of thedownbeat.[108]
Garcia had a distinctive sense oftiming, often weaving in and out of thegroove established by the rest of the band as if he were pushing the beat. His lead lines were also immensely influenced byjazz soloists: Garcia citedMiles Davis,Ornette Coleman,Bill Evans,Pat Martino,George Benson,Al Di Meola,Art Tatum,Duke Ellington, andDjango Reinhardt as primary influences, and frequently utilized techniques common tocountry andblues music in songs that called back to those traditions.[109]
Garcia often switchedscales in the midst of a solo depending upon thechord changes played underneath, though he nearly always finishedphrases by landing on thechord-tones. Jerry most frequently played in theMixolydian mode, though his solos and phrases often incorporated notes from theDorian andmajor/minor pentatonic scales. Particularly in the late 1960s, Garcia occasionally incorporatedmelodic lines derived fromIndianragas into the band's extended,psychedelicimprovisation, likely inspired byJohn Coltrane and other jazz artists' interest in thesitar music ofRavi Shankar.[110]
Lesh was originally a classically trained trumpet player with an extensive background inmusic theory, but did not tend to play traditional blues-based bass forms. He often played more melodic, symphonic and complex lines, often sounding like a second lead guitar. In contrast to most bassists inpopular music, Lesh often avoids playing theroot of a chord on the downbeat, instead withholding as a means to buildtension. Lesh also rarely repeats the same bassline, even from performance to performance of the same song, and often plays off of or around the other instruments with asyncopated,staccato bounce that contributes to the Dead's unique rhythmic character.[111]
Weir, too, was not a traditionalrhythm guitarist, but tended to play uniqueinversions at the upper end of the Dead's sound. Weir modeled his style of playing after jazz pianistMcCoy Tyner and attempted to replicate the interplay between John Coltrane and Tyner in his support, and occasional subversion, of theharmonic structure of Garcia's voice leadings. This would often influence the direction the band's improvisation would take on a given night. Weir and Garcia's respective positions as rhythm and lead guitarist were not always strictly adhered to, as Weir would often incorporate short melodic phrases into his playing to support Garcia and occasionally took solos, often played with aslide. Weir's playing is characterized by a "spiky, staccato" sound.[112][113][114]
The band's two drummers,Mickey Hart andBill Kreutzmann, developed a unique, complex interplay, balancing Kreutzmann's steadyshuffle beat with Hart's interest in percussion styles outside the rock tradition. Kreuzmann has said, "I like to establish a feeling and then add radical or oblique juxtapositions to that feeling."[115] Hart incorporated an 11-count measure to his drumming, bringing a dimension to the band's sound that became an important part of its style. He had studiedtabla drumming and incorporated rhythms and instruments fromworld music, and laterelectronic music, into the band's live performances.
The Dead's live performances featured multiple types ofimprovisation derived from a vast array of musical traditions. Not unlike many rock bands of their time, the majority of the Dead's songs feature a designated section in which aninstrumental break occurs over thechord changes. These sections typically feature solos by Garcia that often originate as variations on the song'smelody, but go on to create dynamic phrases that resolve by returning to the chord-tones. Not unlike traditionalimprovisational jazz, they may occasionally feature several solos by multiple instruments within an undecided number ofbars, such as a keyboardist, before returning to the melody. At the same time, Dead shows almost always feature a more collective,modal approach to improvisation that typically occurs duringsegues between songs before the bandmodulates to a newtonal center. Some of the Dead's more extended jam vehicles, such as "The Other One", "Dark Star", and "Playing in the Band" almost exclusively make use of modulation between modes to accompany simple two-chord progressions.[116]
Following the songwriting renaissance that defined the band's early 1970s period, as reflected in the albumsWorkingman's Dead andAmerican Beauty,Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia's primary lyrical partner, frequently made use ofmotifs common toAmerican folklore including trains, guns, elements,traditional musical instruments, gambling, murder, animals, alcohol, descriptions ofAmerican geography, andreligious symbolism to illustrate themes involving love and loss, life and death, beauty and horror, and chaos and order.[117] Following in the footsteps of severalAmerican musical traditions, these songs are often confessional and feature narration from the perspective of anantihero. CriticRobert Christgau described them as "American myths" that later gave way to "the old karma-go-round".[118]
An extremely common feature in both Robert Hunter's lyrics, as well as the band's visual iconography, is the presence ofdualistic and opposing imagery illustrating the dynamic range of thehuman experience (Heaven and hell, law and crime, dark and light, etc.). Hunter and Garcia's earlier, more directlypsychedelic-influenced compositions often make use ofsurreal imagery,nonsense, and whimsey reflective of traditions inEnglish poetry.[119] In a retrospective,The New Yorker described Hunter's verses as "elliptical, by turns vivid andgnomic", which were often "hippie poetry about roses and bells and dew".[120] Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNally has described Hunter's lyrics as creating "a non-literal hyper-Americana" weaving a psychedelic, kaleidoscopic tapestry in the hopes of elucidating America'snational character. At least one of Hunter and Bob Weir's collaborations, "Jack Straw", was inspired by the work ofJohn Steinbeck.[121]
Grateful Dead have been called a "symbol of thecounterculture movement of the sixties". Beginning in the early 1990s, a new generation of bands became inspired by the Grateful Dead's improvisational ethos andmarketing strategy, and began to incorporate elements of the Grateful Dead's live performances into their own shows. These include the nightly alteration ofsetlists, frequent improvisation,the blending of genres, and the allowance oftaping, which would often contribute to the development of a dedicated fanbase. Bands associated with the expansion of the"jam scene" includePhish,the String Cheese Incident,Widespread Panic,Blues Traveler,Moe, and theDisco Biscuits. Many of these groups began to look past theAmerican roots music that the Grateful Dead drew inspiration from, and incorporated elements ofprogressive rock,hard rock, andelectronica. At the same time, the Internet gained popularity and provided a medium for fans to discuss these bands and their performances and downloadMP3s. The Grateful Dead, as well as Phish, were one of the first bands to have aUsenet newsgroup.[122][123][124][125]
Hal Kant was an entertainment industry attorney who specialized in representing musical groups. He spent 35 years as principal lawyer and general counsel for the Grateful Dead, a position in the group that was so strong that his business cards with the band identified his role as "Czar".[126]
Kant brought the band millions of dollars in revenue through his management of the band'sintellectual property and merchandising rights. At Kant's recommendation, the group was one of the few rock 'n roll pioneers to retain ownership of their music masters andpublishing rights.
In 2006, the Grateful Dead signed a ten-year licensing agreement withRhino Entertainment to manage the band's business interests including the release of musical recordings, merchandising, and marketing. The band retained creative control and kept ownership of its music catalog.[127][128]
A Grateful Dead video game titledGrateful Dead Game – The Epic Tour[129] was released in April 2012 and was created by Curious Sense.[130]
In November 2022, the children's bookThe ABCs of The Grateful Dead was released.[131] Authorized by the group, it was written by Howie Abrams, illustrated byMichael "Kaves" McLeer, and published bySimon & Schuster.[132]
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AfterLithuaniagained its independence from the USSR, the country announced its withdrawal from the1992 Olympics due to the lack of any money to sponsor participants.[133] But NBA starŠarūnas Marčiulionis, a native Lithuanian basketball star, wanted to help his native team to compete. His efforts resulted in a call from representatives of the Grateful Dead who set up a meeting with the band members.[134] The band agreed to fund transportation costs for the team (about $5,000) along with Grateful Dead designs for the team's jerseys and shorts. TheLithuanian basketball team won the bronze medal and the Lithuanian basketball/Grateful Dead T-shirts became part of pop culture, especially in Lithuania.[133][135] The incident was covered by the documentaryThe Other Dream Team.[136]
The Grateful Dead toured constantly throughout their career, playing more than 2,300 concerts.[137] They promoted a sense of community among their fans, who became known as "Deadheads", many of whom followed their tours for months or years on end. Around concert venues, an impromptu communal marketplace known as "Shakedown Street" was created by Deadheads to serve as centers of activity where fans could buy and sell anything fromgrilled cheese sandwiches to homemade T-shirts and recordings of Grateful Dead concerts.[138]
In their early career, the band also dedicated their time and talents to their community, the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco, making available free food, lodging, music, and health care to all. It has been said that the band performed "more free concerts than any band in the history of music".[139]
With the exception of 1975, when the band was on hiatus and played only four concerts, Grateful Dead performed many concerts every year, from their formation in April 1965, until July 9, 1995.[140] Initially all their shows were in California, principally in theSan Francisco Bay Area and in or nearLos Angeles. They also performed, in 1965 and 1966, withKen Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, as the house band for theAcid Tests.
In 1967, they toured nationally, including their first performance inNew York City. They appeared at theMonterey Pop Festival in 1967, theWoodstock Festival in 1969 and theFestival Express train tour across Canada in 1970. They were scheduled to appear as the final act at the infamousAltamont Free Concert on December 6, 1969, after theRolling Stones but withdrew after security concerns. "That's the way things went at Altamont—so badly that the Grateful Dead, prime organizers and movers of the festival, didn't even get to play", staff atRolling Stone magazine wrote in a detailed narrative on the event.[141]
Their first UK performance was at theHollywood Music Festival in 1970. Their largest concert audience came in 1973 when they played, along withthe Allman Brothers Band andthe Band, before an estimated 600,000 people at theSummer Jam at Watkins Glen.[142] They played to an estimated total of 25 million people, more than any other band, with audiences of up to 80,000 attending a single show. Many of these concerts were preserved in the band's tape vault, and several dozen have since been released on CD and as downloads. The Dead were known for the tremendous variation in their setlists from night to night—the list of songs documented to have been played by the band exceeds 500.[143] The band has released four concert videos under the nameView from the Vault. In 1978, they played three nights at theGreat Pyramid of Giza inEgypt.
In the 1990s, the Grateful Dead earned a total of $285 million in revenue from their concert tours, the second-highest during the 1990s, with the Rolling Stones earning the most.[144] This figure is representative of tour revenue through 1995, as touring stopped after the death of Jerry Garcia.[144]
In a 1991PBS documentary, segment host Buck Henry attended an August 1991 concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre and gleaned some information from some band members about the Grateful Dead phenomenon and its success.[145] At the time, Jerry Garcia stated, "We didn't really invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented the Grateful Dead, you know what I mean? We were sort of standing in line, and uh, it's gone way past our expectations, way past, so it's, we've been going along with it to see what it's gonna do next."[145] Mickey Hart said, "This is one of the last places in America that you can really have this kind of fun, you know, considering the political climate and so forth."[145] Hart also stated that "the transformative power of the Grateful Dead is really the essence of it; it's what it can do to your consciousness. We're more intotransportation than we are into music,per se, I mean, the business of the Grateful Dead is transportation."[145] One of the band's largest concerts took place just months before Garcia's death, at their outdoor show with Bob Dylan inHighgate, Vermont, on June 15, 1995. The crowd was estimated to be over 90,000; overnight camping was allowed and about a third of the audience got in without having purchased a ticket.[146][147][148]
Their numerous studio albums were generally collections of new songs that they had first played in concert. The band was also famous for its extended musical improvisations, having been described as having never played the same song the same way twice. Their concert sets often blended songs, one into the next, often for more than three songs at a time.
| Rank | Song | First year | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Me and My Uncle" | 1966 | 608 |
| 2 | "Sugar Magnolia" | 1970 | 591 |
| 3 | "Playing in the Band" | 1971 | 587 |
| 4 | "The Other One" | 1967 | 585 |
| 5 | "I Know You Rider" | 1965 | 546 |
| 6 | "China Cat Sunflower" | 1968 | 546 |
| 7 | "Not Fade Away" | 1968 | 531 |
| 8 | "Truckin'" | 1970 | 519 |
| Rank | City | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 328 |
| 2 | New York City | 157 |
| 3 | Oakland | 128 |
| 4 | Philadelphia | 67 |
| 5 | Berkeley | 60 |
| 6 | Boston | 52 |
| 7 | Chicago | 52 |
| 8 | Los Angeles | 47 |
TheWall of Sound was a large sound system designed specifically for the band.[149][150] The band was never satisfied with the house system anywhere they played. After the Monterey Pop Festival, the band's crew 'borrowed' some of the other performers' sound equipment and used it to host some free shows in San Francisco.[151] In their early days, soundmanOwsley "Bear" Stanley designed apublic address (PA) and monitor system for them. Stanley was the Grateful Dead's soundman for many years; he was also one of the largest suppliers ofLSD.[152]
Stanley's sound systems were delicate and finicky, and frequently brought shows to a halt with technical breakdowns. After Stanley went to jail for manufacturing LSD in 1970, the group briefly used house PAs, but found them to be even less reliable than those built by their former soundman. On February 2, 1970, the group contactedBob Heil to use his system.[153] In 1971, the band purchased their firstsolid-state sound system fromAlembic Studios. Because of this,Alembic would play an integral role in the research, development, and production of the Wall of Sound. The band also welcomedDan Healy into the fold on a permanent basis that year. Healy would mix the Grateful Dead's live sound until 1993.
Following Jerry Garcia's death and the band's breakup in 1995, their current sound system was inherited byDave Matthews Band. Dave Matthews Band debuted the sound system April 30, 1996, at the first show of their 1996 tour in Richmond, Virginia.
Like several other bands at the time, the Grateful Dead allowed their fans to record their shows. For many years thetapers set up their microphones wherever they could, and the eventual forest of microphones became a problem for the sound crew. Eventually, this was solved by having a dedicated taping section located behind the soundboard, which required a special "tapers" ticket. The band allowed sharing of their shows, as long as no profits were made on the sale of the tapes.[154]
Of the approximately 2,350 shows the Grateful Dead played, almost 2,200 were taped, and most of these are available online.[155] The band began collecting and cataloging tapes early on andDick Latvala was their keeper. "Dick's Picks" is named after Latvala. After his death in 1999,David Lemieux gradually took the post. Concert set lists from a subset of 1,590 Grateful Dead shows were used to perform a comparative analysis between how songs were played in concert and how they are listened online byLast.fm members.[156] In their bookMarketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History,[157]David Meerman Scott andBrian Halligan identify the taper section as a crucial contributor to increasing the Grateful Dead's fan base.
Over the years, a number of iconic images have come to be associated with the Grateful Dead. Many of these images originated as artwork for concert posters or album covers.
Fans and enthusiasts of the band are commonly referred to asDeadheads. While the origin of the term may be unclear,Dead Heads were made canon by the notice placed inside theSkull and Roses (1971) album by manager Jon McIntire:
DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you?
Send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed.
Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, California 94901.
As each show featured a new setlist and a great deal of improvisation, Deadheads would often follow the band from city to city, attending many shows on a given tour. Many Deadheads speak of being drawn to the culture due to the sense of community that the band's shows tended to foster. Though Deadheads came from a wide array of demographics, many attempted to reproduce the aesthetics and values of the1960s counterculture and were often stigmatized in the media.[169] Because of the stereotyping of Deadheads ashippies, the band's shows became a common target for officials in theDEA and arrests at shows became common.[170]
As a group, the Deadheads were considered very mellow. "I'd rather work nine Grateful Dead concerts than one Oregon football game", Police Det. Rick Raynor said. "They don't get belligerent like they do at the games."[171] Despite this reputation, in the mid-1990s, as the band's popularity grew, there were a series of minor scuffles occurring at shows that peaked with a large scale riot at theDeer Creek Music Center near Indianapolis in July 1995. Thisgate crashing incident caused the band to cancel the following night's show.[172] Deadheads who appeared on the scene after the band's 1987 hit single "Touch of Grey", were often disparagingly referred to by older fans as "Touchheads". Beginning in the 1980s, a number of definable sects of Deadheads began to appear on the scene. These included theWharf Rats, as well as the "spinners", named forwhirling-style of dancing and their use of the band's music to facilitatemystical experiences.[173]
Deadheads, particularly those who collectedtapes, were known for keeping close records of the band's setlists and for comparing various live versions of the band's songs, as reflected in publications such as the various editions of "Deadbase" and "The Deadhead's Taping Compendium". This practice continues into the 21st century on digital forums and websites such as theInternet Archive, which features live recordings of nearly every available Grateful Dead show and allows users to discuss and review the site's shows.
The band hasa number of influential and celebrity fans, including politicians, businesspeople, journalists, and other musicians.
On April 24, 2008, members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, along with Nion McEvoy, CEO ofChronicle Books,UC Santa Cruz chancellorGeorge R. Blumenthal, and UC Santa Cruz librarian Virginia Steel, held a press conference announcing UCSC's McHenry Library would be the permanent home of theGrateful Dead Archive, which includes a complete archival history from 1965 to the present. The archive includes correspondence, photographs, fliers, posters, and several other forms of memorabilia and records of the band. Also included are unreleased videos of interviews and TV appearances that will be installed for visitors to view, as well as stage backdrops and other props from the band's concerts.
Blumenthal stated at the event, "The Grateful Dead Archive represents one of the most significant popular cultural collections of the 20th century; UC Santa Cruz is honored to receive this invaluable gift. The Grateful Dead and UC Santa Cruz are both highly innovative institutions—born the same year—that continue to make a major, positive impact on the world." Guitarist Bob Weir stated "We looked around, and UC Santa Cruz seems the best possible home. If you ever wrote the Grateful Dead a letter, you'll probably find it there!"[174]
Professor of musicFredric Lieberman was the key contact between the band and the university, who let the university know about the search for a home for the archive, and who had collaborated with Mickey Hart on three books in the past,Planet Drum (1990),Drumming at the Edge of Magic (1991), andSpirit into Sound (2006).[175][176]
The first large-scale exhibition of materials from the Grateful Dead Archive was mounted at theNew-York Historical Society in 2010.[177]
In 2004,Rolling Stone ranked the Grateful Dead No. 57 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[178]
On February 10, 2007, the Grateful Dead received aGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was accepted on behalf of the band by Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.[179]
In 2011, a recording of the Grateful Dead's May 8, 1977, concert at Cornell University's Barton Hall was selected for induction into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.[180]
Twelve members of the Grateful Dead (the eleven official performing members plus Robert Hunter) were inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, andBruce Hornsby was their presenter.[6]
In 2024 the band was named as one of the recipients of theKennedy Center Honors. The three living core members (Weir, Hart and Kreutzmann) received the award.[22] As he was named a recipient prior to his death, Lesh received the award posthumously.
Lead guitaristJerry Garcia was often viewed both by the public and the media as the leader or primary spokesperson for the Grateful Dead, but was reluctant to be perceived that way, especially since he and the other group members saw themselves asequal participants and contributors to their collective musical and creative output.[181][182] Garcia, a native of San Francisco, grew up in theExcelsior District. One of his main influences was bluegrass music, and he also performed—onbanjo, one of his other great instrumental loves, along with thepedal steel guitar—in bluegrass bands, notablyOld & In the Way withmandolinistDavid Grisman.
Ned Lagin, a youngMIT student and friend of the band, guested with them many times from 1970 through 1975, providing a second keyboard as well as synthesizers. Upon graduating from MIT, he began touring with the band fulltime in 1974, performing sets of electronic music withPhil Lesh, occasionally with Garcia and Kreutzmann, during the band's intermission.[183] The "Ned and Phil" set became a regular fixture of that era, and was featured nearly every night during their Summer '74 and Europe '74 tours, as well as their five-night residency at theWinterland Ballroom during October 1974. Lagin is also featured inThe Grateful Dead Movie. During 1974 and 1975, he would also occasionally play entire sets with the band, usually on Garcia's side of the stage, before ending his touring relationship with the band and focusing on his solo music projects, such as his albumSeastones, which features several members of the Dead.[184]
Bruce Hornsby never officially joined the band full-time because of his other commitments, but he did play keyboards at most Dead shows between September 1990 and March 1992, and sat in with the band over 100 times in all between 1988 and 1995. He added several Dead songs to his own live shows[185] and Jerry Garcia referred to him as a "floating member" who could come and go as he pleased.[186][187][188]
Robert Hunter andJohn Perry Barlow were the band's primarylyricists, starting in 1967 and 1971, respectively, and continuing until the band's dissolution.[189][190] Hunter collaborated mostly with Garcia and Barlow mostly with Weir, though each wrote with other band members as well. Both are listed as official members at Dead.net, the band's website, alongside the performing members.[16] Barlow was the only member not inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame.
When the Dead's music was working best, it always sounded like a healthy argument among old friends—one that could spark new ideas.
'In all likelihood, without the Grateful Dead and without Bob Weir, there would not be an Americana community', said Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association...
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