Dec 14

The Grateful Dead

Greatly Appreciated

THE GRATEFUL DEAD
 
 
The Grateful Dead  is an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California.  The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long musical improvisation.  “Their music”, writes Lenny Kaye, “touches on ground that most other groups don’t even know exists.”  The Grateful Dead have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide.  The fans of the Grateful Dead, some of whom followed the band from concert to concert for years, are known as “Deadheads” and are known for their dedication to the band’s music.  Their Barton Hall Concert at Cornell University (May 8, 1977) was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
The San Francisco sound covers a lot of what used to be called “acid rock” (music designed to be enjoyed while under the influence of LSD):  Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the Grateful Dead.  This music is much calmer and more meditative than one might think; there is enough going on during an acid trip without having your head blown off by a lot of bombastic music.
 
(March 2011)
 
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As I mentioned above, most bootleg albums are concerts that were recorded clandestinely by a member of the audience.  The quality of the recordings depended to some extent on where they were sitting and how noisy the people nearby were.  The Grateful Dead famously started setting aside an area near the stage for bootleggers to place microphones so that the quality would be better.  
 
(April 2012)
 
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One of the best songs on the Thomas Anderson album Moon Going Down is “Jerry’s Kids”.  The reference is not to Jerry Lewis’s telethon children, but to the “Deadhead” followers of Jerry Garcia’s band the Grateful Dead.  Besides showing his lively sense of humor, the song illustrates his expansive outlook on life:  The song is full of expected praise for the idealistic Deadheads but does not dismiss the easy criticisms either – Thomas Anderson truly can see all points of view, unlike many of us who just say we do. 
 
(November 2012)
 
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Hardly anyone knows that Creedence Clearwater Revival was also a headliner at Woodstock; however, their subpar performance didn’t start until 3:00 a.m. (after the Grateful Dead) and was omitted from the film and concert albums (though they did make the 1994 box set).  
 
(January 2013)
 
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“Not Fade Away” ranks as the seventh most-performed song by the Grateful Dead in concert; they played the song an astounding 530 times.  Additionally, the Buddy Holly classic is on eight of their officially released live albums. 

 

(June 2013/1)

 

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Within two months of its release, Cheap Thrills was the #1 album in the country on the Billboard charts where it remained for most of the rest of the year.  Surrealistic Pillow from the Jefferson Airplane made it to #3, and the Grateful Dead had a #6 album with In the Dark – but not until 1987. 

 

(February 2014)

 

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Additionally, Pete Sears of the Sons of Fred has been a prominent session bass guitarist and keyboard player for more than four decades.  He played on four early Rod Stewart solo albums, including the classic Every Picture Tells a Story (the album that includes Rod’s mega-hit “Maggie May”), plus Gasoline Alley, Never a Dull Moment, and Smiler.  Pete Sears has also worked with Steamhammer, Stoneground, Long John Baldry, Los Lobos, and three of the founding members of the Grateful Dead:  Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh. 

 

(March 2014/2)

 

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Crosby, Stills, Nash and/or Young have released any number of cultural and counter-cultural touchstones over the years, such as “Teach Your Children” (featuring Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on pedal steel guitar; the song actually made the country charts). 

 

(April 2014)

 

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The striking photograph on the British cover of the group’s sole album, Blind Faith shows a young topless girl holding a shiny metal winged object that reminds me of a hood ornament.  The cover shot was created by photographer Bob Seidemann, a good friend and former flatmate of Eric Clapton who had also photographed Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead.  The image was titled “Blind Faith” by Seidemann, and that became the name of the band Blind Faith as well. 

 

(May 2014)

 

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Major and minor artists alike often have spiritually themed songs or overtly Christian songs on their albums.  The first cut on Simon and Garfunkel’s debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. is a gospel song called “You Can Tell the World” that was written by Gibson & Camp (Bob Gibson and Bob Camp – later known as Hamilton Camp).  Peter, Paul and Mary had numerous gospel songs on their albums, including “This Train” on their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary.  Also on this album, under the name “If I Had My Way”, is a traditional song also called “Samson and Delilah” that is based on the Biblical account.  Many other rock musicians have recorded this song, notably the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Ike and Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, and Garbage front woman Shirley Manson. 

 

(July 2014)

 

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Stanton Swihart writes of Haymarket Square for Allmusic:  “As the music featured on it was initially utilized as live accompaniment and created expressly with that purpose in mind, the album plays much like the records of the [Jefferson] Airplane’s middle, most psychedelic period, as much visceral experiences to fill San Francisco ballrooms as they are objects for home listening, or like early Grateful Dead recordings, intended as soundtracks for Acid Tests and experimental light shows.  But as with the work of those bands, Magic Lantern transcends its intended purpose; in fact, it is one of the stronger – not to mention one of the earliest – slices of acid rock from the era, outstanding in every way, from [John] Kowalski’s expert drumming, to [Gloria] Lambert’s impressive, insistent singing, to the intensely mood-filled, darkly textured original songs.” 
 
(June 2015)
 
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Bruce Hornsby and the Range, A Night on the Town – Allmusic provides the details:  John Mellencamp producer Don Gehman is on hand, and guest artists include Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, Shawn Colvin (early in her career), banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and jazz bassist Charlie Haden. 
 
(December 2015)
 
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The Nick Gillespie piece continued: “Of course, when you’re the wife of a second-generation U. S. Senator, your mad counts for more than most of the rest of us. In 1985, the Senate wasted its time and our money by holding a hearing on the dread menace of dirty lyrics and the whole bang-the-gong medley of backward masking, rock-induced suicide, and sexual promiscuity. Just a few years later, Al [Gore] and Tipper [Gore] would reinvent themselves as diehard Grateful Dead fans, the better to look hip while campaigning with Bill [Clinton] and Hillary Clinton (another couple of revanchist baby boomers who burned a hell of a lot of time in the 1990’s attacking broadcast TV and basic cable as impossibly violent and desperately in need of regulation).” 
(June 2016)
Last edited: March 22, 2021