AL's  Grateful Dead     Page

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Following the death of lead guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia in 1995 the surviving members declared that the band would no longer continue as a touring entity. I believe though, that the spirit of the Dead will go on for many, many years to come.

For one thing no other band's music can be as well documented as that of  The Dead. By allowing recordists to tape their concerts right from the band's inception in 1965 through to their final concerts in 1995 a full 30 year history of the band is available and in the public domain. There are thousands of shows to hear, covering hundreds of songs played in an almost infinite variety of ways as the band changed outlook, style, equipment, and personnel over the years. It is hard to get a picture of the Dead from any one show, year, or even decade. So if your new to the band, or are only familiar with their studio work where to start?  If your going to check out the history of the band, and all you've got is a list of dates & places what do you choose? Some thoughts on this can be found in Dead Through the Years...

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Dead Through The Years

This is some kind of a brief musical history, complete with personal bias based on what I have had the opportunity to hear, an dread about- If you have more to add to this I invite you to send a link or some additions, so we can broaden the scope of this page, which is very young.

1960's

In the period from 1960 or so to about 1964 the members of what would become the Grateful Dead [Jerry Garcia (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan (organ, harmonica, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), Bill Kreutzman (drums)], played in various jug bands, forming as 'The Warlocks' in 1965.

From 1965, The Warlocks, soon re-named the Grateful Dead,  lived communally in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. Along with other musicians in bands like Jefferson Airplane & The Byrds they were influenced heavily by the Beat movement, and the blossoming 'hippie' counterculture. The members of the Grateful Dead, like many of their peers, shook free of social convention, exploring as they saw fit,  taking LSD, marijuana, and other drugs. They evolved rapidly as musicians,  progressing from good time dance band to psychedelic warriors over a 5 year period. Listening now it is hard to believe that some members of the band, took up their instruments only when the band formed.

Through the mid-late 60's the Dead played a rollicking, head-on, yet ethereal brand of psychedelic rock & roll, as house band for the Merry Pranksters during the now famous 'Acid Tests'. Most of the bands playing at this time was in & around the Bay Area, playing now historic venues like the Fillmore. Songs like 'The Other One', 'St. Steven' and 'Dark Star' are in heavy rotation, stretching the boundaries of the rock idiom in new ways every time played. Many other lesser known nuggets like 'Mason's Children' & 'King Bee' never made it too official release (until Dick's Pick's)- 1969 in particular is a classic year for tapes.

1970's

In 1970 the maturing band members explore some of their influences, particularly Garcia, who began again to explore his interest in American folk & roots music, and this year featured some great acoustic sets, sandwiched between electric sets. Songs worked on in this period ended up on the Classic albums 'Workingmans Dead' & 'American Beauty' .

2nd Drummer Mickey Heart left the band in 1971, and Pigpen is forced to take a short hiatus due to ill health, leading to the addition of  Keith & Donna Godchaux (piano, vocals). Upon his return, and through '71 & '72 Pigpen, the band's keyboardist, shows his strength as a barnstorming blues master, and his trademark voice, and heart felt harmonica playing is often the high point of a show from these years. Tapes from the European tour of '72 are very popular.

Pigpen's death in 1973 from alcohol related illness was a bitter blow for the band, yet they were able to re-invent themselves. Mickey Heart returns to the fold, and they set out in a new direction, with new songs from the 'Wake of the Flood' album leading to some of the bands jazziest, most spaced out improvisation yet. 1974 is all about long, jazzy 'Weather Report Suite's and 'Eyes of the World' comes into it's own. A short run of shows in  Europe during September 1974 is the bands last until 1981.

In 1975, exhausted from 10 years of heavy touring the band announced a 'retirement' from touring, and consequently only a handful of shows exist from this year. Members continued to play, however, and 1975 is a strong year for both the Jerry Garcia Band, and Weir's solo efforts.

In '76 the band re-grouped & toured once again. I haven't heard many 1976 tapes, but songs worked on during '76, in my opinion, reached full juicy ripeness in 1977, and many consider '77 to have been the bands best year ever. The pairings of Estimated Prophet->Eyes Of The World and Scarlet Begonia's->Fire On The Mountain are too good for words in '77.

'78 & '79 are also very strong years. Many songs from this period approach perfection, and some end up dropped from rotation for a long time, most lamentably St. Steven, seemingly perfected in '77 (19 appearances), played only 4 times in '78, and dropped in 1979 after one performance, only appearing again for a brief 3 show stint in 1983 before disappearing forever. This has prompted some speculation that once perfected the band would loose interest in a song, often dropping it to be re-introduced years later.

In 1979 Donna & Keith part company with the band, shortly before Keith's untimely death in a traffic accident. Brent Mydland, who had played with Bob Weir's 'Bobby & the Midnights' is asked to join as keyboardist & vocalist.

1980's

While perhaps not their strongest period, with Garcia's life long struggle with heroin becoming an occasional problem, there is plenty to hear in this decade with many highs, but a few lows also. In 1980 the band play a series of concerts featuring acoustic sets, which are excellent, and very popular with traders. Tours of Europe in 1981 yield some interesting shows,  however according to Deadbase 1980-1984 are the least popular years with traders. This is a shame, because there is a lot of great stuff from this period, mixed in with some admittedly inferior performances.  In 1985, however, the band celebrate their 20th Anniversary Tour, and this seems to inject a lot of enthusiasm into the boys, making '85 a great year for tapes, with Garcia very much 'on form'.

In 1986, following an exhausting summer tour Garcia collapsed, and fell into a diabetic coma. When he came out of the coma Garcia found that he had largely forgotten his ability to play guitar. In late 1986, following a period of convalescence in which close friend Merl Saunders helped him re-learn the guitar, Garcia began to play again, and returned with a vengeance in 1987, making this a strong year for both the Dead, and the Jerry Garcia Band, which had an historic 13 night sell-out run on Broadway, playing acoustic & electric sets each night.

Brent's soulful voice and unique keyboard style can be heard on all tapes through the '80's, and it is a period through which the band begin to experiment with more new technology, and the Drums->Space segment of shows becomes a permanent fixture. Often overlooked these sequences are true improvisation and many mind expanding moments can be heard on tape.

The band introduce little new material until the mid-late 80's, when the songs that would eventually appear on the hugely popular 'In The Dark' Album begin rotation in 1984/5. The album 'In The Dark's release in 1987 lead to a new generation of fans, and shows from '86-'89 are often enjoyable, sometimes essential, such as 10/09/89, performing as 'Formerly the Warlocks' the band play the first 'Dark Star' since 1984, and the first 'Attics Of My Life' since 1972 (a 17 year gap).

1990's

 In 1990 Garcia began using his new 'midi' guitar to great effect, and suddenly a whole world of saxophone, violin, and other instrument sounds where at his fingertips. GD Lyricist (and EFF founder member) John Barlow once said to Garcia after witnessing a rousing use of midi-trumpet during a show 'You could have been a fucking great trumpet player!' to which Garcia responded "I am a fucking great trumpet player!". This gives us a hint of  Garcia's commitment to this new sound, and his re-newed enthusiasm for playing.

Brent Mydland's death by overdose leads to Vince Welnick (keys, vocals) & Bruce Hornsby (piano, vocals) joining the band, further altering their rich new sound. Many new songs were introduced through the 90's, and many old songs re-introduced,  breathing new life into some old classics, as songs like 'Help On The Way', 'Slipknot' & 'Franklins Tower',  return to rotation after many years. 1990 in particular is a classic year, with a highly successful tour of Europe (first in 9 years),  a classic run at Madison Square Garden, and shows featuring guest musicians, perhaps best of which being jazz saxophone great Branford Marsalis, who performs a legendary set on 3/29/90. Hornsby remains with the group as much as he is able until departing in 1992.

The sound pioneered in the early 90's continued to develop & evolve, and there are many shows that stand out, including further guest appearances by other jazz saxophone greats like Davis Murray, and Ornette Coleman. Perhaps though, no year since 1990 has as many peaks. Garcia's death in 1995 breaks the band up, leaving a collection of new songs that are yet to be officially released, having never made it to the studio.

The Future

Members of the Dead play on, and post Dead performances by surviving members can be found. Look for Bob Weir's band 'Ratdog', Vince Welnick's 'Missing Man Formation', Mickey Hart's 'Mystery Box', and guest appearances by Phil Lesh with David Crosby in San Francisco on 1/21/97, and Bob Weir & Phil Lesh with David Murray on 3/6/97.

Phil Lesh is said to be working on selecting live versions of the unreleased songs to compile a version of the 'unfinished album'.

In Conclusion

Whichever era of Dead you listen to there  is a commitment to playing directly from the heart, with every performance a new opportunity for exploration and variation. No two songs are played alike, and consequently there was nothing like a Dead show. Bill Graham, promoter, and long time friend of the band said it like this: "The Dead are not the best at what they do, they are the only ones who do what they do." I hope they will not be the last to reach such highs, but they where certainly among the first.

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Al's Tape Picks

You can find these tapes in the tape trading section.

07/16/66 The Fillmore
07/17/66 The Fillmore  - these two sets shouldn't sound this good!
03/01/69 Fillmore West - A classic.
04/17/71 Dillon Gym, NJ  -Great Pigpen Raps!
06/28/74 Boston, MA - Wonderful 'Weather Report Suite'
09/03/77 Englishtown, NJ  - 'Eyes of the World'!!
04/17/82 Hartford, CT
04/18/82 Hartford, CT
10/15/83 Hartford, CT
11/05/85 Worcester, MA - Great Ist set  Shakedown & Women Smarter!!
06/26/87 Alpine Valley,WI - I toured in '87. These Alpine shows where *hard* to find...
06/27/87 Alpine Valley,WI
06/28/87 Alpine Valley,WI
06/30/87 Toronto, CANADA - Set II was the high point of the tour for me!
07/02/87 Rochester, NY - They tore the Silver Stadium down last year. Great show!
10/23/89 Charlotte, NC  - 'California Earthquake', a must hear song...
03/29/90 Madison Square Garden, NYC - With Branford Marsalis sax, one of the best 'Eyes Of The World'
09/22/93 MSG, NYC  - With David Murray sax & James Cotton Harmonica.
07/09/95 Soldier Field, IL  - The last Dead show :-(

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Real Audio Clips

Sites with Grateful Dead Real Audio Content	Sample from my Tape Collection
SUGAR MEGS: On-line tapes! Phish, Jorma, Ratdog, & GD Bettyboards	"West LA Fadeaway" performed on 2/14/86 at Henry J Kaiser Convention Center, in Oakland, CA.  Filesize: 869k
DEAD RADIO: Real time 24 hrs. a day, 'Virtual Dead Show' live on Thursday nights
Jerry Garcia: Not Fade Away. Must hear! 2 hours of music & *interviews*
Real Audio archive of Grateful Dead music.
Deadshow.com is a fantastic archive

There are so many great GD sites, just search Yahoo, here are a couple of must visit site's though. More to come...

• Franklin's Tower, Home of the 'Eyes of the World' Grateful Dead Mailing List, which often has news on the Phish scene as it extends to Europe & beyond...
• Deadbase Home If you trade tapes, you want a copy of Deadbase. Now you can order on-line even from the UK! .
• The Annotated Lyrics of the Grateful Dead