I don't listen to as much Dead as I used to, but the collection of music that band produced in the studio and live are still my favorite. Hard to pin "favorites" on particular songs...too many to count.
It was a challenge for me to get to like them. As a young edgy metalhead, I had no clue about them...but I kept seeing this very American looking band logo that was a skull with a lightning bolt in it. Looked pretty metal to me, had to be cool! Listened to them for maybe 5 minutes and I thought it sucked. No super distorted guitars, no 80s style shredding, no alpha male aggro vocals. Shit was weak to me.
Fast forward a decade where I'd experienced a bit more to life with emotions; had tried drugs....Basically, mind and heart open a bit more. It dawned on me how this band was different.
Instead of overdriven amps, the guitar sound was extremely clean. Almost glass like. Garcia didn't shred, but he searched for the next notes. The emotion in finding that right note for the moment, and the nuance in plucking the string a certain way. It was a different type of power I wasn't used to.
The bass player was at the front of the music too. It wasn't basic bass guitar, it was lead bass playing an entirely different riff/melody than the guitar, yet countering the guitar perfectly. Like th2e two were doing a figure 8 dance around each other.
Two drummers? Poly rhythms that galloped more than chunking along.
It was different and totally unique. Then I discovered they let fans record most of their shows throughout their history, and each show had a completely different set list. The shows were split into two sets & an encore usually, not the one big set with the same greatest hits type deal i was used to.
Perfect combination of newness, that had been under my nose my entire life, for me to go completely bonkers with as a music nerd. For disclosure, im 31 and never got to see them live. But here was this American band with this vast history of playing live all over, a recorded history at that. It could get downright academic for me at times.
Then you just had the ethos of the whole scene, band + fans. The band let the fans record their shows, as long as they didn't sell the tapes (trading allowed). You had this strong core following, upwards of 30k when the band was at its commercial height, that followed the band to each show. Literally, a moving city/economy. And everyone sold goods in the parking lots to sustain themselves and fund their tours. You name it, it was likely there. The band wanted the fans to police themselves, not being fond of making rules for others. Everyone was welcome to the scene, from hippies to business people to bikers. Freedom of choice to do whatever you wanted was the theory, as long as you didn't infringe or hurt anyone else. So drugs were prevalent, but not key in being part of the scene. It was an event, both serious and a party all at once. It was very Anerican to me. Of course, the scene got too big in the late 80s/early 90s and attracted lots of dark elements...so it kind of ate itself and fell apart, along with Jerry's poor health/drug habits/death that meant the end of the band.
But the ethos of the scene lived on, bubbling up around bands like Phish and Widespread Panic in the 90s after Jerry died. The music was cataloged and therefore lived. They changed the music industry from being record based to live show based. Hell, they changed how big concert audio worked in the 70s. All those speakers you see suspended at concerts above the stage that deliver crisp and clear sound? The Dead did it first, whereas bands used to try to play big venues with basically just their stage instrument amps doing all the work.
I love the Grateful Dead. It is American rock and roll gospel to me. They were pioneers in many ways, and at the heart of it....it was about the music, not record deals/money/image/ego.
Yes, it is great music while on psychedelics. But not necessary. Not the point. The point is to go within, while going outward.
Great thread for morning coffee
