THE GRATEFUL DEAD

BY:BRENT LENNOX

The Grateful Dead started from simply playing music for friends creating an excellent impression on the music world. What made the Grateful Dead a household word were their concerts as events and that is what they certainly were; a concert band foremost. The San Francisco band simply played three to five hour shows and people followed on "tour". The 1960’s was a decade for experimentation and they were in the middle of the flower generation. Their music was known as "psychedelic" and it brought masses together for the music.

Their roots came from the blues of Charley Patton, Bonnie Dobson’s folk music, The Pindar Family, Joseph Spence’s Bahamian traditional rhythm to the Bobby "Blue" Band, and Texas blues through Henry Thomas. The Grateful Dead’s roots extended far beyond the thread of "psychedelic," as it was one of an electric mix of sound and style which made the music exciting and new. With a combination of each of these influences a kind of rock and roll unique in itself was created. It can be described as country, popular music, blues, and jazz combined into one form of music.

What makes the Grateful Dead’s music so special is their variety and ever changing experimentation and exploration. Instead of simply doing the same show over and over again, each show is unique and different from the others. In the past the band stayed for nights in places like New York selling every single show out and never playing the same song twice. Each recording is different just as each concert is different. The components that make the recordings different involve the band’s balance with the feelings of their surroundings, the audience, and each other. The Grateful Dead’s variety of music ranges to such a great extent that many songs have never been recorded, but solely heard at live performances. The variety and evolving songs make this band special.

This is the result of the band’s ability to adapt to changes. The secret to the success of the Grateful Dead was simply because of how they worked together. Without warning, flashes of brilliance infiltrated their mere existence to a higher level of layering of sound making it such a special experience that continually separates them from other bands. An example of this is Dark Star their improvisational piece in which soaring guitar and bass solos lead to smashing drum solos forming excellent endings and beginnings of what I like to call movements. Through the improvisation the band meshed to form one distinctly unique sound branching off from the chorus to two melodies on the guitar and bass combining to make many musical masterpieces. There isn’t a correct way to describe the way in which the band did this, but what is evident is that if you listen to the same song in ten recordings the listener will never know what is going to happen next, except for the familiar tunes that form a base for their experimentation. Each band member listened to adapt to changes and create their wonderfully unique music

Another important ingredient to their music is the audience. The concerts were the paramount of their existence. Their loyal fans would travel hundreds of miles to see them and when they got their became part of the music through their reaction, energy, and atmosphere that they became part of. This partnership defines their music as not being played at the audience, but with the audience. It is the band and the audience combined to create a special experience in which a mere spectator is turned into a dead head. Being a dead head is very simple to belong to because there aren’t any restrictions or limitations. There are no limitations except buying their records or going to one of their concerts. Many that listen to their music experience a change in their perception of music. Everyone hears the music, but the way in which the music transforms into something personal makes it an individual experience for everyone.

This is also reflected in the different symbols rooting from the band. The Grateful Dead probably have the most logos of any band. This is because to some people tie dye, bears, or skulls symbolize their music. A person could collect Grateful Dead clothing and memorabilia for years and have hundreds of unique and different items compared to others.

The way in which they conduct their business is much different compared to other bands. To get a ticket to one of their concerts you needed to write a letter to them. The purpose of this was to make sure that only their fans got into the concerts. Instead of Ticket master, damn that massive money maker -- the problem of the music world—they had their own ticket vendor in which made sure that the ticket prices were low. I wish other bands would end the monopoly! This fixed some of the major problems with concerts and created concerts for being for the music, nothing else.

An important part of the band is the interaction between the fans themselves. The Grateful Dead magazine called Dupress Diamonds connects fellow dead heads with each other through the classifieds, web pages, and chat lines, and also keeps their fans updated with what’s happening or happened. In the past newsletters were sent out and advertisements on their albums to help fellow dead heads meet with each other. Although the newsletters have gradually been replaced by the hot lines, people can still get connected to the band and other people that love the music. Even a year after disbanding; the number of compact discs and t- shirt sales have increased. A key component of the band is their sense of community. Each person forms a special union when becoming a dead head.

An album was created called Dedicated in which many bands that have been influenced by them combined to sing some of their favorite songs. Some of the many bands influenced by them are Los Lobos, Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega, Dwight Yoakam, Indigo Girls, Cowboy Junkies, Midnight Oil, and Jane’s Addiction. The range of musical genres vary even throughout these bands. A test of how successful a band really is comes from the other people that they have affected. For this reason the Grateful Dead’s music has obviously had an effect on others and their music will be listen to and use for generations to come.

Bibliography:

Grateful Dead Family Album, Jerilyn Lee Brandelius

The History of the Grateful Dead, William Ruhlmann

The Official Deadhead Book, compilation of authors

The Official Home page of the Grateful Dead, www.dead.net/

The Grateful Dead Community Home page, http://www.frognet.net/~scott/dead.html

Compact Discs- Deadicated, and The Music Never Stops

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Brent Lennox

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