Tribute to The Grateful Dead

Cover of Aoxomoxoa

Who Are the Grateful Dead? by Russell Shortt

The Grateful Dead are legendary, more of a symbol than a band. Indeed the majority of people know the brand more than the music, are more familiar with Jerry Garcia & Co.'s antics than with the albums. They were the most famous, most celebrated, most mischievous of hippie bands and indeed, they stuck around the longest. They converted legions and legions of scenesters into hardened Deadheads.

They grew out of the union between singer/songwriter/lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, songwriter/rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and keyboardist/singer Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan. The three began as folkies before going electric and teaming up with classically trained avant-garde/electronica graduate Phil Lesh on bass and Bill Kreutzmann on drums. Their first gigs were rather appropriately as the house band at Ken Kesey's notorious LSD parties. They followed these gigs by holding a series of free concerts where they combined folk and country with blues. However, their debut album The Grateful Dead (1967) failed to capture the band's eclecticism nor the excitement of their live concerts.

They ironed out this problem on the follow-up album Anthem of the Sun (1968) with its psychedelically improvisational sound collages helped by the addition of a second drummer Mick Hary and a second keyboardist Tom Constanten. They continued their aural experimentation through Aoxomoxoa (1969) which marked the beginning of their collaboration with non-performance band member Robert Hunter.

It was on their double-album Live/Dead that same year that everything came together and they finally managed to capture what The Grateful Dead were about. Once they mastered this and proved themselves they debunked to the studio, recording two classic albums - Workingman's Dead and American Beauty both on which they explored their country, folk and blues roots.

Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source Russell Shortt

http://www.exploringireland.net

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