This page will contain news stories about Grateful Dead, as they become available.Grateful DeadJerry Garcia later in lifeThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band, which was formed in 1965 in San Francisco from the remnants of another band, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. The Grateful Dead was known for its unique and eclectic songwriting style, which fused elements of rock, folk music, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, and for long modal jams. The band's numerous fans, called Dead Heads, were renowned for their dedication to the band's music; many followed the Dead from concert to concert for years. Band HistoryPlaying originally as The Warlocks, and later "Grateful Dead" (a name chosen at random from the dictionary by Jerry Garcia), they became the de facto resident band of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, with the early sound heavily influenced by Kesey's LSD-soaked Acid Tests as well as Rhythm and Blues . These events are covered in detail in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Their musical influences varied widely with input from the psychedelic music of the era, combined with rhythm and blues, jazz, and country. These various influences were distilled into a unique new music that was a synthesis of all American folk music forms to-date; it paid homage to previous forms, and also reflected a sense of adventure and a continuous quest for the "musical unknown"; more often than not, exploration and a search for continual newness were the hallmarks of their live performances. The early records reflected their live repertoire—lengthy instrumental jams with guitar solos by Garcia, best exemplified by "Dark Star"—but lacked the energy of the shows and did not sell terribly well. The 1969 live album Live/Dead did capture more of their essence, but commercial success did not come until American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, both released in 1970. These records featured the band's laid-back acoustic musicianship and more traditional song structures. Bandleader Jerry Garcia played lead guitar and classically trained musician Phil Lesh played bass guitar. Bob Weir (usually referred to as "Bobby"), the youngest member of the group, played rhythm guitar. Bluesman Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played keyboards, harmonica and was an inspirational vocalist until his death in 1973. All of the previously mentioned members shared vocal duties. Bill Kruetzmann played drums, and in September 1967 was joined by a second drummer, New York native Mickey "Cow-Bell" Hart, who also played a wide variety of other percussion instruments. Hart quit the Grateful Dead in 1971, embarassed by the actions of his father, Dead money manager Lenny Hart (for whom the song "He's Gone" is penned), leaving Kruetzmann once again as the sole drummer. Hart rejoined the Dead for good in 1974. Tom "TC" Constanten played keyboards alongside Pigpen from 1968 to 1970. Two years later in late 1971, Pigpen was joined by another keyboardist, Keith Godchaux, who played grand piano alongside Pigpen's Hammond B3 organ. In early 1972, Keith's wife, Donna Jean Godchaux, joined the Dead as a backing vocalist. Keith and Donna were fired from the band in 1979, and Brent Mydland joined as keyboardist and vocalist. Keith Godchaux died in a car accident in 1980. Brent Mydland was the keyboardist for the Dead for 11 years until his death in 1990. He became the third Dead keyboardist to die. Almost immediately, former Tubes keyboardist Vince Welnick joined on keyboards and vocals. For a year and a half, Welnick was often joined by special guest Bruce Hornsby on piano. Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow were the band's lyricists. Touring was the hallmark of the Grateful Dead. With the exception of 1975, the Grateful Dead toured regularly around the USA from the winter of 1965 until July 9, 1995—with a few detours to Canada and Europe (see the albums Dick's Picks 7, Hundred Year Hall, Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead, and Europe '72) and 3 nights at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in 1978. Their numerous studio albums were generally collections of new songs that had been initially played in concert. The band was famous for their extended jams, which showcased both individual improvisation as well as a singularly unique "group-mind" improvisation where each of the band members improvised individually, while still blending spaghetti together as a cohesive musical unit, often engaging in extended improvisational flights of fancy. A hallmark of their concert sets were continuous sets of music where each song would blend into the next (a segue). Musically this may be illustrated in that the band not only improvised within the form of a song, yet also improvised with the forms. Many of their fans, commonly referred to as Dead Heads, would follow the band on tour. In contrast to many other bands, the Grateful Dead encouraged their fans to tape their shows. For many years, almost all of their shows would have dedicated taping sections. The band allowed sharing of tapes of their shows, as long as no profits were made on the sale of their show tapes. In the 1980s, the band scored a top 40 hit "Touch of Grey" which garnered a much younger and more mainstream fandom that was considered sharply different from the traditional Dead Heads. Starting in 1991, the Grateful Dead released numerous live concerts from their archives in two concurrent series: the From the Vault releases are multi-track remixes, whereas the Dick's Picks series are based on two-track mixes made at the time of the recording. There have been at least 31 DP releases as of March 2004. A series of videos began to trickle out of "The Vault", starting with View From the Vault (recorded in Pittsburgh on July 8, 1990 at Three Rivers Stadium) and View from the Vault II (recorded in Washington, DC on June 14, 1991 at RFK Stadium). All three series of releases continue to this day. Following Garcia's death in 1995, the remaining members formally decided to retire the name "Grateful Dead". Though some of them occasionally toured through the late 1990s under the name "The Other Ones" they mainly chose to pursue various solo projects: most notably Bob Weir's Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends and Mickey Hart's music for the 1996 Olympics. The remaining members occasionally got together under the pseudonym Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band during the late 1990s, infrequently playing unannounced shows. The mid-2002 fall tour of The Other Ones, with Bob, Bill, Phil and Mickey, was so successful and satisfying that the band decided the name was no longer appropriate. On February 14, 2003, (as they said) "reflecting the reality that [was]," they renamed themselves The Dead, keeping "Grateful" retired out of respect for Garcia. Wall of SoundThe Wall of Sound was an enormous structure of speakers. The wall was built up over time, several speakers were added each year until the wall was 32 feet high and weighed several thousand pounds. Because the wall had to be placed behind the band, vocalists sang into a phase canceling microphone setup, to elimante feedback. There were two microphones, a top and bottom. They sang into the top microphone, while the bottom microphone picked up sound from the wall, the sound wave from the bottom microphone was then inverted and inserted into the top microphone output. Because the of the technology available at the time, this resulted in poor vocal quality. Current MembersThe Grateful Dead broke up in 1995 after the death of Jerry Garcia. Remaining members came together as "The Dead" in 2003. Other variants had been tried since 1996, but this was the first use of the word "Dead" in the name. Besides remaining original members, "The Dead" usually feature a few rotating musicians on their tours to fill the missing guitar and keyboard slots. Original Members
Other Members
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Besides remaining original members, "The Dead" usually feature a few rotating musicians on their tours to fill the missing guitar and keyboard slots. Unofficial releases. Other variants had been tried since 1996, but this was the first use of the word "Dead" in the name. Recently, the band have joined of a number of 80s revival tours, Oakey now describing this as being in a Human League tribute band. Remaining members came together as "The Dead" in 2003. Four CDs attribute songs by The Human League under different names: on The Golden Hour Of The Future there are songs credited to The Human League when they were still The Future, on the single "I Don't Depend On You" where they call themselves The Men, on the "Dance Like A Star" Ep, there are also songs attributed to The Future and on "Love And Dancing", they pay homage to Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra by calling themselves League Unlimited Orchestra. The Grateful Dead broke up in 1995 after the death of Jerry Garcia. The album Octopus went silver, and the lead-off single "Tell Me When" was the group's first major hit since "Human". Because the of the technology available at the time, this resulted in poor vocal quality. Dropped by Virgin Records after the failure of their album Romantic? (1989), the group were now signed to EastWest and their line-up included producer Ian Stanley, who helped them to achieve a more modern sound. They sang into the top microphone, while the bottom microphone picked up sound from the wall, the sound wave from the bottom microphone was then inverted and inserted into the top microphone output. The group made a surprise comeback in 1994. There were two microphones, a top and bottom. number one, "Human", but other singles made little impact. Because the wall had to be placed behind the band, vocalists sang into a phase canceling microphone setup, to elimante feedback. The Jam & Lewis-produced Crash LP (1985) did provide a U.S. The wall was built up over time, several speakers were added each year until the wall was 32 feet high and weighed several thousand pounds. The band also had a number of other hits but their success faded towards the mid-1980s. The Wall of Sound was an enormous structure of speakers. Their most famous single "Don't You Want Me" reached number one in the UK charts during the Christmas of 1981 and was one of the biggest selling singles of that year. On February 14, 2003, (as they said) "reflecting the reality that [was]," they renamed themselves The Dead, keeping "Grateful" retired out of respect for Garcia. The band achieved a brief spell of success in the early 1980s with their style of Synthpop music. The mid-2002 fall tour of The Other Ones, with Bob, Bill, Phil and Mickey, was so successful and satisfying that the band decided the name was no longer appropriate. Re-energized by the addition of new members, the band went on to record their breakthrough album Dare, and have many chart successes. The remaining members occasionally got together under the pseudonym Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band during the late 1990s, infrequently playing unannounced shows. At the time, synthpop was starting to become fashionable due to the success of groups like OMD and Ultravox, but female vocals were rarely heard on synth records, so the addition of Sulley and Catherall gave the group a distinctive sound. Though some of them occasionally toured through the late 1990s under the name "The Other Ones" they mainly chose to pursue various solo projects: most notably Bob Weir's Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends and Mickey Hart's music for the 1996 Olympics. However, they recruited bass player Ian Burden, guitarist Jo Callis (formerly of The Rezillos) and, famously, fronted the band with two singers, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, whom they had met in a Sheffield nightclub. Following Garcia's death in 1995, the remaining members formally decided to retire the name "Grateful Dead". When Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware left to form Heaven 17 it seemed that Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright, the sole remaining group members, would be unable to sustain the band, which, just before the split, was beginning to achieve wider popularity. All three series of releases continue to this day. Their first single to chart was 'Empire State Human', which peaked at number 62 in the charts. A series of videos began to trickle out of "The Vault", starting with View From the Vault (recorded in Pittsburgh on July 8, 1990 at Three Rivers Stadium) and View from the Vault II (recorded in Washington, DC on June 14, 1991 at RFK Stadium). Shortly afterwards, they signed up with Virgin Records, and by the early 1980s had become a successful British electropop band. There have been at least 31 DP releases as of March 2004. Originally a post punk synthesiser based group from Sheffield, the Human League (previously known as the Future) released their first single, "Being Boiled" c/w "Circus Of Death" on Bob Last's Fast Product record label in 1978. Starting in 1991, the Grateful Dead released numerous live concerts from their archives in two concurrent series: the From the Vault releases are multi-track remixes, whereas the Dick's Picks series are based on two-track mixes made at the time of the recording. A fan site devoted to pictures of the Human League in concert during 2004. (http://www.redpenguin.net/bandphotos/human-league.php). In the 1980s, the band scored a top 40 hit "Touch of Grey" which garnered a much younger and more mainstream fandom that was considered sharply different from the traditional Dead Heads. Secrets Online, excellent fan site with indepth Human League coverage both past and present. (http://www.league-online.com/). The band allowed sharing of tapes of their shows, as long as no profits were made on the sale of their show tapes. Blind Youth, a site dedicated to the early post-punk works of Human League. (http://www.blindyouth.co.uk/). For many years, almost all of their shows would have dedicated taping sections. A Human League fan site (http://users.bigpond.net.au/human-league/home.htm). In contrast to many other bands, the Grateful Dead encouraged their fans to tape their shows. "Rock And Roll Is Dead" (2003) was a single from fellow Sheffield band, Kings Have Long Arms, that paid tribute to Oakey and eventually was re-released with Oakey doing some guest vocals. Many of their fans, commonly referred to as Dead Heads, would follow the band on tour. Today" (2003) was a single from Alex Gold featuring Oakey on vocals. A hallmark of their concert sets were continuous sets of music where each song would blend into the next (a segue). Musically this may be illustrated in that the band not only improvised within the form of a song, yet also improvised with the forms. "L.A. The band was famous for their extended jams, which showcased both individual improvisation as well as a singularly unique "group-mind" improvisation where each of the band members improvised individually, while still blending spaghetti together as a cohesive musical unit, often engaging in extended improvisational flights of fancy. "Together In Electric Dreams" was a solo single for Oakey rather than the whole League, but has been included on Human League albums as if it were by the whole band. Their numerous studio albums were generally collections of new songs that had been initially played in concert. 'The Human League Interview'. With the exception of 1975, the Grateful Dead toured regularly around the USA from the winter of 1965 until July 9, 1995—with a few detours to Canada and Europe (see the albums Dick's Picks 7, Hundred Year Hall, Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead, and Europe '72) and 3 nights at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in 1978. 'The Human League Promo Mix CD' (not available). Touring was the hallmark of the Grateful Dead. 'The Golden Hour Of The Future'. Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow were the band's lyricists. 'Dance Like A Star' (EP). For a year and a half, Welnick was often joined by special guest Bruce Hornsby on piano. 'The Future Tapes' (unreleased). Almost immediately, former Tubes keyboardist Vince Welnick joined on keyboards and vocals. 'In Darkness' (a bootleg demo album). He became the third Dead keyboardist to die. 'Taverner Tape' (1978). Brent Mydland was the keyboardist for the Dead for 11 years until his death in 1990. 'Human League Cassette' (1978). Keith Godchaux died in a car accident in 1980. League Live (DVD). In early 1972, Keith's wife, Donna Jean Godchaux, joined the Dead as a backing vocalist. Keith and Donna were fired from the band in 1979, and Brent Mydland joined as keyboardist and vocalist. The Very Best Of (EMI, 2 CDs, CD2 is all remixes, also on DVD). Two years later in late 1971, Pigpen was joined by another keyboardist, Keith Godchaux, who played grand piano alongside Pigpen's Hammond B3 organ. "All I Ever Wanted". Tom "TC" Constanten played keyboards alongside Pigpen from 1968 to 1970. Secrets (The Japanese version has three bonus tracks)
Bill Kruetzmann played drums, and in September 1967 was joined by a second drummer, New York native Mickey "Cow-Bell" Hart, who also played a wide variety of other percussion instruments. "Stay With Me Tonight". All of the previously mentioned members shared vocal duties. 'Don't You Want Me' (remixes). Bob Weir (usually referred to as "Bobby"), the youngest member of the group, played rhythm guitar. Bluesman Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played keyboards, harmonica and was an inspirational vocalist until his death in 1973. Greatest Hits (reissue with three extra tracks)
These records featured the band's laid-back acoustic musicianship and more traditional song structures. "One Man In My Heart" (lead vocal by Susan Sulley). The 1969 live album Live/Dead did capture more of their essence, but commercial success did not come until American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, both released in 1970. "Tell Me When". The early records reflected their live repertoire—lengthy instrumental jams with guitar solos by Garcia, best exemplified by "Dark Star"—but lacked the energy of the shows and did not sell terribly well. Octopus
Their musical influences varied widely with input from the psychedelic music of the era, combined with rhythm and blues, jazz, and country. "Heart Like A Wheel". These events are covered in detail in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Romantic?
The Grateful Dead was known for its unique and eclectic songwriting style, which fused elements of rock, folk music, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, and for long modal jams. "Human". The Grateful Dead was an American rock band, which was formed in 1965 in San Francisco from the remnants of another band, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. Crash
Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals (1972 - 1979). "The Lebanon". Keith Godchaux - keyboards (1971 - 1979). Hysteria
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, vocals, harmonica, percussion (1965 - 1973). Fascination (six-song EP with two mixes of "Fascination", "Mirror Man", and three other songs)
Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals (1965 - 1995). "Don't You Want Me?". "Love Action (I Believe in Love). "Open Your Heart". "The Sound of the Crowd". Dare
"Holiday '80' " (Double EP, later reissued as two single EPs, includes new version of "Being Boiled"). "Empire State Human". Reproduction (later re-released with the 'The Dignity Of Labour Pts 1-4' Ep, the B-side of the 'Empire State Human' single (called 'Introducing'), the Fast Product label 'Being Boiled' single and an in-studio conversation titled 'Flexi Disc')
'The Dignity Of Labour Pts 1-4' ( Fast Product, 12" only, instrumental). "Being Boiled" (single, Fast Product, 1979). Early singles:
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