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Donna Jean Godchaux | |
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 Godchaux singing with her band in Blacksburg, Virginia, November 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Donna Jean Thatcher |
| Born | August 22, 1947 Florence, Alabama, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1966–present |
| Member of | Donna Jean Godchaux Band |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | donnajeangodchauxband |
Donna Jean Thatcher Godchaux-MacKay (born August 22, 1947) is an American singer who was a member of the Grateful Dead from 1972 until 1979.
Donna Jean Thatcher was born in Florence, Alabama. Prior to 1970, she had worked as a session singer [1] in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, eventually singing with a group called Southern Comfort and appearing as a backup singer on at least two #1 hit songs: "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge in 1966 and "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley in 1969. Her vocals were featured on other classic recordings by Boz Scaggs and Duane Allman, Cher, Joe Tex, Neil Diamond and many others. [2] [3] She then moved to California and met future fellow Grateful Dead member Keith Godchaux, whom she married in 1970. [4]
Donna introduced Keith to Jerry Garcia after Garcia's performance at San Francisco's Keystone Korner in September 1971. At the time, Donna Jean was not working as a musician. She joined the band shortly afterwards, remaining a member until February 1979. [5]
Donna Jean provided backing and lead vocals in the group's music. During their membership in the Grateful Dead, the couple also issued the mostly self-written Keith & Donna album in 1975 with Jerry Garcia as a Keith and Donna Band member. In turn, they performed as part of the Jerry Garcia Band. Godchaux possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range.
Keith and Donna's son, Zion "Rock" Godchaux of BoomBox, was born in 1974. After the Grateful Dead, the couple started the Heart of Gold Band.
Donna did not perform again with any Grateful Dead band members until after the death of Jerry Garcia. Shortly after her husband's death in 1980, she married bassist David MacKay (former Fiddleworms member and bassist for the Donna Jean Godchaux Band) and the couple moved to her childhood town of Florence, Alabama, to record at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. [6]
In 2009, Donna Jean formed a brand new band, the Donna Jean Godchaux Band, with Jeff Mattson (of Phil Lesh and Friends, Zen Tricksters, and Dark Star Orchestra), after re-entering the music scene with Mattson and Mookie Siegel (of David Nelson Band, Phil Lesh and Friends, and Ratdog) to form Kettle Joe's Psychedelic Swamp Revue, later known as Donna Jean & the Tricksters. [7] She occasionally makes guest appearances with Bob Weir & RatDog, Zero & Steve Kimock, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Dark Star Orchestra and Dead & Company. She also continues to be involved in archival Grateful Dead projects. [8]
In 1994, Donna Jean was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead. [9] She resides in Killen, Alabama, and remains an active member of the Muscle Shoals music scene when not touring with the Donna Jean Godchaux Band with Jeff Mattson.
Donna Godchaux was a member of the Grateful Dead from 1972 to 1979 and appears on many of the band's albums. [11]
Donna Godchaux (née Donna Thatcher) has contributed background or lead vocals on many albums by different artists. [12]
Keith Richard Godchaux was an American pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979. Following their departure from the Dead, he and his wife Donna formed the Heart of Gold Band in 1980, but Godchaux died from injuries sustained in a car accident shortly after their first concert.
Dark Star Orchestra is a Grateful Dead cover band formed in Chicago, Illinois. They serve as a tribute band to the rock group the Grateful Dead. Since 1997, the band has been "celebrating the Grateful Dead concert experience."
Dead Zone: The Grateful Dead CD Collection (1977–1987) is a six-CD boxed set retrospective of the Grateful Dead's studio and live albums during their time with Arista Records from 1977 to 1987. Prior to 1977, the band was on its own label, Grateful Dead Records.
Dick's Picks Volume 1 is the first album in the Dick's Picks series of live releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on December 19, 1973, at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa, Florida, and contains a rare recording of the band playing the blues standard "Nobody's Fault but Mine".
Dick's Picks Volume 15 is the 15th live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It features the complete show recorded on September 3, 1977, at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. Also appearing at the event were the New Riders of the Purple Sage and The Marshall Tucker Band. The band performed to a crowd estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000 attendees.
The Closing of Winterland is a four-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert performed on December 31, 1978. The concert was also released as a two-disc DVD. The title derives from the fact that it was the last concert in San Francisco's Winterland Arena, which was shut down shortly thereafter. The Dead celebrated the closing as an approximately five-hour-long party and invited some guests including guitarist John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service and Ken Kesey as well as actor Dan Aykroyd who provided the midnight countdown. It was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA on December 15, 2003 under the category of longform video, selling 200,000 units. The New Riders of the Purple Sage and Blues Brothers opened the show.
The Rex Foundation was created by "members of the Grateful Dead and Friends" in 1983 as a charitable non-profit organization to "proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education." The organization is named after Rex Jackson, a Grateful Dead roadie and later road manager until his death in 1976.
BoomBox is an American rock and electronic duo formed in 2004 by singer-songwriter Zion Godchaux and producer Russ Randolph, both of whom have backgrounds as DJs. Originating in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, BoomBox has released numerous studio albums, starting in 2005 with Visions of Backbeat. Their second album, Downriverelectric, was released in June 2010, followed by Filling in the Color (2014) and Bits & Pieces (2016). Their newest album, Western Voodoo, was released on October 19, 2018. Their newest single released in June 2017 is titled "Right Around Two ".
The Zen Tricksters are an American Grateful Dead cover band. For over forty years, the Zen Tricksters have been playing Grateful Dead covers and jam band music, as well as derivative original songs. The band started out as the Volunteers, playing small venues around New York's Long Island. At its core, the band has been composed of Jeff Mattson on lead guitar and vocals, for most of its history, Tom Circosta on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Klyph Black on bass and vocals.
Donna Jean and the Tricksters is an album by Donna Jean and the Tricksters, a rock band led by former Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay. The group, which later changed its name to the Donna Jean Godchaux Band, also features lead guitarist and singer Jeff Mattson, who wrote or co-wrote several songs on the album, along with other members of the Zen Tricksters.
Jeff Mattson is an American musician. He was raised on Long Island, NY.
The Donna Jean Godchaux Band is an American rock music group. Originally named Kettle Joe's Psychedelic Swamp Revue, and later Donna Jean and the Tricksters, the band was originally formed in 2007 and made up of Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay and members of the Zen Tricksters. The group released their first album in 2008 - a self-titled under their previous name Donna Jean and the Tricksters.
The Heart of Gold Band is an American rock band formed by Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux in 1980 following their departure from the Grateful Dead. The band took its name from a line in the Dead song "Scarlet Begonias".
Flashback with the Grateful Dead is an album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains ten songs, selected from eight of their studio albums that were originally released between 1969 and 1989. The compilation was released on CD on the Flashback label, a subsidiary of Rhino Records, on April 5, 2011.
Back Around is an album by the Donna Jean Godchaux Band with Jeff Mattson. Band leader and vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux was formerly a member of the Grateful Dead. Lead guitarist Jeff Mattson, who also sings on several of the tracks, is a member of Dark Star Orchestra and the Zen Tricksters. The album was released by Heart of Gold Records on February 18, 2014.
Keith & Donna is an album by Keith Godchaux and Donna Jean Godchaux. Their only studio album as a duo leading their own band, it was released in 1975 on the Round Records label. Produced as a vinyl LP, it has not been released on CD.
Garcia Live Volume Seven is a two-disc live album by the Jerry Garcia Band. It was recorded at Sophie's in Palo Alto, California on November 8, 1976. It was released on August 19, 2016.
Sage & Spirit is a compilation album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains ten songs – eight recorded in the studio and two live – selected from various albums. It was produced as a vinyl LP in a limited edition of 4,000 copies, and released on April 3, 2019 in conjunction with Record Store Day.
Grateful Dead Records Collection is a box set of albums by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains four albums on five LPs. The albums were previously released by the band's own record company, Grateful Dead Records. They were remastered for the box set, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The albums included in the box set are Wake of the Flood, From the Mars Hotel (1974), Blues for Allah (1975), and Steal Your Face.
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