The Grateful Dead were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California, known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psychedelia. The band is famous for improvisation during their live performances, and attracted a devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads." According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye, the music of the Grateful Dead "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, the Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of the jam band world".
American Beauty is the fifth studio album by rock band the Grateful Dead. Released in November 1970, by Warner Bros. Records, the album continued the folk rock and country music style of their previous album Workingman's Dead, issued earlier in the year.
Robert C. Christie Hunter was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. Born near San Luis Obispo, California, Hunter spent some time during his childhood in foster homes as a result of his father abandoning his family, and took refuge in reading and writing. He attended the University of Connecticut for a year before returning to Palo Alto, where he became friends with musician Jerry Garcia. Hunter and Garcia began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life.
The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, with some anticipating that it would be a "Woodstock West". The Woodstock festival had taken place in Bethel, New York, in mid-August, almost four months earlier.
Workingman's Dead is the fourth studio album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was recorded in February 1970 and originally released on June 14, 1970. The album and its studio follow-up, American Beauty, were recorded back-to-back using a similar style, eschewing the psychedelic experimentation of previous albums in favor of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's Americana-styled songcraft.
Terrapin Station is the ninth studio album by the Grateful Dead, released July 27, 1977. It was the first Grateful Dead album on Arista Records and the first studio album after the band returned to live touring.
Blues for Allah is the eighth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was released on September 1, 1975, and was the band's third album released through their own Grateful Dead Records label. The album was recorded between February and May of 1975 during an extended hiatus from touring. Recorded at rhythm guitarist and vocalist Bob Weir's home studio, the music on Blues for Allah further showcases the jazz fusion influence shown on the band's previous two records while also having a more experimental sound influenced by Middle Eastern scales and musical styles, which is also reflected in the album's lyrical content.
David Brian Nelson is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is perhaps best known as a co-founder and longtime member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage.
"Dark Star" is a song released as a single by the Grateful Dead on Warner Bros. records in 1968. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by lead guitarist Jerry Garcia; however, compositional credit is sometimes extended to include Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, and Bob Weir. "Dark Star" was an early Grateful Dead classic, which the group often used as a vehicle for extended jam sessions during live performances. One such performance, lasting 23 minutes, was included on the Dead's breakthrough 1969 album Live/Dead and is the best-known version of the song. "Dark Star" is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list and was ranked at number 57 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
"Sugar Magnolia" is a song by the Grateful Dead. Written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir, it is one of the most well-known songs by the band, alongside such hits as "Truckin'", "Casey Jones", "Uncle John's Band", "Touch of Grey", and fellow sugar-adjacent tune "Sugaree".
What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is the second compilation album by American rock band Grateful Dead. It was released August 18, 1977 by Warner Bros. Records, three and a half years after the Skeletons from the Closet compilation. Both albums are subtitled "The Best of the Grateful Dead". Unlike the previous compilation, What a Long Strange Trip It's Been is a double album.
"Playing in the Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir composed the music, with some assistance from percussionist Mickey Hart. The song first emerged in embryonic form on the self-titled 1971 live album Grateful Dead. It then appeared in a more polished form on Ace, Bob Weir's first solo album.
"Truckin'" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album American Beauty. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.
"Uncle John's Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead that first appeared in their concert setlists in late 1969. The band recorded it for their 1970 album Workingman's Dead. Written by guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, "Uncle John's Band" presents the Dead in an acoustic and musically concise mode, with close harmony singing.
"Any Dream Will Do" is a popular song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice for the 1968 musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It is generally the beginning and the concluding song of the musical, sung by the title character of Joseph.
"Shakedown Street" is a song by the Grateful Dead. It was written by lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by guitarist Jerry Garcia. It was released as the title track on the album Shakedown Street in November 1978. The song was first performed live on August 31, 1978, at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, in Morrison, Colorado. The song "From the Heart of Me" was also played for the first time during the performance. It depicts the reasons for inner-city urban decay. The album Shakedown Street reached number 41 on the Billboard Top 200 for 1979.
"Sugaree" is a song with lyrics by long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and music by guitarist Jerry Garcia. It was written for Jerry Garcia's first solo album Garcia, which was released in January 1972. As with the songs on the rest of the album, Garcia plays every instrument himself except drums, played by Bill Kreutzmann, including acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and an electric guitar played through a Leslie speaker. Released as a single from the Garcia album, "Sugaree" peaked at #94 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1972 and was Garcia's only single ever on that chart.
"Casey Jones" is a song by the American rock band the Grateful Dead.
The Warfield, San Francisco, California, October 9 & 10, 1980 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the two sets of acoustic music performed by the Dead on October 9 and 10, 1980 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco. It was produced as a two-disc LP in a limited edition of 10,000 copies, and as a two-disc CD in a limited edition of 6,000 copies. It was released on April 13, 2019, in conjunction with Record Store Day.
"Dire Wolf" is a ballad by the Grateful Dead, released as the third track on their 1970 album Workingman's Dead. The lyrics were written by Robert Hunter after watching a film adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The music, containing elements of country and folk music, was composed by Jerry Garcia on the same day. The song tells the story of a man who plays cards with a "dire wolf" on a cold winter's night in "Fennario"; the lyrics have been variously interpreted. The piece became a staple of the Grateful Dead's performances, and was played more than two hundred times between 1969 and 1995.
