“Eyes of the World,” “Casey Jones,” “Shakedown Street” and so many other now-classic cuts flopped on the charts.ģ0. Where’s the hit single?: The Dead simply couldn’t find its way to the Top 40 singles charts for most of its career. Top of the charts (finally): More than 20 years into its career, the Dead hit the Top 10 on the album charts with 1987’s “In the Dark.”Ģ9. Reportedly, the Dead spent time listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash for inspiration.Ģ8. In harmony: The Dead members were capable of doing some lovely harmony vocal work, especially on the two aforementioned classics from 1970. The top-seller is the triple-platinum collection “Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead” (1974).Ģ7. Yet, longevity has its own rewards - and several of the group’s albums have been certified platinum or better. Record sales: The Dead was never a commercial juggernaut on the charts. Some weren’t: If you want to hear just how mediocre (or worse) the band could be in the studio, check out the late ’70s outings - “Shakedown Street” and “Terrapin Station.” They’ll help you understand why Deadheads prefer to listen to concert recordings.Ģ6. Some were gems: If you want to hear just how good the Grateful Dead could be in the studio, check out the two 1970 offerings - “Workingman’s Dead” and “American Beauty” - which are widely, and rightfully, regarded as classics.Ģ5.
In between its frequent touring, the band found time to craft 13 studio albums, starting with its eponymous debut in 1967 and continuing through “Built to Last” in 1989.Ģ4. They made albums?: The Dead wasn’t just all about the live show. Number of songs performed in concert: 36,086Ģ3.
Helping hand: Founded by the Dead in 1983, the nonprofit Rex Foundation has donated approximately $10 million to organizations that work in the areas of the environment, human rights, education, social services and the arts.Ģ2. Except “: The band did earn a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.Ģ0. Roll with it: The Grateful Dead was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.ġ9. MBA in rock: “Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History” (by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan) and “Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead: The Ten Most Innovative Lessons from a Long, Strange Trip” (by Barry Barnes) are real business books.ġ7. Marching bears: The Dead’s famed multicolored “dancing” bears first appeared in the artwork for 1973’s “History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear’s Choice).” Yet, according to legend, the bears were supposed to be marching, not dancing.ġ6. What’s on your T-shirt?: The Dead built its brand with the use of so many iconic images, from dancing terrapins and patriotic skeletons to skulls and roses to “dancing” bears.”ġ5. Steal Your Face: Owsley Stanley - the LSD icon who was known as “Bear” in the Dead community - is widely credited for helping to design the band’s “Steal Your Face” (lightning bolt on skull) logo.ġ4. Who’s McGannahan Skjellyfetti?: That was the authorial pseudonym used to credit the group-written compositions, such as “The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion).”ġ3. Yet there was a time when this marvelous blues singer, who also played harmonica and keyboards, was practically the face of the franchise.ġ2. Remembering Pigpen: Some of the newer fans might not be familiar with McKernan, who died at age 27 in 1973. Busted: The band’s Haight-Ashbury pad was the scene of a high-profile drug bust in late 1967, which drew the above-the-masthead, front-page, all-caps headline, “ROCK BAND BUSTED,” in the San Francisco Chronicle.ġ1. We’ll let you Google the address, if you must.ġ0. Summer of Love: The Dead were the most famous residents of Haight-Ashbury, living just a few doors up from that intersection. Acid rock: One of the important things to come out of those Acid Tests for the Grateful Dead was a partnership with famed LSD manufacturer Owsley Stanley, who’d go on to finance, produce, record and do pioneering sound work for the band.ĩ. Passing the Test: That inaugural outing came during one of author Ken Kesey’s first “Acid Tests.” The Grateful Dead basically became the house band for Kesey’s LSD-inspired get-togethers, which are so amazingly described in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 book, “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”Ĩ. 4, 1965, at a house near the San Jose Civic Auditorium, where the Rolling Stones were playing that same eveningħ. 1: The newly named Grateful Dead performed its first gig on Dec.
New name: Garcia stumbled across a perfect band name - Grateful Dead - while thumbing through a folklore dictionary.Ħ.
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