Their early records reflected their lengthy instrumental jams with guitar solos by Garcia, best seen in "Dark Star", but lacked the energy of the shows and didn't sell well. Commercial success didn't come until American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, both released in 1970.
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 together as a cohesive musical unit, often engaging in extended improvisational "flights of fancy". An original part 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. (Wikipedia excerpt)
The Grateful Dead worked alongside Bob Dylan on many projects. Dylan was the single greatest source for material outside of the band.
Many of their fans, commonly referred to as Dead Heads, would follow the band on tour. In contrast to many other bands, they 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.
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. The mid-2002 fall tour of The Other Ones, with Bob, Bill, Phil and Mickey, was so successful that the band decided the name was no longer appropriate. On February 14, 2003, they renamed themselves The Dead, keeping "Grateful" retired out of respect for Garcia.
* Original members:
Jerry Garcia, lead guitar and vocals
Bob Weir, rythyhm gutar and vocals
Ron 'Pigpen' Mckernan, keyboards and vocals (beginning- June 1972)
Phil Lesh, bass guitar and vocals
Bill Kreutzman, drums
* Other members:
Tom Constanten, keyboards (1967?- Jan 1970)
Mickey Hart, drums and percussion (1967-1971; 1975-present)
Keith Godchaux, piano (Oct 1971 - Feb 1979)
Donna Godchaux, vocals (1972?- Feb 1979)
Brent Mydland, keyboards (1979-1990)
Bruce Hornsby, piano (1990-1992)
Vince Welnick, keyboards (1990-1995)
* Major Lyricists:
Robert Hunter
John Perry Barlow Joobie
(Some of the dates are a little sketchy because I couldn't find the exact years...sorry.)
Here's a list of their major works...
The Grateful Dead, Grateful Dead, 1967
Anthem Of The Sun, Grateful Dead, 1968
Aoxomoxoa, Grateful Dead, 1969
Live/Dead, Grateful Dead, 1969
Workingman's Dead, Grateful Dead, 1970
American Beauty, Grateful Dead, 1970
Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses), Grateful Dead, 1971
Europe '72, Grateful Dead, 1972
History Of The Grateful Dead, Vol. 1 (Bear's Choice), Grateful Dead, 1973
Wake Of The Flood, Grateful Dead, 1973
Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel, Grateful Dead, 1974
Blues For Allah, Grateful Dead, 1975
Steal Your Face, Grateful Dead, 1976
Terrapin Station, Grateful Dead, 1977
Shakedown Street, Grateful Dead, 1978
Go To Heaven, Grateful Dead, 1980
Reckoning, Grateful Dead, 1981
Dead Set, Grateful Dead, 1981
In The Dark, Grateful Dead, 1987
Built To Last, Grateful Dead, 1989
Without A Net, Grateful Dead, 1990
Infrared Roses, Grateful Dead, 1991
The Golden Road (1965-1973), Grateful Dead, 2001
Postcards Of The Hanging, Grateful Dead, March 2002
Beyond Description, Grateful Dead, Oct 2004
Many other solo and collaborative works were done as well.
Also, check out Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. You'll see why!!!
"Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us." -Jerry Garcia.
I intend on discussing the band, the members, their influence on music and jam bands, among other things, the aforesaid book and anything else y'all think is pertinent to the band.
